Left 4 Dead (PC/360)

[Chubz]

SPECIAL NOTE:  The demo is only good until November 18th.


Anyone who is a fan of George Romero zombie films or even 28 Days/Weeks Later needs to check out the demo they just released of this game.  It should be out on the 360 as well as PC, and is one of the best "zombie games" I've played in a long time.  In fact, I think it's the best one since "Zombies Ate My Neighbors!" on Sega Genesis/Super Nintendo, albeit the fact that that game was much more cartoonish.

Left 4 Dead is, essentially, a multiplayer co-operative-based first person shooter in which you and a squad of three others (either player or AI-controlled) move from location to location while being attacked and ambushed by zombies of all types.  The key points that make this game stand out from the rest are the teamwork required and the innovative artificial intelligence.

Teamwork is important in more ways than one.  Here are just some of the ways:
> Giving one another healthkits, etc.
> Reviving teammates or helping pull them up off ledges they've fallen over
> Saving them from zombies that sometimes pin them to the ground or even snatch them with tentacle-like ropes and start to pull them in to be eaten!

The artifical intelligence is very cool and helps make the game different every time you play it.  There is an "A.I. Director" that will actually populate the world with zombies at specific locations, and even unleash zombie horde attacks depending on the status and locations of the players.  Just as an example:  During one play-through, I went downstairs to the first room in the apartments and found myself ambushed by a large group of zombies who broke down a wall to get to me.  When I replayed the same segment, the wall never came down and the group of zombies was not present at that same spot!  This aspect of the zombie placement/attack methods will keep you on your toes!

Finally, here is a video I recorded showing the game in action: (PC version)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDpuJ3rXHmM

As you can see in the video, it is important to grab items such as health kits and even additional weapons (molotov cocktails as just one example) to aid with your survival and to also help teammates.  Unfortunately, I was the only one using a mic and one of our guys even left us midway through the battle, leaving an AI "bot" in his place.  This video does a poor job at showing the essence of teamwork, but when you are in a match with three other guys who are using their mics and helping keep the team together, the experience is much more satisfying and thrilling.

But it doesn't stop there.

In the final version of the game, there will also be a "Versus Mode" in which some players control the survivors, while others actually play as the zombies and plot attacks to try and kill off the survivors.  I can't wait to try out this mode and to see how it will work on both ends.  (How will the zombie/zombie controller players act?  What types of attacks will they plan?  How will the survivors react?  Will they stick together like in the main game mode?)

With that said, I can only say one thing:  Play this game!  It's a blast.

[sathomaso]

Yeah that looks really cool indeed. Love the action involved, and the teamed-up gameplay rocks.
Beside that online multiplayer option, the absolute top-notch thing for something like this would be a 4-player quatral-split-screen cooperative mode.
E.g. on the xbox360. That would be the ultimate party thing for a gettogether of a bunch of friends.

I've also watched some of the "infected view" gameplay on youtube. Looks neat too.

[Woodthunder]

absolutely love the demo, played it both on pc and 360, it was more fun on 360 simply because we all had mics while on PC it was easier to control but less fun because of the lack of mics

so im not sure which one to get, but overall, the game is crazy fun, iv'e been waiting for a coop game like this for quite some time

[Chubz]

absolutely love the demo, played it both on pc and 360, it was more fun on 360 simply because we all had mics while on PC it was easier to control but less fun because of the lack of mics

so im not sure which one to get, but overall, the game is crazy fun, iv'e been waiting for a coop game like this for quite some time

I feel your pain Woodthunder . . not having mics is a big issue for me, because teamwork is so crucial.  It sort of sucks having to hunt for a server with at least one person talking on a mic, but in the end it's worth it because the game is just so damned fun to play.

[DoomGater]

Generally, I avoid games that depend on Steam.

[Boone]

Me too.  Steam is a pain in the ass.

[Chubz]

I'm not a fan of Steam, but I do like how it keeps all the games organized and automatically downloads updates, etc. so that I don't have to hunt all over the net for them.

[DoomGater]

I prefer to  keep my privacy and organize my games and updates manually

[jleeto]

Generally, I avoid games that depend on Steam.

  Me too,.. which is why I'm getting the 360 version!     Dead Rising was the reason I even bought a 360 back in 05/06 and I consider it to be the best zombie game of all time.  (But Left4Dead might take that status after next week)          Ever since I first played Resident Evil 2 I've loved the concept of George Romeros zombie world.

[Bad Sector]

Well, i believe Steam is one of the best gaming services actually (although the client software is just a little above a piece of crap, but its getting better - however i wonder how comes they have such a nice, clean, modular and optimized engine such as Source and they can't program a proper client for their service). I've bought most of my games from there.

[Woodthunder]

Hmm, I played the pc and 360 demos quite a few times, and as much as I enjoy talking with more people on mics on the 360, this game belongs on pc, its just too difficult for me to play it on 360, it needs a mouse and keyboard, I can play fps's on 360, but not this one.

[Chubz]

Hmm, I played the pc and 360 demos quite a few times, and as much as I enjoy talking with more people on mics on the 360, this game belongs on pc, its just too difficult for me to play it on 360, it needs a mouse and keyboard, I can play fps's on 360, but not this one.

Yeah.  How people play shooters on consoles, I'll probably never know.  The only one I could stomach was Goldeneye 007, and that was years ago.  PC is just so far ahead in terms of user input with the mouse and keyboard, it isn't even funny.  Sad thing is, you'd figure that by now, they would realize it.  But no.  They keep making controllers with freaking joysticks for platforms that rely on shooters as their biggest titles.

[jleeto]

I have not played it yet,.. but I've been watching lots of gameplay video and it seems like the zombies are too fast.     I can tell that this will be a game where I die every 60 seconds.   It looks like you're supposed to just run away and only shoot if you really have to.     

 

[sathomaso]

... it needs a mouse and keyboard, I can play fps's on 360, but not this one.

Yeah.  How people play shooters on consoles, I'll probably never know.  The only one I could stomach was Goldeneye 007, and that was years ago.  PC is just so far ahead in terms of user input with the mouse and keyboard, it isn't even funny.  Sad thing is, you'd figure that by now, they would realize it.  But no.  They keep making controllers with freaking joysticks for platforms that rely on shooters as their biggest titles.

Had the same point of view until a while ago. But that changed after I played GearsOfWar and CallOfDuty4 on the Xbox360. Of course the comparison mouse/keyboard VS joypad is unmatched, but still - after a couple of hourse on the joypad you more or less get used to it. The gaming and aiming isn't as bad as you'd expect.
And the coolest thing is, in multiplayer gaming a PC-gamer can always blame his own lack of skills on the missing keyboard/mouse controls LOL

[Woodthunder]

I agree, after a while of playing shooters on consoles I get used to it

but left 4 dead is a different story, hordes of ultra fast zombies rushing from multiple directions, 3 others you have to make sure you don't shoot, and continuous quick thinking makes this game pc only for me