blog

Valve has always been known as a focused company.  Rather than spread their resources thin on several titles at once, they tend to concentrate on one game, polishing it as much as possible.  That’s why it’s no surprise that their booth at E3 this year included only one tile: Left 4 Dead.  We got a chance to get our hands on the hotly anticipated co-op survival horror game, and from all indications, Valve has another major hit on their hands.

The level we got to play started the four of us off on a small rooftop filled with shotguns, submachine guns, ammo and health packs; all vital possessions for a night out in the apocalyptic wasteland that awaited us.  After loading up, we opened the door to go downstairs and were immediately greeted by one of  “The Infected”: zombie-like enemies that plague us throughout the game.  Despite the initial shock, I managed to unload a shotgun blast at him, separating his head from his body.  I take a deep breath and we head downstairs.  As we search the house for an exit, we’re confronted with a few Infected, which we dispatch with relative ease.  Our squad of survivors does a fine job of sticking together, quick to back each other up when attacked.  Once we get outside, however, some of us find our way to the next building quickly and some don’t, and we’re split into two groups.  The Infected catch on to this pretty quickly, and dozens of them attack the stragglers at once.  Things deteriorate rapidly, as they swarm and encircle us, and the two victims franticly call for help, (both in the game and in the Valve room!) and the other two come out to help.  After some intense and chaotic action, we clear the area, being very careful not to shoot the abandoned car with the car alarm.  Earlier, we saw what happened when you do that, and we DEFINITELY don’t want to set that thing off.  See, the Infected love loud noises, which makes the beeping pipe bomb in the game a fun and necessary tool, but setting off alarms is akin to a death sentence.  Anyway, we get into the building, then we’re attacked again.  This time, they brought specialists; Infected people with projectile tongues that snag you and draw you toward them, both damaging you and keeping you far from your partners, and some that vomit blinding acid on you.  It’s as pleasant as it sounds.  We battle through the bedlam, saving each other from attacking hordes and making our way to another safe room.  There, we’re able to relax, reload and replenish health before we set back out into the pandemonium that awaits.  A few more rooms of baddies ensue (including a large hall wherein Infected drop from the ceiling by the dozen – really intense), and we’re faced with our first boss.  He’s a big fella, about the size of the Hulk with an even more disproportionate upper body, but a steady onslaught of lead to his face takes him down pretty quickly.  The next safe room is close by, and that’s where our demo ends.

On the PCs we were playing on, Left 4 Dead ran at a very smooth frame rate, even with dozens of on-screen enemies, and everything looks fantastic, with excellent facial modeling, realistic lighting effects and gritty, ominous environments that help immerse you in this dark, hellish world.  The game has a release date of November 4, 2008, so it’ll be a few months before we see what else the game has to offer, but so far, it’s the most entertaining title we’ve seen at E3.  Definitely one to keep your eyes on.

We'll be updating this article with a brief interview with head writer, Chet Faliszek a little later today, so check back for that and all of our E3 coverage.

Related Articles:

E3 08: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars Coming to DS!

E3 08: Mirror's Edge Walkthrough

E3 08: Microsoft Press Conference

Share this article: