Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead was a glorious seller when it was released in 2007. It was formerly created by Turtle Rock Studios, but was later purchased by Valve Corporation during development. It's not only available for Xbox 360, but for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Development of the game was completed on November 18, 2008 and was released in two versions: a downloadable version and a digital disc version.

This game had recieved a lot of attention from the media before and after it was released. The game itself focuses on cooperative or individual play and has a more movie-like experiences. Most of the critscim it has recieved were aimed more at the lack of narritives and limited level choices.

Left 4 Dead has recieved many publication awards and Valve had supplemented this game with more level downloads as well as free contents. The popularity of this game led to the development of the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2 that released in 2009.

Plot

It all begins in Pennsylvania where an outbreak of the "Green Flu" (a contagious virus that causes serious aggression and mutation of body cell and loss of brain function) takes the city under. After the first two weeks of infection, four immune survivors—Bill, Zoey, Francis, and Louis—make their way to the city of Fairfield only to realize that the virus mutates and creates certain zombies that have intense strength and power. With this knowledge and narrow escapes, the group of four make their way through city strees and subway sewers only to reach Mercy Hospital where they await and call in for helicopter pick up. Only, they are far from safe when picked up by a chopper. When the aircraft operator turns out to be infected and is forced to be killed, they crash land in an industrial district just outside of Fairfield where they realize that the epidemic has gone global.

They soon make their way to Riverside after using an armored truck as protection. When they reach the highway, the roads happen to be blocked off and they are all forced to go on feet once more. Later, they find shelter within a church where a lunatic has himself locked inside, refusing to help. After various begs and pleas, the lunatic sets of church bells that attract zombie hordes. When finally breaking into the safehouse the lunatic was locked in, they realize he was turning into one of the infected and quickly assassinate him before taking the night to think out other plans. Later on, they settle on going to the nearest boathouse for another rescue.

Once contacting a small fishing vessel, they manage to reach the city of Newburg only to find it up in flames and soon find shelter within a large greenhouse. Of course, they're distracted when seeing to it that a military aircraft passes overhead. They follow through the small streets to the Metro International Airport. Their plans of survival are dim when they realize that the passing military aircrafts (in order to contain the infection) had bombed the airport. Venturing further into the airport, they see many unoperating aircrafts that were meant for take off but never had enough fleeing human passengers. They fuel up one of the following planes before taking off and crash landing once more.

When they find themselves in an overrun part of the Allegheny Nation Forest, they are quickly picked up by military personnel who explain to them that though they aren't infected, they still carry this virus. When the military base is soon overrun, Bill claims that they will find long-term safety on the islands of Florida Keys.

By the time they get to the portside town of Rayford, they find a boat that must raise an old, rusty bridge. With their luck, the generator breaks and since the noise alerted a zombie horde, Bill sacrifices himself to turn on the rest of the surrouding generators for the safety of the others.

Unlike other video games that balance in and out of cutscenes and narritives, Left 4 Dead leaves the player to assume what'll happen before the next level starts. Because of the loss of story line, it was critized heavily even though it reached various appreciations and publication awards.

Gameplay

There are four game-modes to choose from. Single-player mode is where you have the ability to choose one out of the four characters to play as; A four-player, cooperative campaign mode; eight-player online versus mode; and a four-player suvival mode.

Single-player mode consists of

• You, as one of the four characters, venturing through four to five sublevels in one certain area to get to your final destination. All the while, you are confronted by mutated zombies that each have an individual strength against mankind, various attacks by hordes, and the need to survive and protect yourself and your teammates.

Four-player, co-op campaign mode consists of

• You, as well as three of your allies, team up to venture into levels and sublevels alike. I personally think co-op allows you to have a greater sense of stability and much more fun than it is to play alone.

Eight-player online versus mode consists of

• You entering a team of four against four. You can either start off as the infected, trying to kill the survivors (oppposing team) or vice-versa.

Four-player survival mode consists of

• Your teammates and yourself being thrown into a 'last man standing' situation. Let's say, there was no rescue. Would you give up and await death or would you fight until the end? With endless amounts of ammo, certain types of grenades and weaponary, you are met with the most energetic, ruthless hordes and infected you can possibly go against.

Survivors

Zoey is not your typical university student. With quick thinking and sharp shooting, you'd want her to be guarding your back if it's the last thing you do. She keeps her fear to a minimum, rarely ever showing it unless pounced by a Hunter or attacked by something unforeseen. In the end, she's filled with enough spunk and courage to get even the most hopeless out of the safe room and venturing into danger.

Bill uses his past skill of being a Vietnam veteran to take the lead of the younger trio. He has nearly all the last words and maps out nearly every bit of foriegn terrain he happens to set foot upon. With ears alert and eyes scanning feverishly, he is one of the most serious, the most brave, and the most experienced.

Francis is one of your stereotypical members of a biker gang. With enough humor to even make Bill laugh, he gives the tense atmosphere a loose and jab here to there, trying to find peace and a sense of serenity in the midst of pure chaos.

Louis was a former Account Manager who had to switch up his profession as soon as the "Green Flu" outbreak changed courses for the world. He happens to be one to panic in times of distress and has many run ins, ones that nearly took his life or the life of a teammate.

Infected

The Hunter is an agile member of the infected. His way of hunting deals with survivors that flank away from their team. With one pounce, it can nearly end the life of a player unless back up is close by. They are indentified by their primary growl or screams and howls when their eyes set upon survivors.

The Smoker holds that of a long, whip-like tongue that allows him to coil a survivor before dragging them to his spot despite the distance. If any obstacle stops the survivor from reaching him, he will use it to choke them. He frequently makes high-pitched wheezing or rasping noises.

The Witch is one of the only infected that show human like signs. She can be heard from afar with her constant weeping and cries. She is highly sensitive to light and the close presence of human beings. She is more startled than willed to kill. If a survivor approaches her too closely or shines a light upon her frame, she'll attack. She's one of the strongest. With one hit, she can incapitate a survivor before gutting them with her claws.

The Boomer is the only special infected that happens to be bloated. Mutation has made it produce vast amounts of bile that it attemps to vomit upon survivors. This also temporarily blinds them and summons a small horde of zombies. Though fragile and slow, they are extremely dangerous to survivors. Mostly known by it's disgusting belching and burping noises when nearby.

The Tank is one of the biggest and most powerful special infected. It is only brought down if the whole team works to kill it. If not, then he can wipe out the whole of the surviving population.

This short, simple and quite fun based gaming experience will leave you with enough thrill and excitement, depending on which level difficulty you choose. Good luck and be brave.