Valve creates an immersive zombie shooter unlike anything before, with amazing atmosphere, great gameplay, and much win.
Well, maybe that's not true, but that's kind of how it feels. After playing Portal, I wanted to drive up to Valve headquarters and give everybody there a hug, and as I sloppily sobbed into their arms (or possibly security's arms as they escorted me out) thank them for making an amazing game. I literally haven't felt this great about a game since Portal, and my faith and confidence in Valve is at an all time high.
Furthermore, it's about zombies.
I've played a number of zombie shooters, and while I do enjoy them, few get it right. One of the few that did was Resident Evil 4, and while not technically a FPS, it captured the same feel, and did zombie horror particularly well. However, this is nothing like that. This is a zombie survival simulator. And like everything Valve does, it is made of win and good.
There is no tangible plot, save that you are one of a group of four survivors, trying to make it to the safe zone in a number of scenarios. The characters are a grizzled veteran, an angry biker, a black office guy, and a youngish girl. There is little development, but the one liners the characters spew out are fantastic, and the graffiti messages on the walls of safe houses really add to that atmosphere- people leave messages to each other along the lines of, "I killed 153 zombies today." "James, if you're reading this, look for us at the farmhouse. I love you, Mary." and the like. And on the note of the atmosphere, while the action is incredibly intense, the atmosphere is there. As someone who admires subtlety and a certain level of artistry in creating gaming atmosphere, I was amazed at how well the levels were crafted with an amazing apocalyptic feel. Furthermore, the beautiful sound work only serves to increase that feeling, as like in Silent Hill, you hear the monsters well before you see them. The nervous tension in this game is absolutely great, and with the difficulty constantly changing to match the player's skill, it is constantly at the perfect level of intensity- it's never insanely hard, but it's not easy either. If you do stupid stuff, you will most likely die. If you stay with your team, conserve ammo, and don't mess around, your chances are greatly improved.
And then there's the graphics. The Source engine still looks beautiful, even after all these years. The zombies look wonderful, and despite there being some lack of variation, you rarely see zombies long enough to really pay attention to their appearance too much. And I have a feeling that they'll be releasing expansions with more levels, more zombie skins, and hopefully more weapons. Not to say that the current selection of weapons is bad- you have pistols, shotguns, uzis, M-16s, and sniper rifles, as well as pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails. However, part of me would prefer to have some sort of heavy revolver instead of the generic pistol, or a AK-47 instead of the m-16. Also, the lack of crowbar hurts me deeply inside.
The sound design is wonderful. The music is ambient, with some actual tunes at the end fights that fit in seamlessly with the intense battles, despite having a somewhat campy quality to them- much like a zombie movie, which this game bases itself on. The weapons sound wonderful, and the zombies make all sorts of wonderful gurgling and moaning noises, and all in all, it's beautifully horrifying to listen to.
Overall, this game seems to be perfect. I've only beaten a few campaigns, but so far as I can tell, it is wonderfully done, and lives up completely to the hype. Valve, you gave us Portal, The Half Life series, Team Fortress 2, and now Left 4 Dead.
Thank you.