L4D2: Why Cold Stream is Awful
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- čas přidán 15. 09. 2019
- A quick analysis and explanation why the Cold Stream campaign of L4D2 is bad.
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Useful links for more information on Cold Stream:
www.l4d.com/coldstream/
www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=5019
www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=5150
www.l4d.com/blog/post.php?id=8309
left4dead.fandom.com/wiki/Col... - Hry
Something not brought up too often with Cold Stream is that it basically killed Valve's interest in adding fanmade content for L4D2 (until the TLS update anyways). The reason being that the author of Cold Stream had used copyrighted assets from other games for props in Cold Stream, causing Valve to have to scramble and go through the entire campaign and get rid of any assets they could potentially get sued for using.
That, coupled with the somewhat poor reception to the campaign after release led to Valve just not bothering with more community campaigns.
Damn
Sounds like Valve's fault.
@@JohnDoe-dq1bk I mean yeah, they could have easily put more oversight into this, but Valve wanted to put as little effort as possible into this because modern Valve is lazy if there isn't a profit incentive lol
@@zelpyzelp agreed
Using assets from other IPs is perfectly fair game for mods. Valve should've combed through for those more thoroughly if they didn't want trouble by making it official.
Then again it's the same Valve that delivered Propville to TF2 last December and never bothered to fix it, so...
Infected spawning in the safe room right in front of survivors happens on blood harvest too
And less commonly on dark carnival
Which leads me to believe it's less of an issue with a developer and a quirk with horde spawns they just couldn't forsee
It also happens in the 3rd chapter of Death Toll
might have something to do specifically with crescendos then, since both blood harvest bridge in l4d2 and dark carnival run to last safe room have endless hordes. maybe its even done on purpose to avoid selfish or impatient teammates rushing to the safety as soon as they can, instead of helping the others fight off zombies in their way. it forces everyone to stick together till the very end. i am personally sick of teammates only viewing their team as a bunch of meat shields serving only for their own individual advantage, hordes spawning in safe rooms put those kind of players in place because of their dumb need to reach to safety first
i think real bugged horde spawns happened before on l4d1 ported maps, those spawns were literally broken and could land right on top of you, and they played no sound cue at all. the ported maps were actually completely devoid of atmospheric sounds as well as those important to gameplay. the maps were a husk compared to the original game, and i kind of wonder how many people who only played l4d2 thought of l4d1 because of that, because it sure looked bad. but they thankfully fixed the ported maps, as well as the original survivors and their animations, in the big update. still, francis looks dumb as hell carrying a rifle compared to his original animations in the prequel, there is still some things that could use a fix or two
it kind of begs the question though, with the hordes spawning in the saferoom... this video was made before the big update, it could be that they fixed these crescendo hordes
Also happened in the 4th chapter of Dark Carnival, but who cares, after that you get an epic and memorable finale
I had a tank spawn in the safe room on dark carnival
Yeah once had a smoker spawn right infront of me in a closed saferoom
I rarely play this campaign due its finale where you really need a cooperative team, which is rare.
Bit of a late reply, but whilst my internet was down for a few weeks, I played and beat all the campaigns on expert solo, including Cold Stream. Its definitely not an easy campaign, but for the finale you need to know all the ins and outs of the director, along with how the bots work.
1. Prioritise killing smokers and jockeys. The bots are pretty good at killing many special infected, but jockeys, and ESPECIALLY SMOKERS, can spell your doom. This is because jockeys are surrounding your hitbox and despite not doing any damage to you, bots try to avoid hitting you. Furthermore, if smokers grab you in an awkward spot the bots try to rescue you but can't get close enough to melee you free, although can neither see the smoker. You just die
2. The director. Gauntlet finale's are absolutely solid due to sending boarded of zombies at you and you just HAVE to make progress or you die, but that's not 100% true. My method was to crouch walk forwards killing all the zombies in front of me. Stopping if they're getting a bit close or a special spawns. I'm moving slowly, but still moving. The director DOES let up. Kill many hordes of zombies and you'll notice a gap where little to no zombies are spawning. Hell, the horde music may even stop for a bit. This is your chance to book it as fast as you can until the next hoard starts, where you rinse and repeat. Ammo on the finale is generous so I never had to worry about it
3. When I'm at the top of the waterfall where the tank spawns below, I jump down as soon as possible to spawn the tank/music. Even if it means jumping into a bunch of zombies (melee weapons are always preferable for a gauntlet finale). Zombies spawn wag less when a tank is active and in the case for the Cold Stream finale, no more zombies spawn. The tank takes it's sweet-ass time to get to you too, so use this time to grab the boat ammo and heal up if necessary. Yes, this includes your bots. Fight the tank in the area given, the giant rock is a good place to bait him. Try not let it focus on your bots as they're dead meat, but as long as they don't die it's still fine. Do NOT run ahead since you'll pass a trigger which just starts the zombies back up. When the tank is dead, heal, get ammo and run for your life. Hope to god there is boomer bile in that tunnel.
4. The bots. Imagine they're toddlers following a parent. They may not listen to you, but they will always stay near their parent. Use this to your advantage. If a bot is far behind, wait for them. If they're not moving to the place you want, you have to move beyond the point you want them to stand. Imagine they're on a rope. You move far enough away and they'll get dragged along, but get close and they will not move back. Do not push the bots, pull the bots. Keep them alive and keep them close and they will save you.
Once you're outside the tunnel past the tank, you basically win. Just book it. Throw a boomer bile or pipebomb away from you as on the surface they seem to give you more than enough. The finale is absolutely solid, probably the hardest one for me to do solo, but it is very possible. Unlike a lot of other custom campaigns I've tried
Idk why I wrote this entire guide out, but hey, someone might find it useful just for general knowledge on the game
Most of the time when i play the cold stream finale i lose more health from friendly fire than the zombies themselves
You guys play with cooperative randoms?
Christ, every time i play this game everyone's going in random directions and usually dies from the Tank's boulder...
@@SaurusTheKing bro, hell yeah, I've found your guide very useful, even though I'm still trying to beat Dead Centre on expert lmao
I love the cold stream campaign on advanced or realism cuz the game gets chaotic because of the difficulty, and personally I like my l4d2 games chaotic without making it too hard.
