The Highway

"Hey, Whispering Oaks! Shit, I used to go there when I was a kid!"

- Coach "Whispering Oaks! We made it!"

- Ellis/Rochelle

The Highway is the first chapter in the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign Dark Carnival. It was first revealed at the Penny Arcade Expo and again in Tokyo Game Show '09. The highway is a long stretch of road filled with dozen of abandoned cars. The Survivors are blocked by this and are forced to abandon their car too. Finding the only way to the carnival they must traverse a highway off ramp and proceed under the overpass. The carnival searchlights can be seen off in the distance. The Survivors then need to navigate through an abandoned motel as the road to the carnival is blocked by a tractor trailer.

Campaign
The campaign starts off in Griffin County with the Survivors standing behind Jimmy Gibbs Junior's stock car, lamenting that they can take it no further due to the interstate being clogged with "twenty miles" of stalled and crashed vehicles.

The A.l. Survivors will take these guns:
 * Nick will take a Silenced Submachine Gun.
 * Rochelle will take a Silenced Submachine Gun.
 * Coach will take a Chrome Shotgun.
 * Ellis will take a Chrome Shotgun.

Players must work their way through wrecked cars, fighting off several Infected. A truck in the middle of the road may have either a throwable item, an Adrenaline Shot, Pills, Propane or a Gas can. Go onto the off-ramp to find a Shotgun or Submachine gun, a Gas can or two, a melee weapon, throwables and occasionally an Ammo Upgrade there. Go to the Jeep, and there's usually a throwable or temporary heal item with an ammo stash. Go under the two highways. If a Horde attacks while you're at the Jeep, the Horde will come from the bushes to the left.

If you go left, there will be another truck with a gas can, a throwable item, or propane tank. This spot is much better, as when you see the motel you can avoid the Witch and have a height advantage over the Tank if it spawns there. Players should, if needed, use their weaponry to pick off several Common Infected below to prevent them from climbing up. Players who face Hordes here will have them attack from behind.

Once clear of the under-bridges, players will notice the Whispering Oaks Motel with a large billboard looming over it up an incline to the right. (Alternatively players can simply head up the incline between the two bridges, get onto the bridge and follow it to the billboard.) By jumping onto the white sedan next to the billboard players can access the walkways on the billboard; here will always be found a hunting rifle. The fine vista over the motel from this vantage point gives both an overall orientation and a sprinkling of sniping opportunities, especially when a Tank comes. However, going down the ladder a little and jumping causes instant incapacitation. Jumping from the ladder at the top will cause instant death; so players should jump past the railing instead and onto the rooftop of the motel's buildings, unless a Tank has spawned.

Careful inspection of all the rooms in the motel reception office block is well rewarded with very useful supplies like Laser sights, weapons, explosives, etc. Individual motel rooms always contain pills, adrenaline shots, pipe bombs, melee weapons, ammo and molotovs.

The parking lot contains an alarmed car, either near the offices or the hotel rooms. The pool area (which is accessed via two separate entrance ways) usually contains a couple of gas cans that can be sniped to burn out some inappropriately dressed Infected. Nick can be sarcastic and say "These people sucked at HIGH diving." or Ellis might say "Poor people. All they wanted to go for was a swim." The pool also has some Gas cans, a Submachine gun or Shotgun, and other various items, such as Ammo upgrades, melee weapons, throwables and health kits. If you jump onto the plant near the fence, you will find some extra Commons. They can be easily killed, and sometimes a Special Infected might spawn there. The only ones that you have to worry about if this happens would be the Boomer and Smoker as they will be able to get you. Other Specials don't tend to climb up the fence to attack you.

Go up the stairs on the far side of the motel; a broken wall can be seen and you can go inside, getting access to some temporary health items and a health kits, various melee weapons, ammo stashes, and usually a shotgun or submachine gun.

Once players have fully explored the motel they can get moving to the next stage of the chapter by going up to the far end of the motel overlooking the pool and entering the motel unit with a broken wall. (Trying to jump the gap in the external balcony is futile and will simply result in injury, along with you not reaching the other side) Players should be careful, since a Witch might block up the door that players must get through. Once in the neighboring unit it is a simple matter to get out onto the balcony through the window. On approaching the end of the balcony overlooking the highway players can practice their sniping by mopping up random Infected milling around on the highway and in the bushes behind the motel. At this point the Common Infected may get agitated and try to storm up the stairs and if a co-op team is taking its time a Spitter, Jockey or Charger may arrive to ginger everyone up. Before leaving the motel, if your team is missing some items for themselves, checking the bottom two rooms after jumping on the window usually results in some Pain Pills or Adrenaline.

Next, players make their way round the back of the motel and follow a crazy-paving path leading to a large steep-sided gully. A good idea is to look down the gully and note a series of small ledges that invariably contain nice items like Propane Tanks, Gas Cans, grenades - and bad things like Witches. Note in particular the broad ledge right at the end of the path, it is a gentle drop down and often has vaguely useful supplies (like a Propane Tank). Check the two cliffs on the side going down the gully. Both can contain various items which can be useful against the Infected below. If planning to explore both cliffs, check the one without the corpse first: you can jump to the other side whereas you cannot on the other side, even with an Adrenaline shot.

Although steep, there is no danger in sliding or dropping down the gully to the bottom but it is helpful to try and end up in an open area at the bottom because, if they have not yet made their appearance, a horde of Common Infected is certain to charge down from the motel and being in an open space enables a team to form up and cull it.

