Left 4 Dead
I was thinking about purchasing this game a while back because a friend wanted to run a small ladder at a local 360 lounge, and I knew next to nothing about the game. Personally, I had never been into zombie survival horror type games, and didn't know how this was going to be much different. Found a great deal for the game, so I thought it was too good to pass up & here I am now thinking that this is the kind of game I should have been playing for months.
Classically, I play games to play them with other people. Playing games by myself (outside of SNES and other classics) I find to be the most dull and pointless ways to spend my time. So the ability to play with four other friends in either campaign, survival, or versus is essential. One of the first times I ever played with a big group of friends in versus, it was literally non-stop laughs.
Also, I really enjoy playing games that require a large amount of skill to be successful in. Its very rewarding to me when I know that the hours that I put into a video game will give me an edge over little 13 year olds that don't know Asteroids from Space Invaders. Nothing makes me more annoyed at a video game than when it decides to 'balance the playing field' simply because one team is incompetent. In that aspect L4D is great.
Finally, anyone who plays games online understands the frustration that goes along with internet latency, or lag. In the world of medium paced shooters, lag can be a nightmare, especially when its coming down to those crucial moments when you have to make quick split-second decisions that could determine a win or loss. Games like Halo 3 are notorious for their problems with latency, which really makes it difficult for me to play at any kind of competitive level on the type of internet connection I have available to me. Left 4 Dead, however, is surprisingly simplistic. Be it valve's source code or the type of graphics they used, internet latency is almost always at a minimum, and I feel like I'm playing on a much better connection, even off host. I could even compare this aspect of the game to something like Shadowrun... very fair and rarely plays a roll at any moment in the game.
With all that in mind, I give the game an 8 out of 10. I would highly recommend the game to anyone who likes to play with friends, as when I have, it has been a total blast. And if you like killing Zombies? My friend, you will have your hands full. The only thing I would ask for, is more downloadable content, but there is a now map coming out this fall, and a brand new L4D 2 game also on its way, so I'm far from complaining.
enjoi~Read full review
