Left 4 Dead 2 Review

Mike Rohde Says I had a tough time trying to describe the reasons why I don't like Left 4 Dead 2. I understand it's a popular game, it's received a lot of hype and attention and it's a game that you're *supposed* to like; after all, the game involves zombies, guns, coop play and it's hip. But for some reason, I just don't have fun playing the game and I've been having a hard time understanding why it's not fun. And then it dawned on me: the game is cheap.

Left 4 Dead 2 has cheap gameplay, cheap weapons, cheap graphics, and a cheap premise. The game doesn't offer a true single player campaign and doesn't even pretend to have a story (except that zombies are taking over and you have to escape). This is a $30 game with a $60 price point (at the time of this writing you can buy it new from Amazon for $50).

To really enjoy this game you need at least four good friends who want to play at the same time you do. After you play through the maps once, you can replay on the different variations and set the difficultly higher, but *yawn* who cares? If you play it once, you've played it a hundred times, which apparently some people do. I was working through this game the other day and I heard someone say, I could play this game all day long. I thought to myself, Whhaa?? You find shooting stupid AI zombies more compelling than the multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2?

L4D2 offers no ranking, no leveling up, no upgrades…it's just a cheap game.

I realize there are probably two camps here: the MW2 fans and the L4D2 fans and may the two never meet. I'm clearly in the MW2 camp. Although, I have to say, I tried very hard to like L4D2. And there were some times I had some fun with it. But that was only when I synched up with some cool people who played in the spirit of teamwork. In those brief moments I witnessed what this game is supposed to be about. But those moments were rare. More often than I not, I was put into a game where no one cared about nuthin. If I was being strangled then no one came back to help. If I was low on health, no one offered a health pack. So be it.

But the worst, the absolute worst, was when I played with the same person from start to finish: we experienced the highs and lows of the game, and somehow, someway, we managed to reach the rescue vehicle. But just as the boat came in to rescue the team, at the last minute I get jacked up by a special infected. What did my comrade do? Did he come back to help me on my feet like I did for him so many times in the past hour? No. He didn't. He just left me for dead…

Left4Dead2 | First Impressions

Mike Rohde Says: OK, Left4Dead2 showed up today, which means I had to put down Modern Warfare 2 and Forza Motorsport 3 to give this game a try. I gotta say, I went into this game with expectations of it being just like the first one, and that I’d regret not playing MW2. Well, for the first few games, my expectations were right on the mark, then I played a second round, and then a third. As they say, the third times a charm and Valve got themselves another fan.

The first online game I played was laggy as all get out. There were plenty of glitches and screen jumping. To add salt to the wounds, none of my teammates knew where to go and we stood around looking at each other a lot. When I asked if anyone knew where to go, one of my teammates started shooting me. The game eventually kicked us out to the main menu. I can’t say I wasn’t upset…

The second attempt wasn't much better. I tried to select a specific mission and saw there were only a few available games on each map. When I finally started a game, my character was already near death! I spawned into Coach who was on his death bed!! It didn't take long for me to die. Not a fun way to play. A teammate did offer a first aid pack, but by the time I ran back to him (he never left the safe house while the rest of us moved forward) I got jumped by a jockey and died.

And guess what: if you die, or the team needs to restart a level, you do not reset at full health. That’s a major bummer.

Here’s another newsflash: the Normal difficultly level is Hard! As in real hard. As in, I wanted to switch to the Easy level just so I could complete a map.

The third game was the charm. I played on the Easy level and started at the beginning. The team ran through some smokey rooms filled with fire, got some cool wepaons and we actually finished! Ding!! Achievement unlocked. This was the game in which I got into Left4Dead 2 and I actually forgot about MW2 for about 10 minutes.

I can’t speak for all of the maps, but at least for the first one, the way you get rescued is pretty cool. You don’t wait for a rescue vehicle, instead, you find the ways and means to rescue yourself. In this case, you need to find enough gas cans to fuel up a car. After the car has enough gas in it, then you have to get into the car and… well, you’ll have to see for yourself. And let me tell you, even on the Easy level, it wasn’t easy. The Zombies keep coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and coming and then just when you think they won’t come no more, they keep coming.

