| Author | Review |
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Aerodynamo
111,940
TA Score for this game: 1,523
Posted on 30 December 08 at 21:00, Edited on 30 December 08 at 21:05 |
This review has 89 positive votes and 13 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Left 4 Dead
About the Game (taken from the Steam Store)
"From Valve (the creators of Counter-Strike, Half-Life and more) comes Left 4 Dead, a co-op action horror game for the PC and Xbox 360 that casts up to four players in an epic struggle for survival against swarming zombie hordes and terrifying mutant monsters.
Set in the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, L4D's survival co-op mode lets you blast a path through the infected in four unique “movies,” guiding your survivors across the rooftops of an abandoned metropolis, through rural ghost towns and pitch-black forests in your quest to escape a devastated Ground Zero crawling with infected enemies. Each "movie" is comprised of five large maps, and can be played by one to four human players, with an emphasis on team-based strategy and objectives."
Gameplay ( 10 / 10 )
The gameplay in Left 4 Dead is original, unique, and satisfying… That is, if you enjoy team-based play. Don’t get this game if you are a Rambo-esque kind of player, or if you hate relying on other players! You can choose to play with friends, or with random people. I highly recommend headsets to hear the warnings and cries of help from your teammates, and even to give some every so often. The game is a simple travel game to get from point A to point B, with only one thing between you and your goal: zombies. Shoot them down, find cover, and hope to reach the safehouse at the end of each chapter. At the end of each campaign is a final level, a “finale”, in which you must defend yourselves and hold out until rescue comes to get you.
Versus mode offers new life to the campaign mode by allowing another team of players to play as zombies. They take turns spawning as different types of Special Infected, not including the witch. Every so often, one player will become the Tank. Both teams will play as humans one round, and as the infected the next, allowing both teams to experience the same obstacles and compete for the most points.
Graphics ( 9 / 10 )
The graphics in this game are amazing, but I would be lying if I said they were groundbreaking. Fire looks beautiful, and if you’ve ever seen vomit look so pretty in another game, I will give you $20 up front. The Havok physics engine is utilized every step of the way, from trudging through zombie corpses that piled up in your quest, to knocking zombies off of a building. The characters all look unique, as the company’s trademark is giving each player character a unique outline to tell them apart from far away, or in Left 4 Dead’s case, through the outline on the other side of walls (like superman!). Special infected all come in one size and shape each, which is good, and the normal infected have about 20 or so unique looks that I can tell apart… Even though I know that they are all virtually identical, I never realize this as I only see each face for seconds before I gun them down. You’re never given an opportunity to look zombies in the eye and sweet talk them, so the repetition of models won’t get old.
Sound ( 10 / 10 )
The game utilizes sound as the primary indicator of oncoming danger. You’ll hear crying to indicate that a witch is nearby, sobbing her heart out, and the rumbling and growling (as well as screen-shaking) of a tank as it destroys all in its path to get to you. Smokers cough and gag, boomers have trouble keeping the vomit in their mouth, and hunters shout seethe with rage and even cry out threats as they jump. Aside from making a grotesque noise, each special infected (as well as a group of the normal ones) are accompanied by a thrilling “theme”, and it becomes easy after 1-2 plays of the campaign which theme and noise is associated with each type of infected… With your speakers off, you barely stand a chance.
Replayability ( 9 / 10 )
Like any games, you will need to take a break every now and then. I’ll be honest: when I rented this game, I thought it would get old fast. 40-60 minutes a campaign, 4 campaigns? I couldn’t see how this could be fun to play more than once… Then I tried it. Hell, I must have played the first campaign (“No Mercy”) about a thousand times before moving on to the next. The game will constantly have you coming back for more. You'll never encounter the same series or pattern of attacks either; the game uses a technology they dub the "AI Director" to control the horde movements and put you into tense, tough positions throughout the game... Don't let your guard down!
Pros:
Heavily Teamwork Based (if you like team play)
Amazing usage of sounds and shapes
Never the same as the last time you played
Cons:
Heavily Teamwork Based (if you prefer solo play)
Only four campaigns (alleviated with DLC in the future, I am sure)
Only two campaigns playable in versus mode (hopefully patching the other two)
Recommendations:
Microphone, Three Smart Friends, Loud Speakers
Recap:
Gameplay ( 10 / 10 )
Graphics ( 9 / 10 )
Sound ( 10 / 10 )
Replayability ( 9 / 10 )
Overall ( 9.5 / 10 )
If this game doesn't win any awards this season, I will resign as a gamer and not touch anything that has any sort of point or reward system, even if the reward is bragging rights, satisfaction, or a simple smile. If you're worried about buying this game, rent it and fall prey to the addiction that is Left 4 Dead. If you're considering this between other games, ask yourself: "Do I prefer games where I can work alone, or games where I always need to rely on and help out my team?" if you prefer the latter, get Left 4 Dead, as no other game amounts to the level of Teamwork required.
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HWNDarkside
575,122
TA Score for this game: 2,664
Posted on 04 February 09 at 11:43 |
This review has 41 positive votes and 14 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
It's like Valve tapped into my brain, sucked out all the zombie holocaust dreams I've ever had and turned them into the best co-op game ever made.
