Metareview -- Left 4 Dead (360)

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.c...t4deadmeta.jpg

If you're like us, you've been spending an embarrassing amount of this crowded fall season playing the Left 4 Dead demo over and over again. You know, like a toddler surrounded by gifts and who only wants to play with a box (if that box was undead and craved brains). Thankfully, it seems that the whole pie lives up to the sliver we've gotten.

OXM (95/100): "Come to think of it, with a handful of levels and unpredictable events happening within them, Left 4 Dead has more in common with Ms. Pac-Man than just the eating. It's the same thing over and over - but when simple ingredients are perfectly prepared, what could be a mere snack becomes a feast. This one just happens to be on human flesh."
IGN (90/100): "Left 4 Dead is also a completely different kind of game, and it feels as much of an experiment as it does an amazing gameplay experience. Valve has moved against convention and delivered a game that is built almost entirely around cooperative multiplayer action. This is a game that comes to life when you play with at least one other human player, and it's even better if there are four humans in each game."
GameSpy (90/100): "One need only look at Left 4 Dead for proof that the gaming landscape is fundamentally changing. This is a game that was obviously envisioned from the very beginning as a co-op experience, even modeling its single-player campaign to mirror that approach. The inventive and highly entertaining competitive multiplayer mode just adds to the experience, and we're looking forward to seeing what Valve's got planned for the game's future."