This is a game that should keep me entertained for awhile. I don’t think it will have the lasting appeal of MW2 but it’s a worthwhile coop shooter that contains plenty of excellent gaming moments.

Grundy The Man's Current Top Five Wish List

Blake Grundman Says Several triple-A titles are no longer scheduled for release in the fourth quarter of this year, and the 2009 Holiday season is beginning to look more bare than any year in recent memory. That said, there are still a great number of worthwhile titles that are on my wish list, including some games that have already been released and some that are coming out next month. Here is a list of five games that I do not want to live without:

1. Left 4 Dead 2 – After the tremendous success of the original Left 4 Dead on both the Xbox 360 and PC, it seemed obvious that there would be a sequel on the way. To the surprise of many, Microsoft announced that the sequel would be coming on November 17th, 2009. This is less than one year after the release of the first game, so it is likely that the game will be overflowing with new content, in order to rebuff the ire of frothy fanboys everywhere.

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 – Infinity Ward is back at it again, with another soon to be classic installment for both the Call of Duty and Modern Warfare franchises. As much confusion as there has been about the name of the game, in the end it won’t really matter, because this will sell like gangbusters on every platform it is released on. There is no doubt in my mind that with the developer's pedigree, this has the potential to be a legitimate game of the year contender.

3. Halo 3: ODST – Any wish list would seem empty without an appearance from Bungie’s Spartan busting juggernaut. With ODST being the first Halo shooter that doesn’t star Master Chief, there is bound to be some backlash, and I do not expect the game to sell as many units as Halo 3 did; however, the game will most likely not have the same marketing push either. Regardless, look for this to be a big seller.

4. Assassins Creed 2 - Back and better than ever, Ubisoft is looking to throw all of their marketing might behind Ezio’s newest quest into the Renaissance period of Italy. After seeing how well the first game sold, it would not be beyond the realm of possibility to see a repeat of the success. Oddly enough, the publisher decided to release the game side-by-side with Left 4 Dead 2. I am sure both games will do tremendously well, but it will be interesting to see who wins the head-to-head showdown.

5. Wii Sports Resort – This might be at the bottom of my list, but I still want it. Nintendo can do no wrong on the first-party software front, and with the inclusion of the Wii Motion Plus peripheral, there will undoubtedly be droves of housewives that are clambering to get their hands on it; and I'm getting in line right behind them.

So, what's on your wish list?

GOTY Reader Poll Results

An amazing 56 people, out of the 1032 people who visited in the past week, actually voted in the Game of the Year Poll. Maybe the lack of voting was due to the fact that you're favorite game wasn't listed? Who knows? Who cares. Anyway, Metal Gear Solid 4 solidly won, followed by a tie for second place with Left 4 Dead and a game that was released in 2007, which beat out Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV. Sad, sad, sad.

The Year in Review and Game(s) of the Year

The Goozex Report launched in late August of this year. The blog started with me writing posts about not wanting to pay for video games to an audience of maybe a dozen readers (if I was lucky). After some time, The Goozex Report caught the eye of Goozex, Inc., and is now listed on their Supporters page. A Goozex member even contributed a logo and some artwork. As time went on, The Goozex Report started attracting fellow gamer-writers. We now have six contributors who volunteer their time writing brilliant articles. We’ve also made some great new friends with game sites of their own and we owe a lot of our success to them!

Since August, The Goozex Report was featured on the front page of N4G dozens of times, other blogs and forums have posted links to our articles, and we can proudly say we’ve had over 40,000 visitors in four months time from 127 different countries. We realize that some game sites get that kind of traffic in just a few hours, but we’re still new and still growing. We just might continue on through 2009. After all, where else are you going to learn when Gears of War 2 starts dropping in value?

As for gaming in 2008, it wasn’t a bright year for unique and new titles. Using Metacritic as a scale, of the top 10 highest rated games, only two Xbox 360 titles were not sequels. And only three of the top 10 PS3 games were not sequels. Kudos to Sony for LittleBigPlanet: a unique and original game that received positive reviews. On the other hand, while Left 4 Dead and Dead Space are receiving favorable reactions, they do not exactly represent unique genres or ideas; but at least the titles are not followed by a 2, a 3, or in the case of Grand Theft Auto, a 4.