Play through a campaign and you'll average around 2,000 infected kills, more exploding heads than you can wave your auto-shotgun at, more pant-filling terror than any other game ever made, and you've got "Director" to thank for it all.
Director is genius. Director is the big, scary man hiding behind your sofa ready to shout "BOO!" when you least expect it and then pounce on you and claw out your intenstines.
Director controls everything. Nothing in the game (other than the odd medi kit) spawns in the same place. Infected attacks happen completely at random. One game you might get half way across the map no problem, the next you're pinned down in the safe room struggling to get the level started! Spend too long in one area and Director will send Horde after you. Or maybe a Tank. Or maybe it'll stick a Witch right outside the end-of-level safe room. No matter how familiar you are with the maps there is always constant threat.
If Director isn't challenging enough for you (and trust me, it is) then the Versus mode allows 4 players to control the Special Infected and orchestrate their own undead slaughterfest.
This is as close to a zombie invasion as you'll ever get (zombie/infected - whatever - they all look the same spread all over the walls). Think Dawn Of The Dead remake. Think 28 Days Later. Think Planet Terror.
Total and utter awesomeness.
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xBrushedRedx
57,803
TA Score for this game: 2,664
Posted on 19 August 10 at 20:05, Edited on 18 June 12 at 09:45 |
This review has 33 positive votes and 8 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Get ready for some zombie killin' fun!
I have a little downtime in college, and I need a time killer, so I figured I'd write a review for a game I love. Left 4 Dead is honestly, one of the best, if not the best game I've played.
What's more fun than running around killing zombies with 3 of your friends. I will be honest, it's not as good without your friends, but hey, this is a co-op game, it's meant to be played with others.
This game is seriously addicting and you'll find yourself playing it constantly once you get it.
*NOTE: If you're gonna thumbs down, please state why... I worked hard on this review and I don't wanna delete it, but my review ration keeps plummeting bc of the negs and I would like to know why people are thumbs downing.
On to the evaluations:
Campaign Mode
This is quite a fun feature to play, to have the best experience, you should play with some friends, but if not, it's still fun. There's not too much of a story to play along with. There actually IS a story, but it's mainly told in the game manual (and possibly online). I don't really know the story, so I can't really say. I THINK, don't quote me on this, but I think that someone with a zombie virus or something donated blood to Mercy Hospital and it eventually got all over..
Important thing here: The story DOES NOT MATTER, it simply doesn't. All the game is basically about is killing zombies and all the joy it brings, and trust me.... IT DOES!
Also, campaign can bring quite a challenge if you haven't experienced the gameplay before. Whenever I first got the game, I couldn't even survive easy mode. I did do expert with some friends eventually, but it took me a while to work my way up. I'm serious, this game is HARD.
There are many common infected running around and shooting them is fun, and can also be gorey with an auto shotty :)
You will eventually meet up with some special infected, which usually make noise whenever they spawn, so they're obvious, especially with subtitled turned on (which is a very helpful feature). They are:
Hunter: A yelping agile dude that likes to pounce onto characters and rip them to shreds, once a hunter has pounced on a survivor, another survivor must melee the hunter off or kill it.
Smoker: The smoker has a very long tongue, in which is grabs a survivor and chokes him or her against objects or against himself. Once a smoker has a survivor, another survivor must melee or shoot the smoker off.
Boomer: The boomer likes to puke on survivors, which attracks a huge wave of zombies coming to the survivor(s) that has/have been puked on. They also explode when killed.
Tank: The tank is a baddie. He's a beefed up zombie that smacks anything in the way. He's the strongest special infected and can devistate a party in versus and campaign modes. He can throw concrete and smack the mess outta stuff.
Witch: The witches are optional to disturb. Your party can choose to sneak past her or kill her, once she's startled, she runs at the one who disturbs her and downs them instantly. She can be annoying.
The only downfall to this game is the weapon variety, nothing really too much to choose from, but it's still a fun game I promise.
Multiplayer
Multiplayer is fun, there's online co-op, which campaign, but with human players, and versus, which is basically a team deathmatch so to speak...
Since co-op has basically been covered in the campaign section, I'm just gonna cover Versus.
Versus is a lot of fun and makes the lifespan of the game much longer. In versus mode, you have 4 characters playing survivors and 4 playing as the special infected. The special infected try to kill off the survivors before they make it to the saferoom, then they switch up. The team that makes it the furthest wins and goes to the next chapter. And so on til the campaign is over.
Achievements
Left 4 Dead offers a wide variety of achievements. Some are easier, while some are quite difficult. I have them all, but it took quite a bit of time trying to work with it (especially Zombie Genocidest). Not even gonna lie on that one. It's quite a tough 1000 G and 1250 G if you got the Crash Course download or 1500 with both Crash Course and The Sacrifice DLC. About 30 or so of the achievements will come in time of just playing over and over for a while, the last few will take some serious work (especially What Are You Trying to Prove?, Nothing Special, and Stomach Upset). Nothing Special being the hardest, imo.
Crash Course DLC
Crash Course takes place between the No Mercy and Death Toll part of the story (if you have actually followed), if not obvious enough by the crashed helicopter that you actually took off in from No Mercy.
Also with the Crash Course download comes a new phrase from the pilot in the No Mercy campaign whenever you call the rescue vehicle. He just tells them that something's not right and that he's not feeling well.
