Left 4 Dead demo impressions:

Like any other Valve game, gameplay is solid and easy to use. If you've played any other FPS, you'll be at home here, though there are a few slight differences.

Melee is done with the left trigger, but its used often and is very effective. You can turn your flash light on or off, select a med-kit or explosive using the D-pad. And weapon changes between your rifle and sidearm are tied to the Y button.

The A.I. is pretty damn smart, they called out enemies before I even saw them, and kept me up to date on who needed help and what kind of enemy was on them. The onscreen indicators help out alot too.

The one thing I did notice is though, I didn't see a map or any kind of markers letting you know where to go. You had to figure that out as you went. So there's potential for people to get a little turned around. Though I didn't really have this problem.

By yourself, the AI helps and will be beneficial if you can't fill 3 other spots, but ultimately this is only really meant for 4-player co-op.

I was impressed by the A.I. director, each time I played, the items and enemies definitely spawned at different times. Each time I played, I changed up my style a little. The first time I played aggressively and killed everything quickly and kept my health up. I was swarmed often.

The 2nd time I was more defensive, missed shots on purpose and let my health and my teams health drop. I wasn't swarmed as often.

Difficulty really depends on who you are playing with, if you play well, work as a team, you'll be rewarded with a challenged (but not impossible) experience. If you are a dick and go rogue....you'll get taken out quickly.

This game is a MUST for the zombie lover, or the person who wants to play with friends in a non-competitive environment. Though there is the versus mode if you want some competition (though I didn't try that out yet.)

This only dissapointing aspect of the demo was that I can't play with more than 3 friends, and the demo was too short. ;)

This will be a day 1 purchase for me. And I can see myself actually putting Gears 2 down for this game.

Gats