Left 4 Dead

 PC
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 4339 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3,834 out of 4339
  2. Mixed: 339 out of 4339
  3. Negative: 166 out of 4339
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  1. MLoy
    Feb 17, 2009
    3
    After four days I am already bored with this game. It has great graphics, high action and great potential. But all that potential is lost in a botched execution. It's the same thing over and over again, all the levels play the same even if they do happen in different settings. And the zombie rushes come at predictable intervals and again they are the same every time.
    There is no    After four days I am already bored with this game. It has great graphics, high action and great potential. But all that potential is lost in a botched execution. It's the same thing over and over again, all the levels play the same even if they do happen in different settings. And the zombie rushes come at predictable intervals and again they are the same every time.
    There is no suspense in the game, no way to develop any kind of strategy aside from killing everything that moves. This is like being in a Rob Zombie mosh pit.    … Expand
  2. AndrewG.
    Feb 23, 2009
    6
    I echo a lot of comments here - 'good while it lasts'. This was fantastic fun for a short while in Co-op mode.
    ......But then there were no more levels, and after some repetition it became clear that the game stopped being scary, surprising or fun - and downloadable user-made levels are not solving this problem.
    Polished, but repetitive. .......This is a great pity - because    I echo a lot of comments here - 'good while it lasts'. This was fantastic fun for a short while in Co-op mode.
    ......But then there were no more levels, and after some repetition it became clear that the game stopped being scary, surprising or fun - and downloadable user-made levels are not solving this problem.
    Polished, but repetitive.
    .......This is a great pity - because there are some excellent touches of depth (threads of messages scrawled on the walls by various survivors), and you get the feeling that a really remarkable story-driven campaign could have been gleaned from this game. But no, it's mindless fun for a few hours - and most won't look back.    … Expand
  3. NaytoE
    Feb 25, 2009
    5
    This games seems very much like half a game. Infact it's even less. There's a real lack of content here and it certainly isn't worth the £26.99 it's being sold for atm, I bought it during a promotion for £14.99 and still feel slighty ripped off. There's a lack of weapons, a lack of enemies, a lack of levels (4 campains broken into 5 smaller levels, This games seems very much like half a game. Infact it's even less. There's a real lack of content here and it certainly isn't worth the £26.99 it's being sold for atm, I bought it during a promotion for £14.99 and still feel slighty ripped off. There's a lack of weapons, a lack of enemies, a lack of levels (4 campains broken into 5 smaller levels, takes about 40 minutes to do a campain, 50 minutes max, so that's 4 hour of gameplay, which is very very poor for a full commercial release. You get more length from Pac Man) and a lack of choice within those levels (you run, gun, pick up med kit, heal buddy, recieve snidey remarks from children, hit a scripted trigger, enter zombies, repeat). The way it was advertised and the length it was in development made me expect more from it, especially the price tag and the fact it's a full commercial release. I've seen mods with more content than this, and those guys don't get paid! The user interface needs some serious work, you dont even get to choose what server you join, the computer picks for you and 9 times out of 10 it picks a laggy server in verses mode even though you clearly clicked co-op (and vice versa). If you're like me and remember people names, you'll remember the people from games that were total idiots, or kids and won't want to play with them, unfortunatly you cant see who you're joining till your loading the server up and the joy of that is when it picks the server you've just left 4 times in a row. Not good. Also using quick match takes forever as it starts connecting to full servers and bounces you back to the menu, it did this to me a wopping 17 times before i finally gave up and headed onto some better, ie/ TF2. TheUI can be fixed quite easily, but the length it's been out suggests to me they aren't going to do it. And now the gameplay, fun when you join chaps