Games for Lunch: Left 4 Dead
In a nutshell: A zombie game that's actually scary.
11/17/2008 9:10 PM | 4 Comments | Page 2 of 3
0:19 Awesome Moment #1: We come across a gaping hole in the floor of the second level of a house, looking down on the ground floor's horde of zombies. They rush in from all sides and start climbing up through the hole as we blast them back down. The incursion is just on the line of "manageable." My teammates cover me as I slowly reload my shotgun. Awesome.
0:20 My wife, watching me play: "You guys are really well-armed, for a bunch of random survivors." Me: "That's probably why we ARE a random bunch of survivors."
0:22 One thing I really like is the on-screen icons that explicitly point out nearby items and such. It and means I can worry less about looking for items and worry more about killing the ZOMBIES RUNNING RIGHT AT ME, OH CRAP!
0:24 Francis has now said "Careful, there's a Hunter around here" roughly six times. Hey, Francis, how about we just assume there's a Hunter around here unless you say there ISN'T, OK?
0:26 "Watch out, some cars set off alarms," an info box warns. I assume this is a problem because the alarm will attract zombies? Anyway, stay away.
0:28 We go down the stairs into what I assume is the subway tunnel, which is covered in zombies just like everything else in the game. As dozens of zombies sprint down the stairs, we back into a convenient safe room and slam the door just in time. "Trah-mendous." says my character. "We're safe ... for now!" says the results screen. As the next level loads, our statistics scroll by. I killed a plurality of the enemies, but my teammates more than held their own. It's nice to see a game with friendly artificial intelligence that doesn't just sit idly by.
0:30 In the safe room, I take an opportunity to heal myself and switch to the semiautomatic.
0:32 New zombie alert: Boomers, which explode when hit. Accurate name, there.
0:33 I'm pretty sure I like the shotgun better than the semi. There's less need for absolute accuracy, and much more force behind the shots. On the plus side, the semi reloads faster.
0:34 More stuff I like: The creepy lighting effects, and the realistic, broken-down feel of the environments.
0:35 "A Boomer has vomited on Francis." That means that all hundred or so of the zombies now flooding down the escalator hone in on him. This is not a bad thing, from where I'm standing, especially because it makes them easier to mow down. It feels a bit like
Galaga or something, with wave after wave of baddie.
0:36 Am I playing this wrong? While my AI teammates are always standing near each other in a tight formation, I'm running around looking for zombies to pick off in the corners. Seems to be working OK for now...
0:37 Down at the train tracks now. Usually I'd wait patiently for the train, but ... I'm pretty sure it ain't coming.
0:38 I just now realized that the Awesome Moment at 0:19 would have been the perfect time to use this Molotov cocktail.
0:39 Another nice touch ... the way my teammates swivel back and forth, looking for the next wave of zombies, even after the onslaught ends. That's some lifelike animation!
