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Also Known As: Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice, Left for Dead 2: The Sacrifice (Left 4 Dead 2)
Exclusively on: PC
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Publisher: Valve
Developer: Valve
18+ for Suitable for ages 18 and over For more info visit the Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice (Left 4 Dead 2) Profile » Game Highlights Walkthroughs Cheats All Articles Message Boards #Layer1, #Layer1 IMG {position:absolute; visibility: hidden; z-index:10;}

Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice ImpressionsThe original survivors are back… but not for long.showUSloc=(checkLocale('uk')||checkLocale('au'));document.writeln(showUSloc ? 'US, ' : ''); October 7, 2010by Greg MillerLATEST IMAGES

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Whether it was because the first game was so cool, so new or so intriguing, I never connected with the cast of Left 4 Dead 2 like I with the cast of the original game. I like the sequel's four folks, but Bill, Francis, Zoey and Louis – now there was a crew. Even as I was bashing in zombie skulls with Left 4 Dead 2's melee weapons, I couldn't help but miss Bill's gruffness and Zoey's red jacket.

Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice lets you rejoin the original band of survivors in both a brand new campaign as well as a dolled-up version of No Mercy from the original game. While the booster shot of content is definitely welcome, it's not necessarily something you should drop everything to play.

No Mercy meets melee.
The Sacrifice is the prequel to The Passing, the last piece of DLC that saw the two groups of survivors cross paths for the first time. Here, the original survivors are looking for a sailboat, and you have to navigate them through the three acts that eventually end with what's left of the L4D cast on the raised bridge the L4D2 cast finds them on at the beginning of The Passing. Securing the bridge with the survivors on it means that one of the L4D survivors must sacrifice him or herself by starting a generator and watching everyone else get lifted to safety, hence, the title.

On paper, The Sacrifice should be an emotional final farewell to one of your beloved castmates, but the execution is a bit flat. This is still Left 4 Dead 2, so the action is fierce, bloody and brutal. I couldn't love it more. However, I didn't feel the same sense of satisfaction when the credits rolled. My heart was still racing as I took corners and slashed zombies with a katana, but there weren't those sweeping set pieces I expect from a Left 4 Dead campaign. Sure, at one point, the team has to open a train car and battle the tank inside, but it's not insane like the rock concert in Dark Carnival or the storming wedding in The Passing. You're just pushing forward, and eventually in the same area The Passing ended in. It's a bit of a letdown.

Making matters worse, the ending is totally underwhelming. Once your team decides to send someone down to restart the last generator, the player just trots out there, turns it on, and is overrun with zombies. The final shot (SPOILER ALERT) is in-game action through a gold filter as a bunch of the undead attack and then credits. There's no reaction from the other characters, no panning shot like at the end of most campaigns – just a golden attack. Also, the campaign took me about 30 minutes my first time through and then a little more than 20 on a second attempt.

Zombie go boom.Meanwhile, No Mercy is the same solid campaign you remember from the original game. The survivors take up arms and head through the subway toward Mercy Hospital – except this time, they have melee weapons. Yes, all of the improvements from Left 4 Dead 2 – melee weapons, jockeys, chargers and so on – have been shoved into this campaign from the original game. This was already a lengthy, creepy-as-hell campaign, and this stuff only makes it better. Well done.

If the marketing of The Sacrificing is confusing you – it's available for both the original game and the sequel – it's simpler than it sounds. If you get the DLC for the original game, you're just getting The Sacrifice with the original Left 4 Dead visuals and no melee weapons. If you get the DLC for the sequel, you're getting The Sacrifice and No Mercy with the full Left 4 Dead 2 treatment (graphics, melee weapons and so on).

In the end, The Sacrifice package is just more Left 4 Dead 2. That's never a bad thing, but this pack really doesn't do much to knock your socks off. The gameplay's the same action we all love, but there's no new weapon or infected type here. It's just two campaigns -- one that you've played before and one that's short with a lackluster finale.