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'''''Left 4 Dead''''' is a [[Cooperative gameplay|co-operative]], [[survival horror]], [[first-person shooter]] game by [[Turtle Rock Studios]], who were purchased by the [[Valve Corporation]] part way into development. The game uses the [[Source engine|Source]] [[game engine]], and is available for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]-based [[personal computer]]s and the [[Xbox 360]].
'''''Left 4 Dead''''' is a single player douch bag that lets you pwn zombies wiv auto shotties !! , [[first-person shooter]] game by [[Turtle Rock Studios]], who were purchased by the [[Valve Corporation]] part way into development. The game uses the [[Source engine|Source]] [[game engine]], and is available for [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]-based [[personal computer]]s and the [[Xbox 360]].


''Left 4 Dead'' puts four human playable or [[Game artificial intelligence|AI]]-controlled Survivors of an [[Zombie apocalypse|apocalyptic]] [[pandemic]] against hordes of aggressive "Infected" (zombies). These Infected are controlled by an AI that dynamically balances difficulty and mood depending on the players' progress and situation. In an alternate game mode, human players can control up to four different monsters with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.
''Left 4 Dead'' puts four human playable or [[Game artificial intelligence|AI]]-controlled Survivors of an [[Zombie apocalypse|apocalyptic]] [[pandemic]] against hordes of aggressive "Infected" (zombies). These Infected are controlled by an AI that dynamically balances difficulty and mood depending on the players' progress and situation. In an alternate game mode, human players can control up to four different monsters with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.

Revision as of 11:18, 9 December 2008

Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead box art
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Turtle Rock Studios(defunct)
Certain Affinity (Xbox 360)
Publisher(s)Valve Corporation
Designer(s)Mike Booth (director)
Writer(s)Chet Faliszek
Composer(s)Mike Morasky
EngineSource
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release
November 18, 2008
Genre(s)Survival horror
First-person shooter
Mode(s) 4 player Cooperative multiplayer, 4 vs 4 Versus multiplayer

Left 4 Dead is a single player douch bag that lets you pwn zombies wiv auto shotties !! , first-person shooter game by Turtle Rock Studios, who were purchased by the Valve Corporation part way into development. The game uses the Source game engine, and is available for Windows-based personal computers and the Xbox 360.

Left 4 Dead puts four human playable or AI-controlled Survivors of an apocalyptic pandemic against hordes of aggressive "Infected" (zombies). These Infected are controlled by an AI that dynamically balances difficulty and mood depending on the players' progress and situation. In an alternate game mode, human players can control up to four different monsters with special abilities and cooperate to stop the Survivor players.

The game went gold on November 13, 2008, and was released on November 18, 2008 in the United States; and on November 21, 2008 in Europe to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the release of Half-Life.[1][2] A five-minute trailer was released on Halloween.[3] A playable demo was made available on November 6 for pre-purchasers and on November 11 for the general public, and was closed on November 18, 2008. The demo contained the majority of the first two chapters in the "No Mercy" campaign, and was playable in both single player and multi-player.

Left 4 Dead was well received upon its release, with praise given for its replayability, focus on cooperative play, and movie-like experience. Receiving an aggregate score of 88% on Game Rankings and 89% on Metacritic. Similar to Team Fortress 2, Valve intends to support the game with downloadable content.[4]

Gameplay

Left 4 Dead is played in a first-person perspective. In Campaign and Single-player mode, the player takes control of one of the Survivors; if four human players are not available, then the remaining Survivors are AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the "Infected"—living humans who have been infected with a mutated rabies virus to which the Survivors are immune.[5]

The game is focused on cooperation and team play; colored outlines of teammates are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement. If a Survivor falls off a ledge, then they may automatically hang onto it and can only be helped up by another Survivor. If a Survivor's health is depleted, then they become incapacitated and can only be revived by another Survivor, at which point they continue playing with a low amount of health that decrements over time. If a Survivor has been incapacitated and revived twice without tending to their wounds, then they will experience distorted black-and-white vision, and the next incapacitation will kill the player. If an incapacitated Survivor incurs further damage or is neglected by teammates, then they will die. If a Survivor is killed, then they will respawn in a closet after a period of time, but must be freed by another Survivor to rejoin the team. Otherwise, the player must wait until the next level.[6] Survivors can share first-aid kits and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has friendly fire that cannot be disabled, increasing the need for caution around other Survivors.

