Does Left 4 Dead offer offline multiplayer?

We only get hughes net where we are and it completely sucks for xbox live so we don't have the live. I've noticed most multiplayer xbox 360 games require the xbox live to play even with just one other person. I was wanting to know if Left 4 Dead requires xbox live to play with other people (mainly at least 1 other person) or if it can be played offline? I was thinking of buying it for my husband for Christmas but didn't want to buy it and have it turn out to require xbox live.