The Highway

"Whispering Oaks! Shit, I used to go there as a kid!"

- Coach "Oh great, now we can die there as adults!"

- Nick

The Highway is the first chapter in Left 4 Dead 2 ' s Dark Carnival campaign. It was first revealed at the Penny Arcade Expo and again in Tokyo Game Show '09.

Campaign
The campaign opens with the Survivors starting off in Griffin County standing behind Jimmy Gibbs Junior's stock car (now in need of a car wash and panel shop) lamenting that they can take it no further due to the interstate being clogged with "twenty miles" of stalled and crashed vehicles.

After collecting Health Kits, Pistols and their choice of Tier 1 firearms, players move through, around and over a roadblock of vehicles. Early on, Coach will remark on the large Whispering Oaks Amusement Park billboard next to the highway bearing its soon to be familiar 'Lil Peanut logo and fondly reminisces about visiting it as a youth (which Nick will shoot down saying how great it is that they can now "die there as adults").

Players must work their way through wrecked cars, fighting off several Infected. On the way, the path is blocked by wreckage, which they must go around. In the truck, there can be a throwable item, Adrenaline shot or Pain pills, Propane or a Gas can. Go onto the off-ramp to find a Shotgun or Submachine gun, a Gas can or two, a melee weapon, throwables and potentially an Ammo Upgrade there. Go to the Jeep, and there's usually a throwable or temp heal item with an ammo stash. Go under the two highways. If a Horde attacks while you're at the Jeep, the Horde will come from the bushes to the left.

If you go left, there will be another truck with a gas can, a throwable item, or propane. This spot is much more better, as when you see the motel you can avoid the Witch and have a higher advantage over the Tank if it spawns there. Players should, if needed, use their weaponry to pick off several Commons below to prevent them from climbing up. Players who face Hordes here will have them attack from behind.

Once clear of the under-bridges, players will notice the Whispering Oaks Motel with a large billboard looming over it up an incline to the right. (Alternatively players can simply head up the incline between the two bridges, get onto the bridge and follow it to the billboard.) By jumping onto the white sedan next to the billboard players can access the walkways on the billboard; here will always be found a hunting rifle. The fine vista over the motel from this vantage point gives both an overall orientation and a sprinkling of sniping opportunities, espically when a Tank comes. However, going down the ladder a little and jumping causes instant incapitation. Jumping from the ladder at the top will cause instant death; so players shold jump past the railing instead and onto the rooftop of the motel's buildings.

Careful inspection of all the rooms in the motel reception office block is well rewarded with very useful supplies like Laser sights, weapons, explosives, etc.. Individual motel rooms always contain pills, adrenaline shots, pipe bombs and melee weapons. An ammo stash will usually be found next to the vending machines at the end of the reception block (look for the pink flamingo) or on the reception counter.

The parking lot contains an alarmed car, either near the offices or the hotel rooms. The pool area (which is accessed via two separate entrance ways) usually contains a couple of gas cans that can be sniped to burn out some inappropriately dressed Infected. Nick can be sarcastic and say "These people sucked at HIGH diving." or Ellis might say "Poor people. All they wanted to go for was a swim." The pool also has some Gas cans, a Submachine gun or Shotgun, and other various items. Be warned that this is open and clear; on the other side will be a Tank, but you'll have better manuverability aganist the Tank at the pool then the hotel balconies.

Go up the stairs on the far side of the motel; a broken wall can be seen and you can go inside, getting acess to some temporary health items and a health kits, various melee weapons, ammo stashes, and usually a shotgun or submachine gun is found in there.

Once players have fully explored the motel they can get moving to the next stage of the chapter by going up to the far end of the motel overlooking the pool and entering the motel unit with a broken wall. (Trying to jump the gap in the external balcony is futile and will simply result in injury, along with you not reaching the other side) Players should be careful, since a Witch might block up the door that players must get through. Once in the neighboring unit it is a simple matter to get out onto the balcony through the window. On approaching the end of the balcony overlooking the highway players can practice their sniping by mopping up random Infected milling around on the highway and in the bushes behind the motel. At this point the Common Infected may get agitated and try to storm up the stairs and if a co-op team is taking its time a Spitter, Jockey or Charger may arrive to ginger everyone up. Before leaving the motel, if your team is missing some items for themselves, checking the bottom two rooms after jumping on the window usually results in some Pain Pills or Adrenaline.

Next, players make their way round the back of the motel and follow a crazy-paving path leading to a large steep-sided gully. A good idea is to look down the gully and note a series of small ledges that invariably contain nice items like Propane Tanks, Gas Cans, grenades - and bad things like Witches. Note in particular the broad ledge right at the end of the path, it is a gentle drop down and often has vaguely useful supplies (like a Propane Tank). Check the two cliifs on the side going down the gully. Both can contain various items which can be useful aganist the Infected below.

Although steep, there is no danger in sliding or dropping down the gully to the bottom but it is helpful to try and end up in an open area at the bottom because, if they have not yet made their appearance, a horde of Common Infected is certain to charge down from the motel and being in an open space enables a team to form up and cull it.