that actually want YOU to live as well as themselves, but the chances of that happening is very small. I've only joined a few games where team work has actually been used. Most of the time it's just every man for himself and first guy to the med kits heals as many times as possible so the others suffer (there's only 4 at each point, one each). I remember my frst Tank sighting, I was pummeled as everyone ran away from it (me being arrogant thought my shotty would blast his face off, I was greated with a big meaty fist), whilst he beat me to a pulp the others killed him, then refused to help me up and ran away hitting the 'Laugh' key, leaving me to slowly die whilst casting a vote to kick me. I really felt the love in my first ever game. My advice, if your looking for a team game with loads of content and replay value, by TeamFortress 2, it's got more to offer, isn't anywhere near as expensive and doesn't contain as many idiots (usually, it has its moments when teh new class packs are released). However, if you like playing the same strech of scenery with the same monsters popping in the same places enjoy navigating through a crappy, broken menu, love waiting to find servers only to be greated with lag and absolutley must play with ignorent, childish morons that you're supposed to work with and help out even though they've shot you in the face, vomitted abuse at you, used all the med packs, left you for dead (I apologise for that) voted to kick you and set you on fire, you must buy this. The players of this game have killed my willingness to give medpacks to others... They're mine... All mine!... *twitches* I don't hate the game, it can be a laugh with mates (when we all have time), but I hate 90% of the people I've played with. People will say it's not teh games fualt that I get thrust into servers with idiots, but it is. There's no way of avoiding mongtard players, there for it is the games fault. You can mute them, why can't you opt to avoid them? And this seriously isn't worth the money Valve are charging for it. If it was £10 and the interface was sorted, it'd get maybe a 6, and if immature planks were banned from life it'd get a 7. If both applied, it'd get an 8.… Expand
  4. EivindB
    Apr 26, 2009
    1
    One of the most hyped titles! Sure, it's a great game.. for the first hour. After that you've experienced it all and it'll get really repetitive, with the same monsters and the same guns to fight 'em with. The mod, Zombie Mod, is 10 times better and it's free. It might arrive some updates for L4D, but that's not an excuse coming out with a game with almost no One of the most hyped titles! Sure, it's a great game.. for the first hour. After that you've experienced it all and it'll get really repetitive, with the same monsters and the same guns to fight 'em with. The mod, Zombie Mod, is 10 times better and it's free. It might arrive some updates for L4D, but that's not an excuse coming out with a game with almost no content and expexting 50 euros for it.… Expand
  5. danm
    May 21, 2009
    7
    Not at all worth the hype. This game is as shallow as a puddle in the desert. I literally after playing the game for an hour thought "wow, this is seriously it?" Spraying at an endless bunch of idiotic zombies? A monkey could play this game well, and by the looks of things it seems like about 90% of the people who play this game are monkies. All glitz and glam, absolutely not substance Not at all worth the hype. This game is as shallow as a puddle in the desert. I literally after playing the game for an hour thought "wow, this is seriously it?" Spraying at an endless bunch of idiotic zombies? A monkey could play this game well, and by the looks of things it seems like about 90% of the people who play this game are monkies. All glitz and glam, absolutely not substance whatsoever.… Expand
  6. CharlesB
    May 22, 2009
    1
    While excited about the thought of a good zombie shooter, I found myself really not liking this game. I enjoyed the single player aspect of the game very much. The problems began when I started to play the multi-player version. It seemed that people were kicking others out for no reason. One guy got booted and did nothing wrong. I couldn't save him because we entered the safe area While excited about the thought of a good zombie shooter, I found myself really not liking this game. I enjoyed the single player aspect of the game very much. The problems began when I started to play the multi-player version. It seemed that people were kicking others out for no reason. One guy got booted and did nothing wrong. I couldn't save him because we entered the safe area when the vote was called. Had another person kill other players as soon as they got in the game. I would rate this game much higher if I had RL friends to play this game with.… Expand
