 | I generally don’t pre-order games. Most companies like to throw in some cool schwag to bolster their launch-week numbers. But I can’t usually rationalize throwing down for a game before it’s out despite the nerdy trinkets. All I need to know that it’s good before I buy it. Well this time Valve got the better of me, and boy did it pan out.
Okay, I KNEW I was gonna get Left 4 Dead. I just can’t see how blasting zombies with my clanmates *isn’t* a good time. But the pieces were all in place to get the better of me. Over the course of this last year, I’ve become a huge Valve fanboi, as it appears that they hit their stride when they released the Orange Box. But L4D pre-orders have out-paced Orange Box pre-orders, and they haven’t even begun their advertising campaign. For that matter, all they really have is a few pre-rendered trailers and an in-game video on Youtube. Throw in 5 bucks off the title and early access to the demo, and you’ve won me over.
This game follows Valve’s general formula. The graphics are not dazzling like Far Cry 2 or Crysis. For today’s standards, they’re pretty much plain-jane but most any PC can run handily run them. The sound doesn’t feature a dramatic score, cutting edge environmental processing, or ear-busting sound effects. The controls are the same as most any other FPS out there. There’s no elaborate melee system, no intricate weaponry, and no sophisticated team planning system. All you get is your gun, your sidearm(s), an explosive and a medkit. For color, you get a flashlight and a melee attack. And the AI, well, it’s a bunch of zombies. By themselves, they’re not very bright and pretty easy to figure out. I mean, you wouldn’t think Valve was trying very hard at all.
Well, Valve has come up with a twist in the form of the AI Director. It controls the placement of enemies, when they spawn, when hordes will spawn, when mini-bosses will spawn. To help (or not to help) you along, the Director also controls where first aid will be placed, or ammunition and explosives. In addition, if your team is rocking or getting rolled, the director will notch up or down the number of enemies and goodies.
The Director is hard to explain in paragraph form, but it makes for a truly unique experience in the game. On the game’s first three difficulty levels, it is a fairly plain experience. You’ll want to cover your angles, but it doesn’t provide a great challenge. When you play on expert, you’ll truly understand the point of the game. You’ll find yourself giving up certain necessities to keep your teammates alive. It’s not just because you’re a nice person, but it’s also because your teammates will keep you alive too. You’ll never know what will happen next and chances are you won’t be able to do it by yourself. You’ll even get a bit antsy when your mates drift away. You’ll TRULY feel like you’re surviving a level rather than beating it.
There are a number of annoying bugs right now and the demo has been patched at least twice now. Bugs aside, this will be a great multiplayer game. There is now a public demo which will give you a good idea of how the game works when it drops Tuesday. Expect a full review.
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