Has the video game industry run out of ideas? Or are they following Hollywood’s lead and simply pumping cash cows? In any case, it does not speak highly for today’s creative talent. 2008 desperately missed 2007’s BioShock (yes, I realize that BioShock released on the PS3 in 2008). I’m really hoping that for 2009, the big publishers reach out to some new, independent developers who are creating unique, and dare I say—intelligent—games of the future.

The emphasis developers have placed on creating a great story has killed the focus on improving game mechanics, which seriously hampered the playability of such games as Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway. Can anyone out there please tell me what the heck the storyline in the cutscenes
had to do with the actual game play? I shook my head in disbelief at the end of that game. To regain some credibility, game developers really need to prioritize game mechanics first, story second, and graphics third.

In choosing a Game of the Year, several factors must be considered: game mechanics, graphics, sound, characters, single player campaigns, multiplayer online game play, and yes, story. What games of 2008 fully delivered? What fell flat?

When I was first asked what my GOTY pick was, my gut reaction was to say, “Call of Duty 4.” (Before you start screaming, I fully realize the game released in 2007.) That’s the game I played and had the most fun with for the majority of the year. It certainly trumped Halo 3 in my opinion. As for a 2008 release, Grand Theft Auto IV certainly did not live up to the hype. If that game starts winning GOTY nods from around the web, I’m gonna puke, a lot. Over and over. Lots of puke.

With that said, as a devoted Goozex member, I’ve only played eight 2008 releases (I’m still waiting for GoW 2, Fallout 3, Fable II, CoD: WaW, Dead Space, and several others to show up in my mailbox). And only one of the eight games that I’ve played is in the Top 10 (yeah, GTA IV). Of the 2008 games I’ve played (GRiD, Soulcalibur IV, Madden NFL 09, Battlefield: Bad Company, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Viking: Battle for Asgard, and Mercenaries 2), the only game I’d want to revisit and finish is Mercs 2. Does that make Mercs 2 my GOTY? No. Not really.

So, what is my GOTY pick? Judging by the game that I played the most, and had the most fun playing, I’d still pick CoD4 as the reigning champ two years running. Maybe my pick for 2009 will be GoW 2 or Fallout 3.

Maybe, just maybe, Goozex fans have to stretch the calendar year when deciding GOTY. After all, you can’t really pick a game until you’ve played them all.

For those of you feeling let down that I did not pick a true GOTY, here’s MrWeymes, who has a
solid lock on his PS3 pick. After you read his review, Grundy the Man has a solid lock on his pick for the Xbox 360.

The Goozex Report PS3 Game of the Year
Andrew Weymes (MrWeymes) Says: With 2008 coming to a close, it's time to reflect upon an excellent year in the video game industry. There are so many games eligible for Game of the Year that it's almost too difficult to choose. Every genre, for every kind of gamer, had a few excellent games to play over the past year.

However, every excellent game has its shortcomings. For instance, Metal Gear Solid 4 has an amazing single player experience, with a slightly above average multiplayer component; while Left 4 Dead is an absolute joy online but lacks an enthralling single player experience. There were so many excellent games this year, each with their own flaws, it is hard to compare them
directly with one another. Of course, Game of the Year should come down to a few questions. Which game will you remember long past the year it was named Game of the Year? Which game will still be better than the majority of games in upcoming years? Finally, which game figuratively made your jaw hit the floor?

That game (for me) is the Playstation 3 exclusive, Metal Gear Solid 4. Whether you are a fan of the stealth/action genre or not, there is no denying the beauty of Metal Gear Solid 4. For those unfamiliar with Solid Snake, and the rest of the Metal Gear Solid universe, the story may be a bit confusing, but with the help of the Metal Gear Solid 4 Database available for download on PSN, people new to the series can follow the story with relative ease.

The cutscenes that bring this excellent story to life are easily the best of all time. They help immerse you in the experience, because as soon as the cutscene ends, and the gameplay begins, everything looks the same: excellent. The cutscenes would mean nothing if the gameplay wasn't as amazing as the story, but that is simply not the case.

