All right, zombie killers, let's kill some fuckin' zombies!

Today is the release day of Left 4 Dead, Valve's highly-anticipated cooperative zombie apocalypse shooter. Those of us who pre-ordered and pre-loaded the game via Steam (Valve's online game distribution platform, which I've become quite a fan of) got to start playing at 12:01 this morning. I took a short nap last night and woke up at midnight to get a little game time in. I am old and cannot function adequately on three hours of sleep. Here are my first impressions:

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!

And now, the expanded version:

If you like shooters, zombies, or shooting zombies, this is a must-have game. It uses a tweaked version of the Source engine (which powered Half Life 2), so graphics are good without being spectacular. I expect L4D will be fairly forgiving in regard to your hardware, but I have not tested this yet. I'm playing on a Core2Quad with 4GB RAM and an nVidia 9800GTX video card. The game runs smooth as glass, as it damn well should with that gear. Your milage may very, but I doubt L4D will be a system killer.

I only had time to play through the first two checkpoints of the first "movie". (L4D is structured in mini-campaigns called movies, each of which features different characters and locations.) That means I didn't get to see much that I hadn't already played in the demo. The second checkpoint's exit is not in the same place it was in the demo, so there was a little new content. Replaying old areas is still fun, because the game's AI Director randomizes much of the placement of zombies, including the spots where you will be rushed by massive hordes of undead. You can't say to yourself, "OK, I'll round this corner, walk half a block in this direction, and then a wave of zombies will attack from the left." Well, you can say it, but it'll be little comfort when the horde rushes you in an entirely new location. The level of randomization really does make the game replayable. When you hear that about a game it's usually nothing but marketing hype, but in this case it's true. I played the demo at least six times before the full game's release, and each time through was significantly different.

L4D is all about killing zombies, and boy does it pay off in that respect. The average zombies populating the areas you fight through tend to start off as Romero-type zombies--mindless shamblers, until you get close to them. Once they realize you are there they run at you, more like a 28 Days Later-type fast-mover. It doesn't take much to take them out individually. Damage is modeled depending on where your bullets hit. An accurate head shot is rewarded with a splatter of gore and a headless corpse sinking to the ground. Torso shots require a few more hits than head shots to bring a zombie down. More than once I've fired at an approaching zombie and neatly severed one of its arms. Throwing an explosive device like a pipe bomb into a crowd of zombies is especially rewarding. They seem to be attracted to the explosives and swarm around them, which results in a wonderful shower of blood and guts upon detonation. Shooting a zombie near a wall or other surface leaves persistent blood splatters.

If you're a zombie fan, you haven't lived until you've experienced L4D's zombies attacking in waves. When this happens, fast-moving zombies pour into your area by the dozens and rush you. The resulting carnage is spectacular, and the zombies come at you so fast and relentlessly that they overwhelm your position, even though you always play in a party of four (hence the numeral in the game's name). Sofa King cool.

The AI is surprisingly good. As I mentioned above, you always play in a party of four. You can play online cooperatively with up to three other gamers, or you can play solo with the game AI controlling your squad mates. I was expecting this to be a weak point, but it's not. In fact, the AI does such a good job of directing your squad mates (sticking close together, healing each other, etc.) that people have said the game is easier to play solo than with other humans, who tend to make dumb mistakes and/or not coordinate well with party members. I haven't tried the multiplayer options yet, but I'm hoping to play this at my mini-LAN party in early January. All I need is for a couple attendees to pony up the $50 for a copy of L4D. Hint, hint.

My first impressions of L4D are extremely positive. If you've ever watched a zombie movie and thought it would make a cool game, don't even hesitate to pick this game up. Do it now. I haven't even covered the boss zombies or the ability to play in Versus mode, four players controlling humans, four controlling boss zombies. Whoops.