Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Dark Wood (Extended) Part 1/5
Faith 26 Dec, 2015 @ 6:57pm
A little "review" of this beautiful campaign
A "little" Review:

If the autor doesn't take this post out... then we're good...

Well, this campaign was a such a piece of art in making, edition, and atmosphere
Telling this for a guy that only plays for fun and expect every campaign to just be a place to run and shoot, this campaign was atractive from the very start, (Note: I'm a guy that doesn't get too scared, hard to jumpscare, and doesn't feel any gross sensation for a nasty thing) Well, let's go:

Chapter one:
This chapter to me, was a long decent first chapter, it has a good setup point, then the notable thing on the map, a Dark Wood (yeah...) that barely could be seen something, i play with gamma at high, and 100% monitor lighting, so i don't want to find that at low... the map spawned 2 wandering Witches in the forest, so i didn't even wanted to shoot, well, next major thing... a big... valley? canyon? idk, but when crossed a certain point a random horde came, and a message popped saying "Run to the cove" "Make your way to the cove" i don't know, i just finished the map and i have bad memory, there was bridges and uncovered roads, i was paying attention to every Smoker, every Charger and every Jockey, i'd like to instead having a random horde, something would've popped out, like some crows (Blood Harvest chap 5 and Sacrifice chap 2 alike) but that was a little detail, then we get to the cove, a cool looking cove, just beautiful, oh, there's a hole there, watch it... then... a labyrinth... i still don't remember how i found the exit... and then... end of the level... i think i'm spoiling so much so i'll go with the level design:
Very well made, maybe the best first chapter i've ever felt, long enough, well... The next levels are TWICE the long, one can see the effort on the design good atmosphere, i felt umcomfortable in the forest... for real... [Overall: 8/10] Next.

Chapter two:
Not spoiling too much of the campaign, so let's see what can i do...
The level... if i thought that was a labyrinth, this level is worse... i had a little remorse of sometimes going the right path and sometimes not... even i went back to the saferoom without noticing... close environment = hard Tank, Witch, Spitter, Charger points, but nothing out of the ordinary, this map, (and all the campaign) has some rewards for exploration, when i walked to a hallway that surely wasn't the way, i surely said there will be something else, and yeah!, some rooms with items, extra paths, and yeah, surely spawnable items spots... well... I found this, and i though, what a great easter egg... https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=584579642
the panic event, was a gauntlet event, we had to turn an alarm off on a third or fourth floor, the path in the event is well designed, points where the infected can spawn, second routes, just great, the level design, what i think was... a factory? i don't know, but was underground for sure, a nice addition was to find a way to open a door, (You know, those things always alerts zombies), but there was no zombie! just need to find a button to open it, well, the rest was the same labyrinth... yet, what most surprised me was the fact that, you could've thought that you walked a lot of the map, but if you looked it, you can see the parts you already passed a long ago... i didn't even know if i was going right or left, north or south... just... well made, exploration reward, and a good panic event, oh... and F**K THE LASERS!! since RE4 i've been scared of lasers... well... [Overall 9/10] Next.

Chapter three:
Now we're on a laboratory, what a place! nice small details, great environment, and Geez... some points just well elaborated, multiple hallways, auto-opening doors, trapped specimens (at this point i was starting to feel... gross, i think i'll never see the Mudmen the same), real and live machinery, and vent crawling with another random panic event... but the zombies looked horrible, Bloody biker zombies in a blood infested vent... i'd prefeer to eat after the campaign... well, at the point, the panic event... um... let me rephrase that... THE PANIC EVENT (the most coolest panic event i've ever seen) if you haven't played it, this is the point of spoilers
I have never thought that we had to destroy the core of the laboratory, yet the coolest thing of all, only 2 minutes to escape! a little cinematic showed a door ceiling opening, and you need to make your way quick! i almost didn't made it, and the saferoom was the elevator, after triggering the elevator, another cutscene appeared of the lab blowing up, was so cool!

The lab design is great, small details, narrow paths, a lot of hallways... [Overall 9/10] Next.