The gameplay is tense, addictive, and simply fun. Apart from a few key scenes, you can approach the game in a number of ways. For example, you can kill every soldier in the area in a very blunt manner, such as shooting them all in the head with a pistol. In that same area, you can find a way to proceed without killing one soldier. Finally, in that exact same area, you could kill a few soldiers, hide until they are no longer looking for you, and proceed through the rest of the area stealthily. That's what puts Metal Gear Solid 4's replayability through the ceiling. You can play it as a pure action game, or a pure stealth game, or a mix of both.

The chase scenes are among the best of all time. One chase scene in particular is probably the most memorable gaming segment of the year.

In addition to everything mentioned above are some excellent, and memorable, boss fights. Bosses are totally unique and it may take you a few minutes to figure out how to kill them. As fun as it would be to describe each boss battle in detail, The Goozex Report doesn't believe in spoilers, therefore this will be a spoiler-free article. What can be said is that there are definitely some "what the expletive" moments in some of the boss fights, making them very memorable.

That pretty much covers the single player aspect of Metal Gear Solid 4. With, or without multiplayer, Metal Gear Solid 4 is Game of the Year. Single player gaming is the essence of video games, and without a doubt, Metal Gear Solid 4 had the best single player experience of the year. However, Metal Gear Solid 4 did come with Metal Gear Online on the same disk. Metal Gear Online is a separate game, so it shouldn't affect the score of Metal Gear Solid 4 in a negative, or positive way. That's not to say that Metal Gear Online is bad. For fans of the stealthier portions of Metal Gear Solid 4, Metal Gear Online probably won't disappoint. It's multiplayer isn't comparable to the likes of Gears of War 2, or Resistance 2. It's more of a slow pace. Many of the players of Metal Gear Online will quick snipe you if you are too out in the open, or if you are taking cover in obvious places. The multiplayer is very competitive, and will probably turn off more casual players.

To summarize, there is no other game more worthy of Game of the Year than Metal Gear Solid 4. The story is too compelling, the cutscenes are too well done, and the gameplay is too enjoyable for any other game to win this year. Metal Gear Solid 4 didn't need to include Metal Gear Online on the same disk to win Game of the Year. It would have won regardless, but the inclusion just means that you are getting an even better deal. 2008 was an excellent year for video games, and while there were many games considered for Game of the Year, The Goozex Report felt that Metal Gear Solid 4 deserved it the most for the PS3.

The Goozex Report Xbox 360 Game of the Year
Grundy the Man Says:
My Top 5 List

5. Super Smash Brothers Melee (Wii)

4. Mega Man 9 (WiiWare)

3. Braid (XBLA)

2. Left 4 Dead (PC)

1. Fallout 3 (Xbox 360)

This year, many stellar games were released. I was hard pressed to shorten my list down to a top 5, but I did my best. It was almost a dead heat between Left 4 Dead on PC and Fallout 3 on the Xbox 360. In the end it came down to the immersive nature of Fallout 3’s storyline that gave it the winning edge.

Fallout 3 is the kind of RPG that Bethesda prides themselves on making. They resuscitated a franchise that was in stasis for over a decade and managed to make it more vibrant and alive than its predecessors. Not to say that it replaces the classic Fallout games, but it is very much a worthy heir to the throne of Vault 101.

A barren wasteland isolates the player in the middle of nowhere, with very little handholding. You are left to comb the wasteland in search of items, friends, and storyline. Bethesda even took huge risks by writing a branching story that is monumentally influenced by key decisions throughout the course of the game. One choice can wipe out an entire city worth of story progression and questing. That is the very definition of ‘ballsy’ and makes this one of the most amazing games of 2008.

With over 30 hours in and many more to come, I couldn’t imagine a title being more worthy of Game of the Year.

Monmin Says: The only 2008 games I've played are Left 4 Dead, Viking: Battle for Asgard, Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise, and GTA IV. That excludes a lot of major releases this year, but anyway, my game of the year is: Left 4 Dead.

Kube00 Says: Okay I would say my top picks are:

Metal Gear Solid 4—It has so much to offer, a great story with amazing cutscenes, it’s a PS3 exclusive, and has great multiplayer.

GTA IV—It re-invented the series. The game itself is long, at least 40 hours; and the multiplayer, although not too deep, is fun for quick games.

