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74
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Left 4 Dead

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 58 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 2707 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: Valve Software
Developer: Turtle Rock Studios
Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action
Players: 8
ESRB Rating: M (Mature)
Release Date: November 17, 2008
Summary
Fight together...or die alone. A new and highly virulent strain of the rabies virus emerges and spreads through the human population with frightening speed. The pandemic's victims become grotesquely disfigured, wildly violent psychopaths, attacking the uninfected on sight. One of the "lucky" few apparently immune to the sickness, you, unfortunately, are also trapped in a city crawling with thousands of the bloodthirsty Infacted. Together with a handful of fellow Survivors, you must fight your way to safety or die alone. A co-operative multiplayer action game from the makers of "Counter-Strike," Left 4 Dead is built atop the most advanced version of the Source Engine and introduces version 2 of Turtle Rock's artificial intelligence (A.I.) technology. [Turtle Rock Studios]
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
G4 TV
Fast zombies? Check. Non-stop tension and intensity? Check. The quality of gameplay we expect from Valve? Check. When it comes to co-op multiplayer, Valve is consistently ahead of the curve and excellent at making games that force players to work together.
Read Full Review >BigPond GameArena
The biggest issue I face with Left 4 Dead however is that I can't stop playing it. And when I can't play it I'm thinking about it.
Read Full Review >DarkZero
Every aspect of Left 4 Dead has been refined and tweaked to perfection. It’s addictive and atmospheric, and it contains undoubtedly the best co-op gameplay we’ve seen yet.
Read Full Review >ImpulseGamer
The game is exactly what so many fans of the zombie horror films have longed for, for so so long.
Read Full Review >MEGamers
L4D is the next best thing to a real-life zombie apocalypse with fun and excitement in abundance.
Read Full Review >Hardcore Gamer Magazine
All in all, if you know from the start you are getting into a game that is entirely based around its cooperative multiplayer elements you are going to be rewarded with hundreds of hours of the best gaming experience you have had in years.
Read Full Review >GamingExcellence
Left 4 Dead is a fantastic experience so long as you can get yourself into games with good players.
Read Full Review >YouGamers
Left 4 Dead is, above anything else, a fun and replayable co-op experience. Everything is elaborately designed to support the co-op gameplay and the moody zombie theme. So it doesn't have a heavily scripted 30-hour storyline with dozens of maps? Who cares! Refreshingly original and polished to the point of being a textbook case how to make a proper PC game.
Read Full Review >PC Gamer
Left 4 Dead's emphasis on teamwork and vague hints of story may not appeal to gamers who demand a focused single-player experience, but for the millions out there who have ever imagined their role in the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse, it simply cannot be missed. [Jan 2009, p.30]
PC Gamer UK
It's got all the nail-biting high tension of a control point assault/defence of Team-Fortress 2, mixed with the tightly designed levels of Half-Life 2 and the weapons of Counter-Strike. As long as they keep introducing new missions, there's no reason why it won't be sucking on your bandwidth for years to come.
Read Full Review >AtomicGamer
If you're looking for the cooperative PC experience of 2008 and you're more interested in guns and zombies than in orcs and swords, then Left 4 Dead is very much a must-have game.
Read Full Review >PC Zone UK
A monumental pillar in multiplayer gaming; playing it without yelping in delight is like eating a doughnut without licking your lips. [Jan 2009, p.54]
PC Format
Possibly too relentless for the less devout mouse-jockey, but it's astounding proof that being a brain-dead shooter is a very good thing. [Jan 2009, p.86]
Gaming Target
As it stands, Left 4 Dead is a great game, and Valve is continually improving it with patches already released and a content update promised for the near future.
Read Full Review >IGN UK
One of the finest zombie games ever made, and one of the finest co-op games ever made. The potential for everything to go so, so wrong without warning, or conversely to pull off the most spectacular escapes against all odds, means this is an online shooter you can tell your finest anecdotes about without boring everyone else to tears.
Read Full Review >Play.tm
There's so much tension and just pure fun to be had here that it is quite impossible to ignore, and if you're a player that craves genuine team cohesion then this could be one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences you've ever had. The only thing this game is missing is a G-String clad and rotting Jenna Jameson.
Read Full Review >Gaming Nexus
While it's a short campaign, the game's solid as a rock and offers a good deal of replayability.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
Unless you're genuinely lacking anyone to play it with though, Left 4 Dead is easily one of this year's must-have games.
Read Full Review >Gamer.nl
Even people who dislike zombies will probably change their minds after playing Left 4 Dead. The game offers much more than just killing zombies by the hundred. It offers lots and lots of gameplay with an unique combination of a tactical shooter with good old fashioned humour.
