As Nicole already pointed out, The Passing, the latest expansion came out for Left 4 Dead 2 made its debut a few days ago. Thankfully, we took this weekend to have some ‘us’ time and are spending all day today and tomorrow staying in together. So what were we to do? Slay zombies of course! So what did I think of the newest undead-slaying DLC? Read on to find out.
The whole point of The Passing’s title is that the group of survivors from the first Left 4 Dead meet up with the survivors from the second. However, one of them has ‘passed’. I’ll not spoil it for you here, but I will say that Valve’s choice for the doomed survivor seems to make sense. However, we won’t fully get to understand that decision until later on when another DLC will be released for the original Left 4 Dead, which chronicles the events happening prior to the two groups meeting up and the unfortunate demise of one of the original heroes. It’s a really neat setup, even if it is a shameless attempt to wrest a few more of Microsoft’s Magical Cuddly Puppy Points from our accounts and converted into grown up monies for Valve.
Speaking of which, The Passing costs 560 Microsoft Points. If you know what that means, good for you because I’m literally too lazy and irritated with Microsoft’s goofy point system to look up the exchange rate. Apparently it’s around $7 because Nicole had to purchase 800 points for the pleasure. Is it worth that much? Well, it depends. If you’re a rabid Left 4 Dead fan then there’s no point in criticizing it as you’ve already bought it, downloaded it, beaten it on realistic difficulty and are furiously writing in-between fan fiction explaining what happened prior to the two groups meeting up, you weirdo. However, if you’re just a run-of-the-mill fan of shooting at various digital characterizations, you may feel a bit ripped off.
Sure you get access to the new ‘mutations’ which occur for owners of The Passing in multiplayer, which work as modifiers for online play and of course you get the new campaign itself, but I’m always weary of feeling nickel-and-dimed when it comes to DLC. To be fair the new campaign is a lot of fun, but it’s also incredibly short. It lasts three main sections instead of four or five, but on top of that there aren’t really any scenes that are riveting enough for the tidings the title brings. One nice touch, however, is the addition of The Fallen, which are other survivors turned zombies that high tail it away from you on sight. However, it’s in your best interest to chase after them and put them out of their misery, as they serve to be mobile supply caches, often dropping medkits or other useful items.
The map certainly looks good, but early on in the rainstorm that occurs in the first section Nicole and I almost couldn’t tell if there was an audio glitch or if it was supposed to sound distorted due to the rushing winds. Either way it sounded a bit off but maybe I’m just being overly picky. The rest of the audio, however, is awesome, with one achievement even tying directly into the music in a hilarious way. The atmosphere, as you’d expect, is tense and appropriate. It’s also a real treat to hear Ellis talk about one of the other survivors in great detail. Some sections feel way too linear (think tunnels), but thankfully they’re short as you relentlessly make your way from one safe house to the next. Making your way through those environments is fun though thanks to a few new weapons. Namely, the golf club and the M60. The M60 is similar to the grenade launcher in that it has a limited amount of ammo (150 rounds) and is dropped when these are depleted. It packs a punch to say the least and much like the golf club, comes with its own achievement to keep you mowing down those nasty undead. Not that you needed any persuasion though, right?
In the end, it’s a solid enough expansion if you absolutely can’t wait for the inevitable Left 4 Dead 3, but I almost wish they’d have released this and the Left 4 Dead expansion to complete the story as a bundle. If you’ve got nothing better to spend $7 on it’s worth it, just don’t expect a plethora of new gameplay to come with it.
The Passing is Awarded 7 out of 10.
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