Here are some custom campaigns far better than Cold Stream:
1) Dark Wood
2) Day Break
3) RMS Titanic
4) Urban Flight
5) Buried Deep
6) Time to Die
7) Yama
8) Journey to Splash Mountain
9) Silent Hill
10) Resident Evil 1, 2 Side A/B, 3 (Really any Resident Evil map by Roku is solid tho tbh)
Bonus: Death Aboard II, LEGO Campaign, Outrun, No Echo Remastered, Warcelona, Left Turn: Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill: Otherside of Life, Farewell Chenming, DNEIPER 2.0 (way better than Chernobyl), Bloody Moors, Suicide Blitz 2, Redemption II, Military Industrial Complex II, Dam It, Black Mesa, Black Mesa: Fallouts, Black Mesa: Undertow, We Dont Go To Ravenholm, White Forest, City 17, Route Kanal, Overkill, Dead Before Dawn, Back to School, Haunted Forest, Devil Mountain, Death Craft II, Resident Evil Outbreak, The Hive, One 4 Nine, all the Questionable Ethics, Left 4 Mario, Diescraper Redux, Precinct 84, Golden Eye 4 Dead, Wan Li, Downtown Dine, Whispers of a Winter, 2019, True Fangshi, Pasiri, Dark Carnival Remix, Dead Center Reborn, Hard Rain Remastered, I Hate Mountains, The Orange, Simplicity, Battle Ogress Toys, Land of Oblivion, Escansion, The Seal of Asrahmat, Cambalache - Buenos Aires, Death From Above, Lockdown, Lockdown 2, Freezing Point, 4 Sided Coin, The Evil Within, Blue Heaven, Left 4 Invasion: Outer Space, Derailed 2, Claustrophobia
After playing over 300 custom campaigns, these are my top 10 must tries, along with bonus campaigns. All of these can be found in the Steam Workshop
Noted. I will check them out some day.
what about suicide blitz 2?
@@Confoosin listed in the bonus
i don't much like urban flight, rather than being glitchy or unfun to play, it's instead very generic and boring, something that if every campaign listed here was added, urban flight would be the least played
it should remain as a workshop item, since it'd definitely see more play there than it would be if added to the game
@@jockeyfield1954 considering that Urban Flight is the most subscribed campaign on the Steam Workshop, I don't think it'll be the least played if added as an official campaign along with the others lol
One of my favorite cold stream memories is one time the first tank spawn glitched. Tank theme starts, hear the yell and the boulder... And then the tank just died of frustration at the top of the mountain and ragdolled down. Tank theme abruptly ends.
same, it still happens sometimes.
Fun fact: You can get stuck in the ladder in the 2nd level
AND skip the barrels and the crescendo event via jumping the rocks and the tent
Your sir, have saved hours of my life. This gauntlet event discourages me from completing it on expert for that reason.
The skip tent part i didn't know. I will try this method next time i will play it. it's a hell of a level to play on the expert mode, i only manage to pass it by switching it to advanced mode.
Oh also if you trap the commons in the safe room at the beginning of map 4, you can prevent a lot of the horde from spawning once the event starts. Another brutal event that can negated
Siren Head
2023, fun or not so fun fact, the game was updated! you can no longer land on the rocks and I think they fixed the ladder thing too.
hell, Suicide Blitz deserves to be added officially than Cold Stream...
what about dark woods, or dam it?
@@smoked8471 dam it is good
Yeah, the dude that made Cold Stream made a pretty bad map prior called 2 Evil Eyes. They watched over the creator as he created Cold Stream. I don't know why Valve was so infatuated with 2 Evil Eyes, all I can remember from it were panic events 24/7 and ugliness.
Back to School 2 is a really good one.
Questionable Ethics is one of the best maps made.
You should note the difference between crescendo events and gauntlet events. Crescendo events eventually end if you stay in the same spot. Whereas gauntlet events never stop the zombies until you reach point B.
Coldstream is full of gauntlet events, not crescendos.
All Gauntlet Events are Crescendo Events.
@@RickJaeger this guy literally just said what the difference is
@@DustyyBoi Tough shit.
@@RickJaeger no, horrible reading comprehension, is what you have
@@DustyyBoi Cry about it.
I like cold stream just fine... Even if it isn't perfect, you could never call it awful.
Bit late, but what do you enjoy about it?
@@warchipmunk0599 an intense, visually unique, inventive and quite beautiful challenge map.
@@warchipmunk0599 the first part is very beatiful
I agree, it’d not awful but I’d rather have something like suicide blitz. But it’s beautiful.
Its awful.
the beginning of the second map is just bizarre. the saferoom's weapons are useless because you get the tier 2 weapons at the end of the tunnel. it's such a weird decision, why not have them spawn in the saferoom in the first place? are they a reward for surviving the awful blinding flash of light? another thing that peeves me is the lack of random item/weapon locations. sure, having rigid spawns make learning the map much easier but there's less variety on repeat playthroughs. i prefer the last stand's two maps than cold stream's four.
is their ammo? if not you are forced to hold onto your tier 2 with diminished supply of ammo or switch to tier 1 but have plenty of bullets,do you keep your tier 2 and pray you run into a ammo stash? or do you go fuck it and take the tier 1?
Ikr
well if u play as infected u can make a very good play as hunter or charger
this made me realize how important downtime is for l4d
some maps are memorable exactly because they have parts where there are only a few infected, with no rush of new infected going towards you, only those that already are in the map staying in their places until you alert them, and even then its only a few at once
going nonstop action would really have made it all way less impactful, and thats even disregarding the fact that killing normal zeds like theres no tomorrow would end up boring
exactly, People that defend Cold Stream saying it's perfect doesn't really understand what makes the campaigns in l4d good, good thing they're not map makers otherwise they would think spamming zombies at the end of every map = good map design, lol.
