How long will you survive?
Recently I went down to my local game shop to buy my fourth, yes, fourth copy of Left 4 Dead. The first three just kept freezing on the first loading screen, I’m not sure why, but they did. The reason I’ve brought it four times? It’s damn awesome, and to play the recently available downloadable content (DLC) Survival Pack. It includes the new multiplayer mode ‘Survival’ in which you hold out against enough zombies to make you think there must be a huge doughnut shop near by due to the large amount of police officers going for your throat, as well as all of the civilian zombies, not to mention the soldiers, but lets not get side tracked by the undead’s choice of attire. The DLC also includes the maps ‘Dead Air’ and ‘Blood Harvest’ available in Versus mode.
Survival mode puts you and your fellow survivors in a concealed area to, well, survive for as long as you can. As you can imagine, it all depends on teamwork, as it does in the campaign. There’s something good about saving a team mate, risking yourself for someone else makes you feel good, heroic even. They don’t always say thank you, and they might repay you by ‘accidentally’ throwing a Molotov at your feet, but hey, things like that happen, right? You get put in popular locations from the original four maps as well as a new map ‘Last Stand.’ The Loading screen for ‘Last Stand’ just tells you what you’re in for. “IT DOESN’T END WELL.” It’s not lying, it never does, with the horde spawning every few minutes and tanks the same, you hardly have time to equip yourself, and think about healing. As soon as that med pack see’s the light of day, you’ve seen your last of it. Special infected stop spawning around four minutes in, but it doesn’t help your chances at all, because then the horde and tanks come thick and fast.
In ‘Survival’ mode, you’re kitted out with enough explosives, pipe bombs and Molotov’s to last you, well, if you’re like me, a good three minutes. Seriously, there are a lot of them, I just like to throw them at every opportunity I get. I just can’t resist seeing a bunch of zombies going up in an explosion, or seeing them run out of some fire trying to pat themselves down, but that’s my problem, I’ll deal with that. The two maps that have been added to the Versus mode, ‘Dead Air’ and ‘Blood Harvest’ are a good change of scenery from the first two ‘No Mercy and ‘Death Toll.’ This being said, I still feel the compulsion to return to Mercy Hospital. Which, in my opinion, is the best map of the lot. I do really like ‘Last Stand’ and would like to see a new campaign, maybe in the future. For now, I’m mindlessly happy shooting as many zombies as I can until I’ve ran out of ammo, or are being mauled by a hunter.
The new game type of ‘Survival’ is a welcome addition to Left 4 Dead, all in all. It’s fun to play. If I get to slaughter endless amounts of the undead, it’s a win in my books. And download it for free, who can say no?
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