Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360)

Hello Gamers!

I would like to apologize for not writing, but I've been very busy the past couple of weeks, and as I've said in my last few posts, there hasn't been a ton of material to write about. However, I was able to buy the game, Left 4 Dead, and I really wanted to review it for this week since I had been lacking reviews.

Now, usually I start a review with the story line of the game, but Left 4 Dead (unfortunately), there isn't one at all. I'm not exaggerating or being bias, it doesn't have a story. They (Valve) decided that they would drop the gamers into a zombie infested world without letting you know why. All they reveal is that it's been two weeks since the infection broke lose and that four people must survive different situations. Now, you don't know how the virus got lose or where all the others survivors are at (if there are any), but you do know you have to go through every level killing anything that moves. You have four chapters (No Mercy, Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest) with about four or five levels for each. The campaign itself only takes about five hours to beat by yourself. When playing, though, your goal in each level is to get to the check point killing any infected that you see. Even though I don't like the fact that Valve didn't take the time to make a story, I still love the creative writing on the walls of the safe houses. When you enter a safe house (a place at the end of the level which lets you reload, get weapons and heal), you will sometimes be able to see some writing on the wall which was written by other survivors. It can change from messages between family members to theories about how the infection broke lose. It's quite ingenious and makes it feel very real. It's very much like Portal, which is also made by Valve. The writing on the wall is about the most story you can get out of the game, but it's still entertaining to read.

So, now that I've gotten the most of the bad stuff out of the way, it's time to talk about the shining aspect of the game: the co-op. I would say that the co-op is what makes the game shine, but it can also be the downfall. Since you have four survivors (Bill, Francis, Zoey and Louis), you can have up to four people online or play with a buddy on a local network. I've had yet to play with four people, but I have played co-op. From what I played, it makes the campaign SO much better. Valve wanted you to have that teamwork feeling in the game, so they set up the health system so that you would need to help each other out instead of hogging all the med kits to yourself. When you get trapped by a infected human, you will not be able to free yourself. This means that you'll need help from a teammate if you're going to ever get back up. If the infected person does get you into a "last stand" type of mode, you will either bleed out or be saved by a teammate. You'll need a med kit, so you can heal yourself or a teammate will save you instead. You can also take pain pills which can help you out if you're all out of med kits. Although the characters will warn the rest of the group if there is danger, you still need to keep a good communication with the rest of you team if you want to stay alive. However, even though the co-op is fun, you can really only enjoy the game if your friends own it. Sure, you could play Versus mode (which I'll talk about later) until your eyes pop out, but you still will have more fun with friends.

Your arsenal for the game is pretty basic. You can change between health, bombs, pain killer and flashlight by using the D-Pad. You get can have either a pipe bomb (a bomb that will make loud nosies to attract infected, then will explode), or a Molotov Cocktail (basically a bottle with alcohol and a rag which you light and throw to create a huge bust of fire which will spread and kill infected). The flash light is used almost throughout the entire game and will come in good use. You will be able to carry a pistol (which has unlimited ammo) and a secondary weapon. With the secondary weapons, you can choose between an M16, Uzi, Sniper Rifle, Pump Shotgun, Semi-Auto Shotgun, and you can choose to double wield two pistols if you like which will not replace your secondary gun (but will take more time to reload).

The infected humans in the game I guess you could say are zombies. However, they're not your everyday zombies. These guys come in HUGE packs and they WILL run towards you. You also have the special infected which are more rare than normal infected, but can be very deadly. First, you have the Hunters. Hunters are these hooded humans who will crawl, and when they see you, they will lung and hold onto you, tearing at your chest. The Smoker is also deadly. They have a huge tongue that can reach up to many yards and will constrict you until you can find a way to be freed. The Boomer is slow and weak, but can be the rain on your parade. They spit goo all over the survivors, which will attract huge hoards of infected. They also blind you for a bit.

The more destructive of the infected are the "boss" infected. These guys will kill you...no joking. The first one is the Tank. The tanks are huge infected humans which may be slow, but can send you flying if they hit you. They're also hard to kill. You'll need to use a couple of shells to take down these guys. Now, the most scary of the bosses is the Witch. Witches don't like to be messed with. They're kind of like the sister who goes right up to her room and doesn't want any human contact until they feel like they've absorbed all the oxygen in their room. Witches sit down and cry horrible noises. If you see one, turn out your lights. If you keep messing with one, you will run towards you and with one hit, kill you. Don't mess with them; trust me.

Online is also fun to play. As I've said before, they have a Versus mode (which is really the only online besides four player co-op). In Versus mode, you either play as the survivors, or the infected. Yes, you can finally be a zombie, don't explode. The goal, if you're the survivor, is to work together and get to the safe house alive. If you're a zombie, you have to kill the survivors. As a infected, you can be a hunter, Smoker, Boomer or a Tank when the game selects you. You never know that infected you'll be. You will usually be a Hunter, but that doesn't mean that you can't use your tongue of doom to kill humans. It's really fun and is almost worth the 60 bucks alone.

All in all, Left 4 Dead isn't the greatest game that most people told me it is. Don't get me wrong, I like Left 4 Dead, but I'm not going to play it 24/7.

I give the game 8 out of 10.

Ups: Fun co-op, great innovation, finally get to be the zombie!

Downs: No story, you need online to get the most out of the game.

Well, that's all for now,

HANG TIGHT GAMERS!!