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 in a way, its amazing that the l4d devs managed to do that right, its way easier for us now to realize that now, but the devs had nothing to base it on aside from their guts, at least as far as im aware
but yeah, the finale having a lot of zombies is fine, its meant to be pumped up after maps ended 'normally' 3 times, but it sounds like it'd get real boring to have it happen every map
and hell, sometimes more than once in the same map if im not misremembering cold stream
kinda funny that even cod zombies has downtime, even if not for the same reasons, its always important, its weird to see people praising a campaign that disregards something so big
@@brunoslybruno agreed, Its really impressive How they found out How to make the game have Its low and high moments of tension, by making horde/crescendo events and forcing the team to stick together to assure survival, while the low moments are good because your team and you can separate and look for supplies, change weapons, or plan what to do next, Its also good because every horde/crescendo event IS unique on Its own and never happens the same way: some make use of car alarms, others opening gates, and some of them arent even seen anywhere else in the game like the RollerCoaster in Dark carnival.
Cold Stream's creator however completely ignored those principles and throught that by making crescendo events happen out of nowhere in the most random circunstances (like opening a Hatch... Why does It triggers the horde? Or a jet bombing the bridge and the debris of the bridge falling into a car with Its alarm on, triggering a horde... Why did the jet bomb the bridge anyways? You dont even see a jet flying by in the past maps, ehats the reason for it to be there?) He was making the map Fun and replayable... Eh not really, Cold Stream IS one of those campaigns that you either play out of curiosity for the First time or ends up playing due to a server starting It for you. Its not a good campaign for being an official one and It baffles me that Suicide Blitz or DayBreak didnt get the chance to be official campaigns, but an unfinished college project did.
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 people who defend cold stream are mostly versus players. Which is the source for like 95% of l4d community’s toxicity.
That Coach mod though
XD
I just wish there wasn't a panic event every single level, it's only bad because of that.
I think the lack of Variety overall also makes It bad.
Like 70% of the campaign IS travelling in the same Forest area, and combine that with repetitive panic events and scripted tank spawns, It makes It good for the First playthroughts, but then you quickly forget Its existence.
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 My big problem was just how boring the aesthetic was. Sure the challenge can be exhilerating at times, but the overall visuals and level layout is just uninspired and has been done much better in the official campaigns such as The Parish, The Passing, and Blood Harvest, which seems to be the campaigns Cold Stream seems to borrow some of it's themes from. The levels just don't feel very dynamic and this is espeically true the further you go into the campaign. It's just kind of boring to look at and has no discernable atmosphere. Maybe if it had snow? It is called Cold Stream after all. I still enjoyed my time with it, but I only played it once and all the Left 4 Dead campaigns can give you some amount of enjoyment simply because of the fact that killing zombies and progressing in it of itself is super satisfying so that's not saying much.
"They hated him because he told them the truth"
I kinda love Cold Stream, the constant chaos really puts you on you on edge, forces quick decision making, and stops the regular campaign stuff of just hucking molotovs around everywhere and campinh door frames.
Yep the only thing I don’t like with cold stream is chapter 2 beginning trash lighting but that’s about it
Cold stream basically challenges the player
Like The first chapter Legit forces you to open a vault door and then spawns tons of god dam commons if you did not have a melee at all there your dead and has tree branch that slows you the hell down and has 1 softlock point
The second chapter blinds you in the beginning auto spawns in a tank with a massive rock and a OP snipping spot and in versus it’s Impossible to rush it due to the ladder there which is a death trap then have softlock points so you have to be careful with the bridge
And then they have to go through tons of commons all the way till they close the safe room while fighting back against the water physics also Narrow pathways this map forces you to use shotguns or melees in versus or your dead due to how much this map throws at you
The third chapter on cold stream Dear god they increase the difficulty even more like the start has a ladder where jockeys chargers smokers can 1 shot kill you by putting you into water then the stairs can legit 1 shot down you The bridge has a alarm car and death charge places also more ladders forces to go up to again to get up the truck then a gas truck blows up and shows a narrow death charge spawning in tons of infected then more ladders in a narrow pathway then puts you in god dam water to slow you down then the last part has a insanely chance where the bridge or roof can collapse and one shot kill you it only happened to me once so it’s insanely rare and also some alarm cars
Then the 4th chapter just throws everything at you like it spawns in commons like almost constantly rivers fighting back commons around 2 softlock points a OP tank spawn with a massive rock and OP sniping spot Narrow Stairs and also Ladders like this map in versus forces you to speedrun it or your dead because if your down your dead in this map
Like I respect cold stream for challenging the player at least it’s not like the parish or Dead Center where they shove pills adrenaline and med kits constantly in every map
Cold Stream is a great try-hard Versus Map. Not making it to the end of the gauntlets is a lot less annoying when you're just trying for distance.
Cold stream is the least difficult campaign
@@benjaminwatson7868pfft🫢
@@MrnoobestreturnsThe over abundance of health items in L4D2 was to compensate for the new special infected, mainly the charger which is why Valve introduced OP melee weapons, the AK, Magnum and even increased the max reserve ammo for the sub machine guns. Dark Carnival is the worst offender when it comes to medical cabinets since there’s like 10 you can encounter in the whole campaign. L4D1 had at least one cabinet in each chapter and it was usually before an event or after it to reward the survivors.
Well I wouldn't say it's awful. It has its flaws. That is because it is a community made map. They will always have some flaws in them. It is pretty bad, but not too bad. It is playable. Like I said. It is a community map. And as for the infected spawning in out of thin air, it's not just for this map. I've seen the infected spawn out of thin air in the official campaigns.
This, the video cites a lot of problems it has but it's important to remember it's a community made map and that doesn't necessitate it being "awful".
Yeah, it felt a little nit picky, i can say a lot of the same complains about the sewers in l4d1 and in the sugar mill in Hard rain
Because community contents of any sort are textbook Sturgeon's Law. Cold Stream was a poor pick when you had brilliant stuff like Suicide Blitz 2, Blood Tracks, Dam It, Day Break and such. Heck, they could've chosen even stuff with great ideas and mediocre execution like Yama.
pretty bad but not too bad OK
LMAO
Cold Stream is hated for being badly designed and cheap with its difficulty. There are plenty of community maps that aren't like this, and I don't think it is fair to try to hide Cold Stream behind "oh its a community map so its allowed to suck", especially when Valve had many other good options at the time and went with Cold Stream.
If I remember right the Cold Stream author did some shady stuff to make his map win which just makes this campaign even worse.
Cold Stream has always felt… Bizarre to me. Something I can’t quite put my finger on, but when I play Cold Stream, I feel like I shouldn’t even be there, like something doesn’t want me there. And it ain’t the zombies.
