Left 4 Dead

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Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead box art
Developer(s) Valve Corporation (Microsoft Windows version)
Certain Affinity (Xbox 360 version)
Publisher(s) Valve Corporation
Distributor(s) Electronic Arts (retail)
Steam (online)
Designer(s) Mike Booth (director)
Writer(s) Chet Faliszek
Composer(s) Mike Morasky
Engine Source
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360
Release date(s)
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Survival horror
Mode(s) 4-player Cooperative multiplayer, 4-vs-4 Versus multiplayer, Single-player
Rating(s) BBFC: 18
ESRB: M
OFLC: MA15+
PEGI: 18+
Media DVD, Steam download
System requirements 3.0 GHz processor,
1 GB RAM,
128 MB DirectX 9.0 graphics card,
Pixel Shader 2.0 support,
DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card[2]

Left 4 Dead (L4D) is a co-operative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by the Valve Corporation part-way into development. The game uses the Source engine, and is available for Windows and the Xbox 360. The game went gold on November 13, 2008, and was released on November 18, 2008, in the United States; and on November 21, 2008, in Europe to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the release of Half-Life.[2][3]

Set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic, the game pits its four protagonists—dubbed the Survivors—against hordes of the Infected, zombie-like aggressive mutants. There are three game modes: a single-player mode in which allied characters are controlled by AI; a four-player, co-op Campaign mode; and an eight-player Versus mode. In all modes, an AI, dubbed "The Director", controls level pacing and item spawns, in an attempt to create a dynamic experience and increase replay value.

Left 4 Dead was well received with an aggregate score of 88% on Game Rankings and 89% on Metacritic upon its release, with praise given for its replay value, focus on cooperative play, and movie-like experience. As was done with Team Fortress 2, Valve intends to supplement the game with downloadable content.[4]

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

In Left 4 Dead, the four Survivors must fight off infected humans while trying to escape or make their way to a safe house.

Left 4 Dead is a first-person shooter, though it makes use of the third-person perspective during cut scenes and some player actions. In Campaign and Single-player mode, the player takes control of one of the Survivors; if four human players are not available, then the remaining Survivors are AI-controlled bots. They play through the levels fighting off the "Infected"—living humans who have been infected with a mutagenic, rabies-like virus to which the Survivors are immune.[5][6]

The game is focused on cooperation and team play; colored outlines of teammates are visible through walls to help players stick together and coordinate their movement. If a Survivor falls off a ledge, then they may automatically hang onto it and can only be helped up by another Survivor. If a Survivor's health is depleted, then they become incapacitated and can only be revived by another Survivor, at which point they continue playing with a low amount of health that decreases over time. If a Survivor has been incapacitated and revived twice without tending to their wounds, then they will experience distorted black-and-white vision, and the next incapacitation will kill the player. If a Survivor incurs enough damage while incapacitated, or is not eventually helped up by teammates, then the incapacitated player will die. If a Survivor is killed, then they will respawn in a closet or other enclosed space after a period of time (except during key points in the scenario), but must be freed by another Survivor to rejoin the team. Otherwise, the player must wait until the next level.[7] Survivors can share first-aid kits and pain pills and help each other heal. Left 4 Dead has friendly fire that cannot be disabled, increasing the need for caution around other Survivors. On the Easy difficulty level, friendly fire does not harm teammates but still registers as having occurred with a notice on the screen saying, "Don't shoot teammates!"

The Survivors communicate by voice commands that are accessed by quick menus, and some sound off automatically when performing actions such as reloading or spotting Infected.[8] Over 1000 unique lines have been recorded for each Survivor.[9] Additional communication of player actions is conveyed through character lights. Also, weapon-mounted flashlights and muzzle flashes help the players in determining whether their companions are shooting, performing melee attacks, reloading or moving. Due to control issues and the likelihood of players using a LIVE headset, the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead omits the quick phrases feature.[10]

The game is experienced through four campaigns that take place in various urban and rural locales. Multiple visual in-game hints—including license plates, park signs, and markings on airport equipment—imply that these locations are in Pennsylvania. Each campaign is divided into five chapters marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm and revive players who were killed.[11] Specifically, the four campaigns are: "No Mercy", an urban setting culminating in a hospital; "Death Toll", a small-town and countryside setting; "Dead Air", an airport setting; and "Blood Harvest", a woodland and farm setting. The levels are essentially linear, with distinct beginnings and ends, but there are a number of alternate routes to follow with more supplies, helping to create a sense of non-linearity.[12] In the final chapter of each campaign, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of Infected until rescue arrives.[9] Each campaign typically lasts between 45 and 75 minutes depending on the difficulty level. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions of the game both contain achievements.[13]

[edit] Survivor characters

The final design of the Survivors. Left to right: Francis, Bill, Zoey, Louis

There are four playable human characters in the game:[14] Francis (voiced by Vince Valensuela), a tattoo-covered biker; Zoey (voiced by Jen Taylor), a college student and horror movie enthusiast; Louis (voiced by Earl Alexander), a junior systems analyst in his company's IT department; and Bill (voiced by Jim French), a former Green Beret and a Vietnam veteran.[15] Early plans were for players to be randomly assigned to characters but in the final release, players can choose any character—provided that the character has not already been selected—or be randomly assigned an unselected character.[9]

