It was 1985 (I was born in '78, do the math to find the humor in the story). I begged my older brother to take me to see Teen Wolf in the movie theaters. He finally gave in, and I will never forget the theater in Bronx, NY with the sticky floor and rats running under the seats. I had my popcorn and soda, and was about to see Teen Wolf, so rats didn't bother me. Unfortunately, when the movie started it was not Teen Wolf, but Return of the Living Dead. I was traumatized, and the story continues with my brother and I returning home, him hitting the fuse box, and chasing after me yelling "MORE BRAINS!" as I cried hysterically.

I tell that story (burned into my memory) because it fermented my love of horror films, especially zombie films. Fans of George Romero, his italian counterpart Lucio Fulci and heck now even Zack Snyder thanks to his Dawn* of the Dead remake, are in for a real treat with this game - one that kept me up until 4AM this morning enthralled. I still think Dead Rising captured the Romero "zombies" better, but there are moments in Left 4 Dead that will make any hard core zombie film fan grin with utmost joy - especially the intercharacter banter and settings.

In every way, Left 4 Dead is an homage to cult zombie movies like Dawn of the Dead and Night of the Living Dead. Its 4 episodes are actually broken up as if they are different movies, complete with movie poster loading screens. There’s the escape from the urban wasteland, the zombie-infested airport, the creepy undead farm and the suburban nightmare. Each episode takes between an hour and two hours to play through, so you’ll probably see 90% of what Left 4 Dead has to offer within about six hours.

Daigoji_Gai via gamesblog.ugo.com »