Left 4 Dead is an iconic co-op first-person shooter action video game developed and published by Valve. Four survivors are cast up in an epic struggle for survival against swarming zombie hordes and horrifying mutant monsters. Cooperation and active communication are keys to survival against those who lie in the dark.

Plot

According to the memorial walls, the events we are going to tell about took place in October 2009 and started in Pensilvania. Everything started with the highly contagious pathogen nicknamed the "Green Flu", which causes mutation of the body cells, loss of higher brain functions, extreme aggression, and zombification of the hosts.

Luckily, four immune survivors are still alive, including William "Bill" Overbeck (Green Beret and Vietnam veteran), Zoey (college student), Louis (district account manager), and Francis (outlaw biker). As our four protagonists try to inch out of this hellish place, they will go through many ordeals and discover how far this plague has gone.

Gameplay

Teamwork: Your success highly relies on cooperation and collaboration. Your teammates outlines are colored and visible through walls to help you remain coordinated and packed together. If someone's health is depleted, the player becomes incapacitated and can only be rescued by another survivor (the third incapacitation will kill players if they are not rescued). Actively communicate to inform everyone of sudden danger or dangerous enemies, and make everything you can not to be overwhelmed by all those infected.
Levels: You will explore and face challenging situations in many different environments throughout this restless journey. From close-range combat in claustrophobic buildings to wide-open landscapes, you will be surprised how rich the gameplay possibilities are to repel the zombies and find your way out.

Weapons: You all start with a semi-automatic pistol with unlimited ammo. You can also choose between a submachine gun and a pump-action shotgun at the beginning of each campaign, but you will find more powerful ones like a full-auto assault rifle, a semi-automatic shotgun, and a scoped hunting rifle. In addition, other tools and weapons can be carried, like grenades and more.
Infected: Most infected are fast and agile, weak individually, but crushingly numerous. Five special infected bring more challenges and replayability, including The Boomer (a bloated infected that can spit bile to impair vision), The Hunter (an agile one that can pounce you down from long distances), The Smoker (which can ensnare and drag survivors), The Tank (gigantic, muscular, charging monsters which will knock survivors down), and The Witch (quiet and hidden long-claw creatures, don't disturb her as she's the most dangerous one).
Artificial intelligence: Instead of being based on fixed spawn points for enemies, the AI management system places items and enemies in positions and quantities based on each player's location, situation, status, and skill. Consequently, each playthrough is different and comes with various challenges.

Graphics and sound

Left 4 Dead has been developed using Valve's Source engine, taking advantage of advanced graphics (when it was released), multi-core processor support, and physics-based animations to enable a more realistic simulation of hair and clothing. The overall game is various and still nice-looking. And how not to mention the frightening but beautiful tension brought by the sound management throughout your adventure.

Duration and game modes

Left 4 Dead story is about 7 hours long if you go straight through the game, but it can take around 20 hours if you feel completionist. It features single-player and multiplayer game modes:

Single Player: No surprise, it is a single-player mode. You control one of the survivors, and all the other characters are AI controlled.
Campaign: The story mode of the game. Up to four players can work together level after level. Four difficulty levels are available, including Easy, Normal, Advanced, and Expert.
Versus: Two teams of four players take turns playing as the Survivors and the Infected. Teams compete for the most points.
Survival: You will have to survive as long as possible, wave after wave. There is no way to win, just to survive and try to set new records.

What do the reviews say?

Left 4 Dead is a true success with a good Metacritic score of 89/100.

"Every aspect of Left 4 Dead has been refined and tweaked to perfection. It's addictive and atmospheric, and it contains undoubtedly the best co-op gameplay we've seen yet." (DarkZero)