Sounds like the premise for an interesting creepy pasta.
@@s4videos lol
its probably because it just, doesnt fit or make sense, most of the forest make sense because its 100% forest or its thematic in someway or something
but cold stream is just, youre in a random forest on a stream for some reason?? why not be on the side like Weird but ok, then you go to a map that is vaguely like new orleans but its, still a forest, its just so weird and out of place
Right? Especially the music. I’ll give the map one thing, the music and ambiance is really uncomfortable.
Feels like an old gmod mapm
You forgot to mention that almost every single item/weapon/consumable/events spawn in designated areas, unlike in the other maps, here are some examples:
-in the first chapter, a hunting rifle will always spawn in the shed
-in the second chapter, a box of T2 weapons will always spawn outside the saferoom
-a tank will always appear near the highway (alongside the weapons near it)
-a chainsaw spawn everytime inside the truck, near the fence
-a pile of ammo will spawn near the exploded oil truck
-laser sights and ammo always appear in the area before the crescendo with the explosive barrels
-a M60 Spawns under in front of the tunnel (after the crescendo, in a grey area behind a prop)
-in the third chapter, there will always be a melee weapon on the staircase, ammo in the near End of the bridge, and more ammo, explosive/fire ammo and a grenade launcher near the burning oil truck
-a m60 in the bottom of the bridge, alongside laser sights
-t2 weapons in the house near the parking lot
-tier 2 weapon inside the little cabin in the parking lot
That's all I can remember, so yeah, cold stream is extremely repetitive (including the Fact that no witches spawn! Srsly?!)
If you want to play a better version of it, try "lukewarm stream" it fixes a lot of problems of the original and add more stuff
All weapon and item spawns are pre-placed in the same locations even in Valve's campaigns. The RNG element is whether the director chooses to spawn them there or not.
With enough experience, you can even accurately predict where you'll find which item, cause they can only spawn in the designated locations. Cold Stream just lacks variety in those potential locations.
@@JAiZCZcams fancy seeing you here
I've noticed a few things about why Cold Stream isn't played in Versus modes:
-On 3/4 levels, the rocky walls will have some sort of collision issue, making Smokers unable to do anything apart from hold a survivor until the tongue just breaks.
-The weird foliage on these same walls makes it difficult to spawn in or get out of the Survivor's vision to spawn.
-The scripted Tank spawns result in lengthy stalemates as both teams will try to preserve the Tank as long as possible.
-No lobby ever reaches Cutthroat Creek, everyone leaves beforehand.
I always thought this campaign was beloved. It was my favourite campaign ever for a while (now I'd rank it 4th under Hard Rain, The Sacrifice, and Dead Air), and everyone irl who I knew played this game loved it. Only now I see recently the general online community has a completely different opinion. My opinion on this campaign has always been that it is filled with S-tier maps, it just has the bad fortune of needing a few more spawns for items, and a very comparatively underwhelming finale.
Alpine Creek is a great first map. It's super short, but condensed into that short walk is so much opportunity for everything to go wrong. Steep Drops (both at the radio tower, and the collapsed bridge after it), The jump from the cabin window, and the log you have to walk across all work as great setpieces to give SI in versus the potential to create massive setbacks for the survivors that make it so this first map won't be an easy slam dunk. Usually the downside of this is how it can discourage teamwork on a map, because if someone _does_ get pulled off the edge of the cliff by the radio tower and downed by the fall (or something similar), it can rarely be worth it on map that's both short and has a high chance of things going wrong to back to save them - *but,* the ending of this map is designed specifically to punosh you for ditching the team. Think about it, how often will you see someone get across both the log, and then manage to open the bunker door, and single-handedly kill the horde between them and the safe room and make it without being grabbed by a single SI while running ahead alone? The log and bunker at the end are both events that are significantly easier if you take a "no teammate left behind" attitude beforehand.
Chapter 2 does start off weak, with the questionable lighting and wide open areas with no good spawns, but quickly picks up with the scripted Tank event. First of all, I am sorry, I cannot help but find the scripted entrance with the boulder coming down from the sky baddass - I still fucking love that, and haven't had any chapter in any campaign give me a rush like that has. Second of all, credit where it's due, the design of the area where you fight this tank is honestly really good. It spawning when you reach the ladder is a great way to tell new players to fall back. Many newer players continue to push on when they hear tank music and often die for it, but knowing that the Tank is gonna be waiting for you at the top of the ladder makes it almost impossible for you to get up there without having to get through it, which discourages most newer players from throwing by not worrying about where they fight the Tank. The area where you fight the Tank is pretty favoured for the survivors, but I think that's fair considering this is a guaranteed Tank spawn right at the start of what is only the 2nd chapter, and that being said - it's certainly not impossible for a skilled Tank to still wipe a team, even in the wide open area. Although the survivors may have room to run, the Tank also only has 1 boulder the survivors can hide behind to worry about when throwing rocks, which even if they do hide behind it can often allow you to corner them behind that boulder if they aren't quick. This encourages you not to just run in fists flailing with the Tank, but to pick survivors off with good boulder throws so you can single weakened teammates out, especially since by this point all survivors will likely start the fight with green health. After this scripted fight is a whole buncha car parkour that can be a satisfying way to run past commons, a one-way to spice things up (but not too much as you can still shoot through the gate to save anyone pounced on the other side), and finally a ending crescendo. The flowing water pushing you is a cool mechanic, and I especially love how much the flooded stairways just before the saferoom turn everything into a panic. It's super dark, there's a brutal endless horde, your team is probably already battered and scattered at this point; but it's dark, and the more closed rooms following such a wide open tunnel means there was almost definitley a boomer waiting for you there, so half of you probably can't even see your teammates. You just have to push forward and make it to the saferoom and hope your teammates are ahead and not behind.
