I know I’ve done a Top 5 albums of 2008 post, but I haven’t written one for Film or Video Games yet because there are still a few things I need to see/play. Still, I can safely say that Left 4 Dead is my favorite video game of 2008. It’s a game that I normally play 1-2 hours every night before I go to bed.
For those of you unfamiliar, Left 4 Dead is a 4 player co-op game that revolves around a Zombie Apocalypse scenario. The game consists of 4 campaigns (each roughly 1 hour long) that you play thru along with 3 other players online. At first glance, this sounds like something that would get old quick. That’s not the case, instead, it’s one of the most re-playable games I’ve ever experienced.
First off, the game has an AI system called The Director. This Director tweaks and adapts the game depending on how you are playing. This means every play thru is different. While the maps in the Campaign remain the same, the location and type of Zombies changes as do the weapon and health placement. As it is, I’ve probably played thru each campaign 20-30 times.
Left 4 Dead also has the best co-op gameplay available. It’s a game where Teamwork is so important and the design of the game reflects this concept. Along with the hordes of zombies, there are special infected that enforce teamwork in different ways. The Hunter will pin down a team member that decides to go off on his own. He’ll stay pinned until another teammate shoots the Hunter off. The Smoker grabs and drags a teammate away, attempting to break up a close knit team. The Boomer will vomit resulting in a horde attack. If you shoot him when he is too close, he explodes resulting in a horde attack. The point of the Boomer is to prevent the idea of “shoot anything that moves”. Finally, the Tank is a huge steroided up Zombie that requires the entire team to take down.
The end result is a game that is great to play with three friends and never gets old.