The Survivors communicate by voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some sound off automatically when performing actions such as reloading or spotting Infected.[7] Over 1000 unique lines have been recorded for each Survivor.[8] Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving. Due to control issues and the likelihood of players using a LIVE headset, the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead omits the quick phrases feature.[9]

The game is experienced through four campaigns that take place in various urban and rural locales. Multiple visual in-game hints, including license plates, park signs, and markings on airport equipment, imply that these locations are in Pennsylvania. Each campaign is divided into several chapters marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm, and revive players who were killed.[10] Specifically, the four campaigns are: "No Mercy", an urban setting; "Death Toll", a small-town and countryside setting; "Dead Air", an airport setting; and "Blood Harvest", a woodland and nature setting. The levels are essentially linear, with distinct beginnings and ends, but there are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies and alternate objectives, helping to create a sense of non-linearity.[11] In the final chapter of each campaign, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of Infected until rescue arrives.[8] Each campaign lasts between 45 and 75 minutes.[12]

Survivor characters

There are four playable human characters in the game:[13] Francis (voiced by Vince Valenzuela), a tattoo-covered biker; Zoey (voiced by Jen Taylor), a college student and horror movie enthusiast; Louis (voiced by Earl Alexander), a Junior Systems Analyst in his company's IT department; and Bill (voiced by Jim French), a former Green Beret and a Vietnam veteran. Early plans were for players to be randomly assigned to characters but in the final release, players can choose any character—provided that the character has not already been selected—or be randomly assigned an unselected character.[8]

Survivors are armed with various firearms. Each player starts the game with a Springfield Armory M1911 pistol.[14] It has unlimited ammo and is the only weapon that the Survivor can use when they are incapacitated. When a second pistol is found, the player can dual wield them. Regardless of what weapon a player is using, a melee attack can be used. At the beginning of each campaign, the player can choose between an Uzi submachine gun and a pump-action shotgun. As the Survivors progress through a campaign, more powerful weapons can be found: the M16A3 assault rifle, Benelli M4 Super 90 shotgun, and Ruger Mini-14 rifle. In addition to firearms, a player can also carry three other items: either a Molotov cocktail to create a wall of fire or a modified pipe bomb designed to attract Infected to it with a strobe light and siren;[14] a first-aid kit, which heals the Survivor on which it is used; and pain pills, which provide temporary health and can be handed to teammates for later use.

Infected characters

The "Infected" are the Survivors' foes in Left 4 Dead, and they appear to be partly inspired by the infected from several modern films, including 28 Days Later.[15] The Common Infected encountered during the game are fast and agile, weak individually, but may be overwhelming in numbers.

In addition to the Common Infected, there are five "Boss Infected" whose mutations grant them special attacks that make them much more dangerous. The victims of some of these attacks require assistance from a teammate before they can regain control. Each of the Boss Infected have a distinctive sound and some a musical cue, making their presence easily recognizable by players.

AI and the Director

The artificial intelligence of Left 4 Dead features a dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing, and difficulty called "The Director." Instead of fixed spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies and items in varying positions and quantities based upon each player's current situation, status, skill and location, creating a new experience for each play through.[8] The Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues, such as visual effects, dynamic music, and character communication.[9] Valve has termed this dynamic set-up "procedural narrative."[16]

In addition to the AI Director, there is a second Director that controls music. It was created as a way to keep the music interesting throughout the game. The music Director monitors what a player has experienced to create an appropriate mix. The process is client-side and done by a multi-track system. Each player hears their own mix, which is being generated as they play through the game, and dead players watching a teammate hear their teammates' mix.[17]

Versus mode

Left 4 Dead introduces a new 8-player versus experience. In Versus mode, four additional players can take control of the Boss Infected, which are randomly assigned to them each time they spawn. While in Spawn Mode, Infected players can quickly roam around the map in search of an appropriate place to spawn. This location must be at a certain distance from any Survivor, must be out of the line of sight of any Survivor, and must be outside restricted areas such as safe rooms. When a "Tank"—the strongest Infected—is about to spawn, Infected players receive a message indicating which player will control it. The Infected have the ability to see Survivors through the walls every time a Survivor runs, talks or fires a weapon—a Survivor who remains quiet by crouching or walking instead of running gradually fades from the Infected's vision. The Infected can also see in the dark, unlike the Survivors. Pathways exclusive to the Infected are marked with symbols for the Infected players. These can be climbed and used for ambushes, especially with the Infected's immunity to falling damage. Versus mode is only playable in the "No Mercy" and "Blood Harvest" campaigns.

