Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead from Valve released on November 18, 2008, simultaneously for Xbox 360 and Windows – a cooperative shooter about four survivors fleeing hordes of the infected, reaching players on both of the generation's major platforms equally from day one, without the delay that was common for many other multiplatform titles at the time. The game was built around four campaigns that could be played cooperatively by four players, or players could take the side of the infected in a special multiplayer mode called Versus, in which two teams of players competed against each other – one as survivors, the other as special infected with their own abilities. The game stood apart from competing cooperative shooters mainly through its emphasis on teamwork: a player who fell behind alone quickly became an easy target.

The PC version benefited above all from being built on the Source engine, with which Valve had the most experience on computer: it offered support for dedicated servers, the ability to host custom games with modified rules, and, fairly soon after release, support for mods via Steam Workshop, which gave rise to a lively community of content creators around the game. The Xbox 360 version, on the other hand, offered split-screen play for two players on a single console, which the PC release, due to its different mouse-and-keyboard control scheme, didn't have and which players who preferred couch gaming appreciated.

In terms of content, both versions were identical at launch – four campaigns, the same types of infected including the special "Tanks" and "Witches," and the same AI Director system that procedurally controlled difficulty and enemy placement based on the team's current state. Valve also supported both versions long-term with free content updates, such as the added Crash Course campaign, so the differences between the platforms remained minimal in the years that followed as well.

Why play it: For fans of cooperative survival against a zombie apocalypse – the PC version was identical in content to the console version at launch, and Valve went on to support it long-term with free updates such as the Crash Course campaign.