There's one game recently that has dominated my online play, and that game is Left 4 Dead - Valve's co-op shooter set in a zombie apocalypse (also available on PC). This is a game that whilst does offer an offline, single-player, can only truly be experienced properly with three others WITH headsets and that is crucial - having your teammates shout out for help, berate you for failing to save them when surrounded and offer congratulations for pulling through a nasty scrape is genius. The simple fact that playing through this game, makes yourself and others emote so is testament to the quality of title here.
What do I think of this game? Simply awesome. Is that not enough for a review?… Fine, click for more.
Left 4 Dead has you play as one of the four survivors through four themed campaigns, the premise being that you must work and help each other through zombie-infested streets, houses, sewers etc towards a hopeful rescue. These campaigns are full of movie set-pieces and cliches, the impression further cemented by the movie poster loading screen when the campaign starts. Each campaign is split into 5 "chapters" or levels with a "safehouse" being the goal at the end of each chapter. Each campaign builds to its finale where the survivors have to call for the rescue vehicle (a helicopter in one scenario, a yacht in another etc), and then hold out against waves of zombies until it arrives. The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.
Along with the finale set pieces, there are also chokepoints throughout the stages such as waiting for the elevator, opening an emergency door etc where you can no further until you initiate the sequence. Doing so predictably alerts the zombie horde to your presence, so get ready to defend your position.
To make progress through the levels even harder, the survivors will come up against boss or elite infected characters. The Hunter will pounce on an unsuspecting survivor and start ripping them to shreds. The Boomer will attempt to vomit over survivors - the Boomer's bile would attract the horde and the vomitees (I’m arguing for it to be a word) would become the sole target for the zombie pack. The Smoker has the ability to lasso with his tongue and drag them away from the other survivors. The Tank is a hulk-like super-zombie that can pummel a survivor to death, hurl slabs of concrete and requires all four to work together to take it down. Finally, there's the Witch that doesn't dynamically spawn like the others, but sits stationary - the choice is to try and sneak round and not disturb her - doing so equals instant incapication if she gets you. The intro movie does a great job of solidifying all this information so it all feels pretty familiar when you first start out.
The sound design in this game is deep and well thought out. All of these boss/elite infected all have their audio cues, plus even if they are missed, the survivors themselves will often announce them for you - and soon enough you'll be calling them out too. The music swells to indicate an incoming swarm plus the vocals of the four characters and the interchange between them are very entertaining. Drums beat when a roaring tank bursts out and the haunting melody coupled by crying indicates a Witch is close and gets stronger as you dare to get closer. Clicking in the left thumb stick will get your survivor to announce what they can see, whether that be a Boomer, weapons or even another survivor. When doing this with your other players, your player will shout their name if they are a fair distance away, and not if they're much closer, again it's these kind of minutia which make the game so polished. A fun departure we've developed is announcing Bill's name - I don't know why but it's hilarious - give it a try and let's spread this thing...
Players are able to carry 2 types of weapons, the 1st weapon being the pistol which has unlimited ammo (a 2nd pistol can be found to dual wield - although remember it's still the one trigger and not both like in Halo which I accidentally did my first time with it), the 2nd weapon can be a choice from a shotgun, machine gun or rifle, and this ammo is limited, but more can be found, along with gun upgrades, along the way. Players can also carry one health pack (restores majority of one's health), one projectile (more in a moment) and one lot of "pills" which offer a temporary health boost. Players can either carry a molotov cocktail or a pipe bomb, which zombies are attracted to the noise and light and then blow up taking out a large number.
The game itself actively rewards co-operative behaviour; if one person breaks off from the others, whether that be leaping ahead out of impatience, or being left behind, the game will punish that survivor, so it really is an "all for one" mentality, which everyone needs to adhere to in order to make it through. All players are able to heal themselves and more importantly heal each other. Pain pills which offer a temporary health boost can also be shared with other players. When other players have been knocked down or being pinned by a hunter or smoker, you can rush to their aid to help them back on their feet - but do it quick, once a player has been knocked down they are on borrowed time and very close to death. The beauty of the game is in its ability to induce panic even when there may not actually be that many zombies running at you. Holding down the trigger as you try and mow the advancing numbers down and your accuracy will suffer, which only adds to the panic as you begin to struggle to clear these zombies.
If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.
Probably the biggest selling point of the game is the AI Director that serves to vary the experience every time mixed with these simple mechanics detailed above. The majority of the game's encounters are unscripted so it's not possible to learn what's going to be beyond the next corner and so forth - the AI Director will mix it up every time, throwing a swarm of zombies at you during one playthrough, and spawning a tank at the same point on the next playthrough. If your team is struggling then the director will ease up on the zombie swarms and offer more ammo and health. If the group stays in one place then don't think the game will cut you a break, the horns will soon sound and a swarm will be on its way.
Extra little options which again cement my opinion of how polished this game is are the option to call a vote in mid-game in order to change the difficulty, go back to the lobby, or kick a player as they keep running off/startling the witch. Also it's possible to take a break and the AI will take over. There are always the four characters (unless there have been deaths...) and the AI will take over (and sometimes do a better job).
Along with the campaign mode, the game also offers a Versus Mode where you get the opportunity to play as the infected. Four survivors play against four infected and it's the ultimate griefing mode. The learning curve is a quite steep at first when playing the infected, it takes a moment to work out how to maximise each infected's ability, plus you are taken out with one good shot most of the time, so it's best to plan and coordinate with your other zombie buddies. Once this initial slump is overcome, the game is terribly rewarding and strangely always fun to give the survivors a hard time. I found it best to take cues from where the AI director spawns the zombies, so Smokers go on rooftops, Boomers hide round corners and jump out to vomit etc. The game randomly selects either boomer, hunter or smoker as the infected that you spawn as, the witch is not an option (rightly so) and the option as spawning as a tank crops up most once a level and is awarded to one player, so that's always very cool, although it's never myself enough it seems. The versus mode scores the survivor team after each round, multipliers are awarded for the number that make it to the safehouse - despite this the playstyle seems to be at a quickened pace to give the infected team less chance to screw them over. After each round, the teams swap over and go again.
The main life in the game I think is the versus mode and also chasing the harder achievements in the campaign, such as completing all four on expert (very hard!)
Perhaps the only downside of the game is the fact that while the game's placement of the infected changes every time, the campaign setting is limited to the current four offerings, and it is this reason why some may feel that there's not much game here. I personally feel there it is enough, the number of hours I've clocked up should be proof of that. Plus, Valve are very good at supporting their games, and forthcoming DLC has been announced. This DLC will offer to play the other two campaigns in Versus mode and also a new Survival mode - no details have been announced but it's the next best thing after a fifth campaign which is what everyone, myself included, were hoping for. Despite it not coming in this first DLC pack, there's hope that more DLC will be released in the future.
Left 4 Dead was actually released last November, and I'm prepared to make it my Game of the Year for 2008. It is a true co-operative experience which I've not found in other games that boast a co-op option. I would repeat my sentiments at the very top, this is best played with others and soon you'll be crafting your ultimate zombie team in preparation for when the real undead apocalypse comes...
