Finale

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

- Nick

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

- Bill



The Finale of a campaign is, of course, the last level 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 level, 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.

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.

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 once 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 Boomer has vomited on you.

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
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.

Fifth wave
The fifth wave begins after the second Tank has been killed. The rescue vehicle will arrive shortly after the tanks 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 Infected will continuously respawn, with Tanks re-spawning every couple of minutes. 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.

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 2 different locations and in Swamp Fever two Tanks 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.