Crash Course

Crash Course is the first DLC campaign for Left 4 Dead. It is free on the PC, but costs 560 Microsoft Points for the Xbox 360 version. It was released on September 29th. According to Valve, it is meant to bridge the gap between No Mercy and Death Toll.

Crash Course begins shortly after the events of No Mercy, with the Survivors starting out by the crashed remains of the helicopter that had rescued them. The helicopter pilot became Infected, and was killed by Zoey, causing the helicopter to crash into the ground. A whole selection of new audio has been recorded especially for this campaign, whilst still retaining the wit and patter that the game currently possesses.

The new campaign is much shorter than the others, which is a deliberate decision on the part of Valve. This was decided so that players could experience a much shorter, and much more intense game in Versus mode. Crash Course consists only of two chapters, which according to Valve, is a perfect length for a quicker, more decisive Versus match.

The two levels have been packed with everything players would find in a normal campaign. This can result in players finding tier 2 weapons almost straight away. However, the campaign will be faster-paced, and the Survivors could be attacked by the horde almost immediately from the very beginning. The levels have also been designed to give Special Infected plenty of advantages, once they learn the terrain.

Each of the two chapters (The Alleys and The Truck Depot) have their own major finale event as well, with the first one taking place on a blocked bridge. In order to clear the blockage of abandoned cars, the Survivors need to activate an artillery cannon to blow the vehicles out of the way. The Infected then swarm in on the area, which consists of a wide open space and a large house. The bridge itself is littered with cars and obstacles.

Fans of Left 4 Dead's safe room graffiti will be pleased to know that it returns in Crash Course.

The finale of Crash Course sees the Survivors reach a garage, where a bus is waiting at the top of a vehicle elevator, just out of reach. In what looks to be a homage to the Dawn of the Dead remake, the bus is armor-plated and is designed to take the Survivors through to safety and away from the Infected. Unfortunately, players must first get the bus down, and that requires use of a generator located in the parking lot outside.

The generator, unlike usual finales and Crescendo Event, takes time to activate, with players having to wait while the power charges up. Also unlike other finales, the generator sometimes fails, requiring a second activation. Once it's powered, the bus lowers and the horde arrives. This finale is particularly difficult for the Survivors because the Infected can attack from virtually every direction. After several long minutes of sustained horde attack, all of the power goes out.

Players are now stuck in the dark, surrounded by the Infected, and need to fight their way back to the generator in order to switch it on again, stuck in the open and having to slowly wait for the power to return. Of course, a Tank will make his appearance as with every finale. Once the bus is lowered, the Survivors enter in the back, and they escape.

Crash Course is intended to allow the full experience in Versus mode in just 30 minutes. The map will also include a recharge timer for the infected and new item spawn behavior.

Trivia

 * On the campaign poster, Louis and Francis are both dual wielding with a primary weapon and a pistol. However, this cannot be performed in actual gameplay.
 * Like in other Campaign posters, Bill and Louis are holding scoped MP5 submachine guns, which are not included in-game.
 * On September 23rd 2009, the band Paramore hosted a game of Left 4 Dead where Xbox 360 gamers could have an early preview of the DLC.
 * The body of the pilot can be found up against the building closest to where you start off.
 * The location of alarmed cars changes every playthrough.
 * If you are playing in the easy or normal, the Director has a tendency of spawning tier 2 weapons at multiple locations along the way.
 * Tanks and Witches spawn very frequently.
 * During the first chapter Francis and Zoey will talk about steam (a reference to Valve's Steam) if you pass the pipe leaking steam.
 * The rescue bus is fortified like the bus in the Dawn of the Dead remake, including the cow-catcher's paint job.
 * In the safe-room, there is a CEDA poster on the wall with multiple safe areas that can be found in other campaigns. All of them are crossed out except a church near Riverside. Under the poster, it says "Going to church-Suzie." This might be the person the Church Guy let in that ended up infecting him.
 * Francis taunts Zoey throughout the campaign for killing the pilot.
 * Bill has no new lines. When activating the generator he reuses "Watch my back" and "I'm getting too old for this horseshit. He says very little throughout the campaign.
 * Francis seems to be the most irritable and annoyed of the survivors, mocking the others, especially Zoey.
 * If a survivor (except for Bill) walks over to the pilot against the wall, they will say something about him.
 * Zoey: "Pilot's license...Revoked. Dun dun duuhh."
 * Francis: "Hey Zoey, the pilot's over here if you want to shoot him again."
 * Louis: "Poor guy, just tried to help us."