Survivors are armed with various guns. Each player starts the game with a M1911 pistol.[16] It has unlimited ammo and is the only weapon that the Survivor can use when they are incapacitated. When a second pistol is found, the player can dual wield them. At the beginning of each campaign, the player can choose between an Uzi submachine gun and a pump-action shotgun. As the Survivors progress through a campaign, more powerful weapons can be found: the M16A3 assault rifle, Benelli M4 Super 90 semi-automatic shotgun and a scoped Ruger Mini-14 hunting rifle. In addition to firearms, a player can also carry three other items in their inventory: improvised grenades (either a Molotov cocktail to create a wall of fire or a pipe bomb, modified with an attached smoke alarm designed to attract the Infected to it before it explodes[16]); a first-aid kit, which can be used to heal any Survivor; and pain pills, which provide temporary health that depletes gradually and quicker with damage from Infected, and can be handed to teammates for later use. Regardless of what weapon or item a player is using, a melee attack can be used. Also available are environmental weapons, such as gasoline cans, oxygen cylinders and propane tanks, which explode when shot. These can be picked up, moved and used as a melee weapon by the Survivors, but while carrying an object they cannot use their weapons or health items.

[edit] Infected characters

The "Infected" (voiced by experimental musician Mike Patton) are the Survivors' foes in Left 4 Dead, and they appear to be partly inspired by the infected from several modern films, including 28 Days Later.[17] An important distinction is that the Infected are not traditional undead zombies, but rather living humans infected with a rabies-like pathogen. In an interview with 1Up.com, Mike Booth commented on the concept of using a pathogen as an inspiration for the setting:

“

Even though we obviously pushed well beyond the realm of believability with many of our "boss" Infected, the core idea of a mind-destroying, civilization-collapsing pathogen is more horrifying to me than magically animated corpses, precisely because it is plausible. Rabies is a good example of a pathogen that can turn a loyal, friendly, protective family pet into a slavering attack machine. It's a virus that reprograms the behaviors of a complex animal – a mammal, in fact. What if something similar happened to humans? Left 4 Dead is one possible answer.[5]

 ”

The Common Infected encountered during the game are fast and agile, weak individually, but may be overwhelming in numbers. They display a special attraction to high-pitched alarm-type sounds, such as the beeping device attached to pipe bombs and car alarms. Common Infected will often chase down the source of these noises while ignoring lower-pitched, but much louder sounds such as gunfire. They occasionally attack en masse, referred to in-game as a "Horde".[18]

In addition to the Common Infected, there are five "Special (or Boss)" Infected whose mutations grant them special attacks that make them much more dangerous: the Hunter, an agile Infected that can pounce on Survivors from a great distance; the Smoker, an Infected that ensnares Survivors with its long tongue at a distance and, upon death, releases a cloud of smoke that obscures vision; the Boomer, a bloated Infected whose vomit and bile (which may be released at will and upon death) blinds the player briefly and attracts the Horde; the Tank, a huge, muscular Infected that is the most powerful and difficult to kill; and the Witch, a passive female Infected, when provoked by loud sounds, lights, gunshots, a Survivor approaching too closely, and general stimulation will trigger her to attack her provoker. She is able to knock down the provoker in one hit and will quickly kill them if not killed herself.[19] The victims of some of these attacks require assistance from a teammate before they can regain control. Each of the Special Infected, as well as approaching Hordes, have a distinctive sound or a timely musical cue, making their presence easily recognizable by players.[18]

In Versus mode, four additional players can take control of the Special Infected—apart from the "Witch", which remains computer-controlled. Each Infected player is randomly assigned a class of Special Infected when they enter "Spawn (or Ghost) Mode". While in Spawn Mode, the Infected can quickly roam around the map in search of an appropriate place in which to spawn. This location must be sufficiently distant from any Survivor, out of the line of sight of any Survivor, and outside restricted areas such as safe rooms. Upon death, the Infected player must wait 20–30 seconds before reentering Spawn Mode (depending on how many players are on the Infected team). When a "Tank"—the strongest Infected—is spawned in, Infected players receive a message indicating which player will control it. The human controlled infected can see their teammates outlines through walls similar to the survivors but can also see the survivors outlines, which vary in intensity based on activity or status of the survivor and can disappear entirely. Vertical pathways exclusive to the Infected, such as pipes and vines, are marked with animated symbols for the Infected players. These can be climbed and used for ambushes, especially because of the Infected's immunity to falling damage.

[edit] AI and the Director

In Left 4 Dead, the AI Director computes each player's "stress level" based on a variety of factors to better pace the game and provide a fair challenge.

