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 cutscene, 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.

Grab the pistol provided at the trunk of the car; it can either be a Magnum or P220 Pistol and two melee weapons on the ground. A large number of infected are nearby, though they will not notice the Survivors unless alerted of their presence. The Fallen Survivor, an Uncommon Infected exclusive to this campaign, typically spawns near the starting point. A melee weapon is recommended to kill him instantly, as he has an unusually large health pool.

While at the boardwalk, try not to get dragged into the sea by Jockeys or Chargers, or you will fall into a watery grave.

Continue to the other side; you may encounter a Tank, which can be highly problematic since you only have pistols and melee weapons to fight him. If he does spawn, fall back and try to use the environment to dodge the Tank. Run into the buildings nearby, where you can grab some Tier 1 weapons; not exactly strong, but good enough at the moment. Search the rooms for various supplies, as Foot Lockers are very likely to appear in the building.

Leave the building and you will find yourself in a long alleyway. Caution is advised as there are usually two alarmed cars, either on the lower or upper level. Move up to the upper level and when you reach the end of that level, go into the buildings to the left, where you will find Tier 2 weapons and potentially an M60. Once you grab better weapons, go across the walkway into the park.

In the park, a Witch will always spawn in front of the gazebo, regardless of difficulty. She serves as the chapter's Crescendo Event; upon being startled and/or killed, a horde will descend on the player. Players can skip past her, but this is unfeasible on Expert because of the increased startle time and will leave the team a player short if she manages to kill someone against the ensuing horde. Shoot the wedding chairs to pile them, as they can be an annoyance and slow the player down as they move past her.

Players can startle the Witch by angering her, shooting her, or by activating the soundset on the tent to the right. Once this soundset is activated, music will play which will anger the Witch regardless of the team's distance from her. When sufficiently angered, she will become startled and attack the player responsible for turning on the music (also starting the Horde). If players wish to kill her, either cr0wn her on lower difficulties or throw a Molotov when reasonably far away and run away.

Once the incoming horde is disposed of, proceed past the gazebo and there will be two tents, which you can search for supplies. Go across to the road, make a turn to the right and near a bus at the other side of the road will be the safe room.

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 AK-47 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.


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


 * 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.

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