I was a little let down with Crash Course, honestly. It was a little too expensive for what you get. There are only 2 chapters. Yes, I know that chapter 1 is sorta long, but still they should've made it longer.
Beside what's been mentioned, there's really nothing new here, except 10 extra achievements that aren't too bad. A little time consuming to get them all, but nothing too difficult.
The Sacrifice DLC
This downloadable content is available for both L4D and L4D2, it takes place during and before The Passing DLC and it tells what the L4D survivors are doing while the L4D2 survivors are making their way through The Passing. In this DLC, you won't play as the L4D2 survivors... That's right! You see the return of the original characters, and with L4D2 display, it only gets better. You get to enjoy the gameplay with the original survivors screaming about the new special infected and using melee weapons!! Overall, it's a lot of fun and worth the money since it's down to 560 points now (or at least it was for me). I was late getting this DLC because I stopped playing Xbox for a couple of months. It's about as long as a regular campaign even though it is only 3 chapters long.
Now, the achievements for The Sacrifice were a let down. They are super easy and all worth 50G... It's kinda like the creators rushed it and put no thought into the achievements. Since the L4D2 version came with a new version of No Mercy, then I figured that it should include some achievements from that campaign, but nope! Plus it kinda makes me feel weird since L4D never put an achievement over 35G until now, and the achievements worth 30G+ were usually hard. Overall though the download is definitely good. I would give it 5 stars, but since the achievements make me feel weird, I'll give it a 4.5.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this game rocks. One of the best for the 360 & now you can get it for pretty cheap. It's pretty addicting and a lot of fun to goof off on with some friends. I highly suggest this game for shooter fans and just anyone at all. Have fun and good luck because this game is rather difficult.
I give it a 5/5!
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TMT182
70,198
TA Score for this game: 2,419
Posted on 26 July 09 at 13:44 |
This review has 29 positive votes and 7 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
What if i told you there is a game so perfect, so simple and so addictive that you'd be playing it for months on end??? Well i'd like to introduce you to the wonderful world of 'L4D' a first person co-op shooter which puts and up to 3 friends against hordes of undead zombies.
The game see's you playing as one of four survivors trying to make thier way through thousands of walking corpses in an attempt to make it to saftey, you can play four differant levels each divided into 5 chapters which on normal difficulty seems to take an average of an hour. Ok i know what your thinking " Four Levels! Four Hours! WFT??!?!" and believe me that was my thoughts at first, but throw those thoughts out as the fine people at Valve have created a great little addition for the game dubbed "The Director" this A.I program insures every playthrough of the game is differant for you e.g enemys will never be in the same place twice, same with weapons,health ect. This makes sure each playthrough is a unique experience for the player. The Maps themselves are beutifully set-out with differant yet distinct paths and certain challenges to overcome to progress, something as simple as opening a shutter door, this seems simple but these 'key acts' will alert the horde and on the higher difficultys can prove a real challenge. The last feature that makes this game for me is what i like to call 'revive or die'. Each player can be knocked down and revived by teammates twice, they must then find first aid to get there knockdowns reset and for me this is one of the best features of the game. Valve have really put in a lot of effort into the little things of this game and it really shows as you will find out.
There is no real story for the 'campain' as such but Valve do a great job of giving each level a movie theme, starting with a movie poster stating who is playing as who e.g. TMT182 As Zoey and ending with credits which basically is your teams stats for the level including playtime, damage dealt and how many zombies were harmed in the making of the movie all of which is a nice concept that works well for the game. The gameplay is non-stop only letting up when the chapter ends and the next one is loading which helps keep players on their toes throughout the entire game. The game features four difficulty levels which are easy, medium, advanced and expert, all are do-able but expert will require a solid team, about 3+ hours and lots of stress balls as you get killed for the 100th time in ten minutes. Puting that aside the actual game plays extreamly well with simple controls that take around 3 minutes to get used to with a well though-out layout including a very handy 180 degree turn by hitting L|B for when you need to make a quick getaway.
Ok let's talk characters, weapons and the zombies. You control one of four survivors each has thier own personality and quirks you have Bill-The war veteran, Francis-The biker, Louis-The office worker and Zoey-The hot chick, all the stats remain the same for each character but the survivor you choose often defines how the game plays for an individual. Now, weapons, there are 3 basic weapons that are avalible from the start of each level and chapter, these are a machine gun (uzi) which holds 50rounds per mag and is effective for the good old spray technique or tacticly killing zombies from afar, next is a shotgun which holds 8 rounds and is a instant kill when enemys are within range. Lastly is the pistol which has infinate ammo and is my most used gun 15 rounds and you can even dual wielded for a 30 round combo. There is also 3 additional weapons that can be found through the game to help aid your quest of zombie slaying. Ok now the zombies, never in a game have i seen such detail put into an area where they could have almost not bothered, they look, act and feel like zombies should a fantastic mix of speed and vunarability, while still posing a massive threat when groups of 5-6 attack you unaware, when they cannot see you they fumble and stumble there way around the levels in a fantasic way again kudos to Valve for a feature that could have beee overlooked. Next comes the boss zombies each come with thier own unique look and attacks, the boomer has a short range attack but if succesful can deal heafty damage to players, hunters who can pounce and pin survivors leaving them helpless and the smoker who ensnares players with it's tounge and drags and constrains them. None however compare to the 'Tank' and it's how it sounds it can take a huge amount of damage while dealing a huge amount to players, luckily you only encounter a couple per level. Lastly is the 'Witch' who unless disterbed will sit in the dark and cry, all i can say is if you're stupid enough to annoy her them you better be quick at running as she packs a whopping one hit kill.
