he city has been infected by a hideous new strain of rabies, and you’re one of the few survivors, however, you may not always be helping them. Even though Left 4 Dead is essentially a shooter that’s built with the Source Engine (and not part of the upcoming Orange Box) this is not a run and gun shooter. If you don’t play alongside the other survivors, and try to Rambo everything - you will die. However, the beauty of Left 4 Dead is that you also have the option of playing on the Infected side, meaning campers and griefers now have a game to call their own.
As a Survivor you will play as one of the four remaining humans untouched by the rabies strain. In the episode we played, Hospital, you begin on the rooftop and need to traverse through the city, get to the hospital, make your way to the rooftop and board the rescue helicopter. Easy? Not so much. All of the Survivors are only defined by their load outs. As each new checkpoint section begins all Survivors will be in a room that contains health packs, firearms, and grenades. You’ll know exactly who has what in the group because as each Survivor picks up a weapon, he’ll announce it. Then it’s time to make your way from point A to point B…with a few things to stop you on your way.
Left 4 Dead is a horror game, and fortunately for you you’ll have a flashlight (which has unlimited power) that will light your dangerous path. Controls are pretty WASD standard, with F turning the flashlight on and off, and E allowing teammates to give items such as health packs and grenades to each other, and the right mouse button controlling melee attacks. Considering how insane everything can get, the simpler the better.
For the most part you’ll be traveling in a pack like formation, it’s good to know that the survivors are quite chatty. You will always know what’s going on with your fellow teammates, whether they need health, have spotted a specific boss type Infected, need cover while healing, or, oops, taking friendly fire. With all that’s on your plate, and since you’re always relying on your teammates to heal you, give you a grenade, or to pick off a baddie that’s rushing you, this proves quite helpful. You will bleed out in time if you’re not healed, and can only be dropped three times before you’re completely dead, so you’ll want to make sure other survivors are close.
As the squad of Survivors make their way through the city, they will be bombarded by a variety of the Infected Scourge – whether they’re AI controlled or controlled by human players. However, where the Infected spawn or move is controlled by an AI Director, so every time you play through a specific check point the experience will be different. Once a quiet hallway may been populated the next time, etc. But what really changes up the experience is when humans are in control of the Infected.
The Infected are a force to be reckoned with, and it often seems as if there’s more than one person can handle – making the team work together to survive. Infected can traverse the city in multiple ways the Survivors can’t, such as climbing fences, walls, and buildings. There are the base Infected which are basically zombies that will work to surround you. They will die after a few hits, but will charge at you, and if you’re not paying attention, will most likely sneak up behind you. Unfortunately these are the least of your worries. There are four different Infected that can be controlled by humans (or AI bots).