Video Games: Will you be "Left 4 Dead"?

Valve, the maker of "Portal" and the "Half-Life" series, has done it again, with "Left 4 Dead," the company's latest game, bearing what is commonly called a zombie survival theme. This is actually a misnomer, as the "Infected" aren't actually dead, but I digress. The world has been ravaged by a disastrous virus, which turns those who contract it into the Infected-feral, near unthinking monsters that seek only to kill those humans who have survived the virus.

In the Campaign mode, you play online with others, as one of four survivors-Bill, a grizzled old soldier; Francis, a smart mouthing biker type; Louis, a black IT worker; and Zoey, a college student, as you and the other survivors struggle through the hordes of infected, getting from saferoom to saferoom as you try to reach an extraction point, where you can escape the area.

In Versus mode, you play online as either one of the survivors or one of the special, mutated Infected, with human players trying to reach the safe house, and the infected players trying to prevent them from reaching them.

Lastly, in Single Player mode, the game is like the Campaign mode, but with only one player, and the other three survivors are controlled via computer.

Overall, you really shouldn't be playing this game in Single Player, as the game is pretty much all about the four-person cooperative gameplay, producing a fun, team-based experience. Teamwork is essential, as it is nearly impossible for single players to survive on their own, not being able to handle the sheer flood of infected that occurs when the creatures rush.

Bearing four different chapters with five levels each, the game has a downright excellent level of replayability due to both the multiplayer nature of the game, as well as the fact that the distribution of items and Infected varies from game to game.

Overall, I'd say this game is quite good, and I would urge you to go ahead and pick it up.