Moving onto Multiplayer L4D features 3 game modes online co-op, online verses and survival each are addictive and fun to play and quick to pick up. Co-OP see's you and 3 others playing through any of the simple player campains this is where the game comes into it's own and is the true test of your loyalty to your team, run on ahead at your own risk. Verses mode puts 8 players into two four player teams, one team plays the campain as the survivors, while the other team plays as the special infected trying to stop the others from reaching the safehouse which is a fun, origianal game mode the creators should be proud of. The final mode is survival which puts four friends working against an endless horde of zombies, for this mode you cannot win, only get the satisfaction of beating your friends best time on each level. Multiplayer is a massive part of L4D and is well thought and and put together.
I'll brush on graphics before i finish as i feel i've mentioned everything else, but to be honest theres nothing to really say. The colours are well ajusted to suit lighting and the flashight effects are second to none, the overall look has nothing wrong with it but the game doesn't really have many 'wow' moments. In saying this i'm more then happy to say that the gameplay makes up for not have that 'cutting edge' look.
All now is left to say that L4D is a must have for any first person shooter fan who enjoys co-op and addictive online and offline play.
Rating
8.5/10
Well i hope you've found this review helpful and honest .L.
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Topodude2236
64,919
TA Score for this game: 1,059
Posted on 02 May 09 at 21:26 |
This review has 27 positive votes and 8 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
You will either love this game, or hate it, there is no in betweens. Left 4 Dead is all about the online, if you are playing this offline on your own, its not much fun, the main story can be finished in a few hour (maybe 3 not too sure), and when I say 'story' there actually isnt a story... at all, you know the characters names, but nothing else.
Online this game is a masterpiece, there is a coop story mode, so you can replace the 3 AI controlled character with 3 friends, or 3 randomers, this is useful for the harder modes since the AI can be stupid at times, and you (obviously) cant tell them were to stand and such. The verses mode is awesome, originality at its best, its basically two teams, one is the survivors, one is the 'special infected'. the survivors aim is to reach the end of the chapter, the infected aim is to stop them, the games can be really exciting if you get a good game in match making, but can be frustrating if you are matched with a 'lesser player' as the game relies heavily on solid team work. Recently a free download became available on the marketplace, for another mode called survivor, if you have played nazi zombies( COD WAW) or horde (gears of war 2) then you will see the similarities, basically, you just have to fight hordes and hordes of infected, and aim to last as long as you can, its hard, but its damn good fun.
The graphics are good, not the best, but since alot is going on on-screen you cant expect much more without flames ripping through your xbox, the music also isnt very memorable, but the excitment of the game makes up for it, and you will probably be having 4 way conversations playing it anyway, so this doesnt affect the game.
The controls are simple, and easy to use, anyone can pick this up and play it, the only thing i can say I dont liek much, is the fact that you cant zoom in, like on most first person shooters you can look closer, as if aiming down the barrell of the gun, you cant do this, but there is a hunting rifle you can use the scope on.
Overall, this game is great online, but short lived offline, id recommend this to any zombie lover who is particaularly a fan of Horde and Nazi Zombie modes.
I think Lef 4 Dead is worth a solid 8/10, its well worth £40 and will last you forever if you have a good group offriends on it, some challenging achievements but most are easy.
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KARMAgoesHARD
235,970
TA Score for this game: 1,681
Posted on 11 July 09 at 16:15 |
This review has 22 positive votes and 7 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Here’s to wishing the zombie apocalypse will be this fun!
Grab a Webster's dictionary and look up the word “Win”. There, beside Chuck Norris' name you shall find Left 4 Dead. Yes it's that good. There is no reason not to have this game in your collection. Any kind of gamer can get lost in the infinite replayability of No Mercy Hospital or maybe they love to wander around on a farm in Blood Harvest. Whatever it is, there is something magical about this game that makes us all come back for more!
Left 4 Dead is based around four campaigns, also known as movies. Each movie has five chapters to it and each enemy is randomly spawned on the map. One playthrough you may get a horde right at the start. The next you may be closing on the saferoom when suddenly you get pounced by a hunter that wasn't there before. When your team runs over to help you… WHAM a zombie horde. Put all the lawls and frustration of the randomly spawned enemies aside, it really is a key asset to the game. Without this you'd be going through the same old levels doing the same thing. That wouldn't be fun would it? I sure think not. Especially since all the movies can be run through on easy in about two hours or less with a team that knows what they are doing.
Stemming off the two hour campaign on easy… well I could explain. Easy is well… REALLY, REALLY easy. Unless you are playing for a quick run through or a L4D fix I advise playing on normal. Once you feel comfortable with the controls, have a good team, and have really gotten into the game, step it up to expert. Although there is a difficulty below expert (advanced) , use that only for practice runs or strategizing for Expert. The damage taken per hit from a normal infected on advanced to expert isn't that much (5 to 10) compared to easy to expert (1 to 10). This can provide really helpful and should all thank Valve for putting in a game difficulty for all the skill leveled players.