The artificial intelligence of Left 4 Dead features a dynamic system for game dramatics, pacing and difficulty called "The Director". Instead of fixed spawn points for enemies, the Director places enemies and items in varying positions and quantities based upon each player's current situation, status, skill and location, creating a new experience for each play through.[9] The Director also creates mood and tension with emotional cues, such as visual effects, dynamic music and character communication.[10] Valve has termed this dynamic set-up "procedural narrative".[20]

In addition to the AI Director, there is a second Director that controls music. It was created as a way to keep the music interesting throughout the game. The music Director monitors what a player has experienced to create an appropriate mix. The process is client-side and done by a multi-track system. Each player hears their own mix, which is being generated as they play through the game, and dead players watching a teammate hear their teammates' mix.[21]

[edit] Game modes

Left 4 Dead was released with three game modes: Campaign, Versus, and Single-player. A fourth "Survival" mode is planned as a future downloadable update. The cooperative Campaign consists of four human-controlled Survivors who attempt to make their way between safe rooms and eventually to rescue. In this mode, the Special Infected are controlled by the AI. Single-player mode is equivalent to Campaign mode with three AI-controlled bots. In a Versus campaign, each team of four players plays each chapter of the campaign as both Survivor and Infected, swapping sides once per chapter. Unlike other modes, dead Survivors do not respawn. If at least one Survivor finishes the chapter, then the team playing the Survivors earns points according to their average progress through the chapter, as well as bonus points based on their health and the health items in their inventory. These points are then multiplied by the chapter's difficulty level, and the number of Survivors who finished. If all the Survivors are killed, then they only earn progress points and the difficulty multiplier. Versus mode is only playable in the "No Mercy" and "Blood Harvest" campaigns, but "Death Toll" and "Dead Air" will later be available (see After release below). The Survival mode will be a timed challenge with players trying to survive the longest against a never ending flood of the Infected. Survival mode will ship with 16 maps, 15 of them being modified portions of existing maps and one being a new Lighthouse level. [1]

[edit] Production

The original design of the Survivors. Left to right: Louis, Francis, Zoey, Bill

Development on Left 4 Dead started in mid-2005.[22] Valve aimed to create a horror film-inspired game that merges single player games' character-driven narrative structure with multiplayer games' social interaction and high replayability.[10] The game was first revealed in the Christmas 2006 publication of PC Gamer UK with a six-page article describing a playthrough at Valve's headquarters. A teaser was released with The Orange Box. The game was first playable at the Showdown 2007 LAN in San Jose and at QuakeCon 2007. Turtle Rock Studios announced Left 4 Dead on November 20, 2006,[23] and was acquired by Valve Corporation on January 10, 2008 because of the game and long-standing relationship between the companies.[24] The game opened up to pre-purchasing on Valve's Steam system on October 15, 2008.[25]

To give Left 4 Dead significant exposure, Valve financed a $10-million marketing campaign for the game in the United States and Europe, with advertisements appearing on television, print, websites and outdoor placements in many cities. Valve also hosted photo contests called, "Dude, where's my thumb?" offering copies of Left 4 Dead to people who submitted the best picture involving zombies or the outdoor advertising.[26]

When asked a short while after the release of the game about the planned availability of a Source development kit (Level editor for Valve's Source game engine) for Left 4 Dead, Chet Faliszek from Valve replied it was planned "shortly".[27]

[edit] Development

Left 4 Dead uses the latest version of Valve's Source engine, with improvements such as multi-core processor support and physics-based animation to more realistically portray hair and clothing, and to improve physics interaction with enemies when shot or shoved in different body parts.[28] Animation was also improved to allow characters to lean realistically when moving in curved paths. Rendering and artificial intelligence were scaled up to allow for a greater number of enemies who can navigate the world in better ways, such as climbing, jumping or breaking obstacles.[29][30] Lighting was enhanced with new self-shadowing normal mapping and advanced shadow rendering that is important to convey information about the environment and player actions.[10][31] Wet surfaces and fog are used to create mood.[32][33] Many kinds of post processing cinematic visual effects inspired by horror movies have been added to the game. There is dynamic color correction that accentuates details based on importance, contrast and sharpening to focus attention on critical areas, film grain to expose details or imply details in dark areas and vignetting to evoke tension and a horror-film look.[10]

Before and after the application of cinematic effects

Left 4 Dead underwent many phases of development; influenced by playtesting, Valve removed many of the features that were originally in the game. In the initial phases, there was another Boss Infected called the "Screamer" who had no attacks, but upon spotting a Survivor would run to a safe place and then emit a loud scream that attracted a Horde of Infected. This Boss Infected was removed, but its ability to attract the Horde was incorporated into the Boomer's vomit.[34] A persistent merit/demerit system was envisioned to provide positive feedback for good behavior, such as aiding a fallen teammate; and negative feedback for poor behavior, such as shooting a teammate. This would provide a score to rank a player's effectiveness as a teammate,[35] but this system was removed late in the development of the game in favor of immediate, non-persistent feedback displayed in-game. Another significant element removed was a continuous narrative between campaigns; because the game is designed for replayability, it was difficult to hold the player's attention for repeated viewings of cut scenes, so they were dropped in favor of a sparse narrative.[36] Also, the game started out with one big city design with many routes for the Survivors, but playtesters were confused when they began to play, and later they always chose the same route; ultimately Valve cut the city maps into the first "No Mercy" and "Dead Air" campaigns.[37]

