Left 4 Dead -- Initial Impression.

Finally, a follow-up entry on Valkyria Chronicles! No, not really. It's the initial impression of Left 4 Dead by Valve. I'll be playing the Xbox 360 version, no Steam for me. These initial impressions are a bit of a cheat really as I've played the demo numerous times over the last ten days or so. And now I've spent a few hours with the retail version. So I'm actually prepared to say quite a bit but I'll bite my tongue and just say that the game is an online multiplayer first person shooter in which you'll assume the role of one of four characters who must survive the zombie apocalypse. The game's big selling point is an artificial intelligence routine that's been named The Director. Its sole purpose is control the spawning of the enemies and ensure the game is different every time you play it. It watches over the events and decides on the spot that player two is camping too much so it spawns a boss type of enemy to deal with him. Of course the big question is how well does it do its job? And of course all the others will need to be answered as well. How are the graphics and sound and story and controls and the online experience? Are there enough modes to keep things fresh? And as always, time will tell...