Earlier when I was talking about the randomly generated enemies I mentioned a little something about your teammates coming to save you. This is a huge part of the game- teamwork. It is literally impossible to run through the movies by yourself without teammates. If you get jumped by a hunter or pulled by a smoker you're done. There is no escape, so good luck to all the lone wolves out there. Teammates can free you from a hunter or smoker, as well as heal and revive you. Also they can rescue you from hero closets. You can play as bots offline, but this game really shines with online play with your friends. This is mostly due to the fact the bots have insane accuracy but are as dumb as a rock.
Online and offline have the same game modes, except you can play with up to four people online and only two offline. Sadly only two offline, that is. I don't see why it doesn't support four people, this could be an insanely awesome party game! Ah well, one fault doesn't hurt that much. Anywho, back to the modes. There is the standard campaign/movies as I have explained above, but there is also something called Versus mode. This is a very innovative mode where players form teams of 4 v 4 and take turns running through two of the movies (the other two are coming shortly in an update). There is a catch, while one team plays as the survivors, the other has to try and stop them as special infected. This mode is full of pure fun and replayability.
Graphically, this isn't what we have been used to. Games like Gears of War blow this game away, but this does get it done. Some nice character designs and cool level layouts really help, but there isn't a “wow” factor. Maybe someone will look at the graphics and be turned off because of this, but this is a huge mistake. There is no reason to not try this game because it doesn't have the best graphics- if you are doing this it is a big mistake. The graphics doesn't really help nor hurt the game, as it is extremely playable.
Controls are really nice. An odd choice to have melee as LT, but other then that everything works fine. Shooting, reloading, and switching weapons are all easy to use without affecting how you play. Props to the devs.
Overall this is a really good game. A must have for any 360 owner. Almost unlimited replayability along with great fun with parties or friends makes this undoubtably one of the best 360 games to date! A must buy. So do yourself a favor and go pick it up! Seriously.
This review was orignally posted by me at http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/review/R133332.html .
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The Saxton Hale
29,293
TA Score for this game: 1,271
Posted on 29 May 11 at 19:50 |
This review has 16 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Graphics
The graphics in Left 4 Dead are O.K. the Survivors are nice and realistic looking, The weapons look realistic, the Special infected as gross as the may look, still look awesome as well, With weird body deformations that just look awesome. Body parts fly off when you shoot them, Heads blow off with an awesome sense of satisfaction, and seeing your carnage displayed on the infected is nothing short of satisfying.
Inside and outside of building are also done well, With subtle details that make you feel that you're in a more realistic environment. Since your time in-game is about 50/50 in playing inside buildings and outside buildings it's nice to see a lot of variety in how things look.
However, some of the common infected can seem a little repetitive, it's a shame because if there were more common infected models this game would bring a greater sense of realism to it. Something I would've liked to seen with the common infected is more details. Such as putting logo's on their shirts of pants. Give some guys long hair, give some women short hair.
One other thing that I didn't like, that is minor, but was something I still didn't like was that if you shoot an infected near a wall their blood will splatter on the wall, which is awesome, but the coolness of it is lessened because if you get up close and look at the blood it's all just a bunch of pixels. It looks bad up close but from far away you wouldn't know it was pixels. The graphics in this game are near perfect.
8.5/10
Sound
The sound in this game is just spectacular. From the grunts and moans of the infected to the idle chit-chat between other survivors, This game is just bursting with amazing sounds.
The sounds of the Special infected and common infected are well done. Hearing the groans and screams of the common infected running after you and trying to kill you are real good. The Special infected sounds are much better though, especially if you hear you before you see them, conveying a sense of knowing what you're going to come up against.
The fast paced music that plays when the horde comes helps convey the nervous, intense, action-packed gameplay that the game strives for. When walking around with no infected or in slow-paced battles, the chit-chat provided by the survivors and other miscellaneous characters in the game, feel realistic and convey some comedic results as well.
Another thing that the game does well with the sound is that the survivors will speak louder when they have found something useful such as a better weapon, another pistol, health pack's, extra ammunition and even more.
The gun shots sound real, the explosions sound real, the car alarms sound real (though overly loud). The sound in this game is extremely well done, there is little to nothing bad about this games sound.
8.5/10
Gameplay
The gameplay is with no question, the highlight of Left 4 Dead. The game is designed to let you play it as you want to, go this way and go a different way next time. There are many ways to play single player in Left 4 Dead.
The movement of the survivors are good with no real awkward movements unless you run into each-other than they will kind of go through you at some points. The name of the game is killing infected, and this game gives you more than enough ways of doing it, Shotguns, Assault rifles, Sub-machine guns, Pistols, Explosives, cocktails and even more. There could have been a lot more ways to heal up besides Health packs and pills but it doesn't really hamper the game that they don't have more, it just left me craving more.
Another reason that Single player has tons of replay value is that the AI director is always changing everything. If you're doing really good throughout the level, the game is going to place less healing items and more infected. If you're having a bit more of a trouble with the game, the game will spawn more weapons, healing items and less infected. There are also many different things the director does as well such as spawning special infected and Tanks in different areas as well as different locations for all weapons and healing items. Every time you play single player in Left 4 Dead, you will get a different experience because of that.