Certain Affinity assisted Valve with the Xbox 360 version of the game.[38] The Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead has the same game modes as the PC version but has additional features such as support for Split screen, allowing for two players to play offline and online from the same console,[39] and System Link play.[40] Split-screen mode can also be achieved on the PC version, but it requires console commands and the modification of controller configuration files; and it is not officially supported by Valve.[41] Both versions of the game have a new matchmaking system to simplify the process of finding other players.[10][42] This new server management system was met with a negative reaction from PC server operators, who, with this system, had very little control over their servers. This led to Valve releasing a series of patches that allowed server operators to remove their server from the matchmaking "pool" of servers or make private servers.[43] Valve runs dedicated servers for both versions of the game.[39][44]

[edit] Demo

Early access to the Left 4 Dead demo for people who pre-ordered the game began on November 6, 2008, for both Windows and Xbox 360. It gave users access to both online and single-player play in two "scenes" in one "movie" within the game. This promotion was being offered in addition to the 10% savings for those who pre-order and applies to all Steam Windows pre-orders and all Windows and Xbox 360 pre-orders from GameStop and EB Games in North America.[45] On November 11, the Left 4 Dead demo was made available to all Windows and Xbox 360 gamers worldwide.[46]

The demo had many server problems when it launched, primarily Valve's strategy for server management which made it impossible to set up a dedicated private server with administrator controls.[47] However, a stream of patches led to the availability of a server browser and basic private server functionality as well as Valve's acknowledgment of player concerns.[47] It appears that a patch released just before the game itself has resolved many of the connection issues that demo players were having.[48]

[edit] Introduction movie

To promote the game and provide basic training to player before starting the game, Valve chose to develop a pre-rendered intro movie. This movie was released on Halloween[49] and shows events prior to the beginning of the "No Mercy" campaign.[50] Valve chose an intro movie over in-game training mechanics because they wanted the players to be immediately dropped into a zombie-like apocalypse. Valve later detailed in their official Left 4 Dead blog how they designed the movie, from an intentionally very basic animation in the beginning of July 2008 to the final result for the launch of the game.[50]

[edit] After release

Valve released a server patch in December 2008 to stop players on Xbox Live from using PC-style cheats.[51] A spokesperson from Valve said, "The fix is designed to halt the cheating behavior on the dedicated servers, which accounts for the majority of the co-op and versus modes of play."[52]

Similar to Team Fortress 2, Valve intends to support the PC and Xbox 360 version of the game through free content updates.[4] On a podcast by Kotaku, writer Chet Faliszek divulged that an announcement regarding DLC for the PC and Xbox 360 would be released "very soon", and that the announcement was delayed by the holiday season. On February 5, 2009, Valve released details about the upcoming downloadable content pack. The two full campaigns of "Death Toll" and "Dead Air" for Versus Mode are included, and a new game mode called "Survival Mode", which was described as the four Survivors trying to survive the longest against waves of the Infected, will be released on April 21.[53] The levels in Survival Mode are based on recycled content from the four campaigns, with the exception of a new level called Lighthouse that "may be the toughest level of them all".[54] Also on April 21, a "Critics Choice Edition" of Left 4 Dead will be released on the Xbox 360 with updates and new content included on the disc.[1] On February 11, 2009, Valve announced the downloadable content for the game would be free for both the Xbox 360 and PC.[55]

[edit] Reception

 Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator Score
GameRankings 89 (Xbox 360 and PC)[58]
Metacritic 89 (PC and Xbox 360)[56]
[57]
Review scores
Publication Score
Edge 9/10
Eurogamer 9/10[59]
Game Informer 9.25/10
GameSpot 8.5/10[60]
GameSpy 4.5/5[61]
IGN 9.0/10[62]
Official Xbox Magazine 9.5/10
PC Gamer UK 93%[63]
TeamXbox 9.1/10[64]
X-Play 5/5
Giant Bomb 4/5

Left 4 Dead received almost unanimous praise from critics, with an aggregated score of 88% on Game Rankings and 89% on Metacritic. IGN stated, "It's almost pitch perfect in how it captures the tension and the action of a Hollywood zombie movie", and went on to describe it as, "quite possibly the perfect co-op shooter."[62] Giant Bomb commented that the Source engine was beginning to show its age, but praised the game's use of lighting and filmic effects that gives the game world, "a desolate, washed-out feeling", as well as the realistic and emotive faces and the engrossing art direction.[65] Eurogamer concluded that Left 4 Dead "is another deeply professional, personality-filled and progressive take on the shooter from Valve."[59] Both IGN and Gamespot praised the game's replayability, but Gamespot criticized the "limited map selection" that could "sometimes feel a bit repetitious".[62][60] Gamespy noted the lack of an overall narrative between the campaigns was disappointing,[61] however some reviewers praised its faithfulness to the zombie film genre,[66][67][68] including the "deliberately ambiguous" back-story,[69] and the amount of characterization and emotion brought by each of the four survivors.[70] TeamXbox commented that clipping issues hurt the otherwise "incredibly good" visual experience.[64] Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear series declared in an interview to 1UP.com that he was "addicted to the game" which was in his view one of the "core titles made with movie-industry people that explore the depths of hi-def".[71]