The third chapter is a constant gauntlet of potential instakills that keeps the entire team on edge and alert at all times. You can criticise the ladder at the start for being bullshit, but honesrly, comparatively to other beloved campaigns I wouldn't agree. Remember that No Mercy, an absolute fan favourite (which is my least favourite campaign in the entire game btw lol), is a campaign which has 2 ladders that are so abusable they can easily single-handedly decide games. One of those in the Sewers, where you can just kinda be stuck down there as long as the infected want you to be, because it's long and the infected can simply walk over it so you can't climb up and just walk off when you jump off to pull your gun out. Yes, a teammate can help you here, but almost the entire width of the exit will be covered by the hitbox of the guy on the ladder - meaning it's difficult to hit the SI, and if it's a meatier one like a charger you are not killing it that way, and also you're probably gonna do more damage to your teammates then every other common that game has with all the friendly fire. The other one is in the finale, where the infected can basically pull the exact same shit *and* there are multiple ways you could be instakilled as soon as you do get up that you really can't do much about, you just have to sorta hope the charger fucks up. Now while the ladder at the start of this chpater of Cold Stream can be a little frustrating, it's shorter, and you have a much wider view of the area around the top of it so the SI can't just camp you - and as well as that, the death charge is not as simple as it appears. The survivors can shoot through the platform, and can also see you from the bottom of the ladder if you are anywhere on the platform with the correct angle for the death charge, so they are far from helpless to prevent the death charge. This means that unelss you just wanna count on the survivors being dumb; to actually perform the death charge you have to spawn in just as someone is reaching the top of the ladder, instantly react to whether they continue to climb all the way up or whether they drop back down having heard you spawn, and if they did climb up; jump onto the platform (which with the uneven terrain, can be a bit finnicky.), and instantly charge them with the right trajectory to line up with the far away gap in the fence before they can run or kill you. That is difficlt, and I suppose my main point here is a 2-parter: 1. This ladder isn't as bad as people say, there are much worse ones in campaigns that receive praise 2. The multiple instakill spots on this map are not obnoxious imo because the majority of them are not actually particularly easy to pull off (except that one metal beam you have to walk across after the explosion, but at least that's past halfway. Also, that's fucking badass). My only problem with the 3rd chapter is that I do agree the end is too brutal. You already cheated death 4 (or potentially more if you had to worry about a more niche instakill spot) times by this point, you didn't need to wade through lots of slowing water once you reached the bottom and are probably limping, only to get out of it and have a completely unexpected horde spawn right at the end. I feel Cold Stream justified all of its end-of-chapter hordes except this one, this one was just overkill.
As I said, though, I will agree the final chapter is bullshit. The scale has already been so large for every other chapter they would have had to do something crazy for the finale for it to deliver, and it feels like they didn't even try. Long stretched with no hiding spots, side-paths, or items to find; The midway Tank always being in the same spot seems pointless to me and makes the chapter get stale faster; the narrow tunnel after that is boring; the final tank that spawns at the chopper will rarely get the opportunity to catch up and land even a single hit on the survivors; and it feels like the SI really have nowhere to attack from in this map at all. The one point I will give it is that I do like the _very_ ending of climbing the tower to get to the helicopter, especially since you can easily be instakilled right at the end by the tank punching you off, but otherwise I would fully agree on ch.4. Still, I feel every other chapter is such amazing fun that this campaign's bad reputation is undeserved.
I suppose now I'm writing this out, it sounds like maybe it comes down to the difference of Campaign vs. Versus mode? Because you only talked about this campaign from the perspective of the survivors, when Cold Stream is an absolute blast for the infected.
This campaign isn't popular among versus players either. It's one of the least played versus campaigns.
@@Banshee523 Damn. =/ idk then.
I don't really see it.
Bro wrote a whole essay
@@meat. 😎 _it's what i do_
@@doublechindoge7 it's not like I dislike playing Cold Stream, it's just that most of the time, I'd rather just play anything else really.
The action in Cold Stream mimics the dirty riverwater - always flowing; doesn’t stop; and gets tiring after a while. Additionally with how horrible the map was designed in terms of pathfinding, it’s really frustrating trying to make ends meet because *_you have no idea where to go._* The first map was okay but holy shit the second map was *_unbearable._*
Also, COACH’S OUTFIT LITERALLY MADE ME EXPLODE ON MY CHAIR LMAOOOOO
And the fourth map, dear god.
It tries to mimic the bridge's finale so hard without understanding what made It great, It looks, feels and plays amateurish from the beginning to end.
I literally always play this map on expert with my friend, the meta in this map is saving the m60 before the finale and saving 2 biles.
The only thing that always happen is having one of us sacrifice because the last tank is annoying.
not even needed , there is always a bile right at the end to throw before you get near the heli , the best way to do it is the auto shotgun and bomb it quick throw the tunnel , if you can do that withought getting stuck in the z's its easy to run to the end
The sewer is probably the most annoying part since you have risk yourself in the sewers where most of the zombies are spawning directly at you near the staircase and slows your movement down, making easier to get killed
Not to mention the ridiculously fast spawn time for special infected. 1 second after killing a charger will spawn another one coupled with spitters, and killing them will spawn another 1 1 second later.
Eh. The only super tiny nitpick I'd say is the jets do just appear out of nowhere, the previous campaigns show the military demolishing bridges to cut off the spread of infection
Dude please link me to the workshop UI addon you have.
Also the final tower you climb i think is a prefab ripped straight from one of the l4d1 maps
I believe from death toll
Lots of things are re-used.
@@AceofSpades-zi6zx nahhh it's the the last chapter map on last stand
As long as it is from valve game, don't see a problem
@@cyka_blyat1233 Nope, the tower from Cold Stream's finale is a modified version of Death Toll 3's tower in the train yard. The lower part (the beams) are a model, the rest is brushwork.
TLS' watchtower was a completely new design.
I think the campaign also has a problem with pointing people where to go. Upon first playing it, I had spent a solid 2 minutes looking for the way to go in the second map to learn I had to actually parkour up to the truck and hop over the fence. Also on the second map, the map just does an awkward bend to get to the crescendo event, which isn’t easily recognizable, where I spent a minute before the game told me to shoot the barrels. I get that they can’t use the same technique that valve used of using lighting to guide players along a certain path since the entire level is outside and in the day time, but other methods could be used to hint to do things, like a signal flare on the truck, or a “explosive, don’t shoot” sign near the barrels you need to shoot to progress. Similarly, the back window felt weird as the intended escape route in the first map, a back door would’ve done fine, or cracks in the window to guide you to break it. An arrow or two pointing towards the only ladder down in map 3 on the bridge would’ve been nice for first time players.