Throughout a Versus campaign, each group of four players plays each chapter of the campaign as both Survivor and Infected, swapping sides once per chapter. At the end of each chapter, the team playing the Survivors earns points based on how well they performed. If all of the Survivors die before they reach the safe room, then the team is awarded points according to the average distance traveled to the safe room, multiplied by the chapter difficulty level. If one or more Survivors successfully complete the level, then the team is awarded points according to their remaining health and the number of remaining Survivors before having their score multiplied by the chapter difficulty level.

History

File:L4DP.JPG
The original design of the Survivors. Left to right: Louis, Francis, Zoey, Bill
The final design of the Survivors. Left to right: Francis, Bill, Zoey, Louis

Development on Left 4 Dead started in mid-2005.[18] Valve aimed to create a horror film-inspired game that merges single player games' character-driven narrative structure with multiplayer games' social interaction and high replayability.[9] The game was first revealed in the Christmas 2006 publication of PC Gamer UK with a six-page article describing a playthrough at Valve's headquarters. A teaser was released with The Orange Box. The game was first playable at the Showdown 2007 LAN in San Jose and at QuakeCon 2007.[19] Turtle Rock Studios announced Left 4 Dead on November 20, 2006,[20] and was acquired by Valve Corporation on January 10, 2008 because of the game and long-standing relationship between the companies.[21][22] Certain Affinity announced in February 2008 that they are assisting with the Xbox 360 version of the game. The game opened up to pre-purchasing on Valve's Steam system on October 15, 2008.[23]

To give Left 4 Dead significant exposure, Valve financed a $10-million marketing campaign for the game in the United States and Europe. With advertisements appearing on television, print, websites and outdoor placements in many cities. Valve also hosted photo contests called "Dude, where's my thumb?" offering copies of Left 4 Dead to people who submitted the best picture involving zombies or the outdoor advertising.[24]

When asked a short while after the release of the game about the planned availability of a Source development kit (Level editor for Valve's Source game engine) for Left 4 Dead, Chet Faliszek from Valve replied that it was planned shortly.[25] He also confirmed that Valve planned to deliver new content for the game in the future.

Development

File:L4d filmic.jpg
Before and after the application of cinematic effects

Left 4 Dead uses the latest version of Valve's Source engine, with improvements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation to more realistically portray hair and clothing, and to improve physics interaction with enemies when shot or shoved in different body parts.[26] Animation was also improved to allow characters to lean realistically when moving in curved paths. Rendering and artificial intelligence were scaled up to allow for a greater number of enemies who can navigate the world in better ways, such as climbing, jumping or breaking obstacles.[27][28] Lighting was enhanced with new self-shadowing normal mapping and advanced shadow rendering that is important to convey information about the environment and player actions.[29][9] Wet surfaces and fog are used to create mood.[30][31] Many kinds of post processing cinematic visual effects inspired by horror movies have been added to the game. There is dynamic color correction that accentuates details based on importance, contrast and sharpening to focus attention on critical areas, film grain to expose details or imply details in dark areas, and vignetting to evoke tension and a horror-film look.[9]

Left 4 Dead underwent many phases of development; influenced by playtesting, Valve removed many of the features that were originally in the game. In the initial phases, there was another Boss Infected called the "Screamer" who had no attacks, but upon spotting a Survivor would run to a safe place and then emit a loud scream that attracted a Horde of Infected. This Boss Infected was removed, but its ability to attract the Horde was incorporated into the Boomer's vomit.[32] A persistent merit/demerit system was envisioned to provide positive feedback for good behavior, such as aiding a fallen teammate; and negative feedback for poor behavior, such as the shooting a teammate. This would provide a score to rank a player's effectiveness as a teammate,[33] but this system was removed late in the development of the game in favor of immediate, non-persistent feedback displayed in-game. Another significant element removed was a continuous narrative between campaigns; because the game is designed for replayability, it was difficult to hold the player's attention for repeated viewings of cutscenes, so they were dropped in favor of a sparse narrative.[34]

The Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead has the same game modes as the PC version. The game supports Split screen and System Link play.[35] Players can mix split screen and online play in the same game.[36] A new matchmaking system is also included for online play.[9] Valve will run dedicated servers on Xbox Live for Left 4 Dead.[36]

Similar to Team Fortress 2, Valve intends to support the PC version of the game through free content updates.[4]

Demo

Early access to the Left 4 Dead demo for people who pre-ordered the game began Thursday, November 6, 2008 on both Windows and Xbox 360. It gave users access to both online and single player play in 2 levels of one story within the game. This promotion is being offered in addition to the 10% savings for those who pre-order and applies to all Steam Windows pre-orders and all Windows and Xbox 360 pre-orders from GameStop and EB Games in North America.