On October 28, 2008, Valve reported that preorders for Left 4 Dead had beaten those of The Orange Box by 95% after the Steam pre-order was launched.[72] On November 21, 2008, the day of the game's release in Europe, Valve issued a press release stating that Left 4 Dead had exceeded the pre-order numbers of The Orange Box by over 160%.[73] The Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead was the seventh best-selling game of December 2008 in the United States, selling in excess of 629,000 copies.[74] On February 3, Electronic Arts revealed that Left 4 Dead had sold 1.8 million copies, excluding Steam and worldwide sales figures.[75] On March 26, Mike Booth revealed that the game had exceeded 2.5 million sales at retail during a presentation at the Game Developers Conference 2009.[76]

[edit] Awards

Left 4 Dead received recognition as one of the best multiplayer and PC games of 2008 from various organizations and gaming publications. Being named the best multiplayer game of 2008 by IGN,[77][78] GameSpy,[79] Spike TV,[80] NoFrag[81] and BAFTA.[82] Also as Computer game of the year by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS),[83] Spike TV, and Bit-tech.[84] Other awards include Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay from the AIAS, Best Use of Sound for the PC[85] and Best Shooting[86] game overall from IGN, Father of All FPS from Nofrag, and the best Cooperative Multiplayer[87] and Shooter[88] of 2008 from GameSpot who also nominated it for game of the year.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Ocampo, Jason (2009-03-06). "Valve Takes the Gloves Off: Left 4 Dead DLC Hands-on". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/959/959549p1.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-07. 
  2. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead". Valve Corporation. http://store.steampowered.com/app/500/. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  3. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-08-25). "Left 4 Dead Delayed, Now Due November 18". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54372. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  4. ^ a b Ellison, Blake (2008-08-29). "Left 4 Dead DLC Will Include More Levels, Enemies; Xbox 360 Version Uses Dedicated Servers". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/54485. Retrieved on 2008-11-25. 
  5. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead Afterthoughts from 1UP.com". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3172298. Retrieved on 2009-01-23. 
  6. ^ "Left 4 Dead E3 2007 Preshow First Impressions". GameSpot. 2007-07-11. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/left4dead/news.html?sid=6173776. Retrieved on 2008-11-21. 
  7. ^ "IGN Command Prompt Podcast, Episode 21". IGN. 2008-08-14. http://pc.ign.com/articles/919/919917p1.html. 
  8. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Subway (developer commentary). (2008) “Elan Ruskin: Each Survivor has a large database of lines to choose from based on their present activity and a variety of factors, such as their health, stress level, kind of Special Infected seen so far, and many others.”
  9. ^ a b c d "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview – Survivor Side". Left 4 Dead 411. http://www.left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-preview-pg1. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  10. ^ a b c d e f Gabe Newell. (2008). EA E3 Presentation Video [Video presentation]. Left 4 Dead 411.
  11. ^ "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Previews". Shacknews. 2008-01-17. http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=745. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  12. ^ "GameSpot Video: Left 4 Dead E3 2008 Stage Show Demo". GameSpot. 2008-07-23. http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/left4dead/video/6194927/left-4-dead-e3-2008-stage-show-demo. Retrieved on 2008-07-23. 
  13. ^ Chan, Norman (2008-07-21). "E3 2008: Left4Dead Interview. New Graphics, Weapons, and Steam Achievement Details". Maximum PC. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/%5Bprimary-term%5D/e3_2008_left4dead_interview_new_graphics_weapons_and_steam_achievement_details. Retrieved on 2008-10-26. 
  14. ^ Linde, Aaron (2008-07-16). "Left 4 Dead E3 Preview: New Characters, New Weapons, New Details". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/featuredarticle.x?id=922. Retrieved on 2008-10-26. 
  15. ^ "Left 4 Dead Official Website". Valve Software. http://www.l4d.com/survivors.htm. Retrieved on 2009-02-16. 
  16. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead Information – FAQ". Left 4 Dead 411. http://left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-information. Retrieved on 2008-10-26. 
  17. ^ Rossignol, Jim (2006-12-12). "Preview: Left 4 Dead". PC Gamer. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=151399. Retrieved on 2009-01-20. 
  18. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead Guide: How to Identify a Zombie". Big Download. 2008-12-02. http://news.bigdownload.com/2008/12/02/left-4-dead-guide-how-to-identify-a-zombie/. Retrieved on 2008-12-10. 
  19. ^ "Left 4 Dead Guide". Valve. http://www.l4d.com/infected.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-12. 
  20. ^ Newell, Gabe (2008-11-21). "Gabe Newell Writes for Edge". Edge. http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/gabe-newell-writes-edge. Retrieved on 2008-11-22. "The events are trying to give them a sense of narrative. We look at sequences of events and try to take what their actions are to generate new sequences. If they've been particularly challenged by one kind of creature then we can use that information to make decisions about how we use that creature in subsequent encounters. This is what makes procedural narrative more of a story-telling device than, say, a simple difficulty mechanism." 