Best Campaign for Tank Rush, same for The Bridge on the parish.
Coach lookin thicc, yo
this level of degeneracy shouldn't be reached
@@taco8077 i agree
@@taco8077 me too
@@taco8077 Honestly, when it comes to the human condition, deep down, we all have a little bit of degeneracy in us.
It's ok to have a fast paced small campaign, the whole thing feels like a finale. Also I feel like you missed the part about the characters running from a forest fire the whole time. Which is why you are meant to keep moving. Honestly to make this campaign better they should have made it one giant level with a gun store esq safe room bang in the middle. A little bit more effort on the level design and it would be a challenging massive run and gun finale with a really awesome backdrop. I do agree that down time is important but hopefully the other campaigns provide enough of that more methodical gameplay.
Cold Stream is fine. It was supposed to be more fast-paced, intense & therefore more of a challenge.
Legit never noticed the absence of Witches.
I hate this map for several reasons but the main one is like you said, way too linear and repetitive. Also climbing down a ladder lmao, climbing up is one thing, but climbing down in this game is basically walking on a tight rope.
Also this map would be boring in versus, I don't think survivors can even finish any chapters even if they were given normal item spawn and not versus spawn, so many ledges that would make special infected job easy.
That's what makes it so great , especially in VS , with a good gang of friends its a real challenge , puts your covering skills to the real test
I actually love cold stream because it's always exciting. Also it's one of the harder maps.
When i play cold stream first time i struggled to find the path. More than that, the process to find the path is dull. There is nothing to explore around the map, kind of frustrating.
All the cold stream defenders are saying it’s good because it’s a hard map.
It’s not hard, it’s tedious. The only aspect of cold stream that’s ‘hard’ is the fact that it throws an infinite number of common zombies at you. You can get through the majority of cold stream by equipping a melee weapon and holding w+m1 since the entire map is basically a single choke point and most of the zombies spawn in front of you; it’ll just take way longer than any other map. It’s more a test of patience rather than skill.
People need to understand the difference between natural and artificial difficulty. A naturally difficult map will throw challenges at you that make it harder to win, but can be overcome with skill or strategy. An artificially difficult map just makes it harder to play, and the only way to counteract it is to either brute force your way through or suffer a drain on your resources.
Example: the finale of the parish is naturally difficult. The path to your objective is blocked with cars, restricting your movement, but you can circumvent this by climbing on top of the cars, which also gives you a decent vantage point to shoot the zombies from. The area with the tank fight is dangerous since there’s lots of cars it can throw at you, but with good positioning or quick reactions it’s possible to avoid being hit. If you’re fast enough, it’s even possible to run around the tank without fighting it. There are multiple areas with falling hazards, but players are always given multiple paths around it. Once you reach the end of the bridge, all the zombies will be spawning behind you. There’s even a mounted gun to help you hold them off, but using it will take some of your firepower against the final tank.
Now compare that to the finale of cold stream. The area you move through is a narrow ravine. There’s very little space to move, there’s no obstacles to hide behind, and an infinite number of zombies are spawning directly in front of you. There’s nothing you can do except shoot at the zombies. You can’t use the terrain to your advantage in any way. The first tank fight takes place immediately after a drop off, where you have nowhere to retreat to. Like the Parish finale, there’s not a lot of room to move, but there’s nothing you can put between yourself and the tank to create space. The last section of the map features another tank fight, in which the tank can spawn right near the exit ladder. If you get to the top of the tower and then realise the tank is there, you cant do anything about it. You cant move around it, and odds are you’ll get punched off.
Yeah agreed
that charger bug also occurs on the roof of no mercy, which can actually party wipe if you hit more than 1 survivor
I think the blinding light in the tunnel might be for performance's sake, so that the next section of the level doesn't render until you're outside, but I could be wrong
my top guilty pleasure is enjoying cold stream
If you ever plan to do this campaign on expert then good luck.
A couple gripes i personally have with the campaign:
The fences you blow up at the military base are physics props that can incapacitate survivors, really nice when you think you're out of the blast radius and you get smacked on the ground while a horde is triggered.
The "special" pickups are always in the same places and they always spawn in. like the laser sights upgrade can always be found in the back of a semitruck in the military base and an lmg lying on one of the supports with a laser sight upgrade next to it when you get off the bridge. Every time i run this map i find these items always in the same place with no exception.
And like you said: the map doesnt encourage deviating off the main path to find supplies. And with the amount of non-stop action my progress through the maps is slowed to a crawl while my ammo is draining fast.
My friends and I actually really like Cold Stream. We love playing on it, especially on Versus.
I got stuck on this one - there was nothing to indicate that you had to shoot the explosives to clear the fencing above the stream; I shot at it, nothing happened. It was only when I watched this video, and saw the barrels explode, that I realised I had been right the first time.
The thing is, the visible path leads you around to the right, towards a flimsy tent. You can't go through the tent flaps, and following the path leads you to a fire; you can't go through the tent, but the solution is to pass something MORE solid than the tent by shooting some barrels that aren't highlighted?
Of course typically, on finally finding out that this was the solution, I shot the barrels some more... and the fencing fell on my team and killed us all in an instant.
While Coldstream is fun the first few times, it gets worse the more you play it.
Great breakdown.
I've always hated Cold Stream and my friend has never understood why. Even I don't know why, really. I just don't like it.
Oh yeah, you reminded me why. The crescendo events.
For me, i am sick of forest settings for a left 4 dead map. Swamp fever, the last stand, blood harvest, and this… Maps set in the woods are terrible campaigns. For f’s sake make some campaign set in a city like no mercy once in a while.
The first one of the events is when you open the bunker door which takes a lot of time and that alarm is just cursed…
This video perfectly explains my hate for Cold Stream.
Between the ripetitive crescendo events, getting flashbang, having resources served right in front of you and the bad map design making it frustating to play, I even got lost my first time playing, having no idea where to go.
The only good thing is that over all the map looks cool, in particular that tank spawn with the rock, but that's not even close to save it, I really cannot understand people that like it and I never will
I would like a series of you ranting about some of the flaws of all the maps
Oh...
lol
theres none, the rest is perfect. although dead carnival shouldve been larger considering the buildup.