Chapter four:
Are you still with me? yeah? well, here, have a cookie 🍪. I will have nightmares with this one... "a psycho said that you can jump off a ladder without getting hurt" (Parish map 5 saferoom maybe? i didn't wanted to find that out) Vertigo... vertigo vertigo vertigo!... the longest ladders ever... i almost lost it at this point... then... then... a pool of blood and dirty mug... in a rusty place underground... dude... i almost puked.... well, after making our way through this level, there was a point that i know, there was not a horde... but a Tank... surely a Tank... a Squared place... surrounded by gates... and an elevator to get out... and yeah... i was right... that was a nice event, very cool in my opinion, ok... this is the darkest place i've ever witnessed... and i've played a lot of scary games... Outlast, the great SCP, and even FNaF... but let's not revive that thing right now... a creepy atmosphere... in a what i thought i was... an abandoned jail from the '50... creepy, creepy, nasty, nasty... color red... that won't go out of my head now, kudos, props, and everything to the creator... after walking around, and around, we found ourselves in the next panic event... another gauntlet, but this is even more creative!, you have to go opening a lot of gates one by one to get to the button, that was cool, the most creative panic event i've saw, and after a lot of pukes, pauses to get fresh air, and some bravery injections... the end of the most disgusting and amazing levels i've ever saw... an elevator!! yeah!! And yeah, here is him again, https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=584580722 i wonder if i missed him in the Chapter 1 and 3 too, will replay the levels just to find the G-Man. After all i said, i actually liked it, that was better in my opinion than most scary games nowadays, the most amazing environment in the whole campaign, a dark atmosphere, and a great level design, did i mention i almost puked? well... [Overall 10/10] couldn't wait to end that level...

Chapter five:
Dude! an Underground Mausoleum from the Medieval times! those of the churches of Roma and some other places in Europe!, those ones of the Corrupted Catholic Communities goberned by the Popes used to secretly comunicate! and yeah... torturing, killing and burying people... well, nice detail!! seeing that just made me feel that i learned something from the school! just kidding, i studied a little bit of that, made me feel proud of myself! now, getting back to the level, great design, just like those famous ones, this one was filled with bones and corpses, but after completing chapter 4, that's nothing, it even has the classic secret path by pulling a torch, just, great, after dropping down, and more tunnel crawling... finally we find an exit! i was hoping that the finale wasn't a Scavenge one, fortunately, it wasn't
a classic Holdout, Tank, Holdout, Tank, Escape... inside of a church!, oh and remember the traps of Ravenholm in HL2?, those... Spinning Sawblades? They are back!, The church design was great, most places are patched, you can't use the scaffolding... sad, i tried, maybe you can, but i didn't made it, since the Event is a Holdout, there's nothing else to say, just the Escape is by chopper, and in the background i could see a bridge... but that's besides the point, this level was great, i wanted a second floor in the church, but for now, this is one well made map [Overall 9/10]


Overall:

I didn't find any major bugs, neither minor bugs, just the classic one that allows to grab items through walls, but that's more of the game itself than the campaign, This campaign is now in my top 5, if not my number 1, first time i got a Gross sensation since Outlast, a Panic sensation (Chapter 4, never again) since... uhhh... FNaF 1... (Don't kill me), i'm not that kind of guy that gets scared easily, but the tension was real within this one...
The Campaign itself, great, 9.5/10 Could play again, Long... took me 2 hours and 16 minutes solo Advanced, i wasn't rushing, i was looking in every room, and every hallway,
Well designed, almost perfect... not as bugged and tricky as the default ones... Good rated, Favorited, nothing else to say...

Is there more easter eggs like the G-Man ones? i only found those and the Loony Park which was in plane sight...

Overall: 9.5/10 "Campaign of the Year, Decade, Century and Millenium"
Last edited by Faith; 28 Dec, 2015 @ 3:16pm
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Showing 1-11 of 11 comments
Phaeton  [developer] 27 Dec, 2015 @ 2:42am 
Thank you for such a great and massive review. It seems you are of that kind of players, who love exploration and adventure, and I'm happy about it. Not many appreciate the opportunity to explore these days.

