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ZOMBIE LAND

The goal of the game is not to completely eradicate the zombie hordes, but to survive them.

So, who loves movies like 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead? If you are yelling, “I do, I do!” and waving your hand in the air frantically, then Left 4 Dead is the game for you.

The zombie apocalypse is here and you get to choose if you want to be a zombie or a survivor. If that is not good enough, you can play this game with upto seven other friends.

The story goes that you are one of four survivors of the zombie holocaust: Zoey, Louis, Francis and Bill. The fetid stream of un-dead force the survivors to work together to fight themselves to safety. Armed with a few stopgap and actual weapons, they battle their way to safe houses and ultimately a rescue point.

If you play the zombie side of the story, you work to eradicate all the survivors by coordinating fatal ambushes. Yes, that is actually more fun than playing a survivor! The goal of the game is not to completely eradicate the zombie hordes, but simply to survive it. If you, however, decide to take on the role of one of the four special infected zombies, your goal changes. Of course, ensure that none of the four survivors make it to safety.

THE FOUR CAMPAIGNS

The game is divided into four campaigns set in very stereotypical zombie scenarios - hospitals, airports, small towns and farms. Each campaign has five chapters. In each of the first four chapters you have to make your way to a safe house. The conclusion of the last chapter in each campaign, requires you to signal a rescue team to come and get you.

There is a single player mode where you play any one of the four survivors of the apocalypse. However, the game is certainly best played in multiplayer mode with other humans, due to the lack of dynamic play and cooperative action from the artificial intelligence bots. That said, the AI bots do come in handy when it comes to healing your character. The game basically demands amazing team-work if you are to emerge victorious and this is obviously best achieved with interactive human co-players.

There are also a few interesting “special” infected zombies namely, Boomer, Hunter, Smoker, Witch and Tank who have special ‘powers’. Boomer, for example will spew zombie-attracting vomit on you. You get to chose which one of these you want to play in Versus mode.

AI IS JUST SUPERB

Much has to be said about the AI director. It is the sole reason one is able to look forward to playing this game over and over again, almost endlessly with the same fervor. The AI director is what decides where you will find the bad guys and your ammo and it makes sure that you have an absolutely unique experience every single time you play the same level. This ensures to keep you on the edge of your seat with anticipation, even if you’ve played this game several times.

One may complain about the games graphics not really being at par with other modern shooter games, or how sometimes the AI bots actions let you down if you are playing without human co-players. But, the game’s brilliantly engrossing game play, the fact that this is not a game you need to put away as soon you’ve survived all levels once, and the inventiveness of characters you can chose to play as, awards it a two-thumbs up.

LEFT 4 DEAD

PUBLISHER Electronic Arts
DEVELOPER Valve Software
GENRE Sci-Fi First-Person Shooter/Horror
NUMBER OF PLAYERS 1-8
RELEASE DATE November 17, 2008
ESRB RATING Mature 17+ for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
PLATFORMS PC &Xbox360
GAME SCORE 8.4/10

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