Left 4 Dead Information - FAQ

GENERAL
What is Left 4 Dead?
Cooperative survival horror shooter?
Zombies?
What is the setting/story?
Turtle Rock Studios or Valve?
Price/distribution?
What new graphical features can we expect?
What updates are planned for after release, and will the community be able to mod it?
What does Left 4 Dead utilize from the new Episode 2 Source engine?
Hardware Requirements?

GAMEPLAY
Cooperative survival horror shooter?
How many players can play?
How long will maps last, and how many campaigns?
Are there any noticeable signs of injury?
How will you keep track of your teammates?
What sort of health items are available?
What happens if you die?
How long does it take to bleed out?
How many times can you be revived in one map?
How are infected AI spawns handled?
Difficulty modes
Achievements/Merits/Demerits
Degree of Freedom in level design
Will there be any usable vehicles?
What voice commands does the game feature?

CHARACTERS
Survivors
Infected
Boomer
Hunter
Smoker
Tank
Witch

WEAPONS
What types of weapons will be in the game?
What about ammo?
How is weapon selection handled?
Can the Infected use weapons?
Dual Wielding
Blades don't need reloading.. are there any melee attacks available?

[ GENERAL | GAMEPLAY | CHARACTERS | WEAPONS ] - TOP

What is Left 4 Dead? - Left 4 Dead is a multiplayer cooperative survival horror shooter by Valve Corporation based on the Source engine released for the PC and Xbox 360 on November 18, 2008 in the U.S. and November 21, 2008 in Europe.

Cooperative survival horror shooter? - You play as one of four Survivors that must work together to survive. Most levels have your team of 4 trying to go from point A to B, during which you will be attacked by an onslaught of the Infected (zombies). The pacing has been described as like Counter-Strike Source. Teammates will need to work together by not only just shooting enemies, but by having the ability to heal each other, help each other climb up ledges, pick each other up when one gets knocked down, etc.

Zombies? - The Infected. They are not undead or reanimated corpses.. they are human victims of a new rabies virus which makes them extremely aggressive and mindless. They are not slow hulking movie-type zombies, but fast (think 28 Days Later), vicious and smart. In addition to the hordes of AI controlled infected (reports say up to 40 can be seen at once), there will also be four "boss infected" characters that will either be controlled by AI or by real players in Versus mode, depending on the number of people on the server. These four are the Boomer, Hunter, Smoker and Tank.

What is the setting/story? - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with Gamespot:

"Imagine that you live in a major city during a time when a new and highly virulent strain of the rabies virus emerges and begins spreading rapidly among the human population. Those infected become dangerously psychotic and attack all noninfected on sight. You are one of the lucky few who seem to be immune to the virus, but are trapped in a city teeming with thousands of extremely violent infected. Banding together with a few other survivors, you try to escape."

"Left 4 Dead is set contemporary America. Although we've pushed the fiction a bit for the sake of gameplay (such as including the "boss infected"), the basic idea of a catastrophic pandemic and the collapse of civilization makes for great survival horror because it is quite plausible. We wanted our environments to remind you of home--but a horribly changed and tortured version of home.

The initial four campaigns of Left 4 Dead include both urban areas and rural areas, with lots of dense architecture and challenging landscapes. Each campaign also ends with an elaborate "finale" where the survivors must make a stand while waiting for a rescue vehicle to arrive and take them to apparent safety."

Turtle Rock Studios or Valve? - The development studio creating Left 4 Dead was formerly known as Turtle Rock Studios, which was a separate company founded by Michael Booth in March of 2002. Turtle Rock Studios' work includes a large number of the Counter-Strike Source maps, along with Counter-Strike: Condition Zero and the Xbox version of Counter-Strike. They also are the creators of the CS Bot. On January 10th, 2008, Valve acquired Turtle Rock Studios, absorbing the company.

Price/distribution? - Left 4 Dead was released on Steam and through retail channels. L4D is a full priced Xbox 360 game ($60) and full priced PC game ($50).

What new graphical features can we expect? - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with Firingsquad.com:

In addition to the new stats and ranking features, we're also working with Valve to include support for multi-core processors. We've added physics-based animation to Source for things such as the Boomer's jiggly belly full of blood, flexible hair that moves naturally, and floppy bits of clothing. We're also leveraging the new particle system coming to Source for enhanced effects. That's just some of what's coming in the first release.

What updates are planned for after release, and will the community be able to mod it? - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with Firingsquad.com:

We already have ideas for additional missions, features, and content that we hope to ship in future releases/updates to Left 4 Dead. In addition, an L4D-specific update will be made to the Source SDK so members of the community can make their own missions, characters, and L4D MOD content.

What does Left 4 Dead utilize from the new Episode 2 Source engine? - Left 4 Dead takes advantage of multicore support in several areas (not just the particle system). The new "Extended HDR", high precision, floating point calculations used in the latest generation of graphics cards will also be available in Left 4 Dead.

