2008 Game of the Year, Day 3: The CG Awards

And on the third day Uncle Crispy created a winner, and he saw that it was good.
12/23/2008 6:14 PM | 2 Comments | Page 3 of 13

Second Place: Left 4 Dead
(Valve Software)
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Russ Fischer: This is what I've always wanted from multiplayer. The free-for-alls of Halo and other shooters never worked for me for more than a few minutes at a time, even with the restrictions of team-based games tacked on. (GTA IV's multiplayer is a rare exception to that rule.) By constraining scope and heightening uncertainty and danger, Valve formulated a multiplayer vision that works perfectly. It emphasizes teamwork while retaining the danger and wild spirit of a world overrun by zombies. Or, I guess I could have saved a lot of time here and simply said "It's fun to puke on your friends!"

Evan Narcisse: I used to think of the multiplayer aspect of doing game reviews as a chore. Logging on and wading through static levels and unfriendly chatter made me want to snap my headset in two. But, this year, one of my pet theories has been the way good multiplayer makes its own narrative gravy. More than GTA IV or Gears of War 2, Left 4 Dead epitomizes this kind of instant story experience. Thanks to the Director, Valve's first-person shooter holds more value than is immediately apparent because each playthrough has the chance to differ wildly based on how you play and with whom you play.

Dan Hsu: This way-too-short disc may feel more like a gateway drug for future downloadable content, but what's there is brilliant. L4D vomits all over traditional gameplay conventions by having enemies attack you after a room is cleared, and from behind you after you've moved through an area and cleaned it out ... and by giving players the chance to be the enemy exactly as the artificial intelligence plays it. What's there provides quite a rush, so we'll be first in line for the DLC.

Gus Mastrapa: How long is long enough? Last year Portal tested the boundaries of game length, but was bundled with The Orange Box to cut the sting. Left 4 Dead offers about four hours of gameplay, but those four hours are harrowing and a blast to revisit over and over again, especially if you're playing with friends, playing competitively against another team, or testing your skills on the Expert setting. Valve's shooter perfects four-player co-op, redefines the survival horror genre and changes the game when it comes to replayability. That's some pretty heavy lifting.

David Chapman: Left 4 Dead brought the "play" back to multiplayer. At a time when most game developers approach online multiplayer with the idea that "more is better" (see: Resistance 2's 60--player competitive mode), Valve instead looked at things and said, "Better is better." With just four players fighting for their survival against hordes of undead, you finally get to feel what it would be like to live out a zombie movie. Better still, in Left 4 Dead, you can actually play both sides of the field and make a meal out of your buddies. When the dead walk the Earth, they'll be playing L4D, too.