Video Game Series Review - Left 4 Dead

There is no escape from zombies. They are just too popular and everywhere in the pop culture world. So naturally big name in gaming Valve Corporation (home to our lord and saviour Gabe Newell and the makers of Half-Life, Portal and Steam) decided to take part in the action also and gave us two games set in a post-zombie outbreak universe. And because this is Valve and they don't ever count to three (yet somehow managed to get the number four in the name), two games is what we got and two games is what I will be reviewing today. So grab your guns, your torched, your pitch forks and any other weapon for the apocalypse and let's fight some zombies:



Left 4 Dead

2008 was a time where zombies were getting quite popular but not the behemoth that they are today. Anyway, so as you'd expect the plot of the game let's you play as one of four "immune" playable characters as they try and escape Pennsylvania as the outbreak known as the "Green Flu" has arrived there with the whole area having zombies around every corner. All in an attempt to escape and find a new place to call home while surviving the odds and zombies. The game itself is a four player co-operative game that up to four players can play, though AI players will take the stage if the four slots aren't all used up. The game is played from a first person perspective with guns and everything and its pretty much most first person games that you have ever played with healing, fighting, collectible hunting and a whole pile of other stuff. Although nowadays it may not be seen as much, its quite a good game. Four player co-op works well as does everything else. It captures the tone and feel of what a zombie apocalypse story should be and it can be fun too. Sure it may not be one of Valve's flagship products and may be lacking innovation, but its still a lot of fun to play. 8/10

Left 4 Dead 2

So if you missed out on the first game, don't panic as most of the stuff from the first game has been transferred over to this game. The plot is almost exactly the same as the first, but with new characters and settings but still set in the same universe as the first. Gameplay is also quite similar too with a big emphasis on four player co-op from a first person perspective with all the known elements that make a first person shooter which this game is certainly good at. Despite the new characters and a quite similar story, the game does address what happens to the original four survivors from the last game in the form of DLC which is good if you wanted to know happened to them. So I think overall, Valve have done another great job. Paying close attention to detail and giving us an almost realistic Hollywood zombie film experience like no other. Its great. 8/10

So although both are lacking originality, it makes up by bringing us two great experiences and one tailored to the hardcore PC market which at the time had very minimal developers and publishers making games for it. So yeah good work Valve and I hope one day you can count to three and give us that one game we're all begging you to make. But at least you let us consume your Steam sales so its not all bad. 8/10