Editor's Note: Yeah, Kube00 just made me puke. But we still like him and look forward to reading more of his articles.

Getting the Untouchables Achievement

Monmin says: Last night me and some '360 friends' played until 2am trying to get the Untouchables achievement in Left 4 Dead. To earn this achievement, you have to complete the 'Finale' without any of the survivors taking damage.

The finale concept is the same in each campaign—after you reach the rendezvous point, a rescue vehicle picks you up and takes you to safety. The only problem is that you have to wait for the rescue vehicle to show up. Needless to say an incredible onslaught of zombies do everything they can to kill you while you wait.

If you ever play one of these finale's you will know that surviving at all is hard, but surviving with no one taking damage is impossible. It requires a well laid out plan and it requires everyone on the team to work together and to stick to the plan, but improvising when necessary. We were determined to do it.

We leveraged every advantage we possibly could. We set the difficulty to easy, and we found a rock out in the ocean that for some glitchy reason zombies can't seem to climb but we can (its a known bug that someday will get fixed I'm sure). The only danger is the 'tank' zombies that throw rocks at us and the 'smoker' zombies that try to yank us off the rock with their incredibly long tongues that they use as a lasso rope.

Finally, when the rescue boat comes to pick us up we have to leave our rock and run to the dock, where a nasty 'hunter' zombie is always waiting for us. These guys leap through the air and tackle you. You can melee them while they are leaping to block them, but the timing and angle has to be precise.

Well, at 2am last night we finally got the achievement!

You may think it was a hollow victory as we did it on 'easy' and we exploited a known bug, but at 2am in the morning when we all jumped onto the getaway tugboat with our hearts beating fast and dreadful concerns that someone took friendly fire at the last moment, we were all elated when we got the achievement.

Next, we will attempt to make it through an entire campaign with out any 'boomer' zombies vomiting on us.

This game only has 4 campaigns, but when you can get a good group of people to play with, it never gets old.

Multiplayer or Single Player?

Andrew Weymes (aka MrWeymes) Says: The Playstation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube era was primarily focused on single player gaming. Of course, Socom and Halo had many online players, but the majority of gamers were still playing games for the single player experience. However, it is apparent that multiplayer gaming is on the rise over the past few years and much has changed within the current generation.

Many games that have a solid single player experience—but no multiplayer—are often slammed for this alleged short coming; and even have points deducted in their review on gaming websites. An example of this is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. While Uncharted didn't receive terrible scores, the inclusion of a multiplayer experience akin to Gears of War would probably have helped.

There are many gamers who don't enjoy multiplayer, and are concerned with this growing trend in the industry. Single player campaigns are getting shorter and shorter. While the quality of the campaigns is high, it's hard for a single player gamer to spend $60 on a six-hour experience; especially when developers focus their efforts on making the online run smoothly, having a good amount of maps, as well as weapons, and having a good selection of game modes. It's almost as if the single player experience has become secondary, which is backwards compared to previous consoles. Treyarch provided a prime example of this trend by releasing a Beta version of the multiplayer for Call of Duty: World at War as compared to a demo of the single player.

This generation is also seeing a rise in multiplayer-only games such as Warhawk, Socom: Confrontation, and to a lesser extent Left 4 Dead. While you can play Left 4 Dead by yourself, it's clearly made for cooperative play. If games like this become top games in the industry, developers will start to look at single player games differently. There is no sense in making an epic single player experience if it's not going to played by 1/3 as many people as this months multiplayer game.

There are pros to playing single player games, as well as multiplayer games.

Single Player Pros:

• Storylines can draw you in, and make you feel for the character.
• A good amount of single player games have a solid frame rate throughout the game.
• Texturing and lighting effects are always better in single player campaigns.
• Scripted moments that are shocking during your first playthrough.
• The feeling of beating a boss by yourself.
• Exploration.
• A good soundtrack.
  

Multiplayer Pros:

• Playing with people you know is usually fun. For people that live far way from each other, it's nice to socialize again.
• If there is no lag, competing fairly against people from all around the world, or just competing against your friends can be thrilling.
• Talking to real people during cooperative gaming brings a new level of strategy to the table when compared to AI team members.
• Replayability. Many people only play the single player experience of a game once. Multiplayer gives you a lot more hours for the money you spent on a game.
• Winning. It's always fun to beat someone else.
  

