by Stefan Ferguson

Created on: March 30, 2010

Left 4 Dead 1 is one of a kind, a true gem when it comes to online gaming. Just imagine being stuck in a scenario where everyone around you is infected with a rabies like virus. Its terrifying just to think about it, to make it even more scary some of the zombies have mutated into what can only be described as monsters in the game they are referred to as special infected. Heres a brief description of what each special infected looks like and what it does.

The Hunter still maintanes its human form, it wears a hooded sweat shirt and is very versatile and can leap at great legnths and pounce on its victim, ripping them to shreds in a matter of seconds. It also has a unique growl/scream that it uses when it pounces.

The Boomer is moribidly obese and spews on its victims, its bile attracts many zombies, it also blows up when it is killed throwing its bile all over any near survivors.

The Smoker appears to be a tall man who is covered in tumours and has an extendable tongue which it uses to catch any stray survivors, it slowly drags them back to where it is standing with its tongue and then claws at them while still holding on with its tongue.

The Tank is a boss which randomly appears on most levels, it appears to be a man whose muscle has increased by 1000 times, he swings for his oppenents with his massive arms, if they hit a survivor they can knock them over 100 feet, which can lead to survivors getting knocked off building and cliffs. The Tank can also throw rocks which it picks up from the ground. The tanks is very dangerous so it is recommended to set it on fire as soon as you can to kill it faster.

The witch is the final special infected in the game, it is a woman who is pale white and wears rags for clothes, she is crying sitting on the ground, her crying can be heard from a good distance away so you always know when she is near. Anyone who is unlucky enough to startle her will get chased by her until she catches you and instantly incapacitates you and kills you. You can kill her in one shot if you sneak up behind her with a shotgun and repeatedly shoot her in the head.

There are four characters you can play as in the game, here is a brief description of each one.

Bill is an old war veteran who still wears his military uniform, he is clearly an old man but this doesnt make him any different from the other characters

Zoe is a young woman, possibly in her early 20's, I believe she is a student.

Francis is a middle aged man who is a biker, he often makes sarcastic jokes.

Luis is a middle ages man, judging by his clothes he is an office worker

The game itself has four levels and additional one as a download-able content. You can play a campaign mission or a versus mission, the difference between them is that the campaign mode is four player and the special infected are computer controlled, versus mode is eight player and the special infected are controlled by real people. There is an additional mode called survival mode where you and  three other survivorsneed to last as long as you can on a map with constant hordes of infected and special infected coming at you. The game has about 8 different weapons ranging from pistols to M16 assualt rifles.

All in all I would give this game 8/10, it is very fun to play and the online play adds re-playability to it.

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