Left 4 Dead

Anyone who considers themselves a hardcore fan of zombie movies knows that there’s only one element that is crucial to the formula: a ragtag group of people with a ton of guns and ammo and even more zombies. And sometimes a mall. The folks at Valve seem to realize this, and are prepping a game with all of the ridiculous action, gore and intensity of your zombie flick of choice. Left 4 Dead will use the Source engine championed by Half-Life 2 to give the player a realistic world with accurate physics, destructible environments, and loads of zombies to mow down.

At a recent preview event held at EA’s Redwood Shores headquarters, the multiplayer build of Left 4 Dead was on display. The multiplayer mode showcased was a 4-on-4 team deathmatch, but it also featured droves of CPU-controlled zombies to get the drop on you. These aren’t your typical brainless zombies dragging their feet in slo-mo either, as they run at you screaming, biting and swinging, much like the ones featured in Dawn of the Dead (the remake, not the original).

The team deathmatch build had four players as the requisite group of “survivors”, each armed to the teeth in whatever weaponry conveniently happened to be available, from assault rifles to SMGs and Molotov cocktails. You could dole out orders and warnings to your compatriots through an extensive macro chart, and even heal them should they fall in battle.

On the flipside, there were also four players on the zombie team. These characters served as “leader” zombies, featuring a bit more strength than the CPU zombies, and could use the others to their advantage while hunting the human characters.

The gameplay was pretty intense, especially when playing as the human characters. Zombies would pop out from every dark corner, often heralding their arrival with a loud guttural scream that’s just too creepy to come from a human. The intensity level in the game was extremely high, and you’d often have to listen for your teammates to start screaming to start shooting.

Graphically, while the game may be based on an engine that has a couple of years under its hood, it still looks pretty damn good. The character models look very nice, and the gun models are pretty realistic looking. The ludicrous gibs that cover the place whenever you explode a zombie’s head with a shottie are pretty rad too.

Left 4 Dead's cathartic action will cater to the horror movie fan in all of us. Look for it next year.