Left 4 Dead is a first-person shooter based in a post apooclyptic world over run by normal humans who have been infected by a virus that turns them into drooling brain eating zombies.

The game comes with multiple game modes when played online or you can play left 4 dead offline in single player. Please see the game modes section for more details on this.

The focus of left 4 dead is team play. This is especially most evident in on-line versus matches. If a players health is reduced to zero either by the infected of from friendly fire which is enabled by default in all game modes then they become incapacitated. This means they are helplessly laying on the floor with on their pistols for defence. Once a player is in-capacitatited they are allocated some new health points. Currently and incapacitated player receives 300 health points. This deteriorates over time and is accelerated by any damage done to them while they are still on the ground. Only another survivor can pick the incapacitated player up. Once on their feet again the player's health will be reduced from its previous level. You originally only have a team of four and this is just enough people to keep watch on each other's backs. If you lose one of your team mates then the others can be quickly overwhelmed by the infected.

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. Over 1000 unique lines have been recorded for each Survivor.

 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 several chapters marked by safe rooms, which are checkpoints where players can heal, re-arm, and revive players who were killed. Specifically, the four campaigns are: "No Mercy", an urban setting; "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. In the final chapter of each campaign, the players must defend a position from an onslaught of Infected until rescue arrives.

The new AI Director means that game replay ability even in single player is unbelievably high. The map is never exactly the same as it was before. The map itself won't change but the number of infected and the location of them changes between in play through. Once you enter the versus mode online then the infected also have what's called Special infected that are controlled by humans making the challenge of surviving so much more. Sometime people are simple Left 4 dead, so that some may survive.

The game is brought to you by Valve the creators of Counter-Strike, Half-Life and more. Left 4 Dead, a new kind of action game for the PC and Xbox 360^TM that features single player, co-op and multiplayer game modes.

Also coming later this year is the sequal Left 4 Dead2.



New technology dubbed "the AI Director" is used to generate a unique game play experience every time you play. The Director tailors the frequency and ferocity of the zombie attacks to your performance, adjusting pacing, special effects and audio on the fly.