Review: “The Sacrifice” Left 4 Dead 1 (PC/ Steam)
The Zombie Pub Crawl descends upon my fair city of Minneapolis tonight. What better way to get in the mood, than to try out the new DLC for Left 4 Dead, “The Sacrifice”. “The Sacrifice” which is Valve’s new DLC for both Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, gets us deeper into the story of our zombie apocalypse survivors and *SPOILER ALERT* shows us how our favorite Vietnam Vet meets his unlikely demise; all while providing us with the gruesome zombie slaying that we have all come to love.
I’ve always felt that there was a big difference in how Left 4 Dead 1 vs. Left 4 Dead 2 maps played out. L4D1 maps played very linear, where as the maps in the 2nd game tend to be more open. The maps for “The Sacrifice” feel to be a perfect blend of those two styles. Unlike previous maps in L4D1, it’s not spelled out for you where exactly the safe houses are. Instead, you may find yourself running through meaningless buildings and pathways (Like in L4D2), and more than likely, fighting through the rush of zombies “the director” has unleashed upon you, in order to get back on the correct path.
The map for “The Sacrifice” only has 3 chapters to it, but doesn’t leave you feeling cheated. You will find yourself doing things you hadn’t done in the original game, such as: releasing a trapped tank just to take it out, missing Francis’ vest comments, and finally sacrificing one of your characters in order to save the others in your group at the end, as this map takes place before “The Passing” map set, and unites the L4D 1 and 2 crews. (I’d love for Francis and Ellis to have their own radio show…) Admittedly, it took me about 7 times to finally defeat the final battle. You will have about 3-4 tanks thrown at you in that final battle. Bollocks.
The map also has its own free comic, which gives you some background as to what goes on around the time of “The Sacrifice” and even before the game begins, which humors me because I could never figure out how someone so white collar as Louis survived the infection…
“The Sacrifice” comes free for both Left 4 Dead 1 and 2. It is free for Steam/ PC users, and will cost you some Micro-scrilla on the Xbox 360 (grrr…). Definitely worth checking out! If you missed the mega Steam sale of Left 4 Dead 1 and 2, you can still pick them up for $20 a piece on Steam, or about $20 – $30 at local retailers for the Xbox 360 version.