Sections of the campaigns can feel long at some time and short at others but overall I really had fun playing each campaign. This game should not be played by only fans of zombies but anyone who owns an Xbox 360.
8/5/10
Multiplayer
The multiplayer in Left 4 Dead is what will be most likely what will have people sticking around, with a variety of ways to play Multiplayer. Offline with a friend, 2 controllers on a couch. Or, you can go online and have up to 7 other players play with you at once. Play campaigns with other people makes the game a lot more fun and frantic, especially if you're playing it with your friends.
Versus is also a nice addition with making the game much more competitive and intense. People who want to truly show how good of an infected killing machine they are, and are looking to get competitive, I would recommend Versus mode for them.
Survival mode is also really fun, seeing how long you can last against a non-stop swarm of infected is the most intense mode for people who really want to test their skills with friends or AI partners.
Overall I would recommend the casual players to stick to online campaign mostly for the huge amount of fun factor that it provides. Versus for the people who are looking for a competitive kind of game, and Survival for people who really want to test their skill in the game out the most.
Multiplayer takes the fun of the single player mode and doubles it by having other people be able to play with you. However, I would recommend only playing multiplayer with a group of friends cause I found myself occasionally annoyed by my random teammates who not only weren't as good as me but didn't have microphones either. At the end though, Multiplayer in Left 4 Dead is awesome!
9/10
Achievements
Achievements is Left 4 Dead are there and are spread out well, I think the casual gamer who plays this game a couple of times a week or a couple of times a month will rack up between 200-400 gamerscore, Although the people who delve into the game and actually enjoy it going for the gamerscore will be able to rack up 600+ gamerscore. Left 4 Dead also has a few achievement that only the truly skilled players will be able to get.
Easy and difficult DLC achievements are also a nice touch. Some achievements are easy to get and some are not. But Left 4 Dead manages to keep a good balance of Easy achievements that just take a lot of time to get and Hard achievements that take skill and give you a great amount of satisfaction when you get them.
Overall some people will either get a few achievements or a lot of achievements, I fell the minority will be in-between, so the scoring for this will just be based on my personal opinion.
8/10
Overall
+ Fun, fast paced gameplay which will never make you bored.
+ Lots and lots of replay value.
- Online achievements are somewhat hard to obtain and could be more DLC.
? Can we get one more DLC that has to involve Chicago Ted?
Final Score
8.5/10
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fowlmowf
63,619
TA Score for this game: 1,595
Posted on 20 August 09 at 11:21 |
This review has 20 positive votes and 6 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Left 4 dead has been anxiously awaited by many valve fanboys/girls, zombie fanatics and co-operative players for quite some time, and now its out i think it's reviewing time.
Left 4 dead is basically the zombie apocalypse and all people are trying to do is survive. We are given four survivors that are immune to the infection, so therefore cannot become a zombie. Bill a grizzled war veteran who has survived two tours in Vietnam and a knee full of shrapnel, Bill can now go bag to his old profession, killing. Francis a really loud, cocky and sure he's indestructible, he acts like the outbreak is the worlds biggest bar fight. Louis was working up the courage to quit his job, but then an infection came along and changed his goals 1.live and 2. succeed. Zoey spent her first semester holed up in her dorm watching horror movies, she had two choices get her grades up, or drop out. The infection started, her teachers and proffesors are dead and so you could say she was studying the right subject.
There are four campaigns. The first ''No Mercy'', is set in a city and the aim is to get to the rooftop of Mercy hospital. sounds easy doesn't it?. One problem zombies, hordes and hordes of zombies whail and flail atyou like theres no tomorrow. When you reach the top, a helicopter comes to pick you up and take you away. Death toll, the second campaign takes place in a small town in the middle of nowhere called Riverside; The objective in this campaign is to reach a house near the sea and get aboard a big old boat. Dead air, my personal favourite of the campaigns is set in an urban area and an airport. The mission here is to reach an AC-130 plane and fly the hell out of there. The last but not least is blood harvest, It's set in a forest, and is set on the outskirts of a city, It's probably the shortest out of them all.
No mercy is very close quarters, Death toll is very closed but long range, Dead air is very close quarters in some parts and others very open. Blood harvest is the most open of them all.
Left 4 dead suffers in many assets, for instance it's graphics are not the best valve have come up with but, it's not as bad as quake 4. The graphics obviously are related to the source engine, It's graphics are similar to that of half-life 2, but unfortunately they do suffer by having some grainy surfaces, in a dark room with no light, there will be walls that shines, The zombies graphics fail especially on the common infected.
It also suffers immensely by lack of story. In Left 4 dead the closest thing you will have to a story is the intro movie at the start of the game. The campaigns only objective is to get in a vehicle and get away.
Sounds are one of the components that make a game. The sound in Left 4 dead is actually amazing, The sounds of the infected is amazing especially the boomer, the gurgling and vomiting sounds are kind of sickening. The voice acting is phenominal, the characters feel relatable. Francis and Zoey mainly.