  21. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy (developer commentary). (2008) “Tim Larkin: We took several steps to keep the music interesting enough that the players would be inclined to keep it on as they play. We keep it changing so it won't become tedious; to this end, we created a music director that runs alongside the AI director, tracking the player's experience rather than their emotional state. We keep the music appropriate to each player's situation and highly personalized. The music engine in Left 4 Dead has a complete client-side, multi-track system per player that is completely unique to that player and can even be monitored by the spectators. Since some of the fun of Left 4 Dead is watching your friends when you're dead, we thought it was important to hear their personal soundtrack as well. This feature is unique to Left 4 Dead.”
  22. ^ Guttridge, Luke (2008-05-01). "Valve Software's Doug Lombardi interview". Play.tm. http://play.tm/interview/17853/valve-software-s-doug-lombardi/. Retrieved on 2008-08-20. 
  23. ^ "Turtle Rock and Valve Announce Left 4 Dead". Shacknews. 2006-11-20. http://www.shacknews.com/docs/press/112006_left4dead.x. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  24. ^ "Valve Acquires Turtle Rock Studios". Valve Corporation. 2008-01-10. http://store.steampowered.com/news/1401/. Retrieved on 2008-01-10. 
  25. ^ "Left 4 Dead Pre-Purchase Infection on Now". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-15. http://store.steampowered.com/news/1897/. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  26. ^ "Left 4 Dead Available at Retail Worldwide". Valve Corporation. 2008-11-21. http://store.steampowered.com/news/2052/. Retrieved on 2008-11-25. 
  27. ^ "Left 4 Dead live interview". Eurogamer. 2008-11-21. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/left-4-dead-live-interview-live-q-and-a. Retrieved on 2008-11-24. 
  28. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Hospital (developer commentary). (2008) “Miles Estes: Since killing zombies is such a big part of this game, we invested a lot of time into making their death animations more dramatic than simple ragdolls. We had a professional stuntman on the motion capture stage perform about a hundred different dying animations from different kinds of weapons and hit from different directions, like from the front or behind. We then combined these mo-cap animations with the physics-driven ragdolls.”
  29. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary). (2008) “Phil Robb: We treat the Infected Horde as a major character in Left 4 Dead, and spend a lot of effort in making their movements believable. This includes hundreds of motion-captured animations that are algorithmically blended with the physics system to create characters that realistically interact with their environment and each other. ... When they see a Survivor, they become enraged, taking off at a full sprint, leaning into their turns, jumping and climbing over everything in their way, trying to get to their victim. We wanted to express this rage in their faces as well, so we found efficient ways for each member of the Horde to make intense facial expressions.”
  30. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Subway (developer commentary). (2008) “Matt Campbell: Although it sounds ridiculous to talk about advanced zombie AI, we spent a great deal of time on the AI systems for the common Horde. First and foremost is their ability to navigate. The environments in Left 4 Dead are geometrically complex, and littered with breakable and movable objects. One of the design goals for the zombie Horde was that there can never be a place where a Survivor can stand that a zombie cannot navigate to. To make this happen required not only robust path-finding code, but also path-following algorithms as well. These path followers have to continuously evaluate the local geometry around them, and decide whether to crouch, stand, jump, climb over, and otherwise navigate nearly-arbitrary environmental obstacles.”
  31. ^ Callaham, John (2007-03-22). "Left 4 Dead Interview". FiringSquad. http://www.firingsquad.com/games/left_4_dead_interview/default.asp. Retrieved on 2008-09-01. 
  32. ^ Valve Corporation (July 2008). "How Valve Connects Art Direction to Gameplay" (PDF). http://www.valvesoftware.com/publications/2008/GameFest08_ArtInSource.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-08-02. 
  33. ^ Carless, Simon (2008-07-31). "In-Depth: How Valve Makes Art To Enhance Gameplay". GameSetWatch. http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/07/indepth_how_valve_makes_art_to.php. Retrieved on 2008-10-26. 
  34. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary) (in English). (2008) “Jaime Sue: The Screamer was a boss zombie who didn't have any actual attacks; he was bound in a straitjacket. You knew when he was around because of his crazed, maniacal cackling. The trick to the Screamer was that if he saw you, you had a moment to kill him before he ran away, and once the Screamer got away from the Survivors to a hiding place, he would emit a loud, howling scream that would cause a huge mob of zombies to attack the Survivors. While there were several exciting moments of knowing you had to chase him down to shoot him before he screamed, dodging zombies all the way, ultimately it proved too confusing for the Survivors to discover how he worked or even to reliably notice him in the crowd. He was cut, and his Horde-drawing attack eventually evolved into the Boomer attack.”
  35. ^ "Left 4 Dead Hands-on Preview". http://www.left4dead411.com/left-4-dead-preview-pg7. Retrieved on 2008-11-19. 
