A metal click fills the air, its distinct sound ringing amongst the shining metal sheets in the kitchen. A look of despair spread across the face of the old man, as a howling gurgle filled the room and a screaming cadaver leapt forward into the man. Clawing and scratching at his face for what seemed an eternity. A low ‘pumh’ rung from a distant barrel, shattering the deathly cadaver.

This is Left 4 Dead.

For those of you who haven’t heard of it, Left 4 Dead is Valve’s / Turtle Rock Studios’ upcoming cooperative zombie shooter. With roots hailing from 28 days later and dawn of the dead, the zombies in this game aren’t the shuffling bulks of flesh of the past. Instead charging towards the player at high speed, flailing and ravenous! Intended to be high speed, objective based and cooperative based fun, Left 4 Dead is the online teamplay game many of us have been waiting for.

The game pits four survivors of a terrible zombie apocalypse against the hoards of 28 days later styled zombies. So is this a purely cooperative game with to competitive elements you ask? Not quite. The infected have at their disposal 4 ’super zombies’ which players can operate, allowing the hostile players to assist the AI in killing off the survivors. Examples of such are the tank, a huge bulking mass of muscle and rage, as well as the hunter, inspired by half-life 2’s fast zombies they are agile but deadly.

However one of the most interesting features of Left 4 Dead is its replayability and its snazzy new AI overlord, the director. The director does what it says in the name, designed to direct and control the overall movements of all the infected as well as recreating the tense, near death experiences of the survivors in the movies. Although it should be noted that near-death can become death if you’re not quick enough! The director also makes sure that each level is played differently, that each level is almost as fresh as the first time you played it. By shuffling round zombie attacks and objectives.

The end comes on november the 4th (except for uk which is the 7th but still ;)) for xbox 360 and pc.

Boohoo ps3!

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