A friend of mine asked me, “What is Left 4 Dead?” My initial response was: "it is a first person shooter where you run from safe house to safe house, decimating zombies and their cohorts". I was taken aback at how simple I explained it. I realized Left 4 Dead is an undead example that video games are entertainment. They don’t have to explain the mysteries of a fictional world so we have better insight into ours. Instead it relies on solid controls, exceptional multiplayer, intense encounters with the dead kind, and a large history of zombie and horror flicks to deliver a small package brimming with fun. Left 4 Dead is cut into four movies with five scenes. Each scene players control four characters modeling horror movie stereotypes.
Bill is the bitter war veteran. Louis is the mild mannered system analyst (whose outfit resembles the protagonist’s outfit in Shaun of the Dead). Zoey is the movie junky college student. Francis is the cocky biker. This rag tag group must move from one end of the level to the other as they battle waves of infected inhabitants (oh yes, it’s a typical virus) and their boss counterparts. The standard infected civilians are modern Dawn of the Dead zombies; running full speed at any food that wanders by. Their speed can be overwhelming at times and large groups of them are a force to be reckoned with. The boss infected have special abilities they use against the survivors to impede their progress. The hunter is agile and can pounce on his adversaries rendering them helpless. Smokers use their long tongues to ensnare their prey and pull them away from the group and upon death; they burst into smoke hindering the group’s sight. Boomers use their bile to attract hordes of infected and blind the recipients. When killed they explode in a shower of bile, covering anyone who stands too close. The tank is a monstrosity that absorbs damage while crushing anything in its path. The witch is a powerful infected that sits and cries. Survivors may try and sneak around her but I caution on making her angry. Witches incapacitate any survivor who wanders too close with one attack.
The survivors have a standard fare of weapons at their disposal but limited ability to carry them. You choose one main weapon and you get a pistol. Each safe house includes a selection of weapons, first aid kits, explosives, and infinite ammunition. The basic weapons consist of a, sub-machine gun and shotgun. The sub machine gun is a medium ranged weapon with medium fire power. The shotgun is a close ranged weapon with high power. The pistol, which you can dual wield, has medium range and low power but it also has unlimited ammo. You can upgrade to a second tier of weapons as you make progress through each movie. The assault rifle is an improved automatic weapon. The Auto shotgun is (you guessed it!) an automatic shotgun that holds a few more rounds. There is also a hunting rifle with scoping capabilities but its use falls to the way side. There is always so much going on that trying to snipe is inefficient. First aid kits can be used on yourself or your allies. There are also Molotov cocktails and pipe bombs. The latter emits a beeping noise that attracts the infected causing an explosion of curiosity. The survivors can also melee infected damaging them and pushing them back. I was disappointed that there were no designated melee weapons. It would be a blast to dismember infected with axes, baseball bats, or standard kitchen appliances.
The campaign mode is short. You can play alone with bots or up to three friends and each movie takes about an hour to complete (on normal). On normal the game presents a moderate challenge. Advanced still feels beatable and playing expert is masochistic. Don’t expect to solo the game either. If anyone is attacked by a boss infected (besides the boomer) another player has to help that player out. Both hunters and smokers must be shot or pushed off by another player. If a tank comes…it takes the entire team to bring it down without losing anyone. Although you will want to work with human players, it increases the fun tenfold; the A.I. does a great job on both sides. Survivor bots will patch you up when you get knocked down. The infected bosses will travel in packs waiting for a hordes appearance before making theirs.
The maps are diverse but their brevity generates little immersion. It is up to Valve’s A.I. director to oversee everything that happens. The director moves weapons and infected around so that each time you play, the situations you encounter will be different. It even sends extra waves of infected if you take too long or are doing too well. Its freedom keeps the small linear levels from becoming repetitive. It offers the campaign replayability on a limited note. The situations change but the environments never do.