On November 11, the Left 4 Dead demo was made available to all Windows and Xbox 360 gamers worldwide. The demo concluded on November 18, when Left 4 Dead was made available at retail outlets across North America and worldwide via Steam, in order to use the dedicated servers for the full game.

The demo had many server problems when it launched, primarily Valve's strategy for server management which made it impossible to set up a dedicated private server with administrator controls.[37] However, a stream of patches led to the availability of a server browser and basic private server functionality as well as Valve's acknowledgment of player concerns.[37] It appears that a patch released just before the game itself has resolved many of the connection issues that demo players were having.[38]

Intro movie

To promote the game and provide basic training to player before starting the game, Valve chose to develop a machinima intro movie.[39] This movie was constructed using the game engine, and shows events prior to the beginning of the "No Mercy" campaign[40] Valve chose an intro movie over traditional in-game training mechanics because they wanted the players to be immediately dropped into a zombie apocalypse. Valve later detailed in their official Left 4 Dead blog how they designed the movie, from an intentionally very basic animation in the beginning of July 2008 to the final result for the launch of the game.[40]

Reception

Left 4 Dead received almost unanimous praise from critics, with an aggregated score of 88% on Game Rankings and 89% ("Generally Favorable Reviews") on Metacritic. Its procedurally generated movie-like experience was particularly well-received; G4 said that the game captured the horror movie feel perfectly and that multiplayer was extremely addictive. IGN stated that "It's almost pitch perfect in how it captures the tension and the action of a Hollywood zombie movie" and went on to describe it as "quite possibly the perfect co-op shooter". IGN also noted that the Source engine was no longer cutting edge, but was favorable towards the visuals, describing the lighting as "amazing" and praising the emotive facial animation and detailed, cluttered levels.[50] Reviewer also praised the high level of replayability of the game, thanks to the A.I. changing the "narrative" every time.[51]

Common points of criticism were the limited content and lack of overall narrative. While praising the games replayability both IGN and Gamespot[43] noted that the small number of scenarios may feel limited, while GameSpy found the lack of background narrative "disappointing" (although noting that there's "reportedly a lot of DLC planned...that will expand upon the story"). However, some commented that there was a story, but that it was up to the gamer to discover it.[52] On the game approach on the genre, a lot of reviewers praised its faithfulness to the zombie film genre,[53][54][55] including the "deliberately ambiguous back-story",[56] and the amount of characterization and emotion bring by each of the four survivors.[57]