  7. VeryDisappointed
    Nov 23, 2008
    5
    The game is great..no question. The only problem I had was with the lack of LAN support. The Xbox version allows split-screen multi-player. On a PC...you have to buy a copy for every computer...and "log-in" to their STEAM service (basically a server lobby). Sorry...I'm not going to pay $100 for 2 copies of a game just to play co-op with my kids for a few weeks until they'reThe game is great..no question. The only problem I had was with the lack of LAN support. The Xbox version allows split-screen multi-player. On a PC...you have to buy a copy for every computer...and "log-in" to their STEAM service (basically a server lobby). Sorry...I'm not going to pay $100 for 2 copies of a game just to play co-op with my kids for a few weeks until they're bored of it.
    And I personally don't like having to register/subscribe to a "service" just to play a game...even single player. Microsoft did this with Gears of War (1). Screwed up a perfectly good game because of it.    … Expand
  8. DerekTarnawa
    Nov 23, 2008
    7
    Left 4 Dead was one of the games I was really looking foreward to upon release; The same cannot be said at this point though. Left 4 Dead is very fun and entertaining for just running around and blowing zombies up, but after playing it for a few hours, I had already finished the storyline. Unfortunate as that may be, it can last for a while with the co-op playability. Still, as cool asLeft 4 Dead was one of the games I was really looking foreward to upon release; The same cannot be said at this point though. Left 4 Dead is very fun and entertaining for just running around and blowing zombies up, but after playing it for a few hours, I had already finished the storyline. Unfortunate as that may be, it can last for a while with the co-op playability. Still, as cool as this game should have been, I just don't think it's worth paying $49.99. If you played the demo and you ended up playing that mission thousands of times, then maybe you should buy it. Anyone else should use that cash to buy Call of Duty 4 or World at War.… Expand
  9. SteeleX
    Nov 25, 2008
    0
    First of all, I would have given this game a 6-7 out of 10, but to balance out all the other guys who gave 10, I had to put a 0. When I first saw this game I thought it might be interesting, as we've all played the zombie mods in CS and CS:S. Now finally a full mutiplayer game is released for shooting zombies. But the game worked differently than what I thought it would be. Before I First of all, I would have given this game a 6-7 out of 10, but to balance out all the other guys who gave 10, I had to put a 0. When I first saw this game I thought it might be interesting, as we've all played the zombie mods in CS and CS:S. Now finally a full mutiplayer game is released for shooting zombies. But the game worked differently than what I thought it would be. Before I even finished loading my map my teammates already ran away from the starting point, leaving only myself at the starting point. Even when I join them nobody seem to be cooperating at all. Nobody types, nobody uses the microphone, and everybody just press the voice message, "laugh". Unlike all of the other zombie shooting games, where the humans are suppose to be the weak ones, trying to hide from the zombies, in here, everybody tries to find and kill zombies wherever they can. It makes me wonder sometimes, are the zombies hunting us or are we hunting the zombies? The missions are extremely linear, by the first time I finished the first mission I already got bored. Because the second time I play it it's the exact same thing over again. We all know which monster is going to pop out from where and where are the medic packs are located. But of course the game is not at all a failure, it has many interesting features, like having temporary health which will decrease over time, being pinned down, the ability to heal other people, and the automatic voice commands. Though, after the first time through, even the zombie level in CoD:WaW feels a lot more fun and exciting, despite the fact that we all know we'll die in the end.… Expand
  10. DK
    Nov 27, 2008
    0
    This game is deserving of a 6 but like others, I have decided to give it a 0 to balance out the people giving it a 10.

