Shanty Town

"If anybody could survive this...it would be people, who live like this..."

- Rochelle


 * For the actual in-game town, see Village En Marais.

The Shantytown is the third chapter of the campaign Swamp Fever in Left 4 Dead 2. The Survivors find themselves in the community of Village En Marais, which is overrun by the Infected. This chapter is home to a Crescendo Event, in which a rusty ramp must be dropped to move to the next shack on stilts. The loud creaking of the rusted ramp attracts the Infected. There is a mixture of houses; some stand above the swamp water on stilts, others do not and are half flooded with the rising swamp waters.

Campaign
Pack up your guns and start running! The safe room contains weaponry and first-aid kits. When you're done, go out and search what is left of the swamp people's home. Staying too long will cause a Horde to spawn from the gate that a car has been stuck in. Search the houses to find gas cans, grenades, and temporary healing items. Once you're done, go to the house northwest of the safe room (from the Survivor's point of view). It contains various items. Leave by the backdoor and you'll find the small fenced area. A Tank tends to spawn here, so keep moving to a fallen tree that has smashed onto a trailer. This allows you to get a bird's eye view of most of the town.

Most of the houses here are useless and contain only a few items, so keep moving until you see two houses to the side. The first house doesn't contain much apart from a few miscellaneous items, while the second one has a weapon spawn.

Once you're done, search the last remaining house for now to find a "checkpoint" that contains weapons, temporary healing items and the occasional first-aid kit. Proceed through the swamp, keeping an eye out for Tanks. There is a small "swamp" port-o-potty that most players do not notice to the left of the "checkpoint" house that serves as a Rescue Closet. Once you reach the other shantytown, search the two houses for various items such as Adrenaline shots. A Tank can spawn here, so if it does, fall back and after it has been killed start the Crescendo. You have several options for surviving the Crescendo:
 * Option 1: Players will fall back to the "checkpoint" house and hold off all waves from there. This saves health in the long run and focuses all the Common Infected and any Special Infected into a line of fire rather than allowing them to surround the survivors. Restock on the guns on the table and proceed when necessary.
 * Option 2: Players will hold the Infected off at the second house. This is usually recommended on Easy or Normal difficulty due to the low amount of damage that Infected can cause. However, this strategy is also dangerous, as it leaves the Survivors vulnerable to Special Infected. Melee weapons are highly recommended when attempting this strategy.
 * Option 3: The most dangerous of all, players will rush to the safe room immediately when the bridge lowers. A Pipe bomb or Bile bomb is absolutely necessary to distract the Horde that spawns while the ramp is lowering. Players must jump onto the roofs to avoid being hit by the Infected. Use an Adrenaline shot to rush to the safe room more quickly. Survivors must be wary of any Witches and/or Tanks if they have not appeared yet. This strategy is not recommended on higher difficulties due to the damage and reaction time of the Infected.

Once players follow options 1/2, move quickly through the houses, searching for supplies when needed. The last house contains various items, notably weapons and a gas can or two. A swamp port-o-potty is located across the house and serves as a final Rescue Closet for anyone who died during the Crescendo. Go across the wooden bridge and kill the Infected.

The safe room is quite easy to access. Just climb up some wooden stairs and follow the elevated wooden platform to the safe room. Take care not to startle any Witches that tend to spawn on or around the wooden stairs/path to the safe room, and of course, be careful of Special Infected that spawn in the safe room at times. Close the door and take a breath, you've almost reached rescue!

The Survivors
With humans controlling the Special Infected, things can only get harder. However, they can't spawn until you leave the safe room. That doesn't mean that you should let them form up and make a plan though! Hurry up and get your supplies, and get running!

Gallery
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