I see a lot of people like Cold Stream, and honestly, after seeing all the flaws, I see why. It makes an for interesting challenge for more experienced players, due to the constant stream of zombies.
(Heheh, stream.)
Also, the map should be called Hot Stream because of the sheer amount of action and zombies.
what is that mod called with Heath bar
Cold Stream has always felt like the Dark Carnival rollercoaster event as an entire campaign to me. Nothing quite kicks as much cortisol into my brain like that one does...
The coaster is easy as fuck if you just run through with the katana
Something I learned only recently, map 3 doesn't actually end on a crescendo. It feels like it should but the horde will stop in a minute or 2. Despite its many faults it's still pretty good for a fan map.
As a fan map? Its ok, as an official campaign?
Definetely not, It feels more like a propotype of Left 4 Dead 1's maps rather than an actual map, It has balancing issues, horrible Pace, and lots of oversights.
DayBreak is a much better campaign that deserved to be official, this one feels like a project that was rushed.
It is a crescendo, just not a gauntlet
you missed the color error on the bridge where theres a red and white police car
i think this is the best campaign, because it has plenty of insta kills/downs for infected, and for survivor i love the layout of it, also i dont think its canon (9 months later, i dont think its good anymore)
That's the only reason you don't see it on vs lobs much cause pubs die too quickly
@@causetheplumstasteyum7848 and because Its not Fun to play overall, I mean the map is way too repetitive and has a Lot of awful design choices, especially with Crescendo events that can already make you stuck in campaign, in versus Its even worse
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 Stuck at what parts ? I personally disagree but then again i've been playing for a loooong time so for me its nice to play all the maps every now and then , if you have a clan of friends and are able to get full lobbies on VS mode its fun if you have players who know what they are doing
@@causetheplumstasteyum7848 the crescendo events, those cramped hallways are difficult to navigate, making Spitters, jockeys, Chargers and even boomers a death sentence, also playing with friends kinda easily negates most problems in versus because you have a coordinated team versus an uncoordenated team (unless its Competitive Versus, but still my point stands), Its just not fun getting stuck in horde with randoms because they barely have enough time to pay attention to his teammates because they're focused on the horde, hence why most people don't play Cold Stream in versus.
The fourth map is the best example I can give of Unbalanced Versus play: It's the bridge finale but without alternate paths, enough amount of resources, good tank spawn and way, waay too many zombies blocking your way. If you're forced to use boomerbiles or pipebombs just to get to the chopper alive, then your level failed as a versus map. Dead Air is a similar case, but the path to the safe house is shorter, WAY shorter, getting to the chopper in Cold stream is awful since its a long path with cramped level design and zombies spawning directly into you.
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 Hmm I'l agree its a challenging map but it forces you to play as a team , if you are doing vs moooost of the time the tank spawns outside or just when you enter the tunnel , giving you time to go back and defend it outside in the open , once the tank is dead its a case of decent cover and pushing forward together quickly theres also 2 exits to that tunnel so you can always try splitting up if you think it will stop the other team getting a full team attack on you, theres plenty of melee weapons to get you through and usually pipes or biles at least 2 towards the end part , i'l admit the tank spawn right at the end is tough as you can just block the heli and you have a constant horde , but if you all push through more often than not at least one will make it out , again decent cover is needed , overall yes its probably the toughest map , but if you are an old school player like myself and know the game well , i personally think its a nice change and brings a good challenge, On most other maps , for VS especially most experienced players know the best places to hit , the insta spots and where the attacks are going to be , you don't really get people doing that on this campaign as theres plenty of different places to spawn , i speak about it for vs mainly because if you are just playing campaign , its not like we are lacking maps and content with all the workshop and addons anyone can easily load into the game , how is having a campaign that feels a lot more challenging then the others a bad thing ?
I know this is unrelated, but what survivor addons does he use?
Honestly I didn't even know Cold Stream was disliked. I always thought the map was cool.
My only problems with the map is that I wish it had more personality and flavor to it. As it does just feel like a hike through the rural outback without much to really pull you in to play it as opposed to others. Don't get me wrong though, I like that feeling, but I just wish it had more going for it. My favorite parts of the map are the walk up along the highway with the falling boulder and switching between the highway and the river. My favorite part is climbing the bridge and then climbing down it and heading to the junkyard.
I personally really enjoyed the Rescue event, but I always did find that little outpost area at the end to feel a bit rushed and like upon entering you already won before you even reached the goal.
My biggest criticism of the map has to be the part where you explode the barrels and have to fight through the endless zombie horde down the flooding staircase.
I always found that part to be complete B.S because of the absolute onslaught of zombies that spawn, essentially impossible to make it out without someone going down/dying and the entire team having low health. There's too many moving elements that I can't focus on anything really well. I also really don't like how there's a insta-death section that the river ushers you onto. That mechanic is found no where else in the mod in running water, and it doesn't activate until you near the side door, making it extremely punishing to new-comers.
i feel like cold stream feels the most realistic, i like the atmosphere it gives in the calmer areas l4d2 did a phenomenal job with the time and atmosphere progression in levels
There was one bit in cold stream where I heard the infected but I thought they were in the forest but they were actually in the vault I was standing on
Great video mate i love it! although i agree with everything you said.. i would'nt call the map "awful"
i have some ideas to make it a updated better version (i have no game design role but i think i could make it look cool) but i need to much time to learn the editor
If you remember from the beginning of cold stream, one of the survivors mentioned that the fire spreading, and I like how you have to escape a burning forest, while atthe same time fighting and being chased by zombies
What hud is being used here?
There's also no variety in special weapons like the M60 and a miscoloured cop car on the bridge
ok ngl tho, post tls update the survival maps for cold stream pretty good
I keep seeing people in the comments saying how this campaign is great in VS and it got me thinking that it was probably designed for VS and not for campaign mode. People get excited when they stop the survivors from reaching the safe room and since Cold Stream makes it nearly impossible for the survivors to win, that's why everyone loves it. Running Cold Stream in campaign mode is just not a fun experience as everyone here has already listed.
When I first played this campaign, I remarked to myself, “You know how all the campaigns make fun of cheesy horror movies? This is the cheesy horror movie.” Honestly just feels like a Bollywood knockoff of The Parish
what fov mod do you use?
What's the health bar mod?