You can find G-Man in every chapter, and this is the only Easter Egg currently in the campaign.
Faith 27 Dec, 2015 @ 1:44pm 
Originally posted by Phaeton:
Thank you for such a great and massive review. It seems you are of that kind of players, who love exploration and adventure, and I'm happy about it. Not many appreciate the opportunity to explore these days.

You can find G-Man in every chapter, and this is the only Easter Egg currently in the campaign.
Thanks mate, it was pleased with this campaign, was a real honour to play it, this is currently my number 1 Custom Campaign, nice job, i enjoyed everything... even the Prison... well...

Oh yeah... I found every G-Man! took me 3 hours in total... and a bit of cheat power...


I cannot tag this as spoiler since you can't click it to see full screen, so, this is Spoiler Alert...







Map 1:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585619277
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585619528

Map 2:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=584579642

Map 3:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585620161
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585622159

Map 4:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=584580722

Map 5:
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585622748 I actually expected him to be inside in a grave or a coffin...
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=585623299 I looked under every stone in the mausoleum...
Last edited by Faith; 27 Dec, 2015 @ 1:49pm
Phaeton  [developer] 28 Dec, 2015 @ 1:45am 
Nice one! :)
Zaranosa 30 Dec, 2015 @ 11:14am 
Nice review of the Best map ever :)
hel 6 Jan, 2018 @ 3:53am 
Nice review and good spot on the G-man!
But I have to ask: After killing the Tank at the laboratory, did you listen to the tape recorder? next to the keycard and the dead guy with a screwdriver into his eye. Something about Mary and Peter?
Faith 6 Jan, 2018 @ 4:19am 
Originally posted by Pointlel:
Nice review and good spot on the G-man!
But I have to ask: After killing the Tank at the laboratory, did you listen to the tape recorder? next to the keycard and the dead guy with a screwdriver into his eye. Something about Mary and Peter?
Oh wow, I forgot about this, well yeah, I think I did it on my second playthrough with friends, but I cannot remember what that tape said...

Well, one more incentive to play this campaign again!
Also I know there are new easter eggs, and I've only found the one in the second level and the one in the forth level, I might go for another easter egg hunt! :health:
Rayree Sol 6 Sep, 2018 @ 8:35pm 
Sooo uhh... Did anyone find the secret "pipe"
Faith 6 Sep, 2018 @ 8:45pm 
Originally posted by Rayree:
Sooo uhh... Did anyone find the secret "pipe"
The one at the end of the second map?

Just jump on the underwater pit near the final safehouse
Anton 22 Jan, 2019 @ 5:45pm 
Originally posted by Phaeton:
Thank you for such a great and massive review. It seems you are of that kind of players, who love exploration and adventure, and I'm happy about it. Not many appreciate the opportunity to explore these days.

You can find G-Man in every chapter, and this is the only Easter Egg currently in the campaign.

I would have swear that the entity at the end of the prision was a "Pyramid Head" dude...

Anyway another awesome details that I noted on that level (that made me feel amazed, unconfortable, anxious, and hyped) was the graffity... Oh man! there was a big one that left me in full awe for a few moments ("How can he see?" I recall said that one), specially for the "libera te tutemet..." quote from Event Horizon. That level is something that nightmares are made of. I loved it.
Last edited by Anton; 22 Jan, 2019 @ 5:46pm
mballr 12 Nov, 2021 @ 1:26pm 
This map is in my top 3 maps in overall and the best map in terms of design. I don't think I could make it in advanced but I beat it in normal mode. I didnt use any tweaks with gamma and still made it.

ow! I missed so many things ^^( I missed every Gman :cry:

and I guess i missed those secret places with pipe in chapter 2 and where you pull the candle in chapter 5. However I've opened that secret door with a pass card but the room was empty lol

I listened to almost the whole story on that tape but unfortunately spawning hordes killed us before the tape ended...

The best easter egg for me was a mario coin in sewers lol I suppose there was a way to get in the hole but I couldnt.

10/10.
dijkStra 14 Jul, 2022 @ 11:27pm 
nice review lol.I like this map either:steamthumbsup:
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