Making life as a Survivor interesting.

Left 4 Dead, for anyone who has been living under a rock for quite some time now, is Valve’s take on the Zombie Horror/Survival gaming genre.  Players control four Survivors who must make their way through different settings–rural to once-populated cities–in order to get rescued, fending off the Horde of Infected, and a handful of Special Infected, along the way.  It’s as if Resident Evil and George Romero’s movies were thrown together, combining their better points and removing their less favorable ones.  Left 4 Dead isn’t perfect, but it’s an excellent game.

However, barring the short review of a few aspects of this game that will follow, this entry’s purpose is to give players a few ways to have a little more fun with gameplay.

The single-player experience is relatively enjoyable, and isn’t much different whether played on PC or XBOX360.  The AI controlling the Infected, the Director, makes it so that no additional playthrough of a scenario is the same.  Different points at which the player will get rushed by Infected, where ammo will pop up, and so on are all determined by this devious Director.  This has resulted in quite a few nasty run-ins, for me, that ended in me swearing.  A lot.

The process of moving from Safe Room checkpoint to Safe Room checkpoint will vary from player to player, dependent upon the Director’s shenanigans and the player’s experience and abilities in FPS games.  Sometimes, it’s a stroll between Safe Rooms and other times you may find yourself pissed you used that health pack earlier.

Playing co-op, and this much I’ve only experienced on the XBOX 360, is enjoyable enough.  The split-screen gameplay can be a bit of a nuisance, but that’s more an issue of the TV that you’re using and not a problem in the gameplay.

One last aspect of Left 4 Dead that absolutely demands recognition is the lighting effects.  The lighting effects in Left 4 Dead are exceptionally good.  Example: you’re navigating the hallways of a hospital.  The lights are dimmed in most rooms, of in quite a few, and you have to find your way to the safe room.  You fire off a shotgun round to take out some Infected ahead of you…and the flash from the gun firing illuminates just a little of a doorway to your left, revealing some parts of the Infected that are just barely past that doorway.  Very cool stuff.  Perhaps, however, I’m just easily impressed.

And so, as this game has gotten plenty of love and praise, and a few less kind words, from virtually every major gaming publication, I now feel it necessary to do a little extra.  The following are a few fun ways to really enjoy playing Left 4 Dead, a fair number of which are for cooperative play.  I do not recommend, nor do I condone, any of these things in online play; you’ll only piss people off and, really, some of them won’t even work.

The first couple, such as this one, require playing with someone unfamiliar with Left 4 Dead.  You’ll also need a Witch.  This could go one of two ways, but the first one is generally more amusing.

Once there’s a Witch around, it’s time to send your helpful partner in zombie-killing over to check things out.  This is a little more effective if you just have the person shoot the Witch, but not as much fun as if it’s dragged out a little more.  Tell the person to sneak up on the Witch in question, to make sure they get ready for that ideal head-shot.  Yeah.  It’s infinitely more enjoyable if they’re easily startled or surprised, because when they finally do shoot that Witch and it goes completely nuts on them, there’s a good chance the person will at least jump a little.

Alternatively, you could shoot the Witch.  However, it would come after you, obviously, so I would only suggest this for a cheap shock or to just slow down process and prolong the gaming experience.  I occasionally go for the Witch just because it’s entertaining to irritate her.  However, I should also admit that I’m not the best gamer in regards to FPS games, so it’s mostly for the thrill of watching the Witch go ape-shit crazy.

If things have gotten boring, and you’re in need of a nice rush of Infected to liven up the journey to being rescued, all you’ll need is a conveniently placed Boomer.  It’s especially enjoyable if the other player is unaware of the Boomer’s presence, though this is difficult since Boomers make distinct noises (as do the other Special Infected) and the other Survivors tend to freak out and announce that there’s one close by.  Inconvenient.  However, if the situation plays out just right, shoot the Boomer when it’s getting close enough to the other player that the resulting Boomer Bile shower hits them.  You should be busy, at least for the next half a minute or so, when the resulting Horde of Infected comes rushing down every available path to smear your brains all over the ground.

Other means of livening up gameplay include seeing who can take out the most Special Infected, who can prevent the other player from taking out Special Infected the most, and so on.  Obviously, Left 4 Dead has quite a bit more to offer with its online play, too, which I would strongly recommend checking out.

Overall, Left 4 Dead deserves the praise it’s received since its release, and will likely continue to receive.  It’s not perfect, but it’s definitely a great game and a nice twist on the typical zombie apocalypse nonsense.  And, though so people will disagree, it’s got the perks of being not nearly as ridiculously difficult as Dead Rising tends to be, upping the enjoyability considerably.  The bottom line is this: Left 4 Dead is a game worth picking up, whether you get it for the PC or the XBOX 360.

~ by crazedpenguin on February 4, 2009.