  36. ^ Valve Corporation. Left 4 Dead. PC. Level/area: No Mercy: The Apartments (developer commentary). (2008) “Doug Wood: We experimented with a variety of different introductions for each campaign. For "No Mercy", we tried a 40-second fly-in of the helicopter to give the player a more movie-like introduction to the game. Ultimately, we found that such elaborate cut scenes are hard to watch over and over in a game that's built for replayability. Playtesters wanted to get into the game and start playing right away, so we ended up going with a much more streamlined game intro.”
  37. ^ "Left 4 Dead Afterthoughts". 1up.com. http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3172298. Retrieved on 2009-01-19. "We actually started out with a single, huge city design with a great many routes for the Survivors to take to reach the extraction point. As we began to playtest in this zombie city, we immediately discovered that having that much choice combined with the chaos of zombie hordes made for frustrated and paralyzed Survivor teams" 
  38. ^ "Outta The Bag". Certain Affinity. 2008-02-04. http://www.certainaffinity.com/news.htm. Retrieved on 2008-10-25. 
  39. ^ a b "Left 4 Dead for Xbox 360 Using Dedicated Servers on Live which will be a great addition to this game.". 1UP.com. 2008-08-28. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3169669. Retrieved on 2008-08-28. 
  40. ^ "Left 4 Dead". Microsoft. http://www.xbox.com/en-GB/games/l/left4dead/. Retrieved on 2008-07-08. 
  41. ^ "SplitScreen PC Guide". 2008-11-06. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=745113. Retrieved on 2009-02-20. 
  42. ^ "Valve On Left 4 Dead Servers & Matchmaking". Voodoo Extreme. 2008-11-10. http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/42875/Valve-On-Left-4-Dead-Servers-Matchmaking. Retrieved on 2008-12-10. 
  43. ^ "Server socialism: Valve's fumbles mar Left 4 Dead demo". Arstechnica. 2008-11-07. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081107-server-socialism-valves-fumbles-mar-left-4-dead-demo.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-10. 
  44. ^ Erik Johnson (December 5 2008). "Re: [hlds] hlds Digest, Vol 10, Issue 13". Valve Corporation. http://list.valvesoftware.com/mailman/private/hlds/2008-December/054482.html. Retrieved on December 9 2008. "We're currently hosting about 5,000 game servers for Left 4 Dead on the PC."  (archives are members only to view. Log in with wikipedia@tempinbox.com and password xetafoki)
  45. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-11-06). "Shack PSA: Left 4 Dead Demo Released". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55765. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  46. ^ Faylor, Chris (2008-11-11). "Left 4 Dead Public Demo Arrives". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55848. Retrieved on 2008-02-21. 
  47. ^ a b "Server socialism: Valve's fumbles mar Left 4 Dead demo". 2008-11-07. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081107-server-socialism-valves-fumbles-mar-left-4-dead-demo.html. 
  48. ^ "Left 4 Dead Demo Update Released". 2008-11-21. http://store.steampowered.com/news/2021/. 
  49. ^ "Left 4 Dead Intro". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-31. http://store.steampowered.com/app/5141/. Retrieved on 2008-11-08. 
  50. ^ a b Mitchell, Jason (2008-12-04). "The Moviemaking Process: Left 4 Dead's Intro Movie". Valve Corporation. http://www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=2081. Retrieved on 2008-12-06. 
  51. ^ Caoili, Eric (2008-12-11). "Valve Patch Nixes Left 4 Dead Cheats". Gamasutra. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21470. Retrieved on 2009-02-05. 
  52. ^ King, Ryan (2008-12-11). "Left 4 Dead attacked by hackers". Official Xbox 360 Magazine. http://www.oxm.co.uk/article.php?id=7445. Retrieved on 2009-02-05. 
  53. ^ Faylor, Chris (2009-03-05). "Left 4 Dead DLC Coming Before April 21". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57518. Retrieved on 2009-03-10. 
  54. ^ Ocampo, Jason (2009-03-05). "IGN: Left 4 Dead Preview". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/959/959549p1.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-02. 
  55. ^ Crecente, Brian (2009-02-11). "Left 4 Dead Survival Pack Will Be Free". kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5151646/left-4-dead-survival-pack-will-be-free. Retrieved on 2009-02-11. 
  56. ^ "Left 4 Dead (xbox360: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/xbox360/left4dead. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  57. ^ "Left 4 Dead (PC: 2008): Reviews". Metacritic. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/left4dead. Retrieved on 2008-11-21. 
  58. ^ "Left 4 Dead Reviews". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/937406.asp. Retrieved on 2008-11-21. 
  59. ^ a b Gillen, Kieron. "Left 4 Dead Review". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/left-4-dead-review. Retrieved on 2008-12-02. 
  60. ^ a b Watters, Chris (2008-11-20). "Left 4 Dead for PC Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/left4dead/review.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=gssummary&tag=summary;read-review. Retrieved on 2008-12-08. 
  61. ^ a b Tuttle, Will (2008-11-17). "Left 4 Dead Review". GameSpy. http://xbox360.gamespy.com/xbox-360/left-4-dead/930843p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  62. ^ a b c Ocampo, Jason. "Left 4 Dead Review". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/930/930763p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  63. ^ Pearson, Craig (Christmas 2008), "Left 4 Dead", PC Gamer UK 
