Left 4 Dead

17 Nov 2008 · (17 years ago) · Full Release

Valve, Certain Affinity, Turtle Rock Studios

1 IVGDB Score

Steam rating

Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter set during a zombie outbreak on the East Coast of the United States. Four players control survivors who must fight through hordes of infected humans, creatures transformed by a rabies-like pathogen that causes extreme aggression and loss of higher brain function. Gameplay emphasizes teamwork, with colored outlines showing teammate positions through walls, shared healing items, and friendly fire creating consequences for careless shooting. An AI system called the Director dynamically adjusts enemy placement, item spawns, and pacing based on player performance. Beyond common infected, players face five special mutated types with unique abilities. Campaigns are divided into levels connected by safe houses, each culminating in a desperate last stand for rescue.

PC Mac XBOX-360 LinuxDeck: Playable

Need a rig? Gaming PCs, handhelds & where to buy →

Developer: Valve, Certain Affinity, Turtle Rock Studios Publisher: Valve

About

Genres

Shooter Action

Themes

Action Horror Survival

Game modes

Single player Multiplayer Co-operative Single-player Multi-player Co-op PvP Online Co-op

Player perspectives

First person

Developers

Valve Certain Affinity Turtle Rock Studios

Publishers

Valve

Game engine

Source

Keywords

zombies helicopter post-apocalyptic bloody death insanity steam witches achievements apocalypse undead mutants campaign artificial intelligence easter egg resurrection cross-platform multiplayer darkness explosion steam achievements digital distribution xbox controller support for pc steam cloud throwing weapons game critics awards pig based on - comics bink video human polygonal 3d unlockables extreme violence fake in-game advertising retail games with steam activation 4 player co-op ragdoll physics falling damage downloadable content xbox live melee real-time combat a.i. companion in-game map editor instant kill infinite ammo friendly fire vision obstruction difficulty level in-game achievement menu internet culture reference steam play survival mode respawning destructible environment non-linear storytelling interactive environments sadism xbox one backwards compatibility achievement attempt detection games on demand valve anti-cheat never-ending horde mode voice chat banter during gameplay drop-in drop-out linear gameplay meme origin local and online players together griefing dedicated servers camera shift overweight character bpjm indexed undead invasion matchmaking color blindness dual wielding zombie protagonist character models based on actual people bots severed limbs infinite spawn text dialogue fully customizable controls swarming enemies developer commentary tomboy no respawn war veterans dynamic difficulty objective-based team gameplay machinima professional gaming novint falcon support pc to console port team killing bafta games award multi-monitor support viral achievement zombie virus pax 2008 interactive achievement awards 2009 spike video game awards 2008

Also known as

L4DL4Dleft4dead.exe

Story

An outbreak of a pathogen nicknamed the Green Flu sweeps across Pennsylvania, causing extreme aggression, loss of higher brain function, and rapid mutation in its victims. Two weeks after the first infection, four immune survivors find themselves stranded together in the city of Fairfield: Bill, a Vietnam veteran; Zoey, a college student; Louis, a district account manager; and Francis, an outlaw biker. As the group fights through city streets, subways, and countryside in search of evacuation, they discover that the military's containment efforts are failing and that the infection is producing increasingly dangerous mutations in some of its hosts. Each rescue attempt leads to another setback, pushing the survivors further from safety and forcing them to rely entirely on each other to stay alive.