LEFT 4 DEAD: DEMO IMPRESSIONS

Valve has done it again. From the creators of the Half-Life and Team Fortress games, Valve seems to have combined these two unique games and formed what is now known as Left 4 Dead. It’s not out until November 18, but I was able to get my already nervous and sweaty palms on the demo last night. I was so excited before I even downloaded the demo, (took about 2 hours to download the 1.2GB file) and Valve did not disappoint.

You start off by watching an incredible intro video that gives a sense of the thrills and chills to come. Let’s face it, some of the zombies in this game are down right creepy. In Left 4 Dead I can’t help but notice similarities to Half-Life, from the control setup to the similarly modeled faces of the characters, and Team Fortress 2 with the swift movement and fast paced shooting action. Another thing I noticed was a similar shader used for the skin of the Left 4 Dead characters. A bit realistic, but with a cartoony Team Fortress feel that is a very complimenting overall design. Once again, Valve has taken another step up in the quality of their games and competing studios need to take notice. Bungie, take notes.

I highly recommend any Xbox Live user to download this demo now and see for yourself how good a game can be. I can’t believe I am saying this about a demo as this does not represent the full game. I expect a great overall experience from this game though. It seems Valve has added all the right features I look for in a modern next gen title. What do I mean by that? I mean, I want 4 player co-op so I can play with my buddies online. I want an intense and memorable single player campaign and I want to be able to play it over and over again with different outcomes. Most importantly, which some studios fail to realize how important this feature is, I want split screen so I can let my girlfriend get in on the zombie action too! Valve gives all this and more to their loyal fans and future Left 4 Dead fans. I really can’t say enough about this game and I look for this to be in my Top 5 games of 2008. Game of the Year on the way?