  64. ^ a b Edddy, Andy (2008-11-17). "Left 4 Dead Review (Xbox 360)". TeamXbox. http://reviews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1622/Left-4-Dead/p1/. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. "The motion-capture animation that makes up the varied zombie behavior is incredibly good, with the visuals peaking when a rushing gray-black mass of zombies are climbing up, over and through the terrain to get at you(...) On the other hand, it's irritating when you come into a room and see an enraged zombie clipping through from the other side of a wall or door" 
  65. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review last=Davis". Giant Bomb. 2008-11-18. http://www.giantbomb.com/left-4-dead/61-20690/reviews/. Retrieved on 2008-12-19. 
  66. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review". Examiner.com. 2008-11-17. http://theexplodingbarrel.com/?p=2094. Retrieved on 2008-11-23. "First and foremost, it's probably the most faithful video incarnation of the zombie genre that fans have ever been treated to. Yes, even better than Resident Evil 4" 
  67. ^ "Left 4 Dead Review". Game Informer. 2008-11-17. http://www.gameinformer.com/Games/Review/200901/R08.1118.1603.13328.htm. Retrieved on 2008-11-23. "The amazing level designs will remind you of every zombie movie ever made" 
  68. ^ "Eight Hands-on: Left 4 Dead Impressions". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2008-11-04. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/11/04/eight-hands-on-left-4-dead-impressions/. Retrieved on 2008-11-23. "Over breakfast yesterday – before playing – we were talking about different takes on the zombie game that we'd like to see. One which didn't come up is one which Left 4 Dead grasps completely – its inherent perverseness. Now, it's a constant internet thing to discuss what you'd do in a Zombie Invasion, the implication being that you're smarter than anyone else. Which is fine... but that's not how the genre works" 
  69. ^ "Left 4 Dead Preview". Game.co.uk. 2008-10-15. http://www.game.co.uk/lowdown.aspx?lid=10067. Retrieved on 2008-11-26. "As with the best horror flicks, the back-story is left deliberately ambiguous" 
  70. ^ "Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and Valve". ign.com. 2008-12-05. http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/936/936221p1.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-26. "Yet it also features four distinct survivors who convey an incredible amount of emotion through their facial animations and the rich amount of voice acting. There's Bill, the grizzled old veteran; Francis, the tough biker; Louis, the everyday dude; and Zoey, the college girl. They're so memorable that you can hear their voices in your mind as clear as day" 
  71. ^ Kojima, Hideo (2009-01-14). "Kojima: "Maybe I Should Quit Being Japanese"". 1UP.com. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3172266. Retrieved on 2009-01-19. "There are games everyone can play -- maybe calling them 'kids' games' would be inappropriate -- but there's also a deep base of core titles made with movie-industry people that explore the depths of hi-def. I'm addicted to Left 4 Dead right now, but people say to me that that game would never work in Japan." 
  72. ^ Breckon, Nick (2008-10-28). "Left 4 Dead Midnight Launch Chatty Left 4 Dead Tops Orange Box Pre-orders by 95%, Valve Launches New Contest". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55618. Retrieved on 2008-11-18. 
  73. ^ "Left 4 Dead Available at Retail Worldwide". Valve Corporation. 2008-10-28. http://store.steampowered.com/news/2052/. Retrieved on 2008-12-14. 
  74. ^ "NPD: Nintendo Drives '08 Industry Sales Past $21 Billion". Game Daily. 2009-01-15. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/npd-nintendo-drives-08-industry-sales-past-21-billion-/?biz=1. Retrieved on 2009-01-15. 
  75. ^ "Left 4 Dead Sells 1.8 Million at Retail". Shacknews. 2009-02-03. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57074. Retrieved on 2009-02-08. 
  76. ^ Faylor, Chris (2009-03-26). "Left 4 Dead Hits 2.5 Million Sold at Retail". Shacknews. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57883. Retrieved on 2009-02-08. 
  77. ^ "IGN PC: Best Multiplayer Game 2008". IGN. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/pc/18.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. 
  78. ^ "IGN 360: Best Online Multiplayer Game 2008". IGN. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/xbox360/18.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. 
  79. ^ "Gamespy — Multiplayer Top 10". Gamespy. http://goty.gamespy.com/2008/multiplayer/10.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. 
  80. ^ Callaham, John (2008-12-15). "Left 4 Dead wins Best PC Game at Spike's Video Game Awards". Game Daily. http://news.bigdownload.com/2008/12/15/left-4-dead-wins-best-pc-game-at-spikes-video-game-awards/. Retrieved on 2008-12-16. 
  81. ^ "NoFrag : Left 4 Dead élu FPSOTY 2008". NoFrag. 2008-12-28. http://www.nofrag.com/2008/dec/28/. Retrieved on 2009-01-05. 
  82. ^ "BAFTA Video Game Awards List of Nominations and Winners". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 2009-03-10. http://www.bafta.org/awards/video-games/nominations,664,BA.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-10. 
  83. ^ "AIAS ANNUAL AWARDS > 12TH ANNUAL AWARDS". Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. 2009-02-19. http://www.interactive.org/awards/annual_awards.asp?idAward=2009. Retrieved on 2009-02-21. 
  84. ^ "Game of the Year – Left 4 Dead". Bit-tech. http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/12/29/top-10-pc-games-of-the-year-2008/7. Retrieved on 2009-01-10. 
  85. ^ "IGN PC: Best Use of Sound 2008". IGN. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/pc/14.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-20. 
  86. ^ "IGN Overall: Best Shooter 2008". IGN. http://bestof.ign.com/2008/overall/8.html. Retrieved on 2009-02-12. 
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