Once in a while a rare game comes along and shatters all of your expectations from the previously established genre and elevates it to an entirely new level. Left 4 Dead is undoubtedly one of these games.

If you’ve ever played a co-op shooter or watched a zombie movie and enjoyed either, then it’s a no brainer to pick up this game and start enjoying yourself. Left 4 Dead combines the greatest aspects of both and truly blends them into an action packed cinematic experience that can be enjoyed by all.

We don’t know exactly what happened and we don’t care. All we know is that two weeks ago everything was fine and after a virus of some sort spread everywhere the entire world has turned into an insane mess of flesh eating zombies. A few people are immune and have armed themselves to the teeth and decided not to go out without a fight.

Meet the team: Francis, the no nonsense biker with tattoos and a bad temper. Zoey, the cutesy college girl and horror movie buff, who coincidentally also happens to be a crack shot. Louis, the I.T. professional still wearing a dress shirt and tie, but has taken time out of his busy day to heft a shotgun and take care of business. And finally Bill, the aged Vietnam war vet who has been keeping his M16 well oiled and waiting for this day to arrive ever since he got back from Nam.

These unusual partners in survival have to band together and fight their way through four separate campaigns that each plays as its own distinct horror movie. The first (No Mercy) is a frantic flight through the city and sewers in an attempt to reach an air evac from a hospital. The second (Death Toll) is a romp through tunnels to a small town in the countryside. The third (Dead Air) finds the team fighting their way to an airport and finally the fourth and last campaign (Blood Wake) is a furiously paced run through a woodland and rural setting. The levels have obviously been crafted with love and consideration by the designers, because they always find a way to try and split up the team and drown you in enemies. But you can’t fight zombies with sticks and stones. No my friends you need firepower.

When you begin each level a small array of weapons are laid out before you and it is your choice whether to carry a shotgun or a Sub-machine gun, you always have the pistol on hand and if you have a sharp eye, you can find a secondary later on in the mission and pull out twin hand cannons to take down zombies wholesale style. Usually halfway through the mission you can drop your previous weapon for an auto-shotgun, M16 or hunting rifle. They all have their strengths and weaknesses and it really depends on your playing style and tastes. However, having used them all, I have to say that they all ‘feel’ good. Valve really got the gun mechanics, sounds and overall sensations right in this one. The thrown weapons are also fantastic. Molotov cocktails that spread fire across the ground and light up bodies like birthday candles, pipe bombs that draw away the undead and pop them in a gore filled blast and even propane tanks and gas cans that can be picked up and strategically placed in harms way and ignited for ‘explosive’ results. Also let us not forget the mounted chain guns that are sparsely placed throughout the missions to help you mow down wave after wave of rushing undead.

Speaking of the undead. These aren’t your grandma’s zombies, from the early black and white talkie pictures. You know, one of them is hanging around in the backyard or a dark alley and if you aren’t careful, by golly, he’s gonna getcha! These are the 28 days later style that storm forwards in a violently aggressive rush attempting to tear the flesh from your bones. It’s not just the regular zombies either, there are: Hunters who pounce from the shadows and pin you to the ground. Smokers, who constrict and strangle you with their tongues and slowly suffocate you while dragging you up the side of a building from 100 feet away. Boomers, who will vomit on you immediately drawing down the wrath of any zombies currently shambling around the level. Tanks, who are ridiculously hard to kill and can end your life with two punches. They also like to tear up chunks of the ground and throw them fifty feet into you or your friends and have also been known to swat cars around like tennis balls. And finally Witches, let’s just say that you don’t want to get in these zombies faces. They don’t like to talk and if they’re disturbed, they’re sure as hell going to ruin your day too. The best part about these new and twisted enemies is that in the versus mode you get a chance to play as them and hunt down other live players online. All in all these enemies are a pretty fresh take on zombies and for the most part they are hardcore. What I’m trying to say is that this menagerie of undead don’t generally stand around waiting for you to take a leisurely headshot. Try playing on expert with some friends and you’ll see what I mean.

So you and three buddies on live think you have what it takes to play this game. Well I hope you can trust them, because if one of you is a lone wolf or a straggler, chances are, you’re gonna die. This game is built around the one central concept of teamwork. Sure there have been co-op games before, but breaking formation never meant instant death for everyone in your party… well now it does. Valve have developed a truly ingenious artificial intelligence director, that in a similar fashion to a movie director marks, charts and actively decides the flow of the gameplay. If you are doing well against his horde of undead, he might give you a break and let you rest easy for a minute or he may decide to throw a tank in your faces and teach you who’s really running the show. He might even decide to pick off the weak member of the team who is crippled and hobbling just a few feet behind the rest of you. If one of you isn’t there in a moment’s notice, to save him, then he’s as good as dead. The beauty of it is that each and every time you play any level in Left 4 Dead, it’s a completely different experience. Different items at different points, different enemies, and the most unnerving derivation is that just when you’ve become accustomed to fighting an especially large wave of enemies at one point, the next time, they don’t show up, or they show up early before you’re ready. It’s really a stroke of genius that adds a ton of replayability to this title.

The only real weakness that I could find with this game is that the campaigns are disappointingly short. Mind you I’m obviously a fan of the game and could easily play a single mission for more than two hours. I would say that for total completion of the main game it won’t take you more than eight hours. It is short, but it is also very sweet. The ray of light in the future may very well be the unlimited potential of the online modding community and the numerous variations and new campaigns that can be produced by anyone. Hopefully there will be new missions and downloadable content to keep this game fresh in the coming months. Until then, we’ll have to make due with the four campaigns and the frightfully fun versus mode.

So what I’m really trying to say is…
Between the startling sound, the insanely fun co-op and versus modes, and the character design (Survivor and Infected) this game is close to flawless. They’ve set out to achieve a goal and beyond all of the hype over the last year, have managed to deliver. The levels are truly well done and help to immerse you in the world of fast paced survival horror. The weapons, although somewhat limited, make sense, and play extremely well. It’s not realistic to be walking through an abandoned supermarket and stumble upon a rocket launcher or a flame thrower, but that still doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to have one. The AI director takes the enemies in this title to an entirely new level and I hope to see more of this ‘smart’ AI in other games in the future. Left 4 Dead gets so many things right that I really can’t see anything wrong.

On a final note, Valve has once again hit it out of the park, after the vast success of the half life series, this year’s sleeper hit Portal, the ever popular Counter Strike and Team Fortress Classic, they may very well have another giant on their hands. But why don’t you judge for yourself. Go out, buy a copy, play till the sun comes up.

Game purchased and reviewed for $59.99 on the Xbox 360