Left 4 Dead

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Left 4 Dead

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Horror? How scary can a game get?

Arsenal (cntd.)


You might have been wondering exactly who will be playing the mutants in this game? The enhanced computer artificial intelligence will play the majority of the hundreds if not thousands of monsters. Can you jump in and play the zombie side? Well the answer to that is a resounding yes! Whereas the survivor players' main function in life will be to literally mow down the hordes of monsters and to survive, the zombie must take a less vigorous approach and its goal is to kill all of the survivors in the game. When there are no survivors left alive then the game will end. With that said, the zombie must use hiding and evasion skills because one hit from a weapon will cause it to literally explode. When a zombie explodes it will act as an area effect bomb that will cause lots of damage to the surrounding area. In addition to the damage, even more zombies will be spawned. This is what I call a great way to propagate the species!

Frenzy


As in almost every action shooter there is always a boss monster at the end of each level. It's the same in Left 4 Dead. The bosses are mean and nasty creatures that have a varied repertoire of fighting skills. The mutant creatures go by the names of Boomers, The Hunter, The Smoker, The Tank and the deadly Witch. The only mutant that cannot be played is The Witch. This monster is a rather passive creature, and it will not bother you unless it is shot at or physically touched, or if you are unfortunate enough to shine your flashlight at it. If you somehow bother this guy then watch out because it will go into a frenzy and literally rip you apart. None of the mutant characters can use weapons and to be honest they don't need to. The Tank can pick up vehicles or other large objects in the environment and throw them at you. The Boomer will launch a nasty gooey vomit that will blind survivors. This vomit will serve to attract other mutants and then to top it all off will spawn more zombies. The Hunter is an agile creature that will climb walls and jump over rooftops just to put a hurtin' on some hapless survivor with his long nasty claws. Last but not least we have a monster called The Smoker. This guy will spit a dark noxious cloud of black smoke at you that will incapacitate the average survivor. Then he will lash out with his whip-like slimy tongue, thus strangling you. The above descriptions are the reasons I mentioned why it is inadvisable for a survivor to strike out on his or her own. The simple fact of the matter is that you need your teammates to save your hide by killing said monster when you find yourself in trouble. And believe me, you definitely will find yourself in a lot of trouble, all of the time. If your teammates aren't around then you will be dead meat in no time at all.

This is really a great title and I can't wait to join forces with my fellow survivors online and play battles against hordes of deadly virus infected monsters. When I get there and if I'm unable to bring enough friends along to fill out my team, the excellent computer AI will jump in and control the team members that do not have a human player. In addition, when the game is introduced for the Xbox 360, both the PC and Xbox will be able to play together on the Net, the Xbox via Xbox Live and the PC via a standard Internet hook up. As you strive to accomplish the goal of making your way to the next waypoint in order to advance to the next level, the game will display some player stats that may be of interest. And don't worry if a member of your team has to quit the game because the AI will provide very competent control of that character and the game can continue. This certainly is a good one, and I look forward to its release this summer. It will surely bring many hours of fun to those that like to partake in the age old fight of good battling the forces of evil!