It's obvious that multiplayer is now a vital part of the video game industry. If you were to ask the average male, age 10-25 what Call of Duty is, he would probably know the answer, regardless of whether or not he plays that particular game, or video games in general. If you were to ask that same man what Lost Odyssey is, or Dead Space, or Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, he probably wouldn't know. The question is, what do gamers that spend their days playing video games, and talking about them on message boards think? Which kind of games brings you more satisfaction, single player or multiplayer? Which is more fun to play? Most importantly, where is the video game industry heading? Will single player campaigns become secondary to their multiplayer? Have they already?

Left 4 Dead Demo Underwhelming

Andrew Weymes Says: It seems no matter which website you go to, they all shower praise on the latest game by Valve entitled Left 4 Dead. As a zombie—and video game enthusiast—I assumed this would become one of my favorite games. It sounded like a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, I came away from the demo very underwhelmed. Sub par graphics and average gun play killed my enthusiasm pretty quickly. I did find the gun play enjoyable in Left 4 Dead, but I really wasn't overwhelmed by how good each gun felt. They felt appropriate. The guns sounded average. Nothing praise worthy, but nothing to whine about, either. I don't want to offend anyone, but if you're going to tell me that this game has amazing texturing, lighting effects, environments, character models, and animations then you are probably one of those people that think Turok is a great looking game. The environments themselves looked appropriately drab but they weren't very inspired or pleasing to the eyes. As for looking like a zombie, I better not have messy hair, or a little ketchup on my chin if I'm living in the Left 4 Dead universe, or I might be confused as one of the undead. Yes, it's impressive that Valve managed to cram a massive horde of the undead onto the screen without a dip in frame rate, but I would have preferred 20 less zombies for the sake of the zombies actually looking like zombies—and not very angry people without napkins.

I noticed a couple of graphical glitches as well. I didn't think that in 2008 I would see enemy body parts coming through doors and walls, and various other objects, but I did. The draw distance was a bit of a joke as well. I couldn’t see the other end of a hallway at one point, which was kind of a "silent hill fog" effect that unveils the rest of the hallway as you walk further. I also don't like how you are able to walk through, and in to, each other’s character models. I know this had to be done to accommodate smooth multiplayer, but this is why a solid single player campaign would have been nice so that I don't have to be reminded all the time that I'm "just playing a game." Things like that have always pulled me out of the atmosphere that a game tries to create.

From the moment I heard about this game, I was hoping it would have above average graphics, and an enjoyable single player campaign. The single player campaign is nothing more than the multiplayer levels with AI bots to assist you instead of real people. The AI is good, and doesn't run into the wall or get lost behind you, but I was hoping for more than AI bots. I was hoping for something similar to Gears of War, Rainbow Six Vegas, or Resistance where there is an epic single player experience as well as some excellent multiplayer. I enjoy a cinematic experience when I play through a campaign, or story mode of a game, and for gamers similar to myself, I don't think Left 4 Dead is going to be very impressive.

That pretty much covers what I didn't like about the Left 4 Dead demo.

As the graphics are only passable, it makes sense that the main emphasis is obviously on multiplayer. I did enjoy the "AI director" that I have heard so much about. Basically, the AI director places enemies in different locations each time you play through a level, so each level has a huge amount of replay ability. This feature is excellent for a multiplayer game, because no matter what difficulty setting you are on, knowing where the enemies are going to be is always an advantage. An advantage that Left 4 Dead doesn't give you. The focus on teamwork is probably very appealing to a lot of people as well. I'm more of an independent gamer, so having to rely on other people to watch my back is a little bothersome. I find the teamwork aspect of the game to be its greatest strength, though. Some enemies will hold your character down and claw them up, and the only way to get them off of you is for another team member to shoot them. In most multiplayer games, letting your team members die is frequent, but in Left 4 Dead, you want to ensure the survival of everyone, because some of the monsters such as the witch—and the tank—are very hard to take down. I can see this game being very fun with a few friends over Xbox Live.

