In 2004 while turtle rock studios were helping valve finish test counter-strike source so that it could meet its deadline, they had discovered a fun little mini game they had made to pass the time. The concept was simple, a player had to plant a bomb while fighting hordes of knife wheedling bots, the concept was fun because while the bots were weak on their own, they were much stronger together in groups. This idea would later become the hit game series Left 4 Dead.

The games are fun as coop-op zombies shooter game going from area to area in 14 different campaigns and 2 sets of survivors, the left 4 dead 1 cast and the left 4 dead 2 cast, L4D1 includes Vietnam veteran Bill, the criminal biker Francis, the film college dropout Zoey, and the IT employe Louis. The L4D2 cast includes coach the high school coach, Rochell the news intern, Elis the mechanic, and nick a criminal mobster.

Weapons can be found through all the campaigns, each of these weapons are different in stats to mix and match your playstyle. Primary weapons like shotguns, ARs, and sniper rifles can be found with different variants to each one, if you are lucky, you can even find grenade launcher and sub machine guns which easily clear out infected and the laser sight upgrade can make it easier to land hits. The secondary slot can hold pistoles and melee weapons, examples of those are fire axe, knife, guitar, Kitana, and a baseball bat. Three extra inventory slots are used for grabbable items, the first slot is for throwables like molitoves and pipe bombs. The second slot is for med kits, defibrillators, and ammo upgrades which can either set zombies on fire or be able to knock back special infected. The third slot is for pain pills and adrenaline which can give temporary health that decrease over time.

The green flu virus (which is not like the flu, but more like mutated rabies) has taken over the world. Most zombie games would leave you with just the zombies but left 4 dead games give it a spice up with the special infected. 5 special infected in the first game which are the smoker who grabs you with its long tongue were your teammates must to break it, the boomer who vomits slime that attracts zombies to you, the hunter who pounces on you from high up were your teammate will have to get it off, the witch who is sensitive to light and will insta kill anyone who she’s mad at, the tank who is fast and strong and meant as a sort of boss fight that requires the full attentions of your team.

Left 4 dead 2 added 3 new special infected, 2 of which were to stop players from camping in corners. First, the charger who can not only knock down people if you stand close together but pin down a teammate, the spitter can shots piles of acid from here mouth that more damage the longer you stand in it, thee jockey will climb on to someone back and complete control their movement until killed or shoved of by your team, they will usually try and push you away from teammates and/or into crowds of zombies. Left 4 Dead also added the uncommon infect, basic zombies that have a special attribute like bulletproof armor except in the back or dropping supplies upon death.

Left 4 Dead is one of valves most popular games to date. It’s simplistic quick arcade style makes it easy to pick up again and easy to learn the basics. It has multiple game mode varieties such as normal, realism, scavenger, versus, and survival. The game has received support for many years and is still updated. The special infected all add a new layer of difficulty and teamwork, and all the characters are unique and make universe more lived in.