Jonesing for some Left 4 Dead 2, but can't afford it in the holiday rush? Fret not! A dedicated L4D fan named Eric Ruth is recreating the entirety of the first Left 4 Dead game in 8-bit top down shooter form. He has supposedly completed the entire No Mercy campaign (video posted below) and is planning to release the game on January 4th totally completed.

"Valve doesn't know about it yet, but I'm sure (with their love of community creations) that they will find this mildly amusing at worst, and hilarious at best," says Ruth.

Considering the fact that this is a solo project, any of it being released ever will be pretty impressive. If he makes good on the whole product in January, Valve should hire him to head up a brand new retro division.



Here is a full FAQ:

Q: Is this just an animation or an actual game?
A: An actual game. It will be available for free download on PC around January 4th, 2010.

Q: I only see one "special infected." Will there be more?
A: Yes. All 5 special infected appear in this game regularly.

Q: How far along are you currently?
A: As of November 15th, I am completed with the first "mission: No Mercy" as well as most of the core game play mechanics.

Q: Does Valve know about this? And would they approve?
A: No, Valve doesn't know about it yet, but I'm sure (with their love of community creations) that they will find this mildly amusing at worst, and hilarious at best.

Q: Will this version have all of the campaigns from the original game?
A: Yes. All 5 maps of all 4 campaigns will be present in the final product.

Q: Like your other games, did you make this one all by yourself?
A: With the exception of a few friends backing me up in the QA area, yes, the coding, debugging, sound effects, music and pixel art are all original work of Eric Ruth.

Q: Will there be more videos that show off more of the game?
A: Maybe 1 or 2, but that's about it. If you want to see every campaign and fight every zombie, then you will have to download and play it.

Source: G4