Intense survival horror action game
Left 4 Dead 2 is a paid action survival horror FPS game developed by Valve. It’s the sequel to Left 4 Dead and shares the same concept: four strangers must team up to survive the harsh zombie apocalypse and escape for good across many maps with varying degrees of difficulty.Left 4 Dead 2 features improved physics, graphics, and weapons over the original game, yet retains the same four-man team element. You can play with friends through a local or online server, with many game modes to choose from. It also includes several new maps, including the first game’s protagonists.
Survive as a team, hopeless alone
Left 4 Dead tells a story about four misfits who team up to survive the hellish landscapes of Dead Center, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, Hard Rain, and The Parish. The characters are the following: Coach, who serves as the de facto leader of the group; Nick, the smooth-talking, suit-wearing loudmouth with a dark past; Rachelle, a television associate producer before the chaos; and Ellis, a young, naive country boy mechanic.
There’s a host of weapons and ammo available in your arsenal, such as rifles, shotguns, snipers, pistols, and melee ones like a frying pan or a machete, which have unique variants on each map. Your objective is to move from one safe house to another while trying to fend off zombies and special infected like the Witch, Smoker, Boomer, Spitter, Jockey, Charger, and Tank. First-aid and health boosters are also available.
The pacing is fast, and there’s a lot of graphic imagery involved. The graphics are fluid and just enough to build suspense, paired with the frantic soundtrack. The zombie AI is coded in a way that every run will be unique. However, the outdated AI can glitch or freeze in place in some moments. Nonetheless, this game runs on older hardware with minimal system requirements, the same as the original game.
A household name in the horror FPS genre
Left 4 Dead succeeds in improving on the first game and being a benchmark for other titles to follow due to its nuanced characters, rich sound design, a whole host of weapons, and overall fun experience. Despite some minor AI issues, this game still ages well in the present times.