Read Full Review >Cynamite
Left 4 Dead proves that zombies don’t have to be dumb and slow! The game’s definite pro is its brilliant versus mode. The campaign mode is nice to have, but nothing more.
Read Full Review >Gamervision
When playing with friends, Left4Dead gives the best cooperative experience in gaming, hands down. Nothing compares. The game is lacking a bit in terms of content, and more weapons and locations would definitely add to the experience, but nothing can take away from the sheer enjoyment value.
Read Full Review >Worth Playing
Left 4 Dead is a shining example of zombies done right in a video game. It's an action-packed riot with gore galore and is four times as fun with friends.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer
Another deeply professional, personality-filled and progressive take on the shooter from Valve. In a cultural landscape that has as many zombie touchstones as ours, it takes something special to make them shamble appealingly, and Left 4 Dead, both literally and metaphorically, makes them run.
Read Full Review >VideoGamer
There are games you want everyone to play, just so they can experience what you've such a good time with, and Left 4 Dead is one of them. It's unlike any other game I've ever played and demonstrates the true power of cooperative gameplay.
Read Full Review >Wired
If you enjoy playing first-person shooters with a team of friends or even complete strangers, Left 4 Dead offers an unparalleled social experience. It can be frustrating at times when the team's actions aren't synced, or strategies continually falter, but a bit of practice and, more importantly, communication will transform this zombie massacre into one of the most exciting and addictive gaming experiences ever.
Read Full Review >Destructoid
As a co-op game, Left 4 Dead is literally the best the genre has ever seen. As a competitive experience, it's still very entertaining, but ultimately conflicted and uneven. But that's okay: I'll just play campaign that much more.
Read Full Review >AceGamez
A truly monumental achievement, not only for Valve but for the games industry as a whole - this is what the concept of co-operative play is all about and this is the definitive implementation of it thus far.
Read Full Review >Edge Magazine
Valve has taken something unscripted and dynamic, and seeded it with the right amount of narrative flavour, pacing and spectacle. [Christmas 2008, p.82]
IGN
There's absolutely no doubt that Left 4 Dead is one of the most social and exciting multiplayer games that we've ever played. It's almost pitch perfect in how it captures the tension and the action of a Hollywood zombie movie.
Read Full Review >GameSpy
The inventive and highly entertaining competitive multiplayer mode just adds to the experience, and we're looking forward to seeing what Valve's got planned for the game's future. Out of all the titles that have shaped the Year of Living Cooperatively, this may be the best experience of them all.
Read Full Review >Eurogamer Portugal
Left 4 Dead means fun and adrenaline in its SinglePlayer mode or in the phenomenal co-op Multiplayer, where only the lack of some more options blew the chances to seek new highs. It's like drugs, once you have it, it's impossible to drop. L4D is especially dedicated to all FPS fans who love pure and non-stop action.
Read Full Review >Play (Poland)
Foaming at the mouth, with a mad glint in the eye and a trio of trusted friends watching your back - that's how it's played. And there's no stepping away from it. When the consensus was that there's hardly anything more to invent in the survival horror genre, Valve proved it wrong. No other game made me give the medikit to another player despite being hurt myself. [Jan 2009]
Pelit (Finland)
Valve hits gold again and turns zombie apocalypse into year’s best co-op-shooter. The tank doesn’t really fit the game, otherwise it’s a winner. [Jan 2009]
Total PC Gaming
Its bravery and stunning execution deserve plaudits while its addictive nature deserves a health warning. [Issue#15, p.58]
ActionTrip
The game works excellently both as a co-op game and as a classic competitive multiplayer experience.
Read Full Review >GameZone
Left 4 Dead is a great multiplayer shooter with many elements that you won’t find in any other shooter this year. The co-op experience is unrivaled and the dynamic AI is an excellent design choice.
Read Full Review >GamingXP
Besides five boss monsters, there are over 1000 zombie models, which have been designed very well and seem to be taken out of a zombie movie, … a good one!
Read Full Review >Computer Games Online RO
So Left 4 Dead is basically the „Royale with Cheese” of this year’s multiplayer shooters. Just that the french fries next to it aren’t covered in mayo, but blood.
Read Full Review >3DJuegos
Left 4 Dead is one of the most pleasant surprises of this final quarter of 2008. Without making too much noise it brings a very interesting set, in which the cooperative campaign is its main breakthrough. Short, thrilling and intense.
