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[[File:Crash Course|250px]]
Crash Course
Tagline "Crashing will be the easiest thing they do today."
Creator Valve Software
Chapters
  1. The Alleys
  2. The Truck Depot Finale


"Crashing will be the easiest thing they do today."


Crash Course is the first DLC campaign for Left 4 Dead.[1] [2] It is free on the PC, but normally costs 560 Microsoft Points for the Xbox 360. It was released on September 29th 2009. According to Valve it is meant to bridge the gap between No Mercy and Death Toll. The campaign was released for Left 4 Dead 2 on November 4th, 2011, for public testing and is part of the Cold Stream DLC.

Crash Course begins shortly after the events of No Mercy. The helicopter pilot from the Rooftop Finale finally succumbed to the Infection and was killed by Zoey in mid-flight. The helicopter crashed just outside of the city of Fairfield in Whitney County which is where the campaign begins.

Starting from next to the helicopter crash site, the Survivors must traverse Fairfield's extensive industrial area to get to a truck depot where an armored truck mounted on an workshop hoist must be lowered and boarded to escape Fairfield and get to the town of Riverside where a military evacuation center is reported to be. (This plan foreshadows and contextualizes the Death Toll campaign).

Below is a complete list of video walkthroughs of the 2 levels:

  1. The Alleys
  2. The Truck Depot Finale

Note that the gameplay videos are on each campaign's info page not on each map page.

Released in Crash Course

(Note that of these features only apply to Crash Course)

  • Sometimes only one or two of the second tier weapons spawn at a spawn site.
  • Alarmed cars now spawn at different locations.
  • Sometimes rooms that may contain items are barricaded.
  • New dialogue for Zoey, Louis, and Francis.
  • 10 new Achievements.
  • 2 new Survival maps.

Achievements

See Main Article: Achievements

L4d achievement survive garage
CRASH-PROOF (15G)
Survive the Crash Course Campaign.



L4d achievement tank explosion stun
TANK STUMBLE (20G)
Stun a Tank with an explosion in the Crash Course campaign.



L4d achievement win versus garage
SMASH HIT (25G)
Win a Versus campaign of Crash Course.



L4d achievement repower generator
QUICK POWER (25G)
Restart the generator within 30 seconds of it shutting off in the Crash Course campaign.



L4d achievement 5359 infected garage
THE LITTLEST GENOCIDE (25G)
Kill 5,359 Infected in the Crash Course campaign.



L4d achievement cause x pounce damage
JUMPIN' JACK SMASH (25G)
Pounce a Survivor for 25 points of damage in the Crash Course campaign.



L4d achievement drag biled survivor
SLIPPERY PULL (25G)
Smoker pull a bile-covered Survivor until you hold him during Crash Course.



L4d 20 car pile-up
20 CAR PILE-UP (20G)
As a Tank hit 20 Survivors with a car in the Crash Course campaign.



L4d achievement wipe all after truck
TRUCK STOP (35G)
Your team wipes all Survivors after the escape vehicle has opened in Crash Course.



L4d achievement incapacitate 3 in 5 sec
WIPEFEST (35G)
Your team incapacitates three Survivors within five seconds in the Crash Course campaign.


