The Estate

Mhm. This holiday season seems to be packed with zombie related releases, at least to me. One of the must buys though, was Left 4 Dead (PC and 360). With an amazing co-operative experience, it is hard to leave this game once you start playing. Up to four players can join together and assume the roles of Zoey, Louis, Bill, and Francis. These players then can roam across 20 maps and take on hordes of zombies, some very stupid and straight forward when it comes to dispatching them (the standard one), but others very tough and take a few shots to destroy (the tank).

When it comes to the single player experience, it is still fun. However, the teammates are a bit "slow" and take time to respond in situations when you are overwhelmed which can be a bit of a pain. The graphics, enemies, weapons, and controls make up for that.

With ten weapons:

Pump shotgun

Submachine gun

Assault Rifle

Auto shotgun

Hunting rifle

Pistol (dual mostly)

Molotov cocktail =D

Pipe bomb (has a nice flashing red light which attracts the horde like flies and kills them all)

Tanks (allow you to shoot them to burn through certain obstacles)

Three game-play modes:

Campaign

1. No Mercy
   
2. Death Toll
   
3. Dead Air
   
4. Blood Harvest

Single-player

Versus

The Infected:

"Common Infected" - The regular zombie that is just standing around, leaning on a wall, crying in a corner...

The Horde - The typical zombies...in large groups. These guys attack when you enter a certain area or trigger an event. When attacking they sprint towards the player and being slashing and pinning the player in the corner.

The Boomer - This big guy vomits on players when it attacks. This vomit attracts the Horde and blocks the screen temporarily. To destroy, knock back and shoot.

The Hunter - An agile zombie that crawls around on hands and feet and swiftly attacks the Survivors, pinning them to the ground. When pinned, if you are not saved, you lose your head!

The Witch - One of the stronger zombies, the Witch can sustain many gun shots and can quickly kill the Survivors with one hit. The Witch is provoked by gun fire and flashlights. Also provides a bit of fun when playing with friends :D

The Smoker -

The Tank - The largest of the infected. This guy hulks around and throws objects around trying to kill the Survivors. Only one or two usually appears per campaign.

Mods are soon to arrive:

Left 4 Winchester

Ground Zero Mod - Tentative title

Additional campaigns

Many new maps

1. Dawn of the Dead Mall
   

Sadly for those 360 owners out there, you guys get nothing :P. Mods are only for the PC counterpart which upon inserting the disc automatically begins installation of the Valve program, Steam (See "The Revolution to PC Gaming").

For the extreme gamer

There is even a ladder for Major League Gaming which can be found here.

Some other titles discussed this year

House of Dead: Overkill

Resident Evil 5

Dementium - The Ward

Dead Space (sorta?)