Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead is a co-operative, survival horror, first-person shooter game by Turtle Rock Studios, who where purchased by the Valve Corporation part way into development . The game uses the Source game engine, and is available for Windows-based personal computers and the Xbox 360.


Left 4 Dead puts four human playable or AI controlled survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic against hordes of aggressive "Infected" zombies in a cinematic backdrop in which the players star as each character in a fictional movie. The Survivors' goal is to help each other make it through various scenarios to safety. The Infected are controlled by an AI that dynamically balances difficulty and mood depending on the players' progress and situation. In an alternate game mode, human players can control up to four different monsters with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.


It was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States and November 21, 2008 in Europe to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the release of Half-Life. A five-minute trailer was released on Halloween. A playable demo was made available on November 6 for pre-purchasers and on November 11 for the general public. The playable demo was closed on November 18, 2008. The demo contained the first one and a half out of five maps of the "No Mercy" campaign and was playable in both single player and multi-player. Left 4 Dead went gold on November 13, 2008. - wikipedia















Gameplay

Played in first person, players take control of the four main characters of the game, known as the Survivors. If four human players are not available to play, the remaining Survivors can be AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the Infected, which are living humans (not traditional undead zombies, although they are referred to as such by the characters), who have been infected with a mutated rabies virus. - wikipedia





The game is focused on cooperation and team play; coloured outlines of teammates are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement, and Survivors can be knocked down by the Infected and only helped up by another player. If a teammate is knocked down after being helped up twice, without tending to his wounds in between, the player will experience distorted black-and-white vision, and the next takeout will kill the player, forcing them to wait until the survivors find a safe room or a closet before respawning. There are respawn areas scattered around the map that can be opened to find respawned survivors.

"Boss Infected" also command special attacks, such as a Hunter's pounce, Boomer's vomit, the Smoker's tongue-choke, and the Tank's throw (usually throws cars or boulders), and Witches who can incapacitate or kill a survivor with one hit depending on difficulty. All of these require assistance from a teammate to get out of or to get back up after being knocked down. Survivors can also share first-aid kits and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has full friendly fire during the Normal, Advanced and Expert modes, increasing the need for caution around other Survivors. It is disabled in Easy mode. - wikipedia





The Survivors communicate by voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some will also sound off automatically when doing such things as reloading or spotting Infected. Over 1000 unique lines have been recorded for each Survivor. Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving. Due to control issues and to the fact that players will probably be using a LIVE headset, the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead will omit the quick phrases feature.

The game is experienced through four scenarios that take place in various urban and rural locales, such as a hospital, an airport and a murky countryside. Each scenario is divided into several shorter sections marked by safehouse checkpoints, where players can heal, re-arm, and revive players who were killed. The game takes place in Pennsylvania, October 2009, the four phases of the campaign mode are: No Mercy (Philadelphia), Death Toll (Riverside), Dead Air (Philadelphia), and Blood Harvest (Allegheny National Forest). The levels are essentially linear, with distinct beginnings and ends, but there are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies and alternate objectives, as well as create a sense of non-linearity. At the end of each scenario, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of Infected until rescue arrives.[10] Each scenario lasts between 45 and 75 minutes. - wikipedia

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