I know the Somethingcast boys already got a taste of the PC version of Left 4 Dead at E3 last month, but today Coop and I got to play the 360 version. As it was my first time playing the game, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I don’t know why I ever had any doubts about the awesomeness of this game, because I was still thinking about it long after we left the demonstration area.

Many of the elements of Left 4 Dead are nothing new to the genre. The name of the game here is teamwork: live together or die alone. Coop and I played with two other players and the first time through we didn’t stick together at all. Some of us went ahead, some of us stuck behind, and were quickly decimated. The second time, while working as a team, we fared much better. There will be many times where your teammates will be depending on you to save them; you can’t just run ahead, only thinking of yourself, or there will be no one left to help you when you need it.



Some of the highlights: a creepy witch creature hiding in a corner that we were told not to bother (naturally, Coop shot her), a hulking monster (Coop says it was called “The Hulk”, but I have my doubts) that ended the session by just destroying the entire team, and a Boomer whose attack was vomiting on you (which pretty much left you completely screwed). I liked that in just the short amount of gameplay we got our hands on, we saw several completely different attacks from an assortment of enemies; this kind of variety helps set Left 4 Dead apart from your standard first-person shooter. Also, it was pretty neat that after the first round, Coop and I were both ranked in the top two for most kills, most times saved teammates, and, uh, most damage taken. Hey, two out of three ain’t bad.

As a primarily console gamer, I found the 360 controls easy to adjust to and comparable to most other FPS games on the system. PC gamers will probably find those controls preferable, but since I love the way the 360 controller feels in my hands, that’ll be the way I go. Honestly, I feel like this could be the first multiplayer shooter I obsess over since Halo. Left 4 Dead will be out at the end of November for the Xbox 360 and PC, and even though the holiday season is already overcrowded with new releases, you’re going to want to clear some time in your schedule for this one.

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