In left 4 dead team tactics are the make or break idea for winning teams. For single player and co-op the tactics are basic and fundamental. For versus the tactics can become quite advanced and expands upon the tactics from single player, and co-op. Firstly some basic rules to survive the zombies in single player and co-op.

In these game modes the first rule that players must learn to abide by is never ever go off on your own. A lone survivor is easy meals for any passing special infected or even the horde. In single player the bots will always try to follow you but some routes are not readily accessible to them and so taking one of these can lead to you being all on your own while the bots try to get to you. In a short period of time zombies can consume a lone survivor so stay with the team at all times you cannot save yourself. In CO-OP the other survivors are human controlled so they can follow through much more than the bots but again a lone survivor is easy prey so stick together communicate when you're moving and always watch each other's back.  Now that we have got through the first rule let's make sure you read it STAY together this is a simple rule but one many people ignore and come unstuck because of it.

Always rescue a team mate from infected as soon as you can. Remember the longer the infected have a team mate the more damage they are doing. Shoot infected that have a team mate captured if you are far away or melee them if you are close. The aim is to save your team mate from as much damage as possible.

As a Survivor you always have access to a  secondary attack which is melee, this can prove extremely useful in keeping the team from being swarmed by a horde of infected or to prevent a Special infected from being able to damage a team mate.

This leads in to the next point which is learn to crouch, if all of you are in a room and the persons in front don't crouch then you have just cut the team down to only two effective members as the two behind will have to cause damage to you to shoot at the infected. Never walk in front of a team mate who is firing, always try to crouch if you need cut across their line of fire.

Once a team knows how to stay together the only other important tactic in these modes in to make tactical use of the supplies you are given. There are no correct spots to use any particular item it depends solely on your own game play style. However just remember that if you use that pipe now you may not get another and you might just really need it later on.

Other than that play and discover the horrible things that can await you.

Versus mode takes the tactics from single player and then pushes them a lot harder. In this mode a team that fails to stay together is easy food for the Special infected. This is one thing that can destroy a team quicker than anything else. A hunter can kill a team mate very quickly if someone is not there to save the walking lunch.

Communication is the next biggest thing in this mode. Supplies are of no use to you if you don't bother telling your team mates that the stuff is there. A missed health pack can be the difference between making it safely to the ends of the level and dyeing in sight of it.

Watch were your throwing Molotov's and pipe's. If you set your team mate on fire it's a pretty good bet they are not going to be happy and may just shoot you for the trouble. Friendly fire is always on in left 4 dead, and every bit of damage you do to your team mates is less damage the other team has to do to win.

When you play the infected the fun of bouncing around as a hunter can be infectious but a hunter on their own will never get the chance to do much damage unless you're lucky enough for a survivor to have separated from his friends, then lunch is of course served and should be enjoyed. But that doesn't happen too often. Infected need to work for their food and they need to do it as a team if they are to avoid going hungry. A basic tactic that works quite well is for the boomer to go first and once the attracted horde is swarming the survivors the rest of the Special infected should try to attack all at once.

There are of course times hen waiting can be worse than attacking alone but that's a decision that is made at the time  just try to make sure it's not the hunger making you itchy .

In every map there are ambush points for the infected that can allow them to do massive damage to a team. If you're the infected it's your job to co-ordinate these attacks to help ensure your team wins. If you are the survivors remember hose ambush spots that worked so well for you and avoid them or be extra watchful and do your best to pre-empt the ambush you just know is coming.