Hardware requirements? -

• OS: Windows Vista, XP, or 2000
• CPU: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 or AMD64X2 (or higher)
• RAM: 1 GB for XP / 2 GB for Vista
• DISC DRIVE: DVD-ROM Drive
• HARD DRIVE: AT least 7.5 GB of free space
• VIDEO: DirectX 9 compatible video card (Video card must be 256 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for pixel shader 2.0)
• SOUND: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card

[ GENERAL | GAMEPLAY | CHARACTERS | WEAPONS ] - TOP

Cooperative survival horror shooter? - You play as one of four Survivors that must work together to survive. Most levels have your team of 4 trying to go from point A to B, during which you will be attacked by an onslaught of the Infected (zombies). The pacing has been described as like Counter-Strike Source. Teammates will need to work together by not only just shooting enemies, but by having the ability to heal each other, help each other climb up ledges, pick each other up when one gets knocked down, etc.

How many players can play? - The game is designed for 1 to 8 players. You can play solo and have everybody else be controlled by the AI. During the course of a map players will be able to drop in and out without having a profound impact on gameplay. Four Survivors play in Co-op mode while in Versus mode four players play as the Survivors and four as the boss infected.

How long do the maps last, and how many campaigns? - In co-op mode there are four campaigns with five maps each. The campaigns are No Mercy, Blood Harvest, Dead Air, and Death Toll. Each of these four campaigns lasts one to two hours.

Are there any noticeable signs of injury? - When a player gets low on health his/her movement slows down.

How do you keep track of your teammates? - Survivors are always able to see teammates by an aura that indicates their current state, even through walls.

What sort of health items are available? - Each survivor can carry one health pack that you can get at checkpoints and throughout the maps. This can be used on both yourself or your teammates, and heals 80 points. There are also bottles of pills that can be found in certain spots that offer a temporary boost to your health. This boost degenerates until you return to your original health.

What happens if you die? - As a survivor, if you get to 0 HP you fall down and there is a "bleed-out timer" where fellow teammates can revive you with their health pack. When you become incapacitated you are still able to shoot. You can only be revived by teammates 3 times before dying. If they do not reach you in time, you will go into spectator mode. If you are near the end of the map, you'll have to wait for your teammates to get to the end in order to respawn. If you're near the beginning, you'll respawn in a random closet that your teammates can let you out of, but you will start with basic equipment. As for the Infected, currently there is a wait period that can be around 30 seconds. The respawn timer on the Tank boss Infected is significantly longer than any other due to its power.

How long does it take to bleed out? - Once you get hit on the ground, your health boosts to 300 but starts draining away at 3 health per second. If you are not rescued within a minute and forty seconds (assuming no zombies are stomping you), you will die.

How many times can you be revived in one map? - Three times, and on the last one your health boost is only temporary. You get to a point where you become a one-hit kill target. (bad)

How are infected AI spawns handled? - Spawns will vary each time you play. They are random and you can expect to be mobbed and attacked at different points each time through. Infected will come from behind. From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with Firingsquad.com:

At the core of Left 4 Dead's gameplay is a set of technologies we refer to as "The Director." Whether you're playing a game with 8 humans filling out the available roles or playing in "single player" mode, The Director is in charge of monitoring the pacing of the game. So, for example, if your team has been bombarded with Infected hordes and bosses, The Director will schedule a break in the action. If your team is chewing through Infected like bubble gum, The Director will send a few Boss Infected your way, and so on. And all of this is done procedurally to insure no play sessions are alike -- there are no triggers, generators, special flags, or other human-placed information in the environment that specify where to place the Infected. As a result, the Survivor team can never predict when or where they will encounter anything.

Difficulty modes - Survivors may choose from 4 varying levels of difficulty, Easy, Normal, Advanced, and Expert, which affect two things - the attack power of the enemy infected and bosses, and the amount of friendly fire the Survivors take. This means that the infected always die from the same amount of bullets, but the Survivors must be much more careful when being hit. For an idea of the difference in difficulty, on Normal mode, an infected punch hits the Survivor for 3 damage, whereas in Expert, a single punch does 20 damage (1/5 of the Survivors total health!).

Achievements/Merits/Demerits - Merits and demerits have been removed in the final version of the game. You used to receive these after each map depending on what you accomplished. Merits were for good things like handing out health packs, demerits were for doing stupid things like detonating Boomers that are close to other Survivors.

Degree of Freedom in level design - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with VG Core:

"Early on, we experimented with a completely open and unstructured city environment. While there were definitely interesting mechanics with such a design, for the most part players found it confusing and frustrating. In Left 4 Dead, it is a challenge just to stay alive and keep your team together. Getting lost added an unnecessary layer of complication that distracted from the core game experience of survival and cooperation.

What evolved from this early playtesting is a more structured map design that affords the Survivors some flexibility in route choice without paralyzing them with too many possibilities."

Are there be any usable vehicles? - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with VG Core:

"If you survive the "finale" at the end of each campaign, there are various vehicles in which you ride away to safety."

