The Riverbank

"Hello down there! Sorry, but we can't lower the bridge!"

- Zoey "Man, I hope we don't see a Tank in a tuxedo."

- Coach

The Riverbank is the first chapter in Left 4 Dead 2 ' s The Passing campaign.

After escaping from Savannah in Jimmy Gibbs Junior's stock car, Ellis, Nick, Rochelle and Coach find their way blocked, as the Rayford bridge has been raised by the original Left 4 Dead Survivors at the end of The Sacrifice campaign. In true soap opera style, Valve seeks to blend original and spun-off story lines and to underscore the irony of an act that saved one team now serves to place another in jeopardy.

In the opening cut scene, Zoey or Francis issues a briefing to the Left 4 Dead 2 Survivors below, the gist of which is that the Left 4 Dead 2 team must (by implication) use an under-river tunnel to get to the other side of the river and refuel a generator that will then enable the original Survivors to lower the bridge, thus allowing the new Survivors to bring their car across and continue towards New Orleans.

The rest of the chapter is concerned with the Left 4 Dead 2 team's battle through Infected overrun stores, seedy office-apartments and a rain-swept wedding reception―complete with a distraught Witch bride and Infected groomsmen and guests.

Campaign
The Survivors start near Jimmy Gibbs Junior's stock car in front of the raised Rayford bridge. Either Francis or Zoey will issue a greeting (of varying cordiality depending on which Survivor responds) and, after some suitable conversational by-play, the Left 4 Dead character will outline a briefing of the situation ending with clear instructions to "get to the other side of the bridge" and refuel a generator so that the bridge can be lowered.

Survivors will start out equipped with the normal Pistol and a couple of randomly selected secondary weapons which will also appear on the ground nearby together with the standard four first aid kits. The Director will often spawn a Magnum or second Pistol on the stock car's trunk lid. Primary Tier 1 weapons will not be provided at this point.

Once Survivors have taken their weapons of choice and medkit, the only way to go is down into a small river side park swarming with Common Infected. There is a very high chance a Fallen Survivor will spawn close by, so it is advantageous for the team go after some extra supplies by switching off their flashlights and targeting him before he can run away. The team must then clear out the area in whatever manner works best whilst watching out for Special Infected such as Jockeys and Chargers who can be hazardous when equipped only with Pistols―and who can carry an unwary player off to a watery grave in the river.

Note: In some rare cases, a Tank may spawn at the parking lot far away and he will be alerted as soon the Survivors are behind the white van that is next to the Jimmy's car. This is very dangerous as the players only have Pistols, especially when there is no Magnum and the difficulty is high. This will often happen when the survivors stay too long at the Jimmy Gibbs's car.

In a prototype episode foreshadowing more significant environmental effects injected into the subsequent Hard Rain chapter, visibility and sound will often be briefly obscured by a heavy rainstorm that starts while players are about halfway across the riverside park.

At the end of the park, Survivors turn right and cross the street into two neighboring stores. In one of them, Tier 1 weapons will spawn and in the bathrooms to the rear, a first aid cabinet can be found.

The Survivors next head up the stairs and check out the offices there for any supplies including Foot Lockers. A Tank frequently appears in the first stairwell in the first building entered. This is a particularly dangerous location as the entire group is hemmed into the hallway.

Exiting the hallway and making sure no Special Infected are waiting in ambush from the hole in the ceiling, the Survivors enter the bar room. The closet in the bar is another possible spawn point for a Foot Locker, so if a team has yet to find this object, it is always a good idea to check in here. Even if there is no Foot Locker, the closet may also hold other useful supplies.

The Survivors then leave the bar and go out into the alley. The alley is typically devoid of any items, so searching will often prove a waste of time.

Proceeding forwards along the alley, the Survivors make a right turn and enter a cobblestone paved sunken roadway with apartments on the right and a steep embankment wall on the left. This is another area in which a Tank may spawn.

At the end of the sunken road, it loops sharply left and doubles back on itself, as the area straight ahead is blocked. Survivors need to be extremely careful as there are two alarmed cars on this upper road. A misdirected bullet at this time (when a team is probably low on ammo and perhaps in bad shape health-wise after having battled a Tank with weak Tier 1 weaponry) could prove fatal.

