Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing (PC/360) Review

So just a few days ago Valve released the first DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 which is a mini-campaign called The Passing. Its free if you have the PC version and will cost you around $7/560 Microsoft Points to buy it from the Xbox Live marketplace.

Who's that? Is it an old friend?

The smallest aspect of this DLC is the story like in both Left 4 Dead games. There isn't much story wise with The Passing taking place in between the first campaign Dead Center and the second campaign Dark Carnival. It has the cast of Left 4 Dead 2 meeting up with the cast of Left 4 Dead 1 and your trying to lower a bridge. Thats right some bridge lowering fun (that was not sarcasm as it is really fun). The only thing you could say it does add is that one of the original survivors has died but to find out which one you'll just have to play. Aside from one of the original cast having died it doesn't add any new story elements but why would they? You don't really go to a game like Left 4 Dead for story you go to it for being able to shoot an untold amount of zombies.

The picnic was sadly ruined under threat of cannibalism

Presentation wise it finally added in an urban campaign more akin to the first game. With the beefed up engine that Left 4 Dead 2 has it lets the environment be more varied. In fact you could say it takes elements from other campaigns add puts them all in together. A good example of this would be the weather elements in The Passing. It is basically raining the entire time and can escalate in ferocity depending on how well the group is doing. So at certain times it can be a complete storm limiting how far you can see making your group a lot more vulnerable to special infected attacks then you'd like to be. It takes this weather idea from the campaign Heavy Rain. So Valve is putting its own great ideas to use once again in new content. You even go underneath the city at one point running through dark tunnels trying to make your way to the safe room and your limited to what you can see with your flashlight making it easy to wander off in the wrong direction at certain points and easy for infected to come out of nowhere at times. Its locations are varied for something like DLC especially if you compare it to Left 4 Dead 1's DLC Crash Course. Oh and it still looks great even with its aged engine. You still won't necessarily be wowed with it if you compare it to say Mass Effect 2 but its horror movie vibe still works really well especially since they still utilise the film grain effect and it works extremely well for this campaign.

There's even a reference to Dead Rising in it!

But what does it add to Left 4 Dead 2's game play? Well a new campaign is an always welcome addition to any campaign but what truly does The Passing add other then the Left 4 Dead 2's cast meeting up with Left 4 Dead 1's? The new gun the M60 is great even if it does have limited ammo like the grenade launcher but one hitting normal infected is always a great feeling especially when your able to go all Rambo on zombie's asses. The new melee weapon the golf club is another cool edition and its strength lies in its reach and possible comedic value (zombie golf anyone?) but it is pretty easy to want another weapon instead, like the ninja sword or chainsaw. It doesn't change the formula of the game at all with the same old get to the end of the area with a finale. What you do during the finale is kinda disappointing but you can see why Valve choose it so the original survivors are able to assist you. One problem in this as you don't play with the survivors or even see one of them aside from the beginning of the campaign. Its easy to go into the campaign thinking that you'll be playing the entire time with the original cast but sadly that's not a reality. Valve also added in a new uncommon common infected called the fallen survivor if you can kill it drops supplies like a med kit, pills, and pipe bombs. They are tough to kill though being fast and able to take at least 2 shotgun blasts before they die but you'll want to track these guys down every chance you get since they're extremely useful.

Multi-player wise it adds in one new scavenge map called Port and lets you play the entire campaign in versus mode. Since its a urban map with tall buildings this is where infected like the hunter will be extremely useful (considering the hunter was your main damage infected in Left 4 Dead 1) and there are the usual spots like a death pull that are included as well.

The coolest thing though is the addition of special game modes called mutations where they simply change something about the current game modes. May it be something like adding Realism features to Versus Mode or giving you a chainsaw with unlimited gas. These change every single week giving players something new to play with every week along with choosing what one will return the next month by having a poll up on the website. What else could be confusing about what mutations are is that they could be thought to be just tacked onto the current game modes making you unable to play that certain mode without it. Mutations are actually their own game type you can still enjoy normal campaign, versus, realism and scavenge modes at all times. Its a nice addition that probably keep people bored with normal game modes a new toy to play with.

At the end of the day (or night?) The Passing adds a considerable amount to the game and is definitely worth picking up if you love Left 4 Dead 2. If you rarely play it though like all DLC its hard to recommend if you rarely play the game. If you do though it gives you even more opportunities to shoot zombies and really is that ever a bad thing?

-Ryan P.