14 DAY TRIAL // Left 4 Dead was a great game. It impressed reviewers and fans alike with its top-notch AI, intricate gameplay and ever-changing layout of its four scenarios, courtesy of Valve's innovative AI Director, who changed the location of ammunition spots and the intensity of the zombie attacks.
But what it gained in innovation and fun factor when you were playing it with friends, it lost due to the relative shortness of the four scenarios. Now, Valve released a free DLC add-on, entitled the Survival Pack, which, besides new changes to the gameplay, has also brought a brand new mode, cleverly entitled Survivor.
As emphasized by Valve, the new mode will be something similar to the Horde mode of Gears of War 2 crossed with Call of Duty: World at War's Nazi Zombies bonus mode, as the horde of infected will keep on assaulting the players until each and every one of them dies. After a few days of playing this Survivor mode, I can share with you my overall impressions.
First of all, the mode is hard, very hard if it is the first time you try Left 4 Dead. You'd better play through the first campaign with the AI-controlled players, then the next one with human-controlled ones and the last two, courtesy of this new DLC, in Versus mode, so that you can experience all of the sides of Left 4 Dead before jumping in the Survivor mode.
Essentially, this new mode is a take on the final event of each of the four scenarios, as you radio your saviors to arrive, and then you make a final stand until rescue comes. Now, though, nobody will come, except for the endless horde of zombies that would like nothing more than to sink their hands/claws/appendages into you.
The scenarios are quite varied, including the new Lighthouse map, entitled The Last Stand, which is exclusive to the Survivor mode. The zombies won't come right at you, as you can choose to explore the area first, finding out where the ammo supplies are, where are the safest places to make your last stand, or where you should place the multitude of explosives in order to take out the maximum amount of zombies.
As all of the other modes of the game, team play is key and communication is essential. This is a great time to use your microphone in order to better coordinate your team, but you definitely need to be lucky in order to end up with some clever team mates, and not players who call the zombies as soon as the scenario starts, or worse, shoot in the explosives while you and your other colleagues are standing next to them.
Once the zombies start coming, you won't have any time to breathe, as they won't stop, like in the Nazi Zombies of Call of Duty in between waves. This is practically one large wave, filled with a huge number of common infected and a variety of special infected, like Smokers or Hunters. Get ready to see a lot of Tanks, as they will practically spawn every 40 seconds or so, in order to give you an even bigger challenge.
You need to focus your fire on them, as, if they aren't taken care of rapidly, odds are you will be facing two Tanks, as well as a lot of common infected that make your ammo runs or dash for health packs much more difficult.
All in all, if you loved Left 4 Dead in all of its modes, you'd better play through them one more time, and then get ready for the complete mayhem that is Survivor mode. While in the other modes going rogue might have been alright, if you stray off from your team here, then you will be very sorry. Survivor is great for people who want to test their skills and for gluttons of punishment, but it should only be played by those who have a minimum amount of skills.
