Concept:

It’s a survival game. There’s an outbreak and everyone’s infected (zombie) except for Bill: an old Vietnam War veteran (voiced by Jim French), Louis: an exhausted IT analyst (voiced by Earl Alexander), Francis: an outlaw biker who hates everything (voiced by Vince Valenzuela), and Zoey: a college student who loves horror movies (voiced by Jen Taylor). These four who are immune to the infection, must make it away from the infected as far as they can. But these infected are not slow or powerless, some have special abilities! Can you get to the safe house in time or will you die a horrible death!?

Review:

Many zombie-based movies and series exist, so this isn’t new, right! Yeah, sort of, coz the uniqueness of this game from zombie-oriented stuff is that you’re not trying to find the cause of the outbreak and trying to neutralize the threat. You’re just trying to survive, yeah your only goal is to survive the undead horde and super-powered undead. This is a survival game, unlike others that have quests or missions. The game starts directly with you in the midst of an infected-plagued area. It’s pure action and kills offering the player a wonderful experience. Valve has pulled it off with minute details to make the game more exciting and gripping. The regular infected ones look like regular people with gray skin and animalistic eyes There are different types of super zombies, one kind can attract a murderous, brainless horde at you by puking on you, to a type that looks like a helpless woman who lost it and is crying out her misfortune amalgamated with an eerie music. The special ones are mutated further. 

Boomer: A bloated infected that can spew bile at the survivors, which in turn will attract hordes of regular zombies.

Hunter: An agile infected that pounces on the survivor from a distance and attacks.

Smoker: An infected that can drag the survivor by roping them in with their long tongue. And when it dies, a vision-obscuring smoke is created.

Tank: A hulk-like infected one with a small head. It hurls rocks, cars, and debris at the survivors. Its one punch can send you a few feet back the path you came. Full support of every member is often required to kill it. Tank usually arrives as the crescendo increases with the horde.

Witch: An infected female with long claws. It just sits and cries at one spot, but if it is disturbed by any means, it will be aggressive and charge at the one who disturbed her. To kill her also most of the team’s full support is required. If a tank can send you flying, no matter how healthy you are, two slashes from its claws and you are on the ground. As aforementioned eerie music warns about her proximity. The louder the music, the closer she is.

The game is not very gory, compared to the scenic decorations or otherwise. The only gory part is the blood sprayed when you kill an infected. There are times when the survivor swears and some of the areas have graffiti with cuss words.

Pros:

One, it has an AI Director which is incorporated for the dynamic gaming experience. You won’t get the same situation repeatedly.  There are times when you are attacked by the hordes at some instances, but at the same spot next time you may encounter no one, or if you are damn lucky you will meet a tank or a witch, haha! The game gives the player a unique experience each time.

Cons:

Albeit the characters have different personalities, they all have the same skills. Other than their texture and voice, it’s all the same. Another big drawback is that you can’t save or pause a game. You can pause it, but only in a single player. But, you can restart the game from any sub-level of any campaign.

The Experience:

It gives a fun gaming experience. The multiplayer mode is the best with each player controlling one survivor. In the single-player mode, it’s fun but the AI Director controls the other three players while you control one. 

Also, once everyone succumbs or the door of the safe house is locked, scores are tallied based on how long each player stayed alive, and who hurt which special infected the most. In the Versus mode, two teams of four are involved. While one team controls the survivors, the other team controls the Special Infected, along with the AI Director preventing the survivors from making it to the safe house. This is the bestest game to kill one’s boredom.

Anytime is a good time to play this game and shake the stress off your mind, if any. But the best time is to play it in a single-player or multiplayer mode in the middle of the night with no lights! (Not for faint-hearted ones!)

Rating: 5/5

^{Pic Credits: Valve and Google}