Finale

"Alright, rescue's on the way, now we gotta hold out."

- Bill

"I have not...come this far...to die now!"

- Nick



The Finale of a campaign is the last chapter of a campaign. Rather than going to a new safe room, survivors move to a specific area where they initiate a rescue, which starts a massive Crescendo Event. They then hold out through waves of Infected until a rescue vehicle arrives or is ready to save the Survivors. To finish the campaign, all the living and stable Survivors must enter the rescue vehicle. Tanks spawn at specific times throughout the the level, rather than randomly, and Witches do not spawn after the finale starts. Left 4 Dead 2 features three finales that differ from the above formula.

Waves
Most finales consist of five waves. Even though the Survivors are given a time-frame for the arrival of the rescue vehicle, it could take longer or shorter than this time depending on how long it takes the Survivors to make it through each wave. Between waves there are a brief stop for the Survivors to heal, back up, or move to a different defense position for different enemies.

The campaigns with finales that follow this formula are No Mercy, Crash Course, Death Toll, Dead Air, Blood Harvest, Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever and Hard Rain.

First wave
The first wave does not begin until the Survivors have used the radio to call for help, or have started the fuel pump in the case of the Runway Finale. This wave consists of three to four groups of horde. Special Infected can appear during this wave. It begins roughly ten seconds after the countdown has been initiated, and is heralded by a loud cry from the Infected.

Second wave
The second wave begins after all of the Common Infected from the first wave are killed. Any Special Infected that are still alive after the first wave will continue to cause the Survivors grief. The second wave consists of an attack from a Tank. No Common Infected will appear during this wave unless a Survivor is covered in Boomer bile or a Bile Bomb is thrown. This wave ends when the Tank is dead.

Third wave
The third wave is similar to the first, but there are more groups of horde and the size of each group is larger. Special Infected also appear more frequently during this wave.

Fourth wave
This wave starts after the Common Infected from the third wave are eliminated. The fourth wave is another attack from a Tank. This Tank usually attacks from a different direction than the first Tank attacked from and, the same as the second wave, there is no horde, unless an AI or human-controlled Boomer has vomited on you, or someone throw a Bile Bomb. Notice that Crash Course and Swamp Fever have different lines for this wave. The Crash Course will require a Survivor to restart the generator, while the Swamp Fever can feature two Tanks at the same time. This wave ends when all Tanks are dead.

Fifth wave
The fifth wave begins after the second Tank has been killed. The rescue vehicle will arrive shortly after the Tank's death and the Survivors must reach the vehicle. This wave is the largest of the five and consists of several groups of hordes, and a Tank. The Common Infected will continuously respawn, with Tanks re-spawning every time after the previous one is killed. The level will end when all the living and stable Survivors enter the rescue vehicle. Any Survivors who do manage to get in the vehicle, but are incapacitated (by a piece of concrete thrown by the Tank for example) before all Survivors gets inside/on the vehicle will count as dead, unless they are somehow helped back up on their feet before the vehicle takes off. As all incapacitated Survivors count as dead, even they are incapacitated in the rescue vehicle, the only way to save them is have at least one standing Survivor stay outside the vehicle until the other teammates have saved the incapacitated ones.

Notice that for the Dark Carnival campaign, the rescue vehicle may arrive at two different positions, and it is hard for the Survivors to get to another position if they find out that they have chosen the wrong one.

Left 4 Dead 2's Finales
Dark Carnival, Swamp Fever, and Hard Rain have finales like the ones in Left 4 Dead, with some differences. In Dark Carnival the rescue vehicle can spawn at two different locations and in Swamp Fever, two Tanks can appear at the same time during the fourth wave. There are also some very unique finales that deviate from the usual formula. In The Parish's finale, Survivors will have to constantly move to a rescue vehicle on the opposite side of a bridge and Tanks spawn at set points along the bridge, rather than at set times. Dead Center's and The Passing finale are a slight variation of Scavenge Mode in which the Survivors find Gas cans throughout the level in order to use the rescue vehicle.