    The game is fun for about a week before it starts to get mindlessly repetitive. Valve games are usually an excellent value, however, the amount of content in L4D makes it more of a mod than a full priced game. There is no storyline, only 6 weapons, and only a few    This game is deserving of a 6 but like others, I have decided to give it a 0 to balance out the people giving it a 10.

    The game is fun for about a week before it starts to get mindlessly repetitive.

    Valve games are usually an excellent value, however, the amount of content in L4D makes it more of a mod than a full priced game.

    There is no storyline, only 6 weapons, and only a few different types of infected. Versus mode is an unbalanced gimmick. Also, there is no official support for a server browser for PC users. As a result, PC users must use a consolified matchmaking system that is barely functional.

    A very disappointing game from a company that usually delivers great games.    … Expand
  11. GeoffH.
    Nov 28, 2008
    3
    I have been a fan of many of the Valve games up to now, especially Hl2 and Portal. In comparison, I find this game very disappointing. The plot is non-existent. The number of weapon types is limited, as well as, by definition, the types of baddies. All the "campaigns" seem the same and I was pretty bored after an hour. There's no character development of the four protagonists and noI have been a fan of many of the Valve games up to now, especially Hl2 and Portal. In comparison, I find this game very disappointing. The plot is non-existent. The number of weapon types is limited, as well as, by definition, the types of baddies. All the "campaigns" seem the same and I was pretty bored after an hour. There's no character development of the four protagonists and no story. Just shoot all the Zombies in sight. Valve, I expected better from you and wish no I had saved my fifty dollars for Fallout 3 or GTA-IV.… Expand
  12. RonP
    Nov 29, 2008
    5
    Pro's: Fun to play, Great Coop gameplay.

    Cons: Not enough variety in zombies, Very few weapons to choose from, If you had played the demo you have basically seen the entire game. The game is a bit over priced for a 3 to 4 hours game time and the game is also lacking in variety as well as the graphics not really up to par on current gen hardware. All in all the game was fun but    Pro's: Fun to play, Great Coop gameplay.

    Cons: Not enough variety in zombies, Very few weapons to choose from, If you had played the demo you have basically seen the entire game. The game is a bit over priced for a 3 to 4 hours game time and the game is also lacking in variety as well as the graphics not really up to par on current gen hardware.

    All in all the game was fun but in the long term (meaning past 3 hours of play time) one can only hope that a flood of custom maps and content come out although since HL2 I have noticed not many mods make it out of the gate to the public. I do not regret buying the game but It would be nice if the game was priced properly with its play time.    … Expand
  13. B.Phried
    Dec 12, 2008
    7
    Version: December 5th 2008.
    This is a very fun game the first time through, mowing zombies is fun, and the finales are fantastic. My biggest problem is that even with the AI director, this game starts to get very "samey".
    The AI director paces the game fantastically, places objects in strategic places so you can't use the same strategy twice, but the problem with a game like this    Version: December 5th 2008.
    This is a very fun game the first time through, mowing zombies is fun, and the finales are fantastic. My biggest problem is that even with the AI director, this game starts to get very "samey".

    The AI director paces the game fantastically, places objects in strategic places so you can't use the same strategy twice, but the problem with a game like this is that though the levels are just as repetitive in competitive online shooters, a coop shooter doesn't have the same unpredictability as playing against a real player (though versus mode on TWO campaigns are available.)

    When playing on versus mode, you are playing against real people, although there isn't much difference between human players and ai players.

    My main complaints should be solved when map making is supported by default.

    Other complaints include:
    -very small (sometimes useless) arsenal:
    Although five weapons means that you can pick up and play very easily, but a small arsenal means that there isn't very diverse, especially when two of the weapons or simply upgrades of a previous tier and one weapon is almost useless in most situations.

    -No browser:
    How are we supposed to sort through custom maps with no way to choose which server to join (without using console commands). should be fixed soon though.

