It’s finally happened. The dead
have risen and you and three friends are squarely placed in the middle of it
all. In a city completely overrun with zombies and the nasty things some of
them have evolved into, its not only good to have friends, but it is the only
way you can make it through the game. Someone covering your six while another
someone lends you first aid. The Zombie Apocolypse is here, boys and girls, so
get ready for some multiplayer fun.
So Left 4 Dead has been on a lot
of gamers’ radars for quite a while. It’s made by Valve, the folks who made
one of the biggest game franchises of all time, Half-Life. So yes, the bar was
set rather high. So, the first thing I will say is that you need to throw any
pre-conceived notions out the door. This is a rocket-fire, high-octane style
first-person shooter and it has no real brains about it, like Half-life. But
don’t let that stop you from playing, this is a phenomenal multiplayer game.
"These vacuum salemen are awfully
pushy."
The style of the game is kind of
off kilter; instead of a back story, the game provides a mini-movie but the
apocalypse has already happened. The movie basically is what they show you on
the commercials. There is more to fear than just the zombies; apparently there
has been some evolution in the outbreak and the big baddies are a whole other
set of problems. Starting with the hulking "Tank," a huge monster that runs
through anything (including other zombies) to get to you. These things are
incredibly strong and it takes literally everybody shooting at it to take them
down. The next is this really mean chick called a "Witch." A Witch makes these
sobbing noises which sound like crying, but they’re mean and vicious, and will
slice you once and put you near death, it’s almost easier to quietly move past
them then tick them off. Next is a zombie with a bad case of French-kissing
addiction. They are called "Smokers" and their tongues have grown large and
powerful, often snatching victims and pulling them to their death. The Hunter
is a zombie who moves lightning fast and leaps around, dodging gunfire.
Lastly, the "Boomer" lumbers on to the scene, and promptly spits a yellow goo
at you causing temporary blindness, shooting them causes the yellow goo to
soak you and blind you as well. What’s worse is this spit causes all other
zombies to go into a frenzy and they will only attack you.
The attention to detail that Valve
has put into this title is really good. Each of the game’s four scenes are
always randomly generated as far as bad guys goes, and at the end, you find
out who had the most headshots, who did the most damage to the Tank and so on.
It’s kind of a way to look at the game like an arcade shooter. And that is
what I felt like it was at some points; and I mean this is a Serious Sam, in a
good way. The graphics are clean and clear; there is plenty of fast-paced
action with many zombies running around at the same time and no slow-down. The
models of the four heroes are all done well, representing four people who
wouldn’t even look at one another had the zombies not risen. The tough biker
dude, the former vet, the student and the business man make an unlikely team,
but I have to believe that if the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I better be
hanging around people with natural zombie-killing abilities. Regardless, the
game looks fantastic with its strong architecture design, ample amount of
baddies and easy-on-the-eyes effects. Valve clearly knows how to make a game
look good because this game has a real polish to it.
"Einhorn University, where the male
students outnumber the women students 24 to 1;
ladies, be prepared to say no to a few fellas."
The game has each character start
off with a more effective weapon and a handgun. The handgun never runs out of
ammo, even though you do reload it after each clip is emptied. The problem is
though, the handgun is pretty wimpy when it comes to dispatching the undead.
So, each characters’ other weapon is clearly more powerful. Combat shotgun,
machine gun, Uzi and scores of other bigger, badder guns, including going dual
pistols when you pick up an additional handgun. This works pretty good and is
a good idea to have when you bigger gun runs out of ammo. But fortunately,
there are ammo dumps found as you adventure, you see, the survivors are
loosely following an underground railroad if you will, a path that supposedly
other survivors made it out taking. Graffiti instructions appear at random and
each section ends the game with some vague instructions and some health and
ammo. The game has a desperate feel to it which means it has hit the nail on
the head.
Adding even more to the game is
when you get caught up by one of the really bad zombies – like the yellow goo
covering you, a Hunter jumping on top of you or a Smoker grabbing you. It is
practically a necessity to have your teammates bail you out. This makes the
game even more team necessary than originally thought. You see, there is
simply no way this game can be beaten with a single player. Even the single
player campaign has the other three characters running along with you, saving
you over and over, and them too. If one of you goes down, it won’t get any
easier; in fact, that player, whether computer or human controlled will rise
from the dead and begin hunting you down. Dying in this game is only the
beginning.
"Tattoos? Check. Facial hair?
Check. Octogenarian psychopath covering my six? Check."
The main characters have scenes
throughout the game and their voice work is nothing short of awesome. The
game’s voice work is spot on when said by the actors. It makes like a "B"
movie, but one you actually want to watch. The old codger says some pretty
funny things when it comes the situations that befall them. Good use of the
in-game Dolby digital. This is one of those games that has multiple layers of
sounds going on and if you have a good surround-sound setup then prepared to
be put smack dab in the middle of the fight of your life. Killer gunfire
effects with screaming, explosions and the creepy wails of the Witch. Some
games sound good, this one sounds great.
Now the game does throw you a bone
every now and then, and allows you to find health. Either a medic pack or a
health spray that gives you instant health but begins ticking down. You can
even hand over health to your friends who are closer to death if you so
desire. Again, teamwork is essential if you are going to get things done
right.
Now I said that this game is
possible to play by yourself, with the computer taking care of the other three
characters, but this game really makes things happen when you play online with
friends. This is the first, truly immersive survival horror game that gets the
online portion right. I had high hopes for the game and it certainly had a lot
to live up to considering it has been in the gaming news for quite a while.
Well, I figure there will be more games like this coming down the pipe after
what Valve showed was possible. The seamless online experience, smooth
transitions and a killer idea to wrap around it all makes this the coolest
multiplayer title I have played in a long time.
|
Review Scoring |
Gameplay: 9.1
A first-person survival horror game that has you out-running and
out-surviving the zombie nightmare. It controls like a dream, isn’t overly
complicated and has a random generator of where the zombies are each time you
start the game over.
Graphics: 9.0
Smart looking, well polished and
clearly a game that has had some serious love put into it. Valve shows again
why they are an industry leader.
Sound: 9.3
Clever writing, and even better
voice actors making things seems almost impossible; hear that crying in the
background, time to run, quietly.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Concept: 9.6
This has officially made me the
happiest zombie-loving geek this side of the moon.
Multiplayer: 9.4
Teamwork has been brought to the next level – a zombie shooter with
your buddies.
Overall: 9.2
The holidays is always the best
time for games, here’s another reason why.
