Death Of A Safehouseman: L4D The Sacrifice

But which safehouseman? Or safehousewoman? That's your problem, bucko. Your problem to solve as you play the latest DLC for Left 4 Dead on October 5. Or! As you play the latest DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 on October 5. Yes, yes, they're doing that. All is fair in love and released-slightly-too-soon-zombie-sequels.

The Sacrifice, the tale of how [redacted] gives up their mortal coil to help [redacted] will be stuffed down Steam's pipes for free next Tuesday, and will become a component part of both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. While the narrative, level-y stuff sounds as though it'll be broadly the same for both games, it's probably going to be the Left 4 Dead 2 version that draws the most admiring looks. It's the first time the original survivors get to play with the nu-survivor's toys - 'Zoey with a chainsaw', as Valve put it.

Which vainly fires up hope of getting the entirety of L4D1 ported over to L4D2, but no doubt that's an enormous task that isn't worth the investment. But The Sacrifice at least ensures the original Survivors, the ones who grew this game in our hearts, are not yet forgotten.

L4D2 is also getting the No Mercy campaign. Not entirely sure what that means for the widespread perception of Valve's support for Left 4 Dead 1. Sounds as though that latter does fairly well out of it though, being promised Sacrifice maps in campaign, versus and survival modes. It's billed very clearly as a separate download, so hopefully that means it'll sport stuff that isn't in L4D2.

In either case, the selling point is the players electing to choose who takes the bullet, who chows down on hot death, who embraces the reaper, who has a permanent dirt-nap, who gets horribly killed in the face and/or major organs in order that their chums may survive. The mechanic for that remains mysterious, and I look forward to the bitter voicechat arguments it will doubtless entail.

Mostly, though, I just want to read the rest of the expository comic. It's been right good, that.