The new Left 4 Dead 2 expansion, The Passing, was released yesterday; and although this may be a little late this place is dead so why the *crag* not?

For refrence purposes I played the 360 version.

Now, the last Left 4 Dead expansion we saw in the original game was a god awful waste of time and (at least on the 360) money. It was short, pretty boring, and really didn't add too much to the game. Yes it added Survival mode to the original game, but it really wasn't enough to justify the price of the lack luster Campaign.

The Passing, however, is luckily a solid imporvement and strengthens an already very solid product. The campaign itself is very well done and fits well into the current line-up. It is shorter than the it's peers, just as Crash Course was, but instead of two levels this time there are three which in the end feels like the right number for something of this calibur. It has a definitive beginning, middle, and end which makes for a well rounded package both in terms of time and replayability.

The new weapons are also a nice addition. The Golf Club is a new melee weapon with a very good feel to it that I really enjoyed using, and the M60 adds another "Grenade Launcher" type gimmicky weapon that is fun to play around with and does add some make for some legitmatley new play experiences. There has also been the edition of the Footlocker, a crate which when opened reveals an unlimited supply of anything from Pills to grenades. This in particular my group found quite enjoyable. The usefullness and tactical implications of such a device are welcome, of course. But spamming Adrenaline shots is more fun.

The new Uncommon Infected type, the Survivor, feels a bit lost among the crowd when stacked up to the likes of the Mud Men and the Clown Infected; but overall it fits the tone of this chapter and his special attributes do make him pretty fun to hunt down in anticipation of any goodies he may be carrying. The real problem with the Survivor is that it doesn't really add anything new to the combat, which almost all the other Uncommon Infected did a pretty decent job of doing. There is no threat, so really it's just a running supply table.

On top of that there are also some new dialouge sequences and wall writings, some of which actually had my literally laughing out loud, with several in particular that really stand out as some of the most memorable in the entire game. songThere is also the case of the L4D1 Survivor's returning, though in the end it really turns into more of a gimmick than anything. It's like one of those theme park roller coasters that lures you in with some kind of named character. I mean yeah, the ride is great, but what the *crag* did that have to do with anything?

However, I have to admit what really makes this package worth it is the Mutation versus mode. Valve will be rotating in a new form of versus play every week that makes key changes to the way the game is played. For instance this week is Realism, which means that all the Survivor disadvantages and Infected advantages of the infamous mode from which the mutation takes it's namesake are in effect. Valve is also holding in game polls now to see which Mutations people would like to see rotated in and out on some kind of regular basis as well as measuring certain aspects of the game against the communities opinion. With a community sensitive company like Valve at the helm of a project like this, only good things can come.

So all in all, it's a pretty good buy.

Unless you have the PC version.

Fags.

*Extra Notes:

*The basebally bat now spawns regardless of whether you got the pre-order bonus.

*There is a new Witch modeled after a Bride which plays wedding music.

*There is a new Midnight Riders song. It KICKS ASS.

*The L4D1 content released alonside this is free, and is basically a "What if Senario" Survival map in Campaign form which explores what would happen if all the original Survivors were killed.

*BILL IS *CRAG*ING DEAD FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF