Home » Games»Reviews

Left 4 Dead (PC Review)

Navneet Prakash, Jan 17, 2009 1015 hrs IST

This is a game that completely reinvents the zombie-shooter genre and is a must have for your PC.

Expert Rating:

Great co-op action, Good replay value, Good presentation, Works smoothly on modest systems.

Limited weapon types.

E-Mail Print

EXPERT REVIEW

Zombies seem to be really popular; we have seen them in a number of movies, anime, books and graphic novels. In fact Zombies have had more screen-time than Bob Saget (who played a loving father on prime time TV). It's no surprise that gamers love zombies; they are creepy, slow and really easy to kill, but all that's about to change. Many of us have grown up playing games like Resident Evil, which was slow, intense and complex but Valve's latest effort a.k.a Left 4 Dead is completely opposite.

This is a game that completely reinvents the zombie-shooter genre. L4D follows a very simple concept, there is a zombie outbreak and you're one of the four survivors looking for help. In today's world, where gaming can be as complex as algebra, Valve chose a more simple approach to its latest offering, keeping the details to a minimum and focusing on the core gameplay. The game has no real plot, no dramatic sequences; nothing you expect from a survival game, the only issue is that in their quest for simplicity, Valve missed out on a few basics.

The game starts off with a long intro video, which shows off four survivors stuck in a zombie infested city. Prior to the game's start, you are asked to choose one of the four characters. It doesn't really make a difference as all of them bear the same characteristics in the game. The entire game is split into four chapters, each comprising of 5 levels. If you have any FPS experience, you can finish the entire game in less than five hours. Although five hours isn't much, combine it with variable difficulty and online co-op and you have a lot of replay value.

Every level starts off in a safe-house or zone. Here you can pack up health, ammo and switch weapons. No part of the city is safe and be prepared to start shooting the minute you exit the safe-house. The zombies in L4D are really fast and smart; something you don't expect from a brain-dead creature, but that is what makes L4D unique. These super-zombies use the environment really well. They scale walls, jump over fences and do just about anything to make your survival as challenging as possible.

Follow Techtree on Twitter

Do you agree with this Review? Click to Rate This Article

USER COMMENTS

anyone want to play left 4 dead online from india call me 9865258793

by jabaz sharrock, coimbatore, on Mar 13, 2009 03:21 PM, Report abuse Reply

what are the MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS bro ????

by pravien123, Surat, on Jan 18, 2009 04:45 PM, Report abuse Reply

Intel Pentium 4, 1GB RAM, Nvidia 6600 min or ATI Radeon 8800 5 GB HD space

by Anand Vivek, Coimbatore, on Mar 09, 2009 02:18 PM, Report abuse

In the reviews of games..the author should clearly mention the system requirements and the price in indian rupees. This will make the review much more valuable

by Troy, Delhi, on Jan 23, 2009 02:09 PM, Report abuse Reply

ok first off, why on earth have you used prerelease pictures instead of what the game actually looks like now? the character models were revamped quite some time back.. and Gaurav there is absolutely nothing wrong with the game its one of the most stable games ive played, my advice would be to check your overclocking to make sure its stable and ensure youve got no viruses on your system. It is by far the best multiplayer game to come out in years and has nearly limitless replay value. And really tech tree "There is also a competitive mode that gives you the option to play as survivors or zombies;"? There is so much more to the Versus mode, youve made absolutely no mention of any of the Special infected types or how vastly different the gameplay is with them.. @Gordon, you sir have no conception of how to use a mouse and keyboard if you think the controls in this game are clumsy

by Siddharth, Chennai, on Jan 20, 2009 08:12 PM, Report abuse Reply

Tha game keeps crashing on the desktop and there are no saves available in the game, evey time it crashes you have to start from the beginning, no patches available yet. I am using a very good configuration PC that's runs cool with water cooling. If you guys want a frustrating experience than go ahead and get this game.

by Gaurav Vyas, Mumbai, on Jan 20, 2009 02:17 PM, Report abuse Reply

this game has the clumsiest controls in recent times....

by Gordon Freeman, 17, on Jan 20, 2009 01:15 PM, Report abuse Reply

Late reviews as usual.-) G o o d W o r k . .

by Lazyboyz, New Delhi, on Jan 17, 2009 07:52 PM, Report abuse Reply