left 4 dead - impressions
The areas just in this one scenario are already quite varied. The tight corridors lent themselves to making sure we watched each other's backs. Side rooms were checked frequently in order to see if a few stray Infected had found themselves trapped inside. Sure enough, a few Infected are discovered on a room inspection and terminated with haste. The corridors are dark and the now familiar rush of another Infected wave is hitting us from every angle.
Using an improved shotgun I found earlier in the level, I unload into the crowd. The updated gun was a marked improvement over the previous shotgun, packing a stronger punch and better accuracy. I take out a few with one shot but it just doesn't seem to be enough. The attacks come swift, and the situation is made worse by a Boomer waddling through his the group of his Infected buddies. Already hurting from the lesser of two evils, everyone scrambles to take out the Boomer while trying not to get too close to him. Disaster strikes.
The Boomer makes use of one of his stranger offensive attacks. He manages to vomit onto one of my teammates, attracting even more Infected into the area who immediately swarm vomit covered Survivor. Another and myself keep our focus on the Boomer and manage to take him down, but the kill wasn't clean. His blast injures both my teammate and I, but it was not powerful enough to knock us out of commission. Had we been closer, the blast might have been fatal. The focus now shifts onto keeping the Infected off our unfortunate friend. A number of shells and clips later, the attack is over. The damage is assessed and we continue along with our journey.
My host instructs me to go ahead and shut the door, making sure to lock it as I went through. Being the last in the group, I turn around to shut and lock the door like the good little gamer that I am. This acts as a temporary reprieve from the attack. Crouching near the end of the hallway, I and another turn around to face the locked door. I remained there for a bit to see if it would actually hold or if Turtle Rock Studios was going to make things interesting for the players.
They're pounding the door down!? The Infected were actually pounding so hard on that door that it was bending and bowing outwards, ready to give at any moment. Talk about a situation where the tension was palpable! We didn't have to wait long before they burst through, our guns instantly blazing. One after another, they fell at our feet, sometimes two or three at a time from the wide blast radius of the shotgun, not a single one having even a chance to attack. There wasn't a moment of peace after our success as it was time to move on to the next area and meet up with our teammates.
This brings me to my up close and personal encounter with the Smoker. Entering a new area with a few support columns scattered through what was otherwise a vacant area, there were few prime opportunities for the Infected to pop out and surprise us. At least, that's what I thought. Unfortunately, my assessment did not turn out to be true.
Our flashlights survey the room as we slowly make our way to the only exit apparent to us. Everything seemed to be quiet until a wave of Infected hit us yet again. Were we really doing that good that the Director needed to ramp up the enemy spawns? Apparently we were doing that good.
What I wasn't expecting was to be surprise attacked by the Smoker's tongue. My view was now a vision of slimy appendage, and my character's attempts to try to free themselves from the tongue's grip.
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