Left 4 Dead

Platform: Xbox 360; PC
Developer: Valve
By Torey Nelson, Associate Editor

Stuck in an unknown city, surrounded by thousands of zombies who only have one thing on their mind and only your three team members for backup, Left 4 Dead is a game is full of heart pumping action and monsters that keep the game from ever having a dull moment. The game is designed as a first person shooter, with three other people able to play along side you in co-op on PC or X-Box 360; or play on X-Box live in an eight player verses mode. In this game, you always have to look out for the changes; every time you play the game, the story is different and the enemies are never in the same place. But be careful, if you die while playing on X-Box Live, you reincarnate as one of the monsters, and the object of the game has changed; kill the survivors.
The goal of the game is simple; get out alive. You start off by choosing a scenario of the 4 available. Every level, you are to make it to the “safe houses” before getting killed; these “safe houses” are filled with med kits, guns and unlimited ammo. In Game play, it’s hard to find time to fix your wounds and even harder to help your friends. To save your life, you have two choices; a full medical kit that almost, if not fully, revises you, or painkillers that give you temporary health until you hopefully find a kit. If you are out of luck and have no medical supplies, your teammates are able to heal you if they have the resources. Unfortunately, if you’re not able to be saved, you are out of the game until your team finds another survivor, which looks surprisingly like your character.
Besides regular Zombies, there are five "Hero Zombies" that you’re up against; Hunters, Smokers, Boomers, Witches and Tanks. Hunters are the fastest and the most ninja like, they wil lleap on you, or a team mate, and begin to tear you to pieces, someone, other then the victim, must kill them. Smokers have one thing going for them, their tongues. These guys have tongues that reach forty to fifty feet, grabbing players an pulling them away from the group for an attack; if you get caught by a smoker, the only way to get away is for a team member to come to your rescue by killing the beast them self. Boomers are by far the grossest; their fat bodies make it hard to run after you, so instead, they throw up on you. The catch is that their throw up attracts hordes of zombies all at once. Each "hero zombie" will make a distinct sound and will allow you to identify what is coming though usually not where it's coming from. Tanks are the biggest of them all and almost the most lethal. This abnormally large and muscular zombie relies completely on his strength to kill anything in his path; one hit from this guy can throw you across the level, and until you kill him he won’t stop attacking. You can tell when one is coming because the screen starts to shake, and you can hear him pounding as he come, but he will not the worst thing to appear.
Lurking in the woods or a darkened room, is the Witch. Unlike any of the other "hero Zombies" in this game, the Witch is by far the most deadly and the hardest to kill; you will always hear a Witch before you see it. Her wailing cry will lead you to where she is located, the louder the cry, the closer you are, as well as music will begin to play. Be quiet, and turn off the light as quickly as possible, this girl looks and sounds harmless; but she is super sensitive to light and if you get to close she will surely attack. There are a few ways to attack and hopefully kill the witch; the most logical, is to get the team together and gang up on her; this will not always be the most effective way though. Another way is to find a Molotov Coctail that are hidden all over the levels (you could use a pipe bomb, but they tend to make a noise before landing, so they will awaken her before actually hitting her) and lighting her on fire. Then, there is the choice of picking up a sniper rifle and blowing her head off, this one is nearly impossible, so if you’re counting on a quick kill, you better be good. No matter what you do to kill her, you have to know that whoever is the first to hit her is the one she is coming after. Be sure that everyone is ready to attack, because there is no stopping her when she is on the move. When the Witch is awakened, her sad sobs turn into loud shrieks and she pounces, attacking with her razor sharp claws and teeth. This is one game you aren’t going to want to miss out on.