Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Precinct 84 | 4-Map Campaign ( 2018 Edition )
Nicky Grimes 10 Jun, 2023 @ 6:46pm
Nicky's Review of Precinct 84: Run and Gun through the City!
This isn't the first time that I've played it. However, I remember what it first felt like going through it for the first time. It seemed like a much longer campaign than before, but now it seems super short.

Custom spawn rates for the Special Infected doubled if you were in tight corners. This was much more than expecting them to show up within larger open areas to allow players to have more fighting room. I recommend keeping a melee on you at all times as close quarters combat with very frequent Spitters and Boomers can cause the hordes to feel claustrophobic at times.

The navigation was great within the first half of the campaign. Throughout the second half, I wouldn't say it felt disappointing but it started to feel redundant when traversing through the last of the city. From the bus tunnels, to the subway, into the police district - that was the timeline of where it started to feel confusing of where to go. It would be helpful to have at least some more signs up, especially at the part where you have to activate the gate.

I would've had no idea that the button to open the gated garage door was an open switch (without a door), and it was located in another smaller room of the tunnel. It's a lot of smoke and when I got confused going through there twice, I really would like to see signs being implemented more as this can hinder the flow of gameplay that the campaign carried.

To resolve this issue, I'd recommend turning on Game Instructor if you're going through for the very first time, or if you're not good with recalling directions in general. There's not a lot of signs telling you where to go. This makes players depend on searching for the graffiti paint and paying close attention to the walls to see large abnormal holes.

Large busted holes in the wall and the floor are your keys to getting through a lot of buildings that thrives on stairs.

As Po in Kung Fu Panda once said, "Stairs... my old nemesis..."
For those experiencing motion sickness, I'd recommend to play with a friend and have them guide you throughout parts that may induce it along with other side effects.

The landmarks are recognizable and it's super helpful in getting more ammo. A very clever move on the author's part to have your weapons discovered in stores rather than scattering them all over the map. It helps make up for players not being rewarded throughout the levels if they're searching nook and cranny for objects. An earlier time that I played on Advanced difficulty, weapons and medkits were very rare. Two segments of the campaign had the most weapons - Before and during the traverse on the Metro and the finale.

The finale itself felt very rewarding when looking for items. This was one of my favorite challenges to play through. There's very good furniture and the interior architecture definitely impressed me! It may look mundane, but I can tell that the author holds respect to this particular area. The offices are super clean, save for some scattered paperwork.

The only mystery I have is who is the officer's frame in the office near the saferoom. Just a theory, it could be the cop asks you to be filled up at the gas station.

Continuing on with the finale, I think it provides a very decent challenge in getting players to be alert of where the hordes are coming from. They're pouring in from all sides. Nowhere is safe. The best strategy we had for both Normal and Advanced playthroughs is to bring vomitjars and stock up on adrenaline. Don't use the medkits yet until you're below 50%-75%. Keep distracting the zombies while you're healing.

The two Tanks still gives a great surprise each time. It was funny to see the both of them heading towards a lone player.

If you're looking to play this in Versus or have more hardcore challenges, I recommend this map over Detour Ahead. The nighttime setting doesn't strain the eyes. Both Survivors and Infected are able to take advantage of hiding places (try playing it with the outlines disabled!).

I also commend the author for using the cop car as a memorable landmark to place the ammo, throwables, and healing items in. This helps players backtrack very frequently throughout all difficulties. I may have missed out on some melee items while running around that part.

The least favorite part of the campaign would be the tunnel for me because while environmental storytelling is a very good narrative than using the instructior hint tool repeatedly, it would be great to have a sign that gives a hint to where players can find the switch to open the garage door. It was also challenging to jump over the walls itself as all of the cars had alarm. This definitely forced us to pause the director for a longer time than usual.

The tighest space was in the club. A strategy to beat this was clearing out the horde within the area first, then dealing with the tank. The horde will still activate when you press the button to pull the curtain. However, there's another strategy for that: Leave the club and remain outside so you have a wider area to fight the Tank.

I believe this campaign is very good with great gameplay, lots of elevation (if you like stairs), and has a lot of potential for better navigation if there's other future maps released like this. As a custom map maker, I took a lot of notes that'll carry on into better functionality for any future endeavors.

Well done, author! This one's a keeper!