Left 4 Dead Preview

You did not want to shoot your way here.

You are alone right now, stranded on the fifth floor of an office building infested with monsters.  You really shouldn’t be spending time reading this.  It isn’t safe where you are.  At one point you had friends, but then they were killed, eaten, or otherwise horribly dispatched.  Maybe you’re reading this to keep from getting lonely.  But then again, you aren’t alone.  Look behind you, you’ll see.

Not that you’ll be alive to buy it, but if you were to get one shooter in the coming year, it should be Left 4 Dead.  Only a few months after your horrible and messy death, the rest of us will be playing this survival horror-meets-counterstrike game; too bad you couldn’t be around to see its hectic gameplay and tense situational strategy.

But at least, now that you’re dead, you can appreciate the opportunity to play for the un-dead.  In what we’ve seen to this point, playing as the humans means teamwork and fortification.  But playing for the monsters means endless and bloodthirsty carnage.  If, by some unholy miracle, you do manage to escape the claws of the creature now encircling your throat, you will love Left 4 . . . uh, I guess he’s got you now, but maybe if you can juuuust reach that pistol . . . oh, you’re dead.  Forget it.