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If the world was to be overrun by a deadly force, I, personally, would prefer it to be aliens from outer space rather than zombies. I’ve never seen an extraterrestrial and if they abduct me, I get to travel to space and possibly another planet. I’ve seen humans. I see live ones everyday and I can’t say I’m very impressed and I don’t think seeing dead or undead humans would be that much of an improvement. Plus, I can only imagine the odor that would permeate the air from the abundance of rotting corpses roaming around would be unbearable. However, if video games are anything to go by, shooting them is a lot of fun and Left 4 Dead is a zombie shooter that has always intrigued me. Developed by Valve South and published by Valve, Left 4 Dead was released for PC and Xbox 360 in November, 2008. For this review, I played the PC version. Left 4 Dead is a first-person shooter that allows multiple players to team up and fend off hordes of zombies.
One of the best things about Left 4 Dead is its simplicity. Everything from the plot to the gameplay is very simple and centers around the basic concept of zombies. The zombies, referred to as “infected”, are humans that have been infected with some kind of virus. Set during the aftermath of a viral outbreak, the four protagonists or “survivors” try to stay alive and escape areas overrun with infected. Each protagonist has their own personality and they will exchange dialogue during gameplay. The game does convey a dark and creepy tone which is consistent across all campaigns and is lightened up with some humorous dialogue and banter.
The ideal way to enjoy Left 4 Dead is with other players but you can play through the campaigns in single player in which case the other three survivors will be controlled by the game. Left 4 Dead comes with multiple game modes. Campaign, which can be played cooperatively with others or in the single player variant. Survival, where you try to survive hordes of infected for as long as possible. And Versus, where eight players are split up into two teams, Survivors and Infected. Despite the fact the sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, improves almost everything about the gameplay, features all the campaigns from Left 4 Dead, and also comes with new stuff, I found the Left 4 Dead multiplayer scene to still be alive as of this review. I didn’t really get a chance to try the Versus mode but I was able to play through some campaign and Survival levels with other players.
As mentioned before, Left 4 Dead is a pretty simple game. It’s easy to pick up and play and I think its simplicity is what makes it so enjoyable. Unlike many other zombie-focused games which place an emphasis on survival horror elements like managing resources, crafting, and maybe some puzzle solving, these things are absent in Left 4 Dead. It’s a run and gun shooter where you and your team must go from A to B and try not to die. That’s basically the goal of every campaign level, find and reach the safe room, and then you proceed to the next level. Some levels require you to activate something which always results in hordes of infected coming after you and the final level of a campaign typically ends with the team defending themselves against hordes until rescue arrives.
You can find and carry medkits that will replenish health as well as pain pills which provide a temporary health boost. Weapons, ammo, medkits, and pain pills can be found in the environments but they’re not around every corner so if you should be mindful of anything, it’s your primary weapon’s ammo but your secondary weapon or sidearm, a pistol, has infinite ammo and if you find another, you can dual wield them. One gripe I have with the game is that there’s not many weapons. There’s an assault rifle, hunting rifle, pistol, submachine gun, a couple of shotguns, pipe bombs, and molotovs. Granted, none are ever rendered useless and they all feel satisfying but the selection is small. Regardless, the gunplay is great thanks to excellent audiovisual feedback and wonderful visual and gore effects. Gunfire can result in smoke and debris filling the air, you can blow off enemy heads and limbs, some blasts will send their bodies flying, blood will splatter on surfaces, enemy animations and reactions to gunshots look cool, and muzzle flashes illuminate dark areas. It’s all very well done and helps make for an intense, satisfying, and gory good time.
In the campaigns, you’re never actually required to shoot any infected. The objective is never to wipe them out but you’ll most likely die if you don’t drop the ones in your way. Your goal is to make it to the end of the level and the game encourages everyone to stick together to stay alive. Unfortunately, if playing the single player, the AI controlled teammates are not all that spectacular. They do the bare basics. They run around, shoot infected, and will revive you and each other if someone goes down and even heal you and each other if someone is low on health. They won’t activate things or throw pipe bombs or molotovs. Still, I found their performance to be adequate on the Normal difficulty level. When I stuck with them, they did a decent enough job at keeping the infected at bay or away from me. Plus, they will alert you to any special infected in the area and will attempt to rescue you if you’re immobilized by one. Nevertheless, playing with other players is still the most enjoyable way to experience the campaigns, especially if everyone communicates and works together.