On October 28, 2008, Valve reported that preorders for Left 4 Dead had beaten those of The Orange Box by 95% after the Steam pre-order was launched.[58] On November 21, 2008, the day of the game's release in Europe, Valve issued a press release stating that Left 4 Dead had exceeded the pre-order numbers of The Orange Box by over 160%.[59]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead". Valve Corporation. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  2. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-08-25). "Left 4 Dead Delayed, Now Due November 18". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  3. ^ "Left 4 Dead Intro". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  4. ^ a b Ellison, Blake (2008-08-29). "Left 4 Dead DLC Will Include More Levels, Enemies; Xbox 360 Version Uses Dedicated Servers". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  5. ^ "Left 4 Dead E3 2007 Preshow First Impressions". GameSpot. 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  6. ^ "IGN Command Prompt Podcast, Episode 21". IGN. 2008-08-14.
  7. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Subway (developer commentary). Elan Ruskin: Each Survivor has a large database of lines to choose from based on their present activity and a variety of factors, such as their health, stress level, kind of Special Infected seen so far, and many others.
  8. ^ a b c d "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview – Survivor Side". Left 4 Dead 411. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Gabe Newell. Making Left 4 Dead E3 2008 Presentation (Video presentation). Valve Corporation. {{cite AV media}}: Unknown parameter |year2= ignored (help)
  10. ^ "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Previews". Shacknews. 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  11. ^ "GameSpot Video: Left 4 Dead E3 2008 Stage Show Demo". GameSpot. 2008-07-23. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  12. ^ Chan, Norman (2008-07-21). "E3 2008: Left4Dead Interview. New Graphics, Weapons, and Steam Achievement Details". Maximum PC. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  13. ^ Linde, Aaron (2008-07-16). "Left 4 Dead E3 Preview: New Characters, New Weapons, New Details". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  14. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead Information – FAQ". Left 4 Dead 411. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  15. ^ Rossignol, Jim (2006-12-12). "Preview: Left 4 Dead". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  16. ^ Newell, Gabe (2008-11-21). "Gabe Newell Writes for Edge". Edge. Retrieved 2008-11-22. The events are trying to give them a sense of narrative. We look at sequences of events and try to take what their actions are to generate new sequences. If they've been particularly challenged by one kind of creature then we can use that information to make decisions about how we use that creature in subsequent encounters. This is what makes procedural narrative more of a story-telling device than, say, a simple difficulty mechanism.
  17. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy (developer commentary). Tim Larkin: We took several steps to keep the music interesting enough that the players would be inclined to keep it on as they play. We keep it changing so it won't become tedious; to this end, we created a music director that runs alongside the AI director, tracking the player's experience rather than their emotional state. We keep the music appropriate to each player's situation and highly personalized. The music engine in Left 4 Dead has a complete client-side, multi-track system per player that is completely unique to that player and can even be monitored by the spectators. Since some of the fun of Left 4 Dead is watching your friends when you're dead, we thought it was important to hear their personal soundtrack as well. This feature is unique to Left 4 Dead.
  18. ^ Guttridge, Luke (2008-05-01). "Valve Software's Doug Lombardi interview". Play.tm. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  19. ^ "First Left 4 Dead In-Game Footage/Pics Caught At Showdown LAN 2007". FileFront. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  20. ^ "Turtle Rock and Valve Announce Left 4 Dead". Shacknews. 2006-11-20. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  21. ^ "Valve Acquires Turtle Rock Studios". Valve Corporation. 2008-01-10. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  22. ^ "Outta The Bag". Certain Affinity. 2008-02-04. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  23. ^ "Left 4 Dead Pre-Purchase Infection on Now". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-10-25.
  24. ^ "Left 4 Dead Available at Retail Worldwide". Valve Corporation. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2008-11-25.
  25. ^ "Left 4 Dead live interview". Eurogamer. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
  26. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Hospital (developer commentary). Miles Estes: Since killing zombies is such a big part of this game, we invested a lot of time into making their death animations more dramatic than simple ragdolls. We had a professional stuntman on the motion capture stage perform about a hundred different dying animations from different kinds of weapons and hit from different directions, like from the front or behind. We then combined these mo-cap animations with the physics-driven ragdolls.
  27. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary). Phil Robb: We treat the Infected Horde as a major character in Left 4 Dead, and spend a lot of effort in making their movements believable. This includes hundreds of motion-captured animations that are algorithmically blended with the physics system to create characters that realistically interact with their environment and each other. ... When they see a Survivor, they become enraged, taking off at a full sprint, leaning into their turns, jumping and climbing over everything in their way, trying to get to their victim. We wanted to express this rage in their faces as well, so we found efficient ways for each member of the Horde to make intense facial expressions.
  28. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Subway (developer commentary). Matt Campbell: Although it sounds ridiculous to talk about advanced zombie AI, we spent a great deal of time on the AI systems for the common Horde. First and foremost is their ability to navigate. The environments in Left 4 Dead are geometrically complex, and littered with breakable and movable objects. One of the design goals for the zombie Horde was that there can never be a place where a Survivor can stand that a zombie cannot navigate to. To make this happen required not only robust path-finding code, but also path-following algorithms as well. These path followers have to continuously evaluate the local geometry around them, and decide whether to crouch, stand, jump, climb over, and otherwise navigate nearly-arbitrary environmental obstacles.
