Left 4 Dead Review!

When you think that the source engine has chugged its final game out, think again. Valve, developers of legendary games such as Half-life and Half-Life 2 and the iconic Portal bring us Left 4 dead, a game designed for multiplayer zombie slaying survival fun and boy does it ever hold up to expectations.

Graphically, it’s not the technical marvel most survival horror games are these days. The source engine is already a few years old and it’s starting to show its age on Left 4 Dead. With all the bells and whistles turned up, it still looks passable yet you notice a lot of things you won’t like such as clipping (lumulusot sa pader ang mga ulo, kamay, baril. Minsan may zombie pumapasok sa drum kalahati ng katawan.)

The game sounds like any other survival horror game and the weapons are pretty much like counterstrike. The zombies don’t sound creepy at all. In fact, the way they sound, they seem to be begging for a bullet to the head. One exception is the “witch” creature that brings a hair-raising moan and laugh once in a while which really ramps up the tension.

Left 4 Dead plays like Half-life 2 without the gravity gun and vehicles but with lots and lots of zombies. We have agile zombies, strong zombies, poisonous zombies, creepy little girl zombies and ordinary zombies I’d like to call “bullet depositories”. The senseless killing isn’t its strong point though. It’s the team play. Playing in versus mode or cooperative mode brings new thrills to the game as you go against human controlled zombies or play with human controlled teammates. Your body gets pumped full of adrenalin as you yell for your teammate to “cover me!” as you run to save another teammate from getting eaten alive. Left 4 Dead excels in this arena, albeit, that’s all it does.

The objective of the game is to move your entire team from one location to the next until you are able to escape the city. On the way, you encounter ghouls of every shape and size mentioned above, while stopping to restock your ever depleting stores of ammo.

The tools of the trade (mga baril) you wield in the game are fairly limited. I would have wanted an m60 or a p90 but sadly they’re not present. You’re stuck with the same guns throughout the game.

Replay value of Left 4 Dead isn’t as good if you play with the same people all the time. It sports 4 separate campaigns that can get old fast especially if you have very uncooperative teammates who would sooner shoot you than save you. The only thing different on each separate campaign are the places they’re set on, everything else is the same.

All in all, Left 4 Dead is a game you should definitely get for your LAN party for the sheer excitement it brings to the multiplayer scene. Although don’t expect much to be wowed by it.