The enemy's are really cool. Here's a list of your enemy's
Common infected=your every day, generic but fast zombies
Boomer=a fat zombie with a tendancy to throw up. When it throws up on you or other survivors, it attracts common infected to you. The reason they are called boomers is because when shot, they explode, like the vomit if within the proximity of the explosion, then you will see a group of angry left 4 dead 2 boycotters (common infected)
Hunter=basically it can jump far distances and pounce ontp survivors which renders them helpless, unless the hunter dies. It claws at the survivor while on the floor.
Smoker=it's job is to pull survivors away with their obscenely long tongue. When it grabs a survivor, they are pulled towards the smoker immediately. The survivor has roughly a second to fire at the smoker before they are helpless, and pulled away to their doom
Tank=The Tank is the muscle of the infected. It's job is to pound the crap out of the survivors. It's huge, muscular, full of health and very powerful. It's secondary power is to pick up rubble from the ground and throw it at a survivor causing major damage.
Witch=An accident waiting to happen. The witch is like a mine, get to close for too long and she will come down on you like a ton of bricks. She sits there crying, until you either get to close, shine your light on her or shoot her.
The other unique thing about Left 4 dead is it's versus gameplay. Versus mode is basically, Campaign mode but you play each chapter twice; one time as survivors and one time as infected.
Left 4 deads gameplay is a First-person shooter, which is kind of generic where most of the time all you do is sit in a corner, two people meleeing and two shooting. However it is still very fun to play in co-op with up to 3 other players.
Graphics (6/10)
story (1/10)
sounds (7/10)
enemys (9/10)
multiplayer (7/10)
Overall (9/10)
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Price de Nice
62,589
TA Score for this game: 804
Posted on 07 August 09 at 19:53 |
This review has 18 positive votes and 8 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
With the upcoming release of some more L4D DLC and the release of L4D2 it was time for me to blow the dust of this title and write a little review.
So...Zombies, four people, guns and explosives. At valve the brainstorming stopped at that, and thank the sweet green greatness of mother earth because nothing more was needed. Previous zombie titles have tried and failed to re-created an apocalyptic zombie scenario, but the guys at valve have pulled it off beautifully. Let's do a run down.
Story
There's no traditional story telling elements here that you would find in other retail titles on the X360 or the PC, but rather than taking away from the game, it adds to it. The entire story is told through comments made by in game characters, laying down hints of their previous lives before the zombie problem struck home. You could also read the manual, it gives you a good background if you need one, which you don't, because this game isn't about telling an epic zombie story about four survivors, it's about grabbing an M16 and popping the heads off of zombies.
Gameplay
The one thing most people who continuously play valve titles can testament to, is that while the core gameplay never changes, details are always changing via patches. Elements which may have been unbalanced months ago, like melee spamming, have been fixed, and some elements which may right now be unbalanced may be fixed when you read it. Valve, from my experience take good care of their game's, always making sure to patch any problems they come across. So if you find one, report it to valve, it's the best thing you can do.
Back to the core gameplay. You can play the campaign mode of L4D alone or with a team of up to four players. Alternately you can play multiplayer mode with up to 8 players, separated into two teams, where one group can play through a campaign normally and another gets to wreck around as zombies. Both modes have their appeal, but with the exception of human controlled zombies, the campaigns play much the same so I'll stick to the campaign mode when talking about gameplay.
The most important part of a zombie invasion would be what guns you can use to shred them with. L4D doesn't offer much in the name of variety when it comes to weapons, this is the game's biggest pitfall, however you can still choose from weapons like the M16 (fore mentioned), the sniper rifle, a Molotov cocktail or pipe bomb. Ammunition for all weapons plays like a character it's so important in this game. On the higher difficulties rationing ammunition becomes part of the in game strategy with your team and makes the entire experience more real. Of course, it is a game and you do start with a pistol that has unlimited ammunition and can even dual wield them if you chance on another pistol during your campaign. Beating an entire campaign with just your pistols is even an achievement, and a fun one to go after.
The second most important part of a zombie invasion is teamwork or lack of. Lack of teamwork on higher difficulties will result in you being dead. Conversely, team work will result in you not being dead. Probably the most realistic element incorporated into the game is the need to work together to survive. It's this fundamental need for your partners in zombie genocide which makes this the best co-operative title ever released. There it is, balance out the window, fan boy in the chair. But really, looking at an example, it really is. At certain parts of the game you'll come to expect a tidal wave of mad zombies rushing at you in co-ordination looking to eat your face, with good team play, like staying together, shooting different targets, communicating and collecting explosives will lead to all of you coming out of the zombie rush unscathed, a rather gratifying experience. It's this feeling of co-operation resulting in a common goal everyone can be happy with that makes this such a fantastic co-op release. It truly is meant to be played with three other human players, because the A.I. teammates have no strategy and will get you killed. So if you're thinking of playing single player, stop, go find an online lobby and get the true experience out of this game. And play on increasingly harder difficulties as you get better, the experience is very rewarding.
The third most important part of a zombie invasion is not having downie muffin A.I. using your health packs when they have 45 health left and you're in front of a safe house. The A.I. is not very good. The second pitfall this game encounters. Stay online, play with people.
However! The A.I. for the zombies. Fantastic. The game uses what they call an 'A.I. director' to slightly change the time or positioning of zombie rushes or the appearance of special zombies, adding a re playability the game desperately needs with only 4 campaigns. The lack of more campaigns being the last pitfall L4D has to deal with.