Read Full Review >Absolute Games
L4D’s Versus mode is on par with Call of Duty 4 in terms of drama and tension. Every battle is a Hollywood blockbuster, an endless well of war stories about bravery, team spirit, betrayal, and cunning tricks.
Read Full Review >GameStar
It's a playable zombie movie. Would you like to hunt down the infected or rather rip human flesh to shreds? What may look like a simple shooter turns out to be very challenging, scary and a lot of fun. The game may be short, but with great replay value and different ways to play like versus mode or co-op mode.
Read Full Review >Gamers.at
If you love good stories and are seeking for a long and player-focused singleplayer experience, Left 4 Dead is definitely not the shooter for you to get this Christmas. If you consider yourself a multiplayer enthusiast who’s looking for a true, old-school coop shooter, on the other hand, this could well be your GotY!
Read Full Review >GameTrailers
Left 4 Dead is a fun game while it lasts, but that’s not long. There’s not much nuance to the combat or weapons, but the realistic enemy behavior gives it a sense of unpredictability.
Read Full Review >Meristation
The zombie apocalypse has begun in a small town in the USA. Everything and everyone is at stake. Four players must survive, playing together, fighting agains hordes of zombies. A great co-op shooter and an excellent game in the genre, which lets us live a horrible nightmare.
Read Full Review >PALGN
While it arrives with a meagre number of campaigns to play through, the edge of your seat gameplay and team-based focus of the title make Left 4 Dead the most comprehensive co-op title on the market at this time.
Read Full Review >GameSpot
Left 4 Dead makes both sides of the zombie apocalypse a thrill to experience, as long as you're not alone.
Read Full Review >Gameplayer
Gripes aside, Left 4 Dead is a well polished experience that is an absolute blast to play co-operatively with mates (or randoms for that matter).
Read Full Review >InsideGamer.nl
I really enjoyed playing Left 4 Dead, and will continue to do so for many more hours. My only complaint is the slight lack of content and different gaming modes. The AI controller guarantees a certain level of variation in gameplay, but the playable levels and types of enemies remain the same. Content wise the game would score an 8, but Left 4 Dead packs enough fun to raise that score half a point.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
The only thing missing from the game is a decent story for the single-player mode. I understand that this is a game made for online play, but you get this really great animated opening that kind of lays down a general plot and that’s it.
Read Full Review >GameShark
The online-focus and lack of plot are sure to rub some people the wrong way, but FPS-fans and zombie aficionados have never played anything quite like Left 4 Dead. It is a near-perfect mixture of decayed ambiance and relentless pacing that pushes the boundaries of sanity to the breaking point.
Read Full Review >PC PowerPlay
Whether or not L4D should form part of your gaming collection can be decided with your reaction to a single word: Zombies. If a little chill of excitement tingled down your spine right now, you know what to do. [January 2009, p.47]
GameDaily
Although we zipped through the four "movies" in less than five hours, we can't stop playing co-operatively with friends via online play and competing against others in the thrilling Survivors vs. Infected, a four-on-four multiplayer mode where monsters attempt to slaughter their gun-wielding adversaries.
Read Full Review >Giant Bomb
Beyond its categorical success in establishing a vivid picture of the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead's biggest breakthrough is the way it blurs the lines between the often compartmentalized pieces of a modern first-person shooter. It makes for a game that's unlike any other, and while the limited amount of content is admittedly unfortunate, that shouldn't keep you from experiencing this fast-paced, nerve-wracking game.
Read Full Review >LEVEL (Czech Republic)
Hilarious survival horror – is it even possible? Missing singleplayer campaign is forgiven in the very first moment when you try “co-op or die” four-player mayhem. [Issue#173]
NZGamer
If you're a multiplayer fiend and like the thought of mowing down zombies with chainguns, this is definitely worth checking out. The thrill of obliterating hordes of screaming bad guys that just want to gobble up your brains really is quite unique and fun. Just don't expect to be getting very good value for money because there's really not very much inside the box.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 2707 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Bill H gave it a10:
The best COOP shooter available hands down. It's not just about shooting zombies, its about teamwork. The campaigns may be a bit easy for some players if you are playing on anything other than expert mode, but versus is what really brings a different dynamic to the table when compared to other multiplayer FPS games. The downside for some people may be the fact that you do really need a mic, communication is very important in a game that requires actual teamwork. Ramboers will fail in versus or expert campaigns miserably, that play style will just not work here. If you want to play a game that requires teamwork and brings a different dimension to team based shooters, grab this one up now. If you want to run around like a wild man hitting your macroed insults then you should probably stick to CoD.
manuel s. gave it a7:
The game is not bad, unfortunatly i got bored too quickly, after only a week, I stoped playing and came back to COD4. The reason behind this is probably the fact that I purchased the game almost a year after his release, after a year, most of the players lost their interest and i found actually hard to find a server with 3 players to start a campaign.
