I know Left 4 Dead 2's out and about, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to go on a trip to memory lane and remember what made the first game so damn special in my heart. I've been a zombie movie fan since watching George A. Romero's movies, and the only game that simulated that kind of experience was the original Resident Evil for the Playstation. I played that years ago, and since then, Zombie games and movies have become such a norm that it's a fad waiting to get overdone. Fortunately, this First Person Shooter came along, and it changed my perception and gave me hope for better games where shooting the undead was cool and wicked.
For the life of me, I never thought
Left 4 Dead would make an impression when it first came out for the PC and Xbox 360 about a year ago. It was the kind of game that left a sickening "BANG" sound etched with bloody, gory images on your head whenever somebody mentioned it or you happened to come across the real deal being played right in front of you.
Since their success with Half-Life and Counterstrike, Valve has been on a roll with FPS shooter releases, and their adventures have taken on several forms thanks to updates, expansion packs, and even mods based their game's existing engines. The addition of Left 4 Dead added a little more mess to the frying pan, and fans like me have embraced this new gift. Unlike its bretheren, L4D prides itself in being a 4 versus 4 zombie shooter. Players take on the roles of 4 survivors by default - an old Veteran Soldier named Bill, a biker redneck named Francis, an African American business guy named Lewis, and a lovely and feisty girl named Zoey. These four unlikely allies rally together to shoot down and escape the zombie epidemic, and through a number of scenarios and clever A.I, each adventure played is a totally new experience. I say this because the latter fact is true - a system called "The Director" randomly places object and monster locations through each play, so there's never a pattern to memorize or a recognizable place where a zombie may hide. It's that kind of fear and unpredictability that has you coming back for more.
As for the zombies? They're not just your dumb schmuck stoolies running at you to feast on your sorry hide ala Dawn Of The Dead. No, there are several types of zombies that want to get a piece of you. Besides the grunts, there are 5 classes of enhanced walking dead stalking the survivors throughout the game. First off, there's the Hunter - a jacket wearing zombie that pounces on you like a tiger and starts ripping you to shreds if nobody comes to help you. Next is the Smoker - a smoke belching and coughing prone undead that has a snake like tongue to catch and drag victims away by the neck to certain doom. The fat and bloated slob is known as the Boomer - an obese and snail paced undead that can vomit a stench so powerful it attracts a mob of zombies straight at you! Then comes the big guy... the Tank. Imagine the Incredible Hulk and Resident Evil's Tyrant monster combined, and you get this beast of a fellow tearing sidewalks and buildings just to pound you out of your misery. Lastly, we have the most dangerous zombie yet - the Witch. She's a seemingly harmless undead who starts wailing and crying like a victim to draw your attention. Once you flash your lights or pump her full of lead, she'll come straight at you like a Banshee, and it only takes one hit to down you to certain doom unless an ally is present. That rounds up the list of monster personalities in L4D, and you can play as these terrors in a 4 versus 4 co-op tourney against your friends playing the Survivors!
Like any zombie movie, L4D's places primary emphasis on cooperation and team work. If all of the above were to be discarded or ignored, chances of survival drop from slim to zero. It's a shooter with lots of weapons and heavy firepower, but all of that comes secondary to the coordination needed to get the hell out of a precarious situation. Friendly fire is also present, so don't go blasting out like crazy and hitting a friend in front of you. Every situation needs a plan, and the best way to get out of a rat hole is to use your brain as much as your brawn. This is the kind of game that gives credit to where credit is due in the Zombie genre, and I'm hell of a lot pleased that a sequel is out with new survivors to explore and play through. Still, the first game won't bore me anytime soon, and there's loads of DLC content available and still being planned for the loyal fanbase. Zoey, you'll still be a hottie zombie slayer, hehehe.XD
