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left 4 dead - preview
article: left 4 dead - preview
This is CS-Nation's hands-on preview of Left 4 Dead, the upcoming Zombie frag-fest currently being developed by Valve and Turtle Rock Studios. Frankly, I'm going to cut to the chase immediately and tell you exactly what you want to know. Yes, the game is amazing. No, the game wasn't near completed when I played it. Yes, you will need teamwork constantly here. There will be no John Rambos in Left 4 Dead. If you fly solo, you're dead, and that's not an exaggeration.

There's dismemberment, gore, human emotion, fear, and vomit. Yes, vomit. In short, this game has it all, makes no apologies, and is everything you could have possibly hoped for. I'll get to that later on, but for now, let's take things down a notch. I'm going to start from the beginning, explaining the basics of the game, the characters, the enemies, and the locations that we presently know of. After that, I'll dive right into my hands-on impressions of the title. I'll let you know right now that I really, really enjoyed this title for the little bit I played it.

As I'm going through and writing this all out, I've come to the realization that this article would have been massive if we didn't break it up into two parts. Rizzuh and I thought long and hard about this (read: 30 seconds), and decided to bring you, the readers of CS-Nation, a dual feature. This first part will consist of the game's background, story elements, and introduction of the characters. The second part will be nothing but my own experiences and impressions of the title. Happy reading!

For those looking for the second part, we have you covered.

A Brief Overview of the Gameplay
Make no mistake, the game is all about fast and intense battles against legions of Infected. Offering plenty of enjoyable action, the game will appeal to fans of shooters, survival horror, and team based ventures. There is a major emphasis on the "team" part there.

There are a number of unique aspects to this title. Sure, there will be plenty of time to kill the Infected, but that won't be all. You have to get into the mindset of a survivor, and act accordingly. That means that everyone needs to watch each other's backs, and help when you see a teammate in distress. Each character will have the ability to heal and revive their fallen comrades, and the way death is handled in this game is unlike anything else you have played before.

When you or a teammate are "killed" there is a "bleed out" period in which a teammate must rush to your aid. During this time, you'll be on the ground incapable of standing or moving. You can still look around and are able to fire your pistol as a last ditch effort to keep the enemy at bay. Left alone, you'll bleed out over time and eventually succumb to a permanent death if you are not revived and handed a medical pack.

Revival entails having a teammate use the action button on you for a few seconds as they help you back up to your feet. You'll still have major health issues at this point, so either use a medpack of your own or hope that a teammate has one that they can use to dress your wounds. Medpacks are few and far between, with each character being able to resupply themselves with one at each safe zone. As your health decreases, you'll also begin to move slower and from an outsider's view, you'll know when a teammate is in distress. They'll limp and hunch over slightly.


The game also makes use of a "three strikes and you're out" rule for handling deaths. Knocked down three times? You had best not expect to come back to life after that. Players will go into a spectator mode until one of a few things happen: They can either be found in a closet somewhere down the line by their teammates and allowed to jump back into the action, or if all of their teammates die before such a time, then the round is over and the Infected can tack on another victory.

Left 4 Dead is also a thinking man's game. Each level does require a fair bit of strategy. Who will lead the way and who will cover the rear? What weapons will everyone carry into the next section? There is a Boomer and a fresh wave of AI Infected both headed your way, which poses the greatest threat and should be eliminated first?