In Left 4 Dead, four humans, Francis, Zoey, Bill, and Louis, had the misfortune of landing in the heart of a zombie-infested zone and are now attempting to reach an evacuation point to survive the apocalyptic outbreak. The game offers numerous scenarios, each broken into several chapters, to get save room and avoid hundreds of zombies.
Once locked, the doors to the save rooms cannot be opened by the infected, and they contain weapons (shotguns, submachine guns, etc.), medipacks, and ammo for the survivors to replenish before continuing on their trip. The survivors can never open the door to the save room again once it is closed, so the team must stick together, or else they will have to choose between leaving a comrade behind or fighting a pointless battle at the save room door.
If a survivor sustains too much damage, the character falls but is neither dead nor defenseless. The character can still fire incoming zombies with a handgun, making it easier for teammates to assist nature. This is especially critical if one of the special zombies, such as the Hunter, who can jump enormous distances and instantly down his prey, has a survivor in his hands. If the zombie is not slain quickly, the teammate will perish.
Other unique zombies include the Tank, a massive deformed zombie that can withstand hundreds of gunshots before succumbing to a serious punch, and the Boomer, who vomits on a survivor and immediately attracts dozens of new zombies. This can also occur if a car burglar alarm goes off or something similar disturbs the night.
While the campaigns can be played with AI-controlled teammates or other human players in co-op, the multiplayer mode also includes a new game mode called “Versus.” The core idea remains the same, with four players needing to get safely to the save room. In comparison, four other players are randomly allocated to the roles of one of the special zombies, with the explicit purpose of assisting the standard, AI-controlled infected in eliminating the survivors. The zombie players can spawn practically anywhere on the map if it’s out of sight of the survivors and see them through walls if they make a noise but are otherwise easy to take down if discovered early (save for the tank).
