A huge leak occurred relating to Left 4 Dead, the classic co-op zombie shooter. A playable build of Left 4 Dead’s alpha prototype has somehow leaked, giving us a glimpse at what the game looked like in its very early stages.
The leak was publicized by Tyler McVicker, who posted gameplay footage over some commentary of the game. It’s worth noting that despite having access to the leak, Tyler refuses to share the source of this prototype.
A HISTORIC LEAK HAS OCCURRED
The very first prototype of Left 4 Dead that lead Valve to Turtle Rock in the first place, has leaked in a playable state today.
Out of everything that has leaked thus far, this holds the most historical significance.https://t.co/wfHcxiTTwo
— Tyler McVicker (@Tyler_McV) January 6, 2023
The Left 4 Dead prototype is actually a lot simpler than you think. In fact, the prototype isn’t a full game at all, but rather a map made in a game that ran on the same engine as Counter-Strike: Condition Zero. The map, aptly named Zombie City, had up to four players, who played as terrorists, run across the map in order to plant a bomb.
Instead of the usual fuse-defuse gameplay of Counter-Strike, however, planting the bomb actually made you win the level. The catch? You’d need to survive waves of endlessly spawning counterterrorists that only had melee attacks. Sound familiar?
- More MP1st Reading: Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online Concurrent Player Count on Steam Hits All-Time High
As you can probably tell by the description of that map, Zombie City was likely the earliest prototype of Left 4 Dead as we know it today. The prototype would then be fully realized as Left 4 Dead and eventually get a sequel, Left 4 Dead 2. This map, which is likely two decades old at this point, now marks a significant point in video game history.
Tyler made a video discussing all this and more, which you can watch below:
Left 4 Dead’s an old game, but you can still play it right now via Steam and Xbox consoles (as long as you have a physical disc of the title).