By Tarsonus
2 weeks after first infection. A dark ally way. 4 unlikely survivors banded together. The faint sound of a woman crying. From there about 30 seconds passes until all hell breaks lose. This is how the demo for Left 4 Dead starts and it’s probably going to be one of the lighter moments of your gaming experience.
In case you’ve been spending all your time preparing for the real zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead is the newest brain child of Valve, the team behind such projects as Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, and Portal, just to name a few. So before you go back to boarding up the windows, try downloading the demo and it may let you know if you are just wasting your time, or preparing to one day single-handedly help save humanity.
The playable part of this demo opens to you on a roof top, trying to work your way down to street level as any of the 4 protagonists, with the other 3 to keep you company. From there, it’s pretty much open, since the AI in this game is good enough to let you know that even playing single-player mode, your teammates are not just zombie fodder.
The demo lasts through two levels, which is just enough to have any zombie fan salivating for much, much more. Valve is normally pretty good at making the wait worth it. One of the most interesting aspects of this game gets showcased in the demo. It turns out this game is 4-player co-op. That’s right, you will be able to play 4-player split-screen, and even 4-player campaign over Xbox live, be it with friends or complete strangers.
The game launches this Tuesday, November 18, so make sure to spend the in-between time getting your supplies and making sure those windows are really boarded up, because once this game comes out, you may not even hear the real zombies getting in through that basement window you carelessly forgot.
I’m pretty sure the split-screen is only 2-player. Regardless, though, the game is most awesome and should be played by anyone who wants to train for the coming zombie apocalypse.
that’s a bummer if true Slayve, because i was really looking forward to the whole age of Golden eye when you had to sit inches away with a room full of friends to play a game. I really was.
I thought the game was very poorly made. Graphics and environments were good, but it had no story and it was very repetative. The zombies seem to slide along the floor rather than run. I hear it’s better online, but I have no desire to try it.