    on an end note:
    Buy this game, just don't buy it yet. If you can find this game for $-30 then go for it, otherwise wait a few more patches until all the basic problems are fixed.    … Expand
  14. KulakxRatings
    Oct 2, 2011
    6
    I was pretty excited for this game till i played it. Its not bad, it has fun mechanics and multiplayer. id rather play a differnt multiplayer game, i dont see the point in buying this game if u already got day of defeat, counterstrike 2 or team fortress 2. Just like most zombie games its hugley overrated and has nothing memorable about it. But if you like shooting zombies then buy it butI was pretty excited for this game till i played it. Its not bad, it has fun mechanics and multiplayer. id rather play a differnt multiplayer game, i dont see the point in buying this game if u already got day of defeat, counterstrike 2 or team fortress 2. Just like most zombie games its hugley overrated and has nothing memorable about it. But if you like shooting zombies then buy it but you may get bored after the first month or 2… Expand
  15. thequillguy
    Apr 24, 2011
    9
    Left 4 Dead offers the greatest multiplayer experience with strangers so far. Even if you do not like FPS games, or western zombie culture with its pretentious assertion that it all represents something else a little bit deeper, I warrant youâ
  16. JoeMtW
    Apr 24, 2011
    9
    Very good game for its time. I played this with friends when I was younger and I really enjoyed myself. It was just one of those games everyone had at the time and everyone would play. I think it's one of the better zombie games out there, if not the role-model for a lot of them.
  17. doodlerman
    Jun 17, 2011
    9
    It's technically the same as the Xbox 360 version except it feels like there's so much more you can do with it, especially since you can download unique modded maps made by other players. It's rare that I think a game is better on the PC than it is on a console like the Xbox 360, but this is a perfect example of a game that is.
  18. Hikaru90
    Jun 30, 2011
    10
    I got this game after my boyfriend recommended it for me. It was my first zombie and shooting game I have ever had. As a girl I typically thought first that the game is boring and stupid. But I was definitely wrong! Visual look, background music and sound effects are cool. And I like that l4d has special zombies and requires teamwork! The more the merrier, right? This is one of those gamesI got this game after my boyfriend recommended it for me. It was my first zombie and shooting game I have ever had. As a girl I typically thought first that the game is boring and stupid. But I was definitely wrong! Visual look, background music and sound effects are cool. And I like that l4d has special zombies and requires teamwork! The more the merrier, right? This is one of those games which you play hours and hours a day, may get bored with it, but always come back for more.… Expand
  19. LemonlyFresh
    Jul 15, 2011
    10
    I'm still playing this, still, my friends and I still have LAN's, just for this game. It is possibly the perfect co-op game ever made. Buy it, play it, if you don't like it, there's something wrong with you.
  20. JoseRochaPT
    Sep 20, 2011
    7
    The best bot-massive horror FPS ever made ! Obviously I'm not even comparing it to the second version, but it really is a little something ! Obviously there are some things to be improved like the Aim, the Weapons, The Zombie Inteligence and the way zombies appear.
  21. meediocre
    Dec 20, 2011
    9
    Goddamn this game and the hours and hours and hours it has stolen from my life. And the sequel. It's all so ridiculously simple - point, shoot, run ad nauseum - that by rights I should not still have this game installed on my machine. Don't know why but a few years on, I still find myself logging on an doing a quick campaign. It is the ultimate co-op straightforward "get-to-safety"Goddamn this game and the hours and hours and hours it has stolen from my life. And the sequel. It's all so ridiculously simple - point, shoot, run ad nauseum - that by rights I should not still have this game installed on my machine. Don't know why but a few years on, I still find myself logging on an doing a quick campaign. It is the ultimate co-op straightforward "get-to-safety" survival horror game going. I think the endless appeal has to be with the 'AI Director' that changes the intensity, placement and frequency of zombie and special infected attacks. Everytime you play, it's all so familiar, yet completely different. If I do have one criticism though, it's the zombies themselves. I mean, how can they all be so samey!… Expand
  22. Not_Casual
    Feb 8, 2012
    10
    Why didn't they think of this before? It's brilliant to force the teamwork this way and keep the game fresh by changing things every play through. Extremely highly recommended buy.
  23. LeonRPGPlayer
    Jun 11, 2013
    5
    The game is nothing special at all, It is very good, the story its absolutely horrible, and the game play is good, the graphics aren't that great. The game is actually based in multyplayer so lets talk about that, I like it but the only thing you can do its just CREATE or JOIN a server and play... the game, shooting zombies with online players. a thing that i enjoy in this game is the factThe game is nothing special at all, It is very good, the story its absolutely horrible, and the game play is good, the graphics aren't that great. The game is actually based in multyplayer so lets talk about that, I like it but the only thing you can do its just CREATE or JOIN a server and play... the game, shooting zombies with online players. a thing that i enjoy in this game is the fact of it forces you play by teamwork which is really bad at single player but i don't really even care about single player. You have mutation (very original) also enjoyed the mutation then you have Realism... I don't understand what are they getting at with the realism thing, is it for pro players that want to play it at the maximum difficulty? Or just really really hard to pass? for that they have expert, and why would players that want to play high difficult games would play Left 4 Dead 2? I don't know, its very boring to pass the adventure part, and at multyplayer why would you even want to play expert at multyplayer? Actually Multyplayer really bores me in this game that's why i don't give a very good review, However, i don't rate it Very bad just because of the mutation section and, also, a thing that i act really interesting that i think it made this game worth to buy, Versus. The fact that you can be a monster in a zombie game it's cool, and specially playing ONLINE against the real characters of the game and the ONLINE zombies. The fact that you're playing against a zombie that's a online player it really really enjoys me. It's not good not bad, I had really great times with this game but i also had really great time with another games that are so much better then this one... So i don't really think its a ''awesome'' game.… Expand
  24. iddqd4
    Jan 23, 2018
    8
    Образец жанра зомби экшенов, которые чуть позже волной пойдут как в играх, так и в сериалах и кино, совсем не стоит играть в эту игру в одиночку, в игре реализован очень качественный кооп.
  25. Ramiro1992
    Mar 29, 2015
    7
    This game is ONLY to play online, single player campaign is a disaster, voice acting is very poor, and the AI IS LAUGHABLE AT BEST. Very mediocre gameplay, but very good graphics, and the plot is just ok.
    This game does not deserve more than 7, the game fails in the single player mode, full of bugs and glitches, the AI is one of the worst i have ever seen along with counter strike, they    This game is ONLY to play online, single player campaign is a disaster, voice acting is very poor, and the AI IS LAUGHABLE AT BEST. Very mediocre gameplay, but very good graphics, and the plot is just ok.
    This game does not deserve more than 7, the game fails in the single player mode, full of bugs and glitches, the AI is one of the worst i have ever seen along with counter strike, they don't even bothered in make a good friendly and enemy AI.