Despite the plain graphics, the sheer number of undead that you will encounter is intimidating at times. Watching 50 zombies flood the screen, and mowing 10 of them down within a few seconds with a shotgun is definitely rewarding. I didn't really care much for the "special" zombies such as the smoker, or witch. I'm a zombie purist, and I had the most fun just gunning down the horde. I'm sure this will be the best part of the game for most people. Another positive thing about Left 4 Dead is the death animations. Every member of the horde that you kill falls in a different way. There is no predetermined death animation, which is nice. I think of games like Turok where you stab a raptor for the 100th time and it gets dull to watch.

Overall, I think the demo for Left 4 Dead was passable. It wasn't what I was hoping for. I knew there was a heavy emphasis on multiplayer, but I was hoping for a decent single player experience that it does not have. Zombies are supposed to be ugly, but in this game the ugliness is mainly due to the lack of detail. Poor graphics really make it hard for me to immerse myself in a video game. I see this game as a gem for the budget gamer. For people that don't buy or rent a lot of games, and absolutely love multiplayer, Left 4 Dead is gold. The AI director and decent amount of levels gives this game near infinite replay ability. Personally, I like multiplayer, but I don't see myself playing for more than 40 hours if that, so to me Left 4 Dead just isn't that great. When I play a game, I'm hoping that it rivals a good film in the same genre such as the Silent Hill Series, Resident Evil, and even the Condemned series. If all you're interested in is killing decent looking zombies with people over Xbox Live rather than a good story and atmosphere, Left 4 Dead is probably the game for you.

First Impressions of Left 4 Dead

Shawn Lebert Says: A helicopter sweeps over the thundering skies like a whip in a rainstorm. Someone screams that there’s rescue at the hospital, leaving you in a momentous decision to find a way to the haven or to stay right where you are because of safety. You gaze out over the roof ledge of a tenement, staring at the burning streets below, and smelling nothing but rain and gunpowder. Everything seems unnaturally quiet after the helicopter roars away. Would you take the scoop and head to the new sanctuary and risk to experience new horrors that wait? Or will you confide in this apartment house as refuge?

Either way, the truth is: You’re never safe. And Left 4 Dead makes you completely aware of that fact. Wiping out a building with the undead doesn’t mean anything. It just means you managed to survive a few seconds longer. You’d be wiser to reload your current weapon, rather than take that sigh of relief. For a long time, games have always been about What’s behind that corner? Stop thinking that way completely. L4D starts making you think What could be in front of us as well as behind us? That creates a new fear for us as we journey from one place to another. This idea alone keeps you constantly on your tippy-toes. This game is scary and intense.

The demo gives the player only two chapters to play from one level and this one is titled “No Mercy.” It gives a brief introduction to find a means to get to the hospital. Each chapter begins and ends with the characters finding a safe house where you can restock your ammunition and health packs.

Right from the beginning of the level, you’re given the opportunity to test your skills with either a submachine gun or shotgun as a primary weapon. Your handgun is secondary, with unlimited ammo, and forever fastened to your character.

When they said that working with your teammates was essential for survival, they weren’t lying. It is imperative that you stick very close to your partners in this nightmarish battle or consider yourself zombie bait. Remember how I mentioned that not only did you have to wonder about what was lurking ahead of you, but also behind? This is what makes cooperation with your teammates so important. Not only do you have to worry about running zombies smashing their bloody, undead fists into your back, but let’s also introduce other baddies like the “Hunter” and the “Smoker” to make things start to tingle a little bit more.

Don’t let the Hunter hoodie fool you. This guy is super fast on all fours and shows no mercy. He can leap tens of yards from his original position, just so he can pounce and scratch the living hell out of you. If this guy ever connects with you, you better hope your partners are close and friendly enough to load a few rounds into this sucker as you are completely vulnerable to the Hunter’s attacks.

In fact, you’re pretty much vulnerable to any of the attacks that these special enemies have, rendering you helpless and absolutely depending on your friends that are in the battle with you.

The second guy we’ll come to love is the “Smoker.” His scary move is the ability to lash out his unbelievably huge tongue, to grapple and squeeze his prey into submission from a distance. Once again, you are completely vulnerable to this, so watch your back at all times, even your front.