The Survivors need to look to the left for either one of two apartment doors clearly designated with Valve's "through here" visual cues. Teams should make an effort to search these rooms thoroughly for weapons and supplies; for example, the staircase that leads nowhere often spawns Tier 2 weapons or other supplies while the closet to the left of the staircase is yet another location in which a Foot Locker can spawn. Needless to say, all of these rooms and stairways should be diligently rummaged and inspected, unless the Survivors are fully armed already. These apartments are a potential Tank spawn location.

When the team is ready to move on, it exits from a higher level external door out onto a broad patio facing yet another upper road with the wall, railings and fairy lights of a park visible in the middle distance.

The Survivors proceed to the park entrance and enter the park. This is an interesting area as it is the venue for an outdoor wedding reception now populated by Infected wedding guests and a sobbing, passive bride Witch. Before going deeper into the park, the Survivors should turn sharply left up a short flight of steps and then look back towards the park wall―Tier 2 weapons or supplies will often be found under the foliage there.

At this point, teams have two options to traverse the wedding reception. The most obvious one is to sidle around the wedding party avoiding trouble in order to get to the other side of the park where the safe room is located. The Witch Bride is a Panic Event. Startling or Cr0wning her will result in a horde attacking. This Panic Event is completely avoidable. If the Survivors do not startle the Witch, they can get past the wedding venue without significant resistance.

It is essential not to turn on the music amplifier as this eventually sets off the Witch. Starting the wedding music in the presence of the Witch bride will agitate her much faster than normal and no matter what the distance separating her from players at the time. She will attack the Survivor that started the music if not attacked by anyone else between the time the music starts to the time she is startled.

The second plan is to use brute force to traverse the wedding party. Taking out the Witch is relatively easy since there is always a fair supply of gas cans, propane tanks and oxygen tanks in the locale. Once she is dead, the team can form up and engage the horde―again, a well-placed gas can or propane tank is a superb defensive strategy. The wedding park is another Tank spawn location.

The third way to deal with a Witch is to have one Survivor jump on the music amplifier, then on a tent and on a tree. This way you can startle the Witch without any risk of injury for any Survivors, since the Witch (and by extension all common infected) cannot path-find to the Survivor(s) when they stand in this area. However, rest of team must watch for her running path as blocking her will make her change target and incapacitate (or kill, depending on the difficulty) one of Survivors.

Once past the wedding gazebo in the park's central area, players will encounter two marquees with tables inside. These tents frequently spawn two Tier 2 weapons and various other supplies.

Thereafter, players exit the park via its rear entrance and enter the street. Turning right and proceeding down the street will soon bring the team to the safe room.

Close the door, grab some ammo, and heal up if need be. Take a breath, and remember the smell of that fresh night air, because The Underground awaits!

Survival

 * One of numerous effective strategies include standing on the tents. They are easy to reach: just use the boxes scattered around on the ground nearby. The M60, auto shotguns, or AKM are definitely not weapons of choice in this situation; use of multiple sniper rifles proves to be more effective for this strategy. With the exception of the occasional Common Infected, you will not be attacked from behind, and the Infected can be shot from a distance with ease. However, due to the lack of ammo piles nearby, it is possible to be forced to run through numerous dangerous infected to refill your ammunition. Don't panic, and try to do your best fighting off the swarms of infected. If Common Infected are getting in your way on an ammo run, don't hesitate to throw a pipe bomb. Try to cover those who go for ammo. Melee should not be used unless you have trouble dealing with common infected during ammo runs. Instead, use the Magnum or Dual Pistols to conserve ammo and reduce the frequency of your ammo runs.

and with a good enough team, you can get a gold medal there.
 * Another good yet obvious spot is to hold up where your starting spawning point is


 * An advantage to The Passing Maps is that there are fallen survivors which bring you more supplies. It is recommended to take their dropped supplies if possible, to extend the amount of time you can survive before your supplies are exhausted.