Preparation for the Inevitable: A Left 4 Dead Review

Survival Tip #1: Always have a sturdy melee weapon.

The attention to detail really makes the game world come alive, even if Left 4 Dead’s graphics aren’t as impressive as say, Gears of War. Also with lower graphical standards come butter smooth frame rates, the ability to have hundreds (if not thousands) of zombies on screen at any given time, dynamic shadows and killer physics. Toss in a malevolent, omnipotent AI known as “The Director” that ensures that the horde will come from an unanticipated angle at all times and the game plays exceptionally well, even once you’ve played a certain campaign hundreds of times.

Despite my former nitpicks regarding survival simulation, Left 4 Dead does address some all-important basic concepts. Even on low difficulties you can not split up; the moment the group scatters, they are guaranteed to fail. Also, you have to watch your back and sides all the time as you progress forward, since zombies can spawn from areas behind you, or come out of rooms that you hadn’t explored thoroughly. Also, key moments in the various stories have you defend stationary points for long periods of time, in which you need to identify areas that are easiest to secure and the formation in which you would do so.

These help emphasize the need for close quarters and few points of entry to maximize your effectiveness. Granted, the occasional boss infected will bust through and mess up whatever careful plan you have established, but coping with unpredictable challenges is pretty much the point of the game. The only glaring omission (from a wannabe survivor’s perspective) is that survivors can’t move large objects.

One point comes to mind when there was a double doorway with a dumpster sitting right next to it. This was an area that my friends and I had to defend for a long period of time and had we been able to use two or three players to muscle the dumpster over the doorway, we would have had a perfect single-entry bottleneck. Sadly, only the tank boss infected is capable of moving objects like this, and it’s usually to throw them at survivors.

The much touted Versus Mode played pretty well for what it was. Players start as either special infected or as survivors and the goal is to either kill all four survivors (for the infected) or make it to the end of a level with as much health as possible (for the survivors). At the end of a round, the rolls are reversed and you play the exact same area over again.

The infected each play in a unique way and it is fun to play if you find a good team, but is terribly frustrating otherwise. Also, the collision detection of some of the infected attacks seem like they could use some adjustment, as I often pounced through people, much to my dismay. I bet this mode would have grown on me had I gotten a 4 on 4 game with my friends going, but sadly, they’re all still playing Gears 2 so I was resigned to play matchmaking.

All in all, Left 4 Dead is a thoroughly enjoyable, fast-paced shooter that is absolutely perfect for fans of co-op games or zombies. Also, I would advise playing it co-op with your neighbors and roommates since they are the ones you’ll most likely be holed up with once the zombies finally show up.

You can never be too careful.

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