Notes

Chopper Pilot

Dead Chopper Pilot

  • The DLC also includes a recharge timer for the Infected and new item spawn behavior.
  • Crash Course is the only campaign in Left 4 Dead to start at the rescue vehicle of the previous campaign.
  • The new campaign is much shorter than the others. This was a deliberate decision on the part of Valve so that players could experience a much shorter and much more intense game in Versus mode. Consequently out of all the Left 4 Dead scenarios, this campaign features the highest density of Special Infected enemies, throwables, Gas Cans and Propane Tanks relative to time played and player distance covered.
  • On the campaign poster, Louis and Francis are both dual wielding with a primary weapon and a pistol. However this cannot be done in gameplay.
  • Like in other Campaign posters, Bill and Louis are holding scoped MP5 submachine guns. These weapons are not included in the game but do appear in the German version of Left 4 Dead 2.
  • The body of the pilot can be found right behind propped up against a wall next to the crashed helicopter at the start of the first chapter. If anyone but Bill goes over and looks at him, their character will usually utter some remark about him. As his executioner, Zoey's epitaph is particularly cutting.
  • Alarmed cars will spawn at different locations on every play through.
  • The armored truck (bus) in the finale closely resembles that depicted in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead, including the cow-catcher's paint job.
  • Bill did not get new lines for this campaign. When activating the generator he reuses "Watch my back" and "I'm getting too old for this horseshit." He also says very little throughout the campaign although he occasionally says "Get to the chopper!" when telling the people to get on the bus. Commentators have suggested this due to Valve being unable to contact Jim French (Bill's voice actor) in time to meet the campaign's production deadline.
    • However, according to the three lines "Player.NamVet_dlc2_Generic43", "Player.NamVet_dlc2WorldFarmHouseNPC12" and "Player.NamVet_dlc2WorldSmallTownNPCBoatman11" it is totally confirmed that Jim French was meant to be there while Crash Course was in the works (or before the Chopper Pilot's "becoming infected" scene was cut from the game). As some lines cut from Left 4 Dead had been added in while others were left out.
  • If the subtitles are on, one will notice that all Crash Course sensitive lines are Francis' dark gray color, regardless of who speaks.
  • Crash Course's finale is the only finale in Left 4 Dead without someone actually piloting the rescue vehicle: the armored truck departs with an empty driver's seat.
  • This campaign is the first to have a finale in Left 4 Dead with no radio telling players to prepare (the second being The Sacrifice). The finale compensates by giving players ample Infected-free time to get ready once they have cleared out the finale venue of random Common Infected. (Note that there is a corpse with an unusable hand held radio near the truck but this has no gameplay significance.).
  • Crash Course is the first campaign in Left 4 Dead to have Tier 2 weapon spawn points occasionally featuring only one or two, instead of the usual three, weapons.
  • The Crash Course achievements "Jumpin' Jack Smash", "Slippery Pull", and "Smash Hit" are broken and will not unlock if you play on a dedicated server. There is no known cause for the issue, but programmers have speculated that Valve never updated its dedicated servers correctly. For the Xbox 360, one can unlock all the achievements for Crash Course by playing on a local server or through system link. Playing on a local server can be achieved at random, but rarely. There is a way to force your game into a local server by tampering with the internet connection as the game begins searching for a dedicated server. This method has been confirmed to work and requires two controllers and a wired internet connection through a router. Set up a versus lobby for Crash Course, friends only, with your 2nd controller signed in as your guest. Notice in the top left corner of the screen it says "Select START THE GAME to Begin." This area is your point of reference for this entire method. Before starting the game, you want to find the Ethernet cable that connects the router to the modem (NOT the connection between the console and the router). Right before you hit "start game" or simultaneously, you want to unplug that connection from the back of the router. The top left corner of the screen should say "Searching for Dedicated Server." After a few seconds, the top left corner of the screen will change to "Starting Game in 5 seconds" and start counting down. Reconnect the cable to the router and that's it. Once the game has loaded, you can invite friends in and since the game is on a local server, any achievements that are fulfilled will be unlocked.
  • Progression for the "20-Car Pile Up" achievement can only be accomplished on a dedicated server. If playing on a local server, hitting survivors with a car does not count towards the achievement. Interestingly, this is the exact opposite of the three broken achievements.
  • Some achievements may unlock when a player has done something completely opposite to its task - in case of Smash Hit, the game may be lost yet the achievement still gained.
  • Some poster anomalies are glaringly evident. In the poster, the helicopter looks like a military issued MH-53 helicopter but in-game it is clearly of civilian registration. The poster also depicts it as being crashed on its front, when the actual helicopter crashed on its side. Finally, the poster features heavy fire or daylight lightning whereas the campaign takes place at night using lighting conditions similar to those experienced in Death Toll.
  • This campaign's coding appears to reflect deadline driven or creative experimentation DLC production values as some areas are randomly blocked off that sometimes contain items, car alarm locations change, deep water instantly killing anyone who goes in it, and weapons spawn sporadically rather than in groups.
  • A "Crash Course" is a quick lesson on something. The campaign probably got this name because the Survivor's crashed in the beginning, it is a short Campaign and Valve developed it under urgency to meet a market deadline.
  • Due to Crash Course's short length, some players utilize it to complete several full-campaign achievements which would otherwise be extremely difficult to do in other campaigns (e.g.) Nothing Special, Akimbo Assassin, etc..
  • There is a reference to the popular British comedy show I.T. Crowd when Louis during the Truck DepotTruck Depot Finale utters one of Roy's phrases by "Have you tried turning it on and off again?".
  • Tanks and Witches seem to spawn much more frequently in the first chapter. This is probably done deliberately to create a more intense experience and to compensate for the chapter's short length.
  • There is a small reference in the Survivor's saga between the time of their escaping in the armored truck and the start of the Death Toll campaign. Francis, for example, makes no reference to this vehicle in the subsequent (2010) The Sacrifice comic. However, he does say that the helicopter crashed.
  • Crash Course is included in the upcoming DLC Cold Stream, along with Death Toll, Dead Air and Blood Harvest, according to a poll on the blog post as well as Twitter.
  • Compared to the other ported campaigns from Left 4 Dead into Left 4 Dead 2, Crash Course is the least modified campaign, retaining most of its original layout and features.
  • Lights can be seen during the campaign coming from a church. This may be [Riverside first church], as seen in death toll. If so the church guy may already be there.

References

Campaigns
Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead 2
Achievement Mercy Killer No Mercy
The Apartments / The Subway / The Sewer / The Hospital / Rooftop Finale
Achievement Price Chopper Dead Center
The Hotel / The Streets / The Mall / The Atrium
Achievement Crash-proof Crash Course
The Alleys / The Truck Depot Finale
Achievement Torch Bearer The Passing
The Riverbank / The Underground / The Port
Achievement Toll Collector Death Toll
The Turnpike / The Drains / The Church / The Town / Boathouse Finale
Achievement Midnight Rider Dark Carnival
The Highway / The Fairgrounds / The Coaster / The Barns / The Concert
Achievement Dead Baron Dead Air
The Greenhouse / The Crane / The Construction Site / The Terminal / Runway Finale
Achievement Ragin' Cajun Swamp Fever
Plank Country / The Swamp / Shanty Town / The Plantation
Achievement Grim Reaper Blood Harvest
The Woods / The Tunnel / The Bridge / The Train Station / Farmhouse Finale
Achievement Weatherman Hard Rain
The Milltown / The Sugar Mill / Mill Escape / Return To Town / Town Escape
Achievement Supreme Sacrifice The Sacrifice
The Docks / The Barge / Port Finale
Achievement Bridge Burner The Parish
The Waterfront / The Park / The Cemetery / The Quarter / The Bridge
Non-Canon Campaigns
Achievement Last Stand The Last Stand
The Lighthouse
Achievement Stream Crosser Cold Stream
Alpine Creek / South Pine Stream / Memorial Bridge / Cut-throat Creek
L4D Random Map Cropped Dam It (unfinished)
Orchard / Campground / Dam
Achievement Still Standing The Last Stand
The Junkyard / Lighthouse Finale
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