What voice commands does the game feature? - There are over 1000 lines of recorded dialogue for EACH Survivor. The voice commands available:

Wheel 1: Ready?, Thank you, I'm with you, No, Where Are You?, Sorry, *$@#, Yes, You're Welcome

Wheel 2: Look!, I hear a Tank, I hear a Witch, I hear a Hunter, Clear, Be Careful, Hurrah!, I hear a Boomer, I hear a Smoker

Wheel 3: Help!, Let's Go, Hurry!, Cover me!, Lights Out!, Watch Behind, Follow Me, Stay Together!, You Take the Lead

For the final version of the game, some of these (like the boss infected ones) have been removed and instead are always automatic. In the Xbox 360 version of the game, all voice commands are automatic.

[ GENERAL | GAMEPLAY | CHARACTERS | WEAPONS ] - TOP

The Survivors - The four survivors have the same weaponry available to them and begin with the same skills. The differences are merely cosmetic. The four survivors are Bill, a Vietnam veteran; Louis, an assistant manager at a local retail electronics chain store; Zoey, the teenage daughter of a wealthy family; and Francis, the tattoo-covered biker.

The Infected - These four will be referred to as the Boomer, Hunter, Smoker and the Tank. In Versus mode you always spawn as one of the first three, and sometimes (if you're lucky) you are spawned in as a Tank. Boss infected always spawn ahead of where the Survivors are. Boss infected know where Survivors are at from the map. All boss infected have cooldown timers on their special attacks. All infected have immunity to fall damage, night vision, and access to ladders that can't be seen by Survivors. For more information and to see screenshots of the Infected, head to our Infected section.

The Boomer - Huge and obese infected that vomits like a fire hose. Can be shot while strafing. When it hits a survivor with its vomit, the vomit acts as a pheromone to the AI controlled normal infected and causes them to focus their attack on that player. The Boomer gets points for all attacks against the target by infected. Moves slowly. Also, when killed, the Boomer does as his name says and explodes, causing all nearby Survivors to become puked on.

The Hunter - The most agile boss infected, able to climb walls and jump far. Attacks by knocking down a survivor and slashing. The only way for the survivor to escape is either by a teammate helping (killing the Hunter) or the Hunter deciding to retreat. Similar to the fast zombies from HL2 Ravenholm rooftops. Wall jumping is possible.

The Smoker - The Smoker has a 40-50ft tongue that can be used to drag/trip players and even choke them from above. Survivors are able to shoot this tongue off to protect one another. When the Smoker dies, it deploys smoke which severely reduces the visibility of the survivors, thereby hindering their ability to see enemies and survive.

The Tank - A huge, muscular infected with amazing strength. Can pick up and throw cars and other large environmental items, smash through concrete walls. Players cannot choose to be the Tank; infected players are randomly chosen to spawn as one. Very loud. When you spawn as the Tank, a frustration meter begins building up for every moment you're not in the presence of Survivors. If this meter fills all the way up, you lose control of the Tank.

The Witch - These are non-playable AI super-boss infected. They are very rare, only one or two in each campaign. They are the most dangerous enemy in the game. Witches become hostile when you shoot them, shine light at them, or fire weapons around them. They kill with one hit. After killing their prey, they run away.

[ GENERAL | GAMEPLAY | CHARACTERS | WEAPONS ] - TOP

What types of weapons will be in the game? - The game includes an Uzi, pump and auto shotguns, an M16, a hunting rifle (thought to be based on the M14), pipe bombs, Molotov cocktails and pistols (both single and dual wield).

What about ammo? - Ammo is spread thinly throughout the maps, and missing an ammo stash can be fatal.

How is weapon selection handled? - From the Eurogamer.net first impression:

"You begin with a pistol and your choice of shotgun or submachine gun, and Molotov or pipe bomb. Later in the level you can add a second pistol and upgrade to an auto shotgun, heavy assault rifle or sniper rifle, but that's it - Left 4 Dead's weaponry is as resolutely unfancy as its backstory."

Can the Infected use weapons? - No. The Infected bosses are "limited" to their melee and special abilities; no guns.

Dual Wielding - Much like Counter-Strike, the only weapons that will be dual-wield are pistols. According to GameSpy's 5/12 preview, the pistols are .45 caliber Springfield Armory 1911 pistols.

Blades don't need reloading.. are there any melee attacks available? - From Valve's Michael Booth in an interview with VG Core:

"Even though the Survivors are heavily armed, there are often more Infected than bullets. We've given the Survivors a melee "shove attack" where you can quickly swing your weapon and knock away a mob that has surrounded you.

This shove attack is also a very effective defense against certain Boss Infected attacks as well. For example, a well-timed shove can stop a Hunter in mid-pounce and stun him for a moment, allowing you to take him out with a well-aimed shot. If you sneak up behind a common Infected, the shove attack will kill them ... silently. This melee attack is also very useful for busting out windows and other breakable objects, and even occasionally moving teammates out of your way."