The Boomer makes a more obvious presence in the game. His huge, rotund figure is so much easier to spot, however, don’t assume due to his size that he can’t chase you down. His special ability is to vomit on you. And if you think that’s bad, imagine not being able to see for a matter of nearly 10 seconds as well as attracting a horde of zombies right to your position. That’s right. This vomit is no ordinary vomit. Its pungent smell will alert other undead and hunt you down within a few seconds, so get ready for a group of the undead before you can say ah-na-man-ah-pe-ah. Yeah, I timed it…

Fourthly is the Tank. He is nothing but brute force and he will do nothing but destroy things in his way. His favorite thing to do is Hulk-smash you to kingdom come, so if you got some nerve with him, make sure you’re packing a lot of heat.

Lastly, is the Witch. This creature is the deadliest of them all as one swing from her long claws will leave you sprawled out over the ground, open to any further hits as she so desires to dig into your flesh.

In the demo, you come across each one of these special creatures. There is a chance you may see only a few, too. I suppose consider yourself lucky that you don’t encounter the Witch during one play through. But if you do, be prepared.

Left 4 Dead’s experience is never the same exact thing twice. The developers heavily emphasized that every single play-through is always different. So far, from what I’ve seen, it’s very true. As an example from the very beginning of the level, sometimes zombies would mindlessly stand in a living room of the apartment. Another time, the living room would be absent from anything that moves. And even after playing through and going a second round, you can no longer figure out what’s behind that corner. That alone is what keeps us coming back for more, and what ups the intensity.

What’s more frightening than hearing more than a handful of undead horde screaming and hissing as they grow closer to your location and not knowing which way they’re coming? With every play through, the creatures are randomized and tossed in other locations, and along with that, your ability or perhaps, inability to play the game smartly, creating a literal difficulty change in real-time. Also, don’t think for a second that you can just get distracted by something else while playing. Things will always manage to break in, craving your blood.

Rooms have never been darker; alleyways have never been so ominous. The music soundtrack for the game melds into the events of the game as light piano keys resound and echo in a moment of grief or even silence. The music doesn’t seem to be scripted when getting to a certain point of the level, because what you experience is never the same, so the music is obviously different. If one player is in mid-battle with a few of the undead, the player may hear a distinct music track of turmoil, while the other player, who happens to be in another room, may hear no music at all. It’s all based on what you’re exposed to. It’s minimal, enchanting, and downright spooky.

Everything feels realistic. There’s a plethora of zombie death animations that mix with other animations according to the environment, presenting something new and refreshing every time. Killing a zombie has never been so satisfying. There’s actual weight to the firing of your weapons; meaning, they react to an actual shotgun blast. If you have a 9mm handgun, they react to that differently, as well. Gone are the days of obvious animations no matter what gun you chose to use against the ill-fated zombie before you. You’ll have fun just watching how zombies react and fall. Zombies aren’t impenetrable forces either. One could take just a few rounds into the chest and they’ll go down, while others may take even more. You just can’t know, and there’s no obvious zone (head, chest, limbs) that tell you how many shots you can pull off before they go down.

The visuals were astounding with character models that look nearly photorealistic, as it ran perfectly and smoothly in frame-rate, in a horrific world that felt genuinely disturbing. And that’s what I like. To know there can be twenty zombies flailing on screen and beating the pulp out of me, but knowing that it still runs just as smooth makes me retain that smile. The game uses dialog in game to make sure your partners are aware of what other characters are doing. Covering someone as they reload is essential, and announcing that someone is healing himself or another character is a definite plus. For once, I couldn’t actually complain with the A.I. I never felt like “Oh, silly computer controlled teammate,” as he kept running into the wall. Nope, none of that ever happened.

These are one of the very few games that I could say I thoroughly enjoyed from start to end. From the beginning to the rooftop of the apartment complex, through the murky subway station, there were lots of wide open spaces, but still somehow felt claustrophobic and caught in a world that I seemingly could never escape. You’re never safe and you have to move forward.

I could say the demo was a good length, yet, of course, I always wish for more, and when November 20th hits for the release of this game, this could seriously be up there as one of the best first person shooters I’ve experienced in a damn long time. From Valve, what more can you expect? It’s a damn fine game and I want more. If I was the little kid walking down the street, licking my lollipop, Left 4 Dead would be my candy.