The creator of terrorist shooter Counter-Strike: Condition Zero, Turtle Rock Studios, is working on a brand new multiplayer PC game called Left 4 Dead, due for release in summer 2007.
A Counter Strike-esque co-op shooter, Left 4 Dead pits you and three friends against an impressively inventive and relentless horde of mutated nasties, with up to four rival players also able to join the ranks of the zombie menace. The game will use Valve's Source engine, and you can expect Left 4 Dead's gruesome world to be realized with glorious-looking grisly visuals.
The four human players - Survivors - will battle against an ever-increasing crowd of AI controlled enemies, with Left 4 Dead focusing on a need for skilfully performed teamwork as the numbers of zombified attackers threaten to overwhelm the humans. Your aim as a Survivor will be simple: escape. And if you can't rustle up enough buddies, the game's gifted AI will fill the numbers.
But it's the possibilities of playing as the Infected horde, the ravenous zombie massive, that immediately promises an experience like no other. At a base level the ranks of Infected will be made up of AI controlled sprinting, vicious zombie-like beings, but the four players that join the undead cause can choose between a number of unsettling and violently innovative creature types.
Boomers, for instance, are hideously bloated mutants who belch evil streams of bile on to their victims, before exploding in a shower of massively-damaging gore. Then there's the Hunter, which can leap between rooftops, scale walls and launch lightning attacks on straggling survivors before swiftly retreating, picking off the humans one by one.
The alien nature of these ghastly monsters means you'll need a totally different approach when switching between the gun-toting Survivors and respawning Infected - although making it through the zombie-infested levels alive as a human will require more than your average shooter tactics.
Left 4 Dead's gameplay balance will be key to the enjoyment, but with Valve on-board we're expecting this innovative game to have us reeling in thrilled delight. Don't miss out next summer.
