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 extremely useful here.

On leaving the safe room, Survivors find themselves in a fenced woodland area, with a storage building to the left. The storage room contains various Tier 2 weapons and grenades. In order to continue, the Survivors use a radio in the storage building to call for help. They must activate a large hangar door, which will trigger a never ending Horde. After this, they must fight their way to the rescue helicopter, hovering over a forest recreation facility, once occupied by CEDA.

Exiting the storage building, players follow an arrow sign nailed up on a tree. All this while, a steady stream of Infected will be flowing towards the Survivors. 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.

Pushing forward, the Survivors reach the lip of a steep-sided canyon (note that a Chainsaw may spawn close to this location) containing a fast-flowing stream with an unending Horde of Common Infected, interspersed with Special Infected jumping down from the bluffs on both sides. After dropping down into Cut-throat Creek, the Survivors press on, 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, over which players 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 as well as various other Infected. 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, players move down the tunnel in the face of a dense Horde. While the initial wave is easily defeated in the tunnel chokepoint, this is merely the start of a more-or-less unbroken chain of Infected 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. Players should restock and heal at this point because the finale really takes off from here. It is essential that all players stick together and fight as a unit (a Smoker can spawn back down the tunnel and drag a player all the way to the tunnel entrance). Once ready, players fight their way up the staircase. (A good idea is to have a player take point, equipped with a fast, long-reach weapon like a Katana.) Be aware that a team can quickly be divided by a Spitter's attack.

On reaching the surface, Survivors 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 chapter two of The Parish campaign in Left 4 Dead 2.

On exiting the stairway, a glass-walled office building contains an ammo pile and weapons. However, due to the thick Horde, visiting this supply is really only necessary if stocks are 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 (which 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 telling the Survivors to get aboard. 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.

Players follow obvious visual cues until they reach an ammo pile and (sometimes) a First-aid kit. 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 blockades, players 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 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 prove to be decisive in terms of completing the chapter. Players 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 Adrenaline 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.


 * Originally, when answering the radio at the start of the map, a cutscene rolled, showing a military helicopter responding to their call, but crashing en route.
 * In the original finale, players simply ran through a forest to a second rescue chopper (the first one was shown crashing). Although the remains of the the 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, Bile Jars and Pipe Bombs are spawned in the July 2011 map update.
 * The number of Special Infected has been substantially reduced.