As you might notice from the paragraph above, the strategy involved in the game goes as far as when or when not to use your health packs or other health giving items like pain pills. All elements of this game, plus a few surprise special zombies, which I'll let the player figure out on his own, each adds another layer of great gameplay that encourages co-operation until L4D is nothing but a giant onion which reeks of dead zombies and satisfied survivors.
Visuals
The visuals in this game are good. They don't blow away the capabilities of the X360, but they offer enough detail in the environment, with nice enough graphics to really make you believe the scenario you're in. Each level makes you feel like you're playing a classic zombie movie, like playing an an abandoned airport, crashed planes ever, destruction and desolation at every turn. Or you might be running through a farmer's field, like the one's they make crop circles out of, you can't see nothing and it makes you scared.
Sound
When playing this game you won't realize how important sound is until you've put some big ass headphones on and you can hear a tank growling before anybody else notices they're about to be mauled. The sound in this game is done beautifully, adding to the ambiance of the visuals and completing the experience.
Overall
On of the best co-operative releases of all time, across any platform. The closest zombie game doesn't come close to the gameplay in terms of depth and L4D hasn't been 'left for dead' by valve as some DLC has already been released and more is to be released in the fall.
9/10 or 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5
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RiMOX
Posted on 02 July 09 at 23:44
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This review has 22 positive votes and 19 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Left 4 Dead
Willkommen in einer Welt, in der Überleben alles ist!
In Valves neuestem Ego-Shooter Hit schlüpft ihr in die Rolle eines Überlebenden einer vierer Gruppe und alles was es zu erreichen gilt, ist den sich durch die Strassen voller Zombies zu kämpfen und den nächsten schützenden Bunker mit Munition und Verbandsmaterial zu finden! Im Spiel gibt es 4 Kampagnen mit jeweils 5 Kapiteln. Die 4 Kampagnen sind glücklicher Weise auf 4 unterschiedliche Orte verteilt. Während ihr euch am Anfang durch die Strassen einer Stadt zu einem Krankenhaus durchkämpfen müsst, kommt ihr später noch auf eine Farm und einen Flugplatz. Das hört sich nicht gerade nach viel an, ist es auch nicht, den die Kapitel sind nicht gerade gross. Aber das ist nicht so ausschlaggebend, denn das Game macht unglaublich viel Spass und lässt sich 100 mal durchzocken, vor allem mit 3 Freunden via Splitscreen oder auch online über Xbox-Live! Zudem wird das Spiel von einem sogenannten KI-Director gesteuert, der die Zombiehorden bei jedem Mal zocken anders verteilt und ihr so nie genau wisst, wo sie lauern.
ACHTUNG, sie kommen!!!!!!
Die Zombies sind unglaublich schnell und beweglich. Zusätzlich zu den normalen Zombis gibt es noch 5 verschiedene Arten von Bosszombies. Der Hunter zum Beispiel kann euch über grosse Distanzen anspringen und versucht euch die Gedärme aus dem Leib zu reissen, oder der Boomer, der euch mit seiner Kotze versucht zu treffen, mit der er dann Horden von normalen Zombies anlockt, während ihr noch blind von dem Erbrochenen seid!
Ausrüsten könnt ihr euch mit zahlreichen Waffen, Granaten und nicht zu vergessen, Medipacks, um euch zu heilen! Einen grossen Unterschied bei der Durchschlagskraft der Waffen gibt es nicht. Mit der Sniper-Rifle kann man auch nicht zoomen, was auch gut so ist, denn man hätte eh keine Zeit dazu, wenn man von hunderten von Zombies umzingelt und angegriffen wird! Das merkt man vor allem im Verus-Mode, in dem 4 Spieler die Rolle der überlebenden und weiter 4 die der Bosszombies übernehmen. Da geht das Game erst so richtig zur Sache!
Was für die Augen und Ohren?!
Grafisch dürft ihr vom Spiel nicht zu viel erwarten. Left 4 Dead basiert auf der Hauseigenen Source-Engine von Valve, welche nicht mehr die jüngste ist. In Sachen Atmosphäre und Sound muss sich das Spiel aber nicht verstecken. Wenn ihr in einer dunklen Gasse steht, euch sicher fühlt und dann plötzlich das Geheule einer Witch hört, kann es euch schon einmal den Schauder über den Rücken laufen lassen!
Fazit
Für Shooterfans ist das Spiel sicher einen Kauf wert. Man sollte aber über einen Live-Zugang verfügen oder gute Freunde haben, die gern und viel mit euch zocken! Den der Singleplayer-Modus ist eher ein besserer Trainingplatz als eine Story oder Kampagne und es macht auch nicht wirklich viel Spass es alleine zu spielen. Das Spiel ist aber nicht für unter 18 jährige zu empfehlen, denn es geizt nicht mit Blut und Schockern! Für alle Splatter und Zombiefans ist das Spiel aber genau das richtige und macht extrem viel Fun!
Pro:
4-Player Coop
Wiederspielbarkeit
Atmosphäre
Contra:
Spielzeit
Etwas veraltete Grafik
Als Singleplayer nicht zu empfehlen |