It should be noted that the gully is a "point of no return." Co-op teams must bear in mind that Smokers, Hunters and Jockeys can easily kill someone if the rest of their teammates have already gone down the gully and they are still up on the cliff. It is thus essential to stick together and ensure everyone goes off down the gully simultaneously. However there are chances when saving the Survivor is impossible, especially if they fail to kill it before the Survivor is incapacitated. Bots, however, are not much of a worry, as they can quickly find the Smoker and save the player/s.

The gully floor is a treacherous place. It is filled with Infected, has poor sight lines, movement through the river is slow and combat is at close quarters for the most part. Hunting rifles are ideal to delouse the river area at a distance and submachine and shotgunners must handle the rest. (Any unfortunate deceased player will respawn in a small outhouse at the end of the river area.)

Note that there is a rock at the bottom of the gully that was overlooked when programming so Infected will stop giving chase when a player jumps up on it.

At the end of the river bank area, there's a car there, along with a Propane tank in the water. The car should be steer cleared of, as a Tank might punch it and incapacitate everyone in one strike, so players should find another way to escape the Tank without crossing the car. Players in the river should be careful of Infected to their right, and near the outhouse there can be various items like throwables, Health kits, etc.

Just below the brow of the hill is a good time for the team to extend ranks, check magazines and prepare for the final push. Always watch out for Witches who spawn in the hill area; however they can be easily avoided. Once you get up to Whispering Oaks, take notice of your surroundings. Immediately watch for the alarmed car. If a horde comes when you're at the first step in, they will spawn from the hill you just advanced. If near the safe room, they will spawn near the fenced off area. If a Witch has not spawned yet, it will be there, usually at the point where you can avoid her. Otherwise she will be hiding under one of the safety barriers and can be a problem. If you encounter a Tank, it will usually spawn near the car or just outside the safe room. If it spawns near the car, fall back or he can punch you, sending you to your death. If it spawns near the safe room, lure it near the Jeep as the Tank cannot punch it. Get inside the safe room and close the door quickly!

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!

The Infected
The Smoker: You have many great places to hide in. The dark atmosphere spaces and bushes are excellent spots for you. Camouflage yourself in the bushes to hide from the Survivors, and grab one of them. Good opportunity to snag some Survivors are around the motel area and just before the Survivors enter the valley. If you can grab one of them and force some or all of the team to return to save them, you've done well. There are many bushy areas to hide in, and it gives you plenty of dark corners to attack from.

The Boomer: Always bear in mind that as a Boomer you have very low health. Close quarters are your friend and a level such as this can be tricky for you due to all the open space. Hide in the bushes where you can, but begin to move if you spot them! Once you've attacked, be sure to take cover back in the bushes and keep moving to prevent them from spotting you! You can place yourself near alarmed cars to set their alarms off, or hide in the walls of the motel and vomit on them when they come near you.

The Hunter:

The Charger:

The Jockey:

The Spitter:

The Tank: Tanks can kill anyone and anything in their path. Watch out for the pool area, where they are many gas cans to light you up, and it might be hard to move around the motel. Throw rocks at Survivors who are unaware of where you are and always punch them off great distances to kill them instantly. If you spawn near the entrance of the motel, you will have a slight disadvantage as you have no cars or objects to punch. If you spawn near Whispering Oaks, punch Survivors back to the valley. If you do it correctly, you can instantly kill to a Survivor. If needed, punch the alarmed car to instantly incapacitate Survivors. However, it is best to have extra allies help as Common Infected can slow players down, allowing you to catch up with them if needed.

Survival
Bedroom Method


 * This requires a Combat Rifle and a melee weapon. A pipe bomb is advised as well. Grab your supplies and head upstairs. Now go to the furthest room, it should have a katana, a first aid kit, a defibrillator and a Molotov. Using the defibrillator, take an extra first aid kit or some special ammo upstairs. Start. In this room, you have a good amount of supplies. Smokers can't get you, the horde is delayed, you have plenty of room to maneuver, and Chargers are almost useless. Jockeys are the biggest threat, as they can take you to the bottom floor. When the Tank comes, leave the room and take him down. When the second Tank comes, throw the pipe-bomb. Then take him down. Now pick whatever explosive you like and hold out. The Combat Rifle is required to take out Jockeys and Tanks from range, and the melee is used to: A. get you to the room and B. Help when you need to leave when Tanks arrive.

Parking Area Method 


 * Grab your supplies and start the game. Stay at the parking lot as it is a wide open area. When the Tank arrives, go upstairs (don't enter to any room). If the Tank follow you to upstairs, simply go down again (no fall damage will be taken). Repeat until The Tank dies, then go back to your defensive area.

Scavenge
The Motel is the only scavenge level available for Dark Carnival so far. One very effective tactic for this one is to all scope the ground floor together to prevent hunters, chargers, smokers etc from picking off stragglers. A hunting rifle/military sniper rifle is a good asset to your team especially for any Smokers or Spitters guarding the fuel generator. Proceed to the building directly opposite the pool exit and retrieve those first, then move on to the other ground floor cans. Once all have been retrieved, split up. A sniper and shotgunner should stay by the generator: the sniper covering the two Survivors proceeding up stairs the shotgunner covering the sniper, whilst the others (assalt rifle and shotgunner) search the upper floor, sticking together. Due to the open balcony, the sniper should have no trouble covering the two on the upstairs floor. The upper floor team should be picking up cans and throwing them down to the generator whilst the shotgunner pours and the sniper keeps an eye out for that troublesome Spitter. Overall this tactic (if done correctly) should work. So good luck!