Cut-throat Creek

Cut-throat Creek is the final chapter in the Cold Stream campaign which was released as a DLC in March 2011 in beta format.

This chapter is best thought of as a single continuous finale similar in concept to The Bridge from The Parish. For this reason a fast-firing and hard hitting Tier 2 weapon like an auto shotgun or AK 47 backed up with a melee weapon or Dual Pistols is strongly recommended. Laser sights are highly useful here.

The players use a radio in the safe room to call for help. After this, they must fight their way to waiting News Chopper rescue helicopter hovering over a forest recreation facility once occupied by CEDA. On leaving the safe room, players find themselves in an open woodland area with a storage building to the left. This building has two doorways and contains Explosive Barrels against the downstairs walls. By climbing up onto a second floor, some minor supplies will be found on one of two tables. Enemies will begin to trickle into the storage area below and, if a player is lucky, a Special Infected will appear so that a pair of Explosive Barrels can be set off and enable that person to win an Achievement. (Note that it is unnecessary to enter this building to complete the chapter and it can be safely by-passed.)

Exiting the storage building, teams follow an arrow sign nailed up on a tree. All this while, a steady stream of enemies will be flowing towards the team. At this point a good melee weapon (e.g. Katana, Axe, Cricket Bat) is very useful in the hands of the team member taking point to clear the path for the team following on closely behind.

Pushing forward, the team reaches the lip of a steep-sided canyon (note that a Chain Saw may spawn close to this location) containing a fast-flowing stream with an unending horde of Common Infected interspersed with Specials jumping down from the bluffs on both sides. After dropping down into Cut-throat Creek, the team presses forwards fighting all the way (a good tactic is to slow down to tackle a mob of enemies and to move forward in quick bounds during the momentary pauses between their attacks).

A waterfall is soon reached, which the team can simply jump down to the creek below without fear of injury. At the base of this feature is a sunken boat containing an ammo pile with additional supplies and Tier 2 weapons in the water nearby. Immediately after jumping off into the creek, however, the action kicks up a notch as a Tank spawns almost directly in front of the survivors. (Sharp-eyed individuals will spot the rescue helicoper passing overhead about now.) Players must fight this Tank in the midst of various other Infected also trying to attack them. Once the Tank has been dispatched, players may choose to take a brief side trip up the canyon wall on the right to access top-up supplies before returning to the stream bed and moving onwards towards a cliff with a river tunnel at its base.

After hopping over a fallen tree trunk, teams move down the tunnel in the face of a dense horde. Whilst the initial wave is easily defeated in the tunnel chokepoint, this is merely the start of a more or less unbroken chain of attackers that extends from the tunnel, up a short staircase to the open air above.

At the end of the tunnel is an ammo pile and a supply of grenades. Teams should restock and heal at this point because the finale really takes off from here. Naturally it is essential that all players stick tightly together and fight as a unit; for example, a Smoker can spawn back down the tunnel and drag a player all the way to the tunnel entrance. Once ready, teams fight their way up the staircase. (A good idea is to have a melee fighter equipped with a fast, long-reach weapon like a Katana take point.) Beware that there is a risk that the team will be divided if a Spitter pops up and lets fly.

On reaching the surface, teams find themselves in a forestry technical service depot that was subsequently taken over by CEDA as a processing facility. The chapter designer has configured this area in a way that is reminiscent of the Gauntlet Maze encountered at a self-same facility in Left 4 Dead 2, The Park.

On exiting the stairway, a glass walled office building contains an ammo pile and weapons. However since there are many enemies attacking, visiting this supply is really only necessary if a team is running very low. As this is a gauntlet run, time is of the essence and it is probably better to press on hard and gain ground at this point.

Hovering over a central, sharply rectangular concrete tower that takes a clever visual cue from the Saigon American Embassy 1975 evacuation is the News Chopper rescue helicopter and above the sound of its engine the pilot will be heard calling on The Survivors to get aboard. That is the good news. But the bad news is that the curtain has come up on the Grand Finale. To survive, players must charge hard to the chopper through a maze in the face of strong opposition.

Teams follow obvious visual cues until they reach an ammo pile and (sometimes) a health pack. Since the finale kicks into high gear at this point, it is a good idea to restock quickly. Entering a maze formed by the usual CEDA impedimenta, teams run head-on into yet another horde. This threat can either be dealt to by throwing a Bile Jar or Pipe Bomb or by beating them down in the usual way. (If a Bile Jar is deployed, it may be best not to waste time trying to kill them but to sprint past the throng and gain thereby gain valuable ground. Alternatively it can be useful to save any throwables for the next phase.)  A short zig-zag course brings the team out into an open area in the center of which is the tower and rescue helicopter. Infected will be swarming into this space from all points of the compass and a Tank will also join the party. A Pipe Bomb or Bile Jar thrown to create a diversion can proove to be decisive in terms of enabling a team to complete the chapter. Teams have only a short way to go and should waste no time other than to toss any final grenades as a diversion, pop Pills or take an Andrenaline shot and get over to the tower stairway. This is a dangerous time since any team member who is limping behind in a red-line, health impaired condition or who gets punched by the Tank or immobilised by a Special Infected is pretty much doomed and a quick and ruthless decision must be made as to whether or not it is possible to go back and help.

The last part of the tower climb is by a set of metal rungs set into the tower wall. On arriving at the top, and after providing any necessary covering fire to trailing team members, surviving players climb up a final ladder dangling from the helicopter to reach safety. Once the last Survivor is aboard, the closing cut scene rolls.

Pre-update
Many aspects of the map were altered or removed for the July 6th update of Cold Stream.


 * When answering the radio at the start of the map, a cut sceen originally rolled, showing a military helicopter responding to their call but crashing en route.


 * In the original finale, teams simply ran through a forest to a second rescue chopper (the first one was shown crashing). Although the remains of the aforementioned crashed helicopter can still be seen, the finale has been substantially revised to feature an entirely different, more creative and challenging gameplay experience.


 * The original finale prevented the player from getting into the helicopter without crouching (though even in this situation the player could escape and the finale would end if all other players were incapacitated or dead).


 * Fewer resources such as health supplies, Boomer Bile jars and Pipe Bombs are spawned in the July 2011 map update.
 * The number of Special Infected (e.g. Chargers, Spitters and Jockeys) has been substantially reduced.