There’s two kinds of infected, standard and special. The standard infected do the basic zombie things and you’ll occasionally have to fend off hordes of them. This is when they arrive in large numbers, typically from multiple directions. They are attracted to things like noises including car alarms and the beeping of pipe bombs. Standard infected are found everywhere and will climb things, they can break through doors and certain walls, and they’re most dangerous in numbers but fending them off is easy enough. It’s the special infected you have to watch out for and they come in multiple types.
Boomers vomit bile on you which attracts other infected. They explode when killed but if they explode close to you, that also results in you being covered in bile. Hunters move fast, can leap long distances, and will pin you down. Smokers have a long tongue that can strangle and immobilize survivors. Tanks can withstand and inflict a lot of damage. And finally, the Witch. She appears less frequently than the other special infected and makes her presence known through loud crying so you’ll know she’s around before you spot her and she only attacks if you startle her. She can be startled by damaging her, getting too close to her, and shining your flashlight on her and a startled Witch can incapacitate you in one hit making her very dangerous. Sometimes she can be avoided altogether but in my experience, she typically spawns directly where you need to go or in spots where avoiding her is difficult or basically impossible.
The star of Left 4 Dead is The Director, the AI of the game (not to be confused with the teammate AI), and I think this, along with the game’s easy-to-pick-up-and-play nature, is what makes it so replayable. Instead of set spawn points, The Director dictates where enemies will spawn and how many appear based on each player’s status. It’s a dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing, and difficulty. The level layouts always remain the same but The Director is responsible for enemies and pickups among some other things. As a result, every single playthrough will be different.
The campaign levels are diverse and it’s the details along with the eerie and intense tunes that help drive the creepy tone of the game and give off a sense of dread. You’ll see abandoned and destroyed cars on the roads, dead bodies can be found littered about, and you’ll move through many abandoned and partially destroyed buildings. The game takes you to an airport, sewers, woods, hospital, docks, farmhouse, subway, and many more locations and they all look like something horrible passed through. The environments are mostly linear but sometimes include multiple routes to a destination and will offer things to aid you like mounted guns, gas cans, propane tanks, and explosive barrels. You can enter many of the buildings and rooms you come across and even close doors which can help delay the infected from reaching you. Because of how The Director works, it’s wise to explore every nook and cranny so you don’t miss out on pickups should you or your teammates need them. In one playthrough, a door may lead to an empty room but in another, it may lead to a room housing ammo or a medkit for example.
Some aspects of Left 4 Dead’s visual presentation certainly look dated nowadays but for the most part, I think the visuals hold up really well. The visual and gore effects in particular still look great. Furthermore, Left 4 Dead features full body awareness which I always appreciate in first-person games. It’s good to know your character is more than just a floating arm, hand, and weapon. The gameplay is backed by music with tunes only kicking in at certain points to elevate tension and create different moods and I think it works well. In fact, Left 4 Dead’s audio work in general is very well done. The infected will make all kinds of disgusting noises, the special infected make unique noises which makes them easy to identify just by listening, and weapons fire and explosions sound great. On the technical side, I’m happy to say I encountered no major issues.
I think the Left 4 Dead games are my favorite zombie games to date. Unlike some others, I don’t have to solve puzzles, craft anything, or spend a lot of time managing resources or my inventory. I can just run through levels and blast away zombies and even do it with buddies. Left 4 Dead is fun in single player but playing with others is even better. It takes the basic concept of zombies and makes a simple and fun shooter out of it. Working together with your teammates is all part of the fun and The Director ensures that every playthrough will be different. Every player and team will always have a unique experience. Plus, the game supports mods so Left 4 Dead basically comes with endless replay value. I do think Left 4 Dead 2 is the better game but this was still fun to revisit and as of this review, the multiplayer scene is still active.
I do recommend Left 4 Dead but you may want to skip this and just get Left 4 Dead 2 instead. It comes with all the campaigns and characters in Left 4 Dead along with new stuff. Still, Left 4 Dead remains a solid and enjoyable cooperative first-person shooter and marks the start of the series. If you’re looking for a game that simply lets you shoot a ton of zombies and even do it with your friends, Left 4 Dead is the game to play. Definitely check it out.