  29. ^ Callaham, John (2007-03-22). "Left 4 Dead Interview". FiringSquad. Retrieved 2008-09-01.
  30. ^ Valve Corporation (July 2008). "How Valve Connects Art Direction to Gameplay" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-08-02.
  31. ^ Carless, Simon (2008-07-31). "In-Depth: How Valve Makes Art To Enhance Gameplay". GameSetWatch. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  32. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary). Jaime Sue: The Screamer was a boss zombie who didn't have any actual attacks; he was bound in a straitjacket. You knew when he was around because of his crazed, maniacal cackling. The trick to the Screamer was that if he saw you, you had a moment to kill him before he ran away, and once the Screamer got away from the Survivors to a hiding place, he would emit a loud, howling scream that would cause a huge mob of zombies to attack the Survivors. While there were several exciting moments of knowing you had to chase him down to shoot him before he screamed, dodging zombies all the way, ultimately it proved too confusing for the Survivors to discover how he worked or even to reliably notice him in the crowd. He was cut, and his Horde-drawing attack eventually evolved into the Boomer attack.
  33. ^ "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview". Retrieved 2008-11-19.
  34. ^ Valve Corporation (2008). Left 4 Dead (PC). Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary). Doug Wood: We experimented with a variety of different introductions for each campaign. For "No Mercy", we tried a 40-second fly-in of the helicopter to give the player a more movie-like introduction to the game. Ultimately, we found that such elaborate cutscenes are hard to watch over and over in a game that's built for replayability. Playtesters wanted to get into the game and start playing right away, so we ended up going with a much more streamlined game intro.
  35. ^ "Left 4 Dead". Microsoft. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  36. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead for Xbox 360 Using Dedicated Servers on Live which will be a great addition to this game". 1UP.com. 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  37. ^ a b "Server socialism: Valve's fumbles mar Left 4 Dead demo". 2008-11-07.
  38. ^ "Left 4 Dead Demo Update Released". 2008-11-21.
  39. ^ [1]
  40. ^ a b Mitchell, Jason (2008-12-04). "The Moviemaking Process: Left 4 Dead's Intro Movie". Valve Corporation. Retrieved 2008-12-06.
  41. ^ Gillen, Kieron. "Left 4 Dead Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2008-12-2. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  42. ^ Ocampo, Jason. "Left 4 Dead Review". IGN. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  43. ^ a b Watters, Chris (2008-11-20). "Left 4 Dead for PC Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2008-12-08.
  44. ^ Tuttle, Will (2008-11-17). "Left 4 Dead Review". GameSpy. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  45. ^ Edddy, Andy (2008-11-17). "Left 4 Dead Review (Xbox 360)". TeamXbox. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  46. ^ Pearson, Craig (Christmas 2008), "Left 4 Dead", PC Gamer UK
  47. ^ "Left 4 Dead (xbox360: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  48. ^ "Left 4 Dead (PC: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  49. ^ "Left 4 Dead Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2008-11-21.
  50. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review". Giant Bomb. Retrieved 2008-11-19. {{cite web}}: Text "publisher" ignored (help)
  51. ^ "Left 4 Dead: A Co-op Review of Valve's New Cooperative Zombie Shooter". Shacknews. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-23. It's actually very easy to quantify just how replayable Left 4 Dead is, in the same way that one can identify an infectious disease. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  52. ^ "'Left 4 Dead' style is substance". Examiner.com. 2008-11-18. Retrieved 2008-11-23. There is a story here, but it's up to you to find it. The details about what is going on, beyond run shoot run, are presented in bits and pieces {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  53. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review". Examiner.com. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-23. First and foremost, it's probably the most faithful video incarnation of the zombie genre that fans have ever been treated to. Yes, even better than Resident Evil 4 {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  54. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review". Game Informer. 2008-11-17. Retrieved 2008-11-23. The amazing level designs will remind you of every zombie movie ever made {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  55. ^ "Eight Hands-on: Left 4 Dead Impressions". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2008-11-04. Retrieved 2008-11-23. Over breakfast yesterday – before playing – we were talking about different takes on the zombie game that we'd like to see. One which didn't come up is one which Left 4 Dead grasps completely – its inherent perverseness. Now, it's a constant internet thing to discuss what you'd do in a Zombie Invasion, the implication being that you're smarter than anyone else. Which is fine... but that's not how the genre works {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  56. ^ "Left 4 Dead Preview". Game.co.uk. 2008-10-15. Retrieved 2008-11-26. As with the best horror flicks, the back-story is left deliberately ambiguous {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  57. ^ "Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and Valve". ign.com. 2008-12-05. Retrieved 2008-11-26. Yet it also features four distinct survivors who convey an incredible amount of emotion through their facial animations and the rich amount of voice acting. There's Bill, the grizzled old veteran; Francis, the tough biker; Louis, the everyday dude; and Zoey, the college girl. They're so memorable that you can hear their voices in your mind as clear as day {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  58. ^ Breckon, Nick (2008-10-28). "Left 4 Dead Midnight Launch Chatty Left 4 Dead Tops Orange Box Pre-orders by 95%, Valve Launches New Contest". Shacknews. Retrieved 2008-11-18.
  59. ^ "Left 4 Dead Available at Retail Worldwide". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-28. Retrieved 2008-11-32. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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