It should be noted that the gully is a "point of no return." Co-op teams must bear in mind that Smokers, Hunters and Jockeys can easily kill someone if the rest of their teammates have already gone down the gully and they are still up on the cliff. It is thus essential to stick together and ensure everyone goes off down the gully simultaneously. However, AI Bots have extremely effective accuracy aganist Smokers, so there should be no problem if a Smoker grabs a Survivor's LoS. However there are chances when saving the Survivor is impossible, espically if they fail to kill it before the Survivor is incapitated.

The gully floor is a treacherous place. It is filled with Infected, has poor sight lines, movement through the river is slow and combat is at close quarters for the most part. Hunting rifles are ideal to delouse the river area at a distance and submachine and shotgunners must handle the rest. (Any unfortunate deceased player will respawn in a small outhouse at the end of the river area.)

Note that there is a rock at the bottom of the gully that was overlooked when programming so Infected will stop giving chase when a player jumps up on it.

At the end of the river bank area, there's a car there, along with a Propane tank in the water. The car should be steer cleared of, as a Tank might punch it and incapicatate everyone in one strike, so players should find another way to escape the Tank without crossing the car. Players in the river should be careful of Infected to their right, and near the outhouse there can be various items like throwables, Health kits, etc.

Just below the brow of the hill is a good time for the team to extend ranks, check magazines and prepare for the final push to the safe room. If a Witch spawns on the path to the hill, go to the right side where there will be limited bush cover. The Witch won't notice you most of the time. Thereafter players step up into the open area giving onto the Whispering Oaks Amusement Park. It will be generously populated with Common Infected. If a Tank arrives, fall back to the water, since if a Tank punches you regardless of difficulty, you'll get killed from immensivley dangerous height difference. It is best to fall back as the parking lot will contain Commons that would like to impede your running and let the Tank punch you to death. Try to lure it away from the car on the riverbed, as he is able to punch it and incapitate all of you. Witches can also spawn, but most tend to be offcourse, either from the start, or near the car. Clear off the Infected, and team captains should try to go around the car. Shooting the car is silly, but only if you're looking for more kills you should shoot it.

The safe room is located in the building surrounded by concrete safety barriers with its door perpendicular to the player's normal approach direction. Special Infected will spawn near the fenced off area, and Hordes will usually tend to spawn behind the Jeep, so players should be careful about this. Always watch for a Witch near the saferoom; most players tend to get inside and the Witch tends to hide near the barriers or is at the entrence of the saferoom.

Survival
Bedroom Method: This requires a Combat Rifle and a melee weapon. A pipe-bomb is advised as well. Grab your supplies and head upstairs. Now go to the furthest room, it should have a katana, a first aid kit, a defibrillator and a Molotov. Using the defibrillator, take an extra first aid kit or some special ammo upstairs. Start. In this room, you have a good amount of supplies. Smokers can't get you, the horde is delayed, you have plenty of room to maneuver, and Chargers are almost useless. Jockeys are the biggest threat, as they can take you to the bottom floor. When the Tank comes, leave the room and take him down. When the second Tank comes, throw the pipe-bomb. Then take him down. Now pick whatever explosive you like and hold out. The Combat Rifle is required to take out Jockeys and Tanks from range, and the melee is used to: A. get you to the room and B. Help when you need to leave when Tanks arrive.

Scavenge
The Motel: This is the only scavenge level available for Dark Carnival so far. One very effective tactic for this one is to all scope the ground floor together to prevent hunters, chargers, smokers etc from picking off stragglers. A hunting rifle/military sniper rifle is a good asset to your team especialy for any Smokers or Spitters guarding the fuel generator. Proceed to the building directly opposite the pool exit and retrieve those first, then move on to the other ground floor cans. Once all have been retrieved, split up. A sniper and shotgunner should stay by the generator: the sniper covering the two survivours proceeding up stairs the shotgunner covering the sniper, whilst the others (assalt rifle and shotgunner) search the upper floor, sticking together. Due to the open balcony, the sniper should have no trouble covering the two on the upstairs floor. The upper floor team should be picking up cans and throwing them down to the generator whilst the shotgunner pours and the sniper keeps an eye out for that troublesome Spitter. Overall this tactic (if done correctly) should work. So good luck!

Versus
Now that the players are the Infected, get running! Don't let them find their good spot!

The Smoker: You have many great places to hide in. The dark atmosphere of our campaign, Dark Carnival, is an excellent spot for you. Camoflauge yourself in the bushes to hide from the unwary Survivors, and grab one of them. By the time they notice someone's missing, you can hurt them, or even better, incapitate them. There are many bushy areas to hide in, and your smoke will probably not be seen by the Survivors at all.

The Boomer: Boomers are weak in health. However, they can lead to nasty suprises, espically when the victim is low on health. Hide in the bushes, but begin to move if you spot them! When you rage at the Survivors, they can easily tell you've noticed them and know your around. Keep moving to prevent them from finding out! You can place yourself near alarmed cars to set their alarms off, or hide in the walls of the motel and vomit on them when they come near you.

The Tank: Tanks can kill anyone and anything in their path. There are a few cars in and around 60-95% of the game. As long as you have a willing partner, trapping them in the narrow confines of a motel room or in another area can do. Just watch out for the pool area, where they are many gas cans to light you up, and it might be hard to move around the motel. Throw rocks at Survivors who are unaware of where you are and always punch them off great distances to kill them instantly.