Left 4 Dead demo impressions and review

Alright, so if you don't know about this game, go to left4dead411.com or any other site for more info. Including this one.

Ok, I'll wait till your done looking.

You've see all there is to see? Great.

I've been excited about this game since I heard about it. Zombie apocalypse? Sweet. Co-op with smart people? That would be great. Re-playable campaign? I plan on going back to the first two stages of the demo now. Basically, so far, this game is great. You really have to focus on team-work, otherwise, like you've seen elsewhere, you are going to be sorry. I attempted to go Rambo a few times...only worked out once (and that was with a machine gun turret set up). Every time I did, the Director would punish me with sending a Hunter or a Smoker my direction. Sweet, isn't it?

The Director is great at keeping the game intense. You'll never play the same game twice, as they have promised. The Director AI is probably one of my favorite technical innovations of the year. Its just sophisticated and great. The only AI I have trouble with are the normal infected...granted, I sped through Normal difficulty just to get a taste because I had to go back to studying. But most normal infected seem oblivious. I'm hoping it was just the difficulty setting. Though, I will mention I was very cautious as I walked through the wasteland that was once a city.

The graphics are pretty great. Nothing that will truly amaze you, but it looks damn good in motion. Plus, zombie decapitations...awesome stuff. There's nothing like turning a corner, having a zombie high-tail it towards you, and then make it barrel roll from a shotgun blast that takes its arm and head. The simple things in life, Valve gets right.

Now, to all loners out there who never want to socialize with people, you are probably wondering how the bots work in single-player. There were a few times it seemed they were clueless, but at all major points of action, they were on their A-game. Seriously, best squad/co-op bots ever. They knew when to heal me, and never let me die from a Hunter or Smoker. In fact, I think the longest it took them to help me from being pinned or constricted was a second and a half or two seconds. They know what they are doing, and will definitely help you out. The command speech wheel works great, that was a bit of learning curve for me (not used to a system like that). So rest assured, your team-mates aren't just meat shields...they're meat shields with brains. They will help you, heal you, cover you, and get pissed if they are in the cone of your shotgun blast. I know I'll enjoy single player.

I haven't gotten to test this game out with other people (hopefully with brains and not "griefers"), because I need to study for a college exam today. Once it is finished, I probably will be hopping on.

So, in short, this demo has shown me this game will be great. Epic great. There were somethings above that I nit-picked. But damn, does the Director know how to make you jump in fright and laugh at the same time. And that, my friends, is all the proof I need that this game is going to be great. Great fun for everyone.

And now, I close with a little signature thing I will be doing with anything I refer to Left 4 Dead or other zombie-related stuff (a mix of team fortress 2 and an anime):

Gentlemen...Its Zombie Time!