Left 4 Dead (PC Games)

Reviewed by Shaun on January 6th, 2009

This is so much fun I have played at friends for a few hours before and simply love it have then since bought off Mighty Ape and awaiting arrival. Graphics, physics, gameplay all superb.

100's of zombies coming for you and you blast them -- makes this the greatest horror game I've played. Cant wait to receive from the courier!

Reviewed by Mitch on December 27th, 2008

Got this game for christmas and have played before at Net cafes. This game is a must for any gamer who loves anything zombie related. While it lacks in story line (all we really know is that zombie apocolypse broke out and these 4 somehow need to be rescued over and over in different situations) it makes up for in complete awsomeness. The weapons are fun to use and all have different disadvantages and advantages. The achievments are so rewarding to unlock (although some are near impossible with only the best achieving them).

The 4 levels can be a bit repetitive (hence the 4 stars) however I have heard talk of more levels being released as well as a soon to be released mod that allows people to design levels (sort of like hammer I would assume).

Reviewed by James on December 14th, 2008

If you don't intend to or can't play online or lan, I wouldn't recommend this game.There are only 4 chapters taking about an hour each and the weapon selection is a bit limited. But Valve will most likely release more content in future patches.

But if you play online it is extremely replayable and fun, especially if you play with people who have mics.I highly recommend you have a microphone if you intend to play online, as it makes the game alot more enjoyable being able to communicate with the other players.

The levels are well balanced and due to the AI director, weapons and zombies are in different locations every playthrough.There isn't really much of a story.

The graphics are good, considering the age of the source engine and it runs real smooth.On my 9600gt i can play at 1680*1050, with the graphics maxed out and with 16x aa and 16x af.

Reviewed by Helen on December 9th, 2008

Left 4 Dead is insane and one of the best games that have been released in a long time. Within 30 seconds of starting up a game there will be at least 15+ (literally) zombies, with arms flailing, screaming and trying to stomp your face in. These zombies aren't the classic type, they are superfast and will smash, tear, climb and run to get to you. They are the type of zombies that if you saw coming you would head tail and make a dash for it. Valve have pulled it off big time with this one.

You may be thinking, "Hmmmm. There are only 4 campaigns, this game surely must get extremely repetitive and very boring." Yes the setting is the same everytime, but the AI director ensures that no game is the same. Every time you play, The AI director manages the game differently and adds boss zombies, weapons, health pick ups and other accessories as well as the normal zombies. One time you might be playing and suddenly a massive horde of about 30, or so, zombies will come sprinting round a corner intent on curb stomping you and your buddies faces in. In addition to this, there is a vs mode which is extremely fun. One team of four plays the survivors while another team of four plays the boss zombies as spawned by the AI director. The survivor team must get the best score in a level based on a number of requirements and the Zombies must kill or slow them down in order to minimize their score. After the level is over the teams switch and the survivors now become the zombies and vice versa. Once both teams have finished the next level begins, when all the levels are completed in a campaign, the points are totaled and the winning team announced.

The sounds and the voice chat are amazing, much better than most games and when this is combined with the bleak atmosphere created by the highly professional, Valve, creates a horrer game that would give nightmares to anyone ranging from tiny toddlers to old women in their 80s.

One thing that needs to be fixed is the matchmaking as it can be hard to find a game, but there is an easy fix to this. Simply enable the console in the options and then open the console by typing ~ (top left of keyboard) and type in "openserverbrowser" (without quotation marks).

In conclusion, Valve have created the game that many mods have attempted to create in vein, the game that everyone dreamt a developer would one day forge via hard, sweaty labor on computers in an overcrowed office with 50 other people. Like I said before, the game is insane and you'll have to play it yourself to truly understand what I mean. So buy it and I'll see you on there chumps. (My steam name is Darkmessiahnz, add me if you want a game.)

Reviewed by Ken on December 7th, 2008

This game will make you feel like a true bad ass. The guns are limited but all well balanced and provides an awesome bang as you blow heads off or sweep away hordes with you shotgun. The satisfaction of mowing down dozens (yes dozens at one time) is something I've not felt all year in any particular game, especially when the odds just seem impossible and you want to walk out and leave the room when you see them coming from a distance. The Source engine does justice and still does great shadows and lighting/fog effects and it runs like butter on most machines that are even 4 years old. It's main point is co-op so also get your mates to purchase this ;), you'll all have to watch each others back when playing Expert and Advanced game settings. Straight hardcore shoot'em up with all elements of the fun fps moments in one, should be a contender for game of the year! recommended!

Reviewed by Andrew on December 7th, 2008

This game is insanely amazing. Takes the whole 'zombie' genre to a new level. I can't wait to see what updates get released via STEAM in the future, More levels, weapons, mutant zombies, who knows! Definitely my favourite game for the year.

Reviewed by John on December 5th, 2008

What does the title of this have in relation to the body of this?
It's one of the things you'll be screaming into the microphone constantly while playing.

Hands down, this, along with TF2, is one of the must have multiplayer games. It's visceral, it's fast paced, and it's FUN.
This may be the best implementation of Co-Op I've ever seen.

Also, a unlisted selling point is the fact that there is split screen for PCs, granted you're willing to get your hands a little dirty.

Reviewed by Daniel on December 4th, 2008

You won't believe how much fun this game will deliver to you. No other games got me so hooked up like this one, that I played it straight 6 hours after unpacking the game.

Totally awesome game.

I purchased CoD 5 with this game, but I opened CoD and played for about 5 mins then I continued playing L4D. The amount of Fun (& the quality of fun) just can't be matched with any other game that's out in the last 2-3 months (Fallout3, WoTLK, Tombraider, CoD5, C&C, Farcry, Deadspace).

It gets a little boring when you start to see people acting alone and not as a team, and the given 4 campaigns start to grow a little old, (it took me about a week when I first felt it's getting a bit boring) but yeah, 7 days of superb fun, I believe that was worth the bucks I paid.

Hopefully new campaign and mods will come out. :)

Reviewed by Eric on November 22nd, 2008

Great game. buy for muliplayer/Lanning use.

Weapons are limited and so are the levels until mods come out.

Interaction makes this game, the npcs are funny to listen to and so are team mates during multiplayer.

story is you are in the horror movie as per level and you must escape each level is devided into chapters.

Reviewed by K on November 21st, 2008

Well, I've played single player since it arrived today. the first campaign was very short - a mere 1hr. However, gameplay gets harder and longer with each campaign. Shame the boss figures are the same as SIN Emergence. Otherwise good game. No story at all - straight shoot 'em up.
Oh, and don't think a mounted machine gun gives you any safety from the hordes....
Enjoy!!