Following a series of train tracks, the group finally reaches a functioning but abandoned military outpost. Like the helicopter before it, this plane also crashes, and the survivors find themselves at the outskirts of the Allegheny National Forest. military had bombed the airport in an attempt to contain the infection, though the runway is partially intact, allowing the survivors to fuel up and escape in the waiting C-130 (pilot voiced by Gary Schwartz). Resting in a greenhouse, the survivors are interrupted by a military C-130 Hercules passing overhead, leading them to believe that it will land at the city's airport. Contacting a small fishing vessel (owner voiced by John Patrick Lowrie), they are dropped at the city of Newburg across the river, finding much of it in flames. After encountering a paranoid and delirious man (voiced by Nathan Vetterlein) in the local church, they discover that the town is overrun and head to a boathouse for rescue.
Finding an armored delivery truck, the group uses it to reach the small town of Riverside. Zoey is forced to kill him, causing the helicopter to crash in an industrial district outside the city. Fighting their way through the city's streets, subway, and sewers, they are rescued from the hospital's roof by the pilot (voiced by Dennis Bateman), only to discover that he is infected. Two weeks after the first infection, four immune survivors- Green Beret and Vietnam veteran William "Bill" Overbeck (voiced by Jim French), college student Zoey (voiced by Jen Taylor), district account manager Louis (voiced by Earl Alexander), and outlaw biker Francis (voiced by Vince Valenzuela)-make their way out of the city of Fairfield, only to discover that the infection is creating dangerous mutations in some of its hosts.Īfter narrowly avoiding the new types of infected, the survivors are alerted by a passing helicopter to an evacuation point at the roof of Mercy Hospital. Memorial walls-giving names & obituaries to those who have died in the infection-suggest that the game takes place in October 2009. The survivors Francis, Bill, Zoey, and Louis (left to right) on the poster for the "No Mercy" campaignĪn outbreak of a highly contagious pathogen nicknamed the "Green Flu" (which causes extreme aggression, mutation to the body cells, loss of higher brain functions, and essential zombification of those who catch it) begins in Pennsylvania.
In July 2012, all Left 4 Dead campaigns were ported over to Left 4 Dead 2, with cross-platform multiplayer support between Windows and Mac versions of the game. A new map for both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, called "The Sacrifice", was released on October 5, 2010. The popularity of the game led to the development of a sequel, Left 4 Dead 2, which was released on November 17, 2009. Left 4 Dead was released for the Mac on October 28, 2010.
The second piece of DLC was charged for on Xbox Live and came in the form of a new Campaign entitled "Crash Course," released for both the PC and Xbox 360 on September 29, 2009. The first, called the "Survival Pack", was released on April 21, 2009.
As was done with Team Fortress 2, Valve supplemented the game with free downloadable content. The game has won several publication awards, as well as distinctions from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences and British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Several criticisms were aimed at the limited level selection and the lack of a narrative. Left 4 Dead was well received by the industry media upon its release, with praise given for its replay value, focus on cooperative play, and movie-like experience. In all modes, an artificial intelligence dubbed the " Director" controls level pacing and item placements in an attempt to create a dynamic experience and increase replay value. There are four game modes: a single-player mode in which allied characters are controlled by AI, a four-player co-op campaign mode, an eight-player online versus mode and a four-player survival mode. Set during the aftermath of a zombie outbreak on the East Coast, the game puts its four protagonists-dubbed the "Survivors"-against hordes of the infected. The digital retail disc version was released in North America and Australia on November 18, 2008, and in Europe on November 21, 2008.
Development on the game was completed on November 13, 2008, and two versions were released digitally: A downloadable digital version, released on November 17, 2008, and a digital retail disc version, with a release date determined by region.
The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X.
Left 4 Dead is a 2008 multiplayer survival horror game developed by Valve South and published by Valve.