This game suceeds in providing a great co-op experience.
When you put the game in your Xbox you will be introduced to a cut scene. There you will be introduced to the four characters you will be able to play in Left 4 Dead which are Bill, Zoey, Louis and Francis. The cut scene had very good voice acting and was entertaining to watch. Sadly this is the only cut scene out of the entire game and story is all told through in-game. The story though is paper thin.
But this is one of those games where story doesn't matter. It is all about the gameplay. The only thing you need to know is the city is full of infected and you have to survive. In this game you have campaign mode which has 4 campaigns to go through (5 if you bought the Crash Course DLC), versus mode, single player and survival mode which is a free add on.
The 4 campaigns are where you go through the level and reach the safe house at the end, fighting off any infected that appears to be in your way. There are normal infected as well as the boss infected. These are: The Hunter who will pounce on the enemy and scratch your face like hell. Boomer is an overweight infected who will vomit on you which will attract the normal infected to kill you. The Smoker will constrict you with its long tongue. The Tank a very muscular infected who can break you like a twig and can throw debris at you. Witch the deadliest infected of them all. Disturb her, and you will be pretty much dead. You will be using shotguns, machine guns and sniper rifles to defend yourself with as well as pain pills and first aid to heal yourself. Each campaign usually last about an hour each, depends how well you play and difficulty level. With a friend theses campaign are really enjoyable and very replayable experience however if you plan to play solo you will find it is a very soulless and short experience.
Versus mode is where 4 players take control of the boss infected (apart from the witch) and another 4 players take the role as the survivors. The survivor's goal is to reach the end of the campaign intact. The infected job is simple. Kill the survivors. It is basically the same as campaign mode except a team of four will be swapping between infected and survivor after each round. Playing as the infected is fun except when you're the Hunter because when you attack you die 2 seconds afterwards.
Left 4 Dead has that zombie movie feel. With the environments with boarded up houses to the movie poster for each campaign which is shown during the loading screen. The music also adds more to this effect. The game isn't scary but I don't think it was meant to in the first place. It is all about the action, the multiplayer and the comradeship of your team as you try and survive the campaign. There is also a commentary for the game for people who have an interest in game design
Note. That this game is best played co-op or if you have Xbox-live. This is a very enjoyable online shooter which takes a unique twist on the shooter franchise by focusing more on the co-op experience rather than competitive experience.
Crash Course/ Survival mode DLC
These are the downloadable content for Left 4 Dead. Crash is an extra campaign for Left 4 Dead which will cost you 540 Microsoft points. It is has the same objectives as the last campaigns. Still the same enjoyable co-op experience like the main game but this one takes you about half an hour to finish. Survival mode places you in one area based of the campaign, and just survive as long as you can. You will receive a bronze silver and gold medal based on how long you can survive. This can give you a five minute sessions of Left 4 dead if you don't have time for campaign or versus but it isn't as enjoyable. But it is free.