Valve
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter set during a zombie outbreak on the East Coast of the United States. Four players control survivors who must fight through hordes of infected humans, creatures transformed by a rabies-like pathogen that causes extreme aggression and loss of higher brain function. Gameplay emphasizes teamwork, with colored outlines showing teammate positions through walls, shared healing items, and friendly fire creating consequences for careless shooting. An AI system called the Director dynamically adjusts enemy placement, item spawns, and pacing based on player performance. Beyond common infected, players face five special mutated types with unique abilities. Campaigns are divided into levels connected by safe houses, each culminating in a desperate last stand for rescue.
- Released
- 17 November 2008
- Developer
- Valve
- Publisher
- Valve
- Engine
- Source
- Perspective
- First person
- Age rating
- PEGI 18 · ESRB M
- Controller
- Full controller support
- Metacritic
- 89/100
- Steam recommendations
- 57,855
- Platforms
- PC (Microsoft Windows) · Mac · Xbox 360
- Genres
- Shooter
- Also known as
- L4D
- Estimated owners
- 5,000,000–10,000,000 (est.)
- 83
- Player rating
- 85
- Critic rating
- 760
- Ratings counted
- 96.4%
- Steam reviews
- 73
- Achievements
Left 4 Dead
Quick answers
Left 4 Dead
The story
An outbreak of a pathogen nicknamed the Green Flu sweeps across Pennsylvania, causing extreme aggression, loss of higher brain function, and rapid mutation in its victims. Two weeks after the first infection, four immune survivors find themselves stranded together in the city of Fairfield: Bill, a Vietnam veteran; Zoey, a college student; Louis, a district account manager; and Francis, an outlaw biker. As the group fights through city streets, subways, and countryside in search of evacuation, they discover that the military's containment efforts are failing and that the infection is producing increasingly dangerous mutations in some of its hosts. Each rescue attempt leads to another setback, pushing the survivors further from safety and forcing them to rely entirely on each other to stay alive.
Left 4 Dead
How long to beat
- Main story
- 15.5 h
- Main + extras
- 32 h
Browse
Key facts
Platforms
Game modes
- Single player
- Multiplayer
- Co-operative
Themes
- Action
- Horror
- Survival
Left 4 Dead
Trailer
Left 4 Dead
Screenshots
Left 4 Dead
Reviews and languages
96.4% of 67,785 Steam reviews are positive. Valve labels that “Overwhelmingly Positive”.
33 languages in the interface, 6 of them with full voice acting. English is supported, with full voice acting.
Publisher's content notice
Includes realistic violence, blood and gore involving zombie-like creatures.
Left 4 Dead
Platform releases
- Mac
- 17 November 2008
- PC (Microsoft Windows)
- 17 November 2008
- Xbox 360
- 18 November 2008
Left 4 Dead
Official pages
Left 4 Dead