Left 4 Dead Hands On Preview

[Brianemone]

I carry a bit of a torch for Zombies, the slow dim witted brain eaters are present in so many games with different stories about the now thoroughly abused premise of being undead. Valve are doing something a little differently, their "Zombies" are not slow and they aren't even called Zombies. Left 4 Dead features infected people that are angry, angry and bloody quick.

The game will be appearing on the PC with a console version coming out as well on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. I was able to play the PC version today and as a console gamer I was both frightened and a little excited, because mowing down hoards of fast zombies meant I was willing to put my personal preference aside and shoot'em up.

Left 4 Dead is a squad based first person shooter that relies heavily on team work to carry you through to the objective. There is a story and objectives that see the players travelling from point A to point B while encountering Zombies throughout the levels. The Zombies appear in waves, there are lone zombies now and again or small isolated groups, but the times when this game shines is when they enter full on attack mode. Every angle will suddenly be streaming with a constant flow of the infected. Walls are broken through and while you can shut doors to slow them down, the bastards always find a way of getting them open, almost as if there was a magical handle that you turn to open them.

During these moments of intense onslaught there little spaces to reload and collect yourself. Playing as a team is crucial, if you do not you end up with a Zombie on top of you and if no team mate rescues you then you are going to die. Likewise, if one of your party is trapped by a Zombie you must free them or they will be overcome by the attack, if you do save them not only do they not die but you also have a far better chance of survival.

Left 4 Dead is not a shooter that requires pinpoint accuracy, in an interview with Mike Booth (one of the developers creating the game) he said something along the lines of "when you are fighting the hoard it's not about being super accurate, it's knowing when to shoot and where to shoot"

One more feature very unique to the Left 4 Dead experience is the dynamic A.I. that you will encounter. Every play through the game will be different. The A.I. model works on a system that will give you a break after an intense section of action, and once you get the chance to have a breather it will fire things up again to full pace. The scale of the battles is also dictated by the competency of the team, it won't throw 12,000 zombies at you if you are low on health/ammo and just got your ass handed to you in a previous encounter.

While most of the weapons are common fare the Pipe Bomb is a nice addition. When you throw it the pipe will start beeping, the beeping attracts the Zombie hoards and so when the explosion takes place you can be confident it will cause a satisfying amount of destruction. You can carry two weapons grenades and a health pack, all are very very important.

It is hard to put into words why I liked it as much as I did, the game is just kick-ass fun. The fact that it is co-op based is really good change from the norm, if you like shooting things, and also having a good time with your friends then this is a title that you should look at getting when it releases in November. Sooooo much fun.

[BorDAr]

:'( i want i want

[GaR]

What? A PC shooter with campaign co-op?

Has the world gone topsy-turvy?

I will play this game, and then... I will play it again.

[Vegan Shinigami]

Originally Posted by GaR

I will play this game, and then... I will play it again.

Made me lol

PS Me too!

[Truth N Justice]

I spoke to Chet with valve @ E3 and he said they aren't doing a PS3 version unless EA want to do a port . But Valve wants nothing to do w/ the PS3.
Sony Fanboys the world over Shed a tear

[Vivasanti]

Havent seen pipe bombs in a game since duke nukem /quakeworld TF

[Vivasanti]

Is this running the same engine as HL2?