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Made bigger for the blind as effin bats folks: Just to get this out of the way before I jump into the review, any future editorial contribution to the site by me, I will file under the section name "The Ramblings of a Moron" so you know who it's written by, and to expect non-perfect editorial skills. (Not to mention the high probability of completely moronic things being said.) This is me trying to improve my written communications as well as contribute at the same time. Without further delay:

The Ramblings of a Moron, Articles by Cynagen
This post does not reflect the views, opinions, or stance of Widescreen Gaming Forum and it's staff. It is only of my own, so anything you have against it, PM me or comment.

November 6th, 7AM PST, Two weeks after First Infection, you and your follow survivors brave the streets filled with the Infected whom seek to kill you. You make leaps and bounds in your effort, skill, and teamwork, it's enough to get you, across the street. Now it's up to you, player, to take on the horde of Infected and shoot, bash, and otherwise maim your way to your own safety. Armed with your choice of a submachine pistol, or shotgun, you're pitted against the undead masses in quick time, and not only that, but in close quarters too.

As you settle in, your mission is to get from point A to point B without getting killed. As you plow through mindless horde you end up thinking to yourself, "Ah this ain't that bad". All it takes is being puked on by a Boomer, ensnared by a Smoker's tongue, being pinned by a Hunter, or hearing a girl crying to just make your day turn to shit and change your mind real quick. And that's without mentioning the Tank. Now you understand some of what you're up against... now put any of those into any combination, and you've got utter chaos. And apparently that's the way I, and millions others enjoy it. Left4Dead is by far one of THE best "Zombie Apocalypse" games I've played to date. Sadly there is still the same "depth" factor which is missing, it IS after all a get from Point A to Point B game. What the plot lacks in depth, the Director, or the soon-to-be players playing as Infected, will be more than happy to do what it takes to make your mundane trip to granny's house a living nightmare in exchange. This ain't Resident Evil (the game), this ain't Zombie Panic Source, this ain't Shaun of the Dead, this is, ruthless, in your face, extreme bloodbath, zombie slaying action.

The graphics are top notch, when you get the zombies up close for some quality 1 on 1 time, you can almost feel and smell their rancid breath on your face as they claw at you. The audio is a cut above all the other zombie games I've played, the zombies, the ambient music, and even the character's voice acting. It all lends itself to a realistic experience of "oh... my... god...". The (short) plot plays out in acts, acts that are never the same twice thanks to the Director and Infected players. The demo only encompassing the first half of the first act, aptly named, "No Mercy". Each act has a final goal which you'll more than likely need your entire team alive to accomplish, As per previous reports, No Mercy is to end on a helicopter landing pad atop the Mercy Care hospital, where you must wait for a rescue helicopter to arrive, while fighting off the horde. How this will play out, will be interesting, but what'll be more interesting are the acts afterwards, the ones not mentioned by Valve.

The wait is on now that many have had their first bite of the new zombie apocalypse thriller, Left4Dead.

Scoring:
Graphics: 9/10
Audio: 10/10 (music is on par with action, and voice acting is superb)
Action: 9/10 (there are lulls, and times where you don't see zomibes for a while, but it does culminate to getting raped by the horde later)
Re-playability: 10/10
Value for cost: 9/10

Overall score: 94%

The thread is open for comments, light talk about the game (since there's already another discussion thread), but mainly for myself, seeking literary aid on what I'm sure was a massacre on the English language in all sorts of cruel and unusual ways.

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Current build: Intel i5-4670k | 32GB DDR3 | RAID0 2x250GB 850EVOs | nVidia GTX980Ti (MSI G1 Gaming Edition) | SoundBlaster Zx | Dell 2405FPW (Landscape, primary) & HP w2338h (Portrait)

Do you have to preorder it to try the demo?

Do you have to preorder it to try the demo?

There was another way around, but I forgot how.

_________________
Current build: Intel i5-4670k | 32GB DDR3 | RAID0 2x250GB 850EVOs | nVidia GTX980Ti (MSI G1 Gaming Edition) | SoundBlaster Zx | Dell 2405FPW (Landscape, primary) & HP w2338h (Portrait)

Admittedly I sort of skimmed through that review, but mainly because I didn't see you explain anywhere what mode type you were playing on. My main concern about this game is how it plays in sp mode? I have read a very lengthy review on L4D 411, but nowhere in it did they describe how sp mode plays.

Oh, and don't worry so much about the moron part, the ultra small fonts explaining the review concept is actually more of a problem than that. I pity those whom have high res desktops. Mine is only 1152x864 on a 20", and I had to scroll zoom it several clicks.

Personally, I think SP mode is just "okay." It's a team game, and your AI (expectedly) is rather lacking. It's more of a HL2 style "Follow Freeman" type gameplay in SP. Although to be fair, someone more experienced usually takes over that role in multiplayer as well (unless you're going on either a LAN or an online game with superb communication).

Why did you give graphics a 9/10? It seems rather bland, but after several playthroughs you begin to pick up on all of the post processing they're adding at different stages (varying through how you're playing).

Are you saying sp play is too difficult because your AI teammates don't help much? I was hoping the fact that all the enemy bosses are AI too would give it balance.

Are you saying sp play is too difficult because your AI teammates don't help much? I was hoping the fact that all the enemy bosses are AI too would give it balance.

Not that it's too difficult, it's just... distracting.

It plays fine and the AI teammates are just basically "there" until you get into trouble (pinned by a hunter for example) in which case you're their main priority, not themselves (which is NOT how human society works).

So it seems and feels more like a singleplayer experience, and every time you're injured you're reminded of it.

It just doesn't feel the same... :(

I prefer stupid A.I. for teammates. So long as they STAY OUT OF THE WAY! Not blocking doorways in particular, and don't go running fetch grenades. Does the game have explosives? Surely it must.

But I cun;t wait to try it when i LAN with friends.

tl;dr

I would put the audio at a 9 instead of 10 because it doesn't have that "doom3" feeling. I don't feel that my death is all that tragic so I just jump into combat. The game play is addictive, but not emersive, so I can't agree with your rating of 94%, averaged out, 90% or 89% IMHO.

Are you saying sp play is too difficult because your AI teammates don't help much? I was hoping the fact that all the enemy bosses are AI too would give it balance.

On normal, Singleplayer it was very easy, only one of the bots 'died' and had to be resurrected during the big final battle of the demo.

I don't know if theres any bosses in the game, its more of just like 400 zombies coming at you I think. "The Tank" zombie is somewhat of a miniboss, he does some massive damage and takes a few clips to kill. Luckily in the demo you only fight him practically solo. But him busting down a door and letting dozens of fast zombies in, shit would be bananas.