Left 4 Dead Review: It Still Holds Up in 2017

Released in 2009, Left 4 Dead is still high up there as one of the best cooperative experiences to date; Valve just needs to stop being the sleeping giant it is and start developing new games.

Left 4 Dead was clearly developed with its cooperative multiplayer aspect in mind. There's very little as fun as mowing down hordes of zombies with a shotgun in hand; both players working together with their arsenals to progress through the levels successfully together regardless of the terrifying threats of not only hordes, but various other infected each with their own abilities and strengths that attempt to set you back each time you get a little too confident.

The game is a little short, but it feels incredibly fluid on its normal difficulty. You're constantly moving forward as you'd expect one would in such an event. There's the odd standoff in which hordes of zombies will flock towards you as you defend an objective, but it's an awesome experience throwing molotovs and pipe bombs into the crowds concentrating your firepower all over the place to protect everyone you are with. If one player goes down, chances are the other will too.

There's the odd bit of stealth in parts, where witches are a major threat and react only to sound and getting just a little too close to them, other than that, they leave you alone if you do the same. Of course that doesn't always work out, though. You could be trying to avoid the witch but then plagued with zombies to kill, thus accidentally startling the witch; and trust me, that doesn't particularly end well even on the normal difficulty. In fact, if you really want a challenge, I recommend playing on the higher difficulties to get the best experience in Left 4 Dead as possible. It'll be fun, but also hellish in parts. Totally worth it.

Once you've completed the main story, you can head over to the Steam Workshop and download all the player-developed additional content for replayability. There's a plethora of additional maps, weapons, character models that all make the game feel both new and different. But once again, you're going to want to play with someone else to get the best experience. Had enough of Left 4 Dead and its additional content? There's always Left 4 Dead 2. Sadly no Left 4 Dead 3... Yet.