PAX 08: Left 4 Dead Impressions

By George Walker | August 31, 2008

Zombies are awesome. I love zombie movies. World War Z is one of my favorite books. Dead Rising is one of my favorite games.

I was ecstatic to finally be able to sit down and play Left 4 Dead. Even though I was already extremely hyped about this title, what I played completely blew me away. The greatest feature of Left 4 Dead is the adaptive AI. As you progress from checkpoint to checkpoint, if you are doing really well, the game starts throwing more and more zombies at you. Thankfully, there are points in the mission where you can resupply, rearm, and heal up before heading back into the fray.

As a consummate shotgun fan in almost every FPS that offers them as an option, the shotgun was my first choice, and I really feel like it’s the BEST choice for zombie smashing. Some people really liked the M16, but nothing compares to unleashing 12 gauge destruction at point blank range into the rotting face of the walking dead. errr… running dead.

Zombies in Left 4 Dead are fast. You have to be constantly on your guard because zombies can be up in your face before you even have any idea what’s going on. If you DO get caught by zombies, don’t worry! I will rush to your aid and unleash a fury of melee blows that’ll have those zombies off you in no time. It’s all because the melee blows are actually amazingly effective at clearing zombies. It puts you dangerously into close range where they can grab you or vomit on you (thus attracting more zombies), but when you need to clear zombies off a team mate, it’s really a great choice. And that’s what is so great about this game.

Those of us that played it could not agree on what the best method was for killing them. THAT IS THE MARK OF A WELL-BALANCED FPS. Kudos to Valve and all the Left 4 Dead developers! Another must-buy title!