Crash Course Review
If you’re a Left 4 Dead fan such as myself, you have probably been waiting for the latest campaign titled, “Crash Course”. Set right after the events of “No Mercy”, “Crash Course” starts with the survivors miraculously untouched from a rather nasty helicopter crash, whereby the zombies crawl out of the woodwork and the shooting begins. I’ve played both the single player version and the versus mode. Here are some good and bad thoughts in no particular order -
Movie Poster
What the hell is wrong with Zoey? Did someone give her too many pills before the start of the campaign? She looks like she checked out of the building soon after Elvis. And how about the usually friendly Louis? He looks like he wants to tear your throat out.
Trucks, Warehouses, Oh My
The four original campaigns are great examples of level design because they are not only balanced for single and multiplayer, but they also tell their own story by the set dressing. Crash Course kind of drops the whole storytelling thing, and instead bombards the player with an ever repeating pattern of warehouses and trucks. By the fourth crate filled warehouse, I was hitting my head against the floor. It’s just drab and bland. There is a cool part involving a howitzer, and another area where you cross a car filled bridge, but other than that, there didn’t appear to be much inspiration.
Confusing Layout
To make matters worse, it is far too easy to get lost. Again, the wonderful thing about the original levels were that they directed players via. light sources. In the case of this map, visual clues aren’t as pronounced, and we found ourselves backtracking over and over. Granted, this os part of the process of learning the layout, but I don’t recall ever a problem finding my through the previous maps. There’s just a ton of side passages which lead into bizarre u-turns.
Tank Heaven
We didn’t see a lot of the tank (besides the endgame) but my oh my, if you love the tank, you’ll love this map. There are cars everywhere and one well placed punch should take out the survivors in a matter of seconds.
Great Ambush Spots
There are tons of places to setup a nasty puke rainstorm, or give the survivors a tongue lashing without being seen. In some cases, it’s a little overkill, but it’s a great map to play as the infected.
Bugs and Lag
We had a couple of games crap the bed on us. Members were booted from our party. People were dropped from the game for no reason. And the lag was devastating at times. It can be extremely frustrating in a versus match to have your shots lag out and nail your friends.
Endgame
I do like the endgame for this campaign. You have to start the generator, then take shelter in a – surprise, surprise – warehouse as the infected swarm at you. At some point, the power goes out requiring you to restart the generator. It’s a great rush especially when the tank is bearing down on you.
Quick
This map goes by fast. By the time you get in a rhythm with your teammates, chances are, you’ll reach the endgame. Some people have complained about the length of the original campaigns but the great thing about the multiplayer system is that you don’t have to play the whole campaign in its entirety.
Valve is a game company renowned for quality. This campaign does not feel like a typical Valve creation. It feels like they hired a couple of modders to slap it together as opposed to allocating any real resources to the campaign. I’m guessing the Left 4 Dead 2 boycott really caught them off guard, and this campaign was a result of it. Yet why they phoned it in is beyond my comprehension. In any case, this campaign is a great freebie, but for seven bucks, it’s just not worth the dough unless you’re an achievement hound.
Verdict: Skip It!
