Left 4 Dead

GameTap: Two idiots bumble their way through Valve's zombie outbreak:

The basic pitch for Left 4 Dead is "cooperative survival horror." That tiny little phrase would ordinarily merit a "so it's Silent Hill with a dumbass AI buddy?" type of reaction, but when you hear the phrase being used by a Valve employee, it takes on a bit more weight. If anything, Left 4 Dead is a essentially a crazy, zombified version of Counter-Strike, where your goal is to get yourself (and your team) over to safety.

Kotaku: Hands-on Impressions:

The game starts off with your and three other players on a roof top behind a locked door. A nearby table is stocked with a selection of weapons, ammo and health packs. In the map we played, the first room had molotov cocktails, submachine guns, pistols and shotguns. Each player can equip a health pack, molotov cocktail, handgun and primary weapon: I went with the submachine gun.

Staying true to the zombie formula, your ammo is very limited, so survival isn't as much about clearing a room as getting through it.

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While there's a nice mix of zombie animation it became clear early on that certain zombies behave certain ways. Some can be killed with a single shot, others take a full clip to knock down. Some hide, others mill, some bound around the map, others come straight at you.

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MTV Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead Is The Online Zombie Game That ‘Resident Evil: Outbreak’ Wanted To Be:

Good horror games are few and far between. Good horror games involving group cooperation are fewer. Do they even exist? The last one I can remember is “Resident Evil: Outbreak” — and we all know how that one turned out.

Thankfully, “Left 4 Dead” looks to be much, much better. It’s not even a fair comparison.

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Our group made it to the end of the second scenario. There were four scenarios available, but we didn’t survive to see the second half. Our demise came in a building full of pipes. An ammo table was at the front of the room, a button at the other. One of the developers warned that the moment that button is pressed “all hell breaks loose.” At this point, Sharkey started lobbing Molotov cocktails everywhere and turned the place into an inferno.

There was so much fire, in fact, that no one could reach the button. Sharkey pressed forward through the flames and triggered the next event. Dozens and dozens of scrambling undead came pouring through the windows around us. We didn’t last long.

GameSpy: Left 4 Dead Preview:

The action takes place in a city that's been overrun by hordes of the walking dead, and you (along with your fellow survivors) are tasked with making your way to safety by any means necessary. The level we played at EA's Spring Break event began on the rooftop of an apartment building, where the four players each grabbed whatever tools they needed to survive. Although there was certainly something to be said for the submachine gun, it was the shotgun that was tailor-made for the close-quarters combat that marked the early part of the level.

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From the moment the action kicked off, it was clear that Left 4 Dead will be a unique, terrifying cooperative experience. It adeptly blends claustrophobic and wide-open environments and offers a completely different type of gameplay in each. For instance, while battling in the small, confined office buildings and subway tunnels that you come across, you'll barely be able to see the zombies before they're right on top of you. It's not uncommon to toss an explosive into a room or hallway and then enter it to find a pile of dead and burning bodies.