    Good (+):
    - Storyline
    - Graphics
    - Music
    - Ambientation
    - A good ammount of gore

    Bad (-):

    - Laughable AI, a total disaster.
    - Very Short campaigns.
    - Not a good variety of weapons
    - Poor voice acting
    - Bad gameplay and bad controls.
    - No replay value.

    Play Resident Evil or Killing Floor Instead.    … Expand
  26. tsakiym
    May 18, 2015
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I do not have to say anything. But i need to write one hundred and fifty characters. i think my score can describe it.................................… Expand
  27. Nichrome
    Nov 15, 2018
    10
    Pills here! What can I say, the older the games are, the better they are. It's hard to compare well made game from ~2008 to games that are made today. Cheap game, but I spent in it 5x more hours than in few other games that claimed to have 40h campaigns/storylines.
  28. SeyeerGame
    Jul 1, 2021
    10
    Зои, Билл, Френсис и Луис навсегда в моем сердце. Самая любимая часть из всех!) Это я могу сказать однозначно.
  29. [Anonymous]
    Nov 20, 2008
    10
    Best game of 2008, kinda short, but thanks to the AI Director every game just doesn't feels like the other, even when you play the same map over and over again... Looks like everybody who bought it is way too busy to comment about it here by now, kinda underrated by critics... it deserves a better score than 89.
  30. MichaelK.
    Apr 20, 2009
    10
    I dislike Zombie games. But Left 4 Dead is a really BIG exception. Its really a special gameplay. It has a fast gameplay with long-time gaming-fun. The Director is one of the best features in the game. He forces the Team-Mates to work together. Non-Team play will be punished immediatelly. And thats it what makes the game to a perfect MP-Game!
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Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Best PC Game of 2008
4
#4 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
10
#10 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
89

Generally favorable reviews - based on 58 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 57 out of 58
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 58
  3. Negative: 0 out of 58
  1. IGN
    90
    There's absolutely no doubt that Left 4 Dead is one of the most social and exciting multiplayer games that we've ever played. It's almost pitch perfect in how it captures the tension and the action of a Hollywood zombie movie.
    Read full review
  2. GameSpy
    90
    The inventive and highly entertaining competitive multiplayer mode just adds to the experience, and we're looking forward to seeing what Valve's got planned for the game's future. Out of all the titles that have shaped the Year of Living Cooperatively, this may be the best experience of them all.
    Read full review
  3. IGN UK
    92
    One of the finest zombie games ever made, and one of the finest co-op games ever made. The potential for everything to go so, so wrong without warning, or conversely to pull off the most spectacular escapes against all odds, means this is an online shooter you can tell your finest anecdotes about without boring everyone else to tears.
    Read full review
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