Brandon R gave it a6:
Good game for a while. Replay value is surprisingly low, unlike Valve's other online masterpieces (TF2 and CS, namely). Lack of content and lack of variety of maps (especially after being spoiled by TF2) make the game dry up real fast. Additionally, because it's limited to 4 player or 8 player games, the frustration of losing far outweighs gratification of winning. Online players take this to heart, and consequently there are far more gamers in L4D ready to kick someone out of the server because they are new to the game and not a veteran player. This isn't Valve's fault, but a shortcoming of small team online FPS, which could be remedied by (read: MORE CONTENT) larger servers and more than 8-player gametypes.
Serious S. gave it a9:
Addictive, demands teamwork, zombies. The game was addictive from the start, but actually lacked content for its high price of more than 50 bucks, which is why I'm not giving it a 10. Since it's being continously updated and allows custom content like whole self-made campaigns to be installed however, this is not a huge problem. It has three convincing game modes by now (I'm not counting in Singleplayer since it's simply campaign mode with bots instead of human players), whereas Versus is the one I am playing most of the time. In fact this is the most varied mode, since you experience a very individual game every time with individual ways of playing on both teams here The fact that this demands teamwork can also screw the game up really fast though, if one of your mates messes around like walking stray and gets himself killed, it means trouble for the rest of your team as well. It is best for you to bring some friends (preferably real life friends) instead of random people. Even though the amounth of content has improved over the one year it's been released it's still not THAT much, and I hope they will keep updating the game with new content even after the release of Left 4 Dead 2. What I've also been missing is that there isn't such a variety of weapons, you either find an Uzi and a pump shotgun or an M16 assault rifle, a hunting rifle and a combat shotgun... Not really that much.
N B gave it a3:
When this first came out i thought it was the best thing ever, however there's not enough in it to keep you going and you are painfully forced to follow the same set route replaying the exact same experience. Horde left, tank in 20 seconds through that door. witch either here or there. yawn. Easy is just way too easy so you play expert but everyone just hides in a closet on expert, i don't want to play a closet simulator. Verses is the best feature but everyone just wants to be zombies so as soon as its your turn to be zombies all the survivors leave the game. I think the absolute worst bit is the fact that you can't even aim/zoom your gun. Ever since Killing Floor came out with its forever changing game play and real world weapon physics all i can do is pity L4D for being beaten by a MOD
Ansatsu R. gave it a6:
This game has fairly addictive game play, problem is they are not updating it as they said they would therefor the new content is not coming out in time to save this game. At this current time (9/25/09), this game has the longevity of around 3-4 weeks. When this game was released the graphics were behind almost two PC generations. The music is OK, it sort-of fits the games theme. It is plagued by horrible AI, which seems to do nothing but shoot and run, rarely saves the players from the special infected, lack of updates, graphics that are not up to date, broken levels on versus mode (this is accurate some of the levels are completely unfinished yet valve released them.) My advise, only buy this if you are willing to take a risk on this game even though it is halfway broken you might get some fun out of it.
Adam S gave it an8:
This game is so good I've now bought it twice. First for the Xbox and now for my PC. This is the first game I've played where co-op play improves it beyond the novelty of having a mate control someone else on screen. Valve have done a superb job of making sure players stick together as a team (as you won't survive long if you go it alone) without it feeling forced. You really do feel that the odds are stacked against you throughout the campaigns but in a good way. The only serious criticisms I have are to do with one of the best features of the game, the AI Director. The Director is a fantastic Idea that does keep the player on their toes as you never know when you'll be rushed by a horde of infected, however it could do with a greater variety of spawn points for the special enemies as I found after a few play throughs I knew where the witches were likely to be placed or when a tank was probably going to attack. That said when the director works it works very well indeed. Just like in a horror film some of the most tense parts of left 4 dead are where nothing is really happening, for instance your team are just coming to a room which is where you had one of your toughest fights last time so you're expecting the horde or a tank just round the corner, everyone heals up, reloads, gets psyched. You burst in and....... nothing, where the hell are they? A simple trick like the changing spawnpoints of enemies can add a surprising amount to the lifespan of a game. L4d2 sounds like it's improving on this with the Director able to change the actual layout of the maps to a certain extent which, combined with more types of special infected will probably fix the few issues I have with it. Sorry my comments rambled for so long, just passing time waiting for the game to download from steam.
