Left 4 Dead

Zoey pensively analyzes why zombies would put a car over a cliff.

The apocalypse has come.  You and three of your friends have to fight your way through throngs of zombies to try and escape.  Good luck.

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Recommended Age Minimum Age Available On... 14 12 Xbox 360, PC, Mac Overall Fun Length Frustration   Violence Sexuality Substances Gambling 8 6 2   7 0 3 0 Mods Religion Anti-Law Community Sports Magic Miscellaneous 1 0 0 4 0 0 2

1.     Gameplay

• Overall Fun – 8

There are so many games, especially shooters, that are very, very complex.  They’re so complex that it’s impossible for a player to pick up the game for an hour or two, set it down for a week, and then come back and still know what’s going on.  Left 4 Dead is the answer to this problem.

Zombies run, you shouldn't.

The game is designed to be an extremely simple shooter.  You start up, you pick up a weapon and a health pack, and you start shooting zombies.  Your objective is simply to get from one side of the level to the other.  You’ll have to face obstacles, but nothing that can’t be finished with a few steps and the click of a button.  The vast majority of the zombies will be very easy to kill.  The deadliness of these zombies is not in the individual but in the horde.

You will fight special types of zombies, but they always boil down to five main types, each with its own special ability.  You don’t have to worry about puzzles or weapon types because they all boil down into three main categories; shotguns are excellent for short-ranged combat with heavy spread, assault rifles for medium-range, and snipers for long-ranged accuracy.  That’s it.  No attachments, no camouflage, no shields.

Zombies love playing fetch with pipe bombs.

Teamwork is an absolute must, and Left 4 Dead makes this very, very easy.  Players can join in or drop out at any time.  The friendly AI is usually intelligent and always accurate.  While human players will be able to come up with unique ways to address problems, computer friendlies will always be there to save you from a tight situation.

This game is one of the best multiplayer games I have ever played.  It’s fun and simple and something that anyone from gaming novices to gaming experts can enjoy.

• Length - 2

Left 4 Dead is rather short overall.  The different chapters take about an hour or two to beat fully, less if the player knows what he’s doing.  The chapters are interesting but there is no real storyline to the game, so it’s only the level design, look, and obstacles that vary.  Playing the single-player missions are good for one or two playthroughs overall, but not much more.

The length of the game increases exponentially with the multiplayer game modes.  This is especially true for the online campaign, where the player can play with other people online, and the “versus” game mode.  In Versus, two teams are pitted against each other.  First, one team starts out as survivors and the other as the special infected.  The survivors earn points by getting as far through each sub-chapter of a chapter as possible.  After each sub-chapter is completed, the teams switch and retry the sub-chapter.  The team with the most points when the chapter is completed wins.

There are a number of DLC available for Left 4 Dead that also add extra longevity to the game.

• Frustration Factor - 2

The only memorably frustrating part of Left 4 Dead was the sheer incompetence of the AI.  On the one hand, the friendly AI are extremely accurate and tend to steal a lot of the kills from the human players.  On the other hand, the friendly AI are entirely unable to see dangerous areas and situations and often walk straight into trouble.  For example, it was common for us to stand and watch as an AI walked right past the Witch, a particularly deadly special infected.  This would disturb the witch, who would attack that AI player, requiring us to come and save him.

2.     Parental Notices

• Violence - 7

Left 4 Dead’s violence is graphic.  Players fight hordes of zombies, most of which are easily killed.  However, the location of the shot does affect how the zombie reacts.  The player can shoot a zombie in the head, which will decapitate the creature.  If the player hits the zombie in the arm, the arm will be blown off.  Multiply this by the hundreds of zombies that will attack the player within a given chapter and the game becomes extremely bloody.

Blood goes flying, but the mess disappears shortly.

The player is also able to throw Molotov Cocktails, which will ignite an area of ground (and any zombies that run through that area).

WHO WANTS TOAST?!

The redeeming side of this violence, however, is that the zombies fade very soon after being killed.  This goes for both the regular zombies and the “special infected”.  However, the violence is not particularly worse than an average shooter.

• Sexuality - 0

Witches are pale girls who cry in dark corners.  They are technically only wearing white underwear (torn shirt and panties), but the color of their underwear almost matches the color of their skin.  The overall effect makes it seem like the witches are wearing clothes, and most of the time the player is more worried about the absurd amount of damage witches can deal rather than what clothes she’s wearing.  It’s not sexual in any way.

Not particularly sexy.

• Substances - 3

There is some minor substance use in the game.  Players are able to down a bottle of “pills” for a temporary health boost.  What the pills are is never specified.

I know I'd want some Tylenol if I had to fight off a zombie horde.

• Gambling - 0

There is no mention of gambling in this game.

3.     Other Factors

• Mods - 1

While the PC version does have mods, the vast majority are simply new levels.  I have yet to run into any content in these mods that would be considered more “adult” than what is already found in the game.

However, there are some nudity mods available for this game.  The character Zoey has her clothes torn off in a few "inconvenient" areas.  It took me quite some work to find this mod, so I would not expect the average gamer to care enough to find it.  There's a lot more nudity on the internet that is much easier to obtain.

• Religion - 0

Religion is only briefly mentioned in some specific areas.  One section of a chapter has the "safe house" within a small church.

Not the kind of place I'd go to pray.

Sometimes the graffiti comments on the walls mention specific plague or apocalypse-related Bible verses.

"For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth."

However, since these are such a tiny factor in the game, the rating remains zero.

• Anti-Law - 0

Some of the common zombies are police officers.  Other than this, anti-law is not a factor in the game.

Zombie cop. Brings a whole new definition to "police brutality".

• Online Community - 5

There weren’t too many problems with the online community.  The one thing that did occur occasionally is that console players will tend to discriminate against split-screeners (meaning two players playing on the same console together) and against people without a headset.  The Versus matches are definitely more difficult without a headset, but if a player joins a match that is already in progress, these problems should be lessened significantly.

• Extreme Sports - 0

There are no extreme sports in the game.

• Magic - 0

There is no magic mentioned in the game.

• Miscellaneous - 2

Human Disfigurement

The “special infected” are loosely based off of different types of people.  Witches, who tend to be found in dark areas crying alone, are clearly based off of manic depressives.  Boomers are clearly based off of obese people.  Smokers are based off of their namesake.  Tanks are based off of steroid-riddled body builders.  Hunters are based off of hoodies (British gang members known for wearing hooded sweatshirts).

"Hey, hey Boomer. You've got something on your chin there."

While these types of infected may be disturbing to some players, as I said they are “loosely” based off of real types of people.  Overall I believe players will simply see them as another enemy type rather than their real-world counterparts.