Spring Break
Nothing 'Dead' about this game
Fernando Dutra
Issue date: 12/3/08 Section: Focus
How did Valve celebrate the 10-year anniversary of seminal PC game "Half Life?" Why, they released a game that showed off how relevant their Source engine still is, of course.
Originally developed by Turtle Rock Studios, who were purchased by Valve when the title was first being made, "Left 4 Dead" is a cooperative survival horror first-person shooter for the PC and the Xbox 360 that follows a group of four characters as they fight through a zombie apocalypse. This isn't a psychological horror game - more emphasis is placed on a visceral, intense experience than ambience.
The emphasis on the game is on cooperation - if players decide to stray from their teammates, they will most assuredly meet their death at the hands of infected humans (not zombies in the traditional sense). Players that do die are able to respawn, but the players will have to wait until a teammate gets them or until the team reaches a safe room. The "infected" are also prone to jumping lone wolf players, who must then defenselessly wait to be rescued by a teammate or suffer death.
The game features four unique levels: No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, and Blood Harvest. Each of these locations has a set start and end point, but alternate routes can be taken to reach each of these. Each level features a unique scenario. For example, No Mercy is the city level, which has players navigating escalators and shops while Blood Harvest is a sylvan level, providing ample trees for the infected to spring from.
At its best, "Left 4 Dead" provides arcade-style, shoot-'em-up fun. The gameplay isn't necessarily deep, but is varied enough to warrant repeated plays. Since items and enemy spawn points change every time a map is loaded, it ensures that no two experiences will be the same. These subtle changes help create an uncertainty that makes the horror element more realistic, denying new players the comfort that comes with knowing where everything on a map is. By this time, however, it's possible that "Left 4 Dead" diehards already know where everything will spawn, which may take away from the experience somewhat.
Originally developed by Turtle Rock Studios, who were purchased by Valve when the title was first being made, "Left 4 Dead" is a cooperative survival horror first-person shooter for the PC and the Xbox 360 that follows a group of four characters as they fight through a zombie apocalypse. This isn't a psychological horror game - more emphasis is placed on a visceral, intense experience than ambience.
The emphasis on the game is on cooperation - if players decide to stray from their teammates, they will most assuredly meet their death at the hands of infected humans (not zombies in the traditional sense). Players that do die are able to respawn, but the players will have to wait until a teammate gets them or until the team reaches a safe room. The "infected" are also prone to jumping lone wolf players, who must then defenselessly wait to be rescued by a teammate or suffer death.
The game features four unique levels: No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, and Blood Harvest. Each of these locations has a set start and end point, but alternate routes can be taken to reach each of these. Each level features a unique scenario. For example, No Mercy is the city level, which has players navigating escalators and shops while Blood Harvest is a sylvan level, providing ample trees for the infected to spring from.
At its best, "Left 4 Dead" provides arcade-style, shoot-'em-up fun. The gameplay isn't necessarily deep, but is varied enough to warrant repeated plays. Since items and enemy spawn points change every time a map is loaded, it ensures that no two experiences will be the same. These subtle changes help create an uncertainty that makes the horror element more realistic, denying new players the comfort that comes with knowing where everything on a map is. By this time, however, it's possible that "Left 4 Dead" diehards already know where everything will spawn, which may take away from the experience somewhat.
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