The first time I played cold stream (with Smart Bots), during the finale, me and 2 other bots died cause I had no idea where to go, while the third bot went to the helicopter on their own, somewhere in the corner of the map. Worst thing is that it didn’t count as me beating the campaign since I was dead so I had to play through it again 😔
It feels like almost no one talks about I Hate Mountains, and it's my favorite fanmade map
I wish they add Diescraper someday. I still dreaming to play it in Versus mode
The only reason i dont like cold stream is because of the endless hordes and special infected down a single path at the finale. And after they continuously throw hordes and specials before we go to the waterfall, they immediately throw a tank at us, and after killing the tank, special infected and hordes continuously come from forward and behind for the rest of the level brfore the copter even gets there. They literally give us no breathing room. Not to mention the obvious tank at the end in front of the copter. Its suuuper difficult without a synergetic team
Fun fact: on the final stage when you climb the sets of stairs you will still be considered hanging over a high ledge despite being above a platform inches below you.
They even had a unused horde theme which was badass
5:44 Can't the falling fence also incapacitate survivors if they get crushed by them?
Worse (this happened to me) the fence that starts the crescendo event can fall on top of you and you clip into it. Problem is, you are stuck if this happens, so you'll be mauled by the horde.
the "Back To School" map should have been added
Nice coach model you have
I mean witches not spawning could be something on purpose. You wouldn't want a witch when there are so many hordes, she becomes unavoidable. Same with tanks. Hard to progress.
1:39 no one gonna talk about that coach skin? 😂
what mods do you use?
What is your hud?
man are l4d channels gonna be triggered
what is that mod for nick?
For me the special infected spawn was just to much, and that tank spawn in tower near escape well screw up
Another bug on cold stream is one the second map when you climb over the van and truck to get past the helicopter fire and fence, you can get stuck in-between the truck and a crate, and you can't move, you can't be revived when incapped, forcing you to reset the chapter
Hey BanBangNiibs, could you add me on steam please?
@@animaldefenders4457 why?
@@fothcrahplaysstupidgames I'd like to try that bug you mentioned before, so why not with the person who discovered it? Aldo i could help you with some bugs i guess a few people know :)
@@animaldefenders4457 I could make a short video and send a link of it
@@animaldefenders4457 ayo here's my video on it czcams.com/video/Z8-jBdqJ08k/video.html
What's that nick skin addon?
A map being developed by the same guy who made 2 Evil Eyes custom campaign (if I remember correctly), it's not a surprise. In that custom campaign, the crescendo events are dreadful in map 2 (the ending part) and map 3 (as a whole after the train passing by), with the latter map having almost no verticality and very tight spaces to maneuver (unlike The Parish finale), making it a paradise for Chargers if not dealt with quickly. At least, there are downtimes in some maps in 2 Evil Eyes. But Cold Stream though, it's even dreadful especially during the ending. Despite this, I can still beat that campaign sometimes compared to 2 Evil Eyes, where I can't even past through map 2 or map 3 most of the time.
Some might think that this comment is a troll, which is understandable. But, this is something I would like to address
I could literally not understand how to get past the first part of the first level where you break through the window for a long time. Why did they make the map that way? That’s just confusing.
Cold Steam is unironically my favorite of all the campaigns. It's just so satisfying to get to the finale and finish it. No other map gives me the same satisfaction.
I WOULD love it, if it just didn't have far too many static spawns. Knowing almost exactly what you're going to get every time you play it is kinda boring, and very anti-L4D.
I respect your opinion, but I disagree: I dont feel any satisfaction getting lazily swarmed by infecteds from beginning to end without Variety, lack of alternate paths so I can plan out my way to the end, few resources, and 1 horrible tank spawn, not to mention How unbalanced the map is, try to play advanced or expert with bots without using pipebombs or boomerbile you Will get what I mean.
The Bridge Will always be the best finale for me (well, ignoring Dark carnival's of Course), It has an awesome buildup that makes you anxious and lets you mentally prepare for the horde, there are plenty of alternate paths to take, enough resources for both Newbies and experienced players, and the tank spawn was well executed: the horde stops coming, the tank roars in the distance and starts furiously throwing cars around while giving you the option to fight him or run past It, making It Fun for First timers since they most likely killed the tank, and Fun for experienced players that can simply Dodge him and make the horde respawn while rushing to the helicopter at the end, and the Cherry on top was seeing the bridge getting blown up at the end of the campaign, making It feel satisfying and ending the L4D2's story for good.
It’s satisfying and you say “Thank god that’s over” because of how awful the campaign is lol.
3:27 WHAT IS COACH WEARING???
Im guessing the devs wont be patching or improving this?
What fov is that?
dead center ALSO ends each level in a crescendo event.
What I liked about cold stream is that its set during the day like paris and have a large more open map
I like Cold Stream for the finale on its own, most of official campaigns are just defending a position for a set amount of time. And the fight your way to evac area style finale can give you many heart pumping, butt clenching moments
10:28
Rochelle be like "Hmm, this ammunition looks V E R Y interesting.'
Of all the campaigns I've played, this one actually gave me a nightmare. And it was literally about navigating around.
Cold Stream is a custom map that Valve officially added. This level of quality would be fine for a map you downloaded off the Steam Community Workshop, but not one that's officially in the game.
Finally someone that understands the reason this map is so bad instead of defending It saying "Its not that bad, I had Fun on It" bullshit.
Yes, the map is an ok map, but the fact that this was approved as an official campaign is ridiculous, so many other maps that deserved to be official campaigns, DayBreak for example. This map plays and feels amateurish. It doesnt quite understand what makes l4d official maps Fun to play and yet got approved as an official campaign.
@@naoaquieopatrickpatrick8565 from what I heard the creator did some shady stuff to win the contest for this map to get in the game
Valve could have just supported the dam it custom campaign instead of this trash. At least that can be canon, taking place after dead air.
Cold Stream is my least played map, but some of its set pieces - like the bridge - are really fun.
honestly, maybe its just because it was my first expert map (and even then i just gave up because the gauntlet on map 2 is too hard) but the downsides of cold stream like its predictability and linearity sorta make it better for an expert map imo, because i know what to expect and can plan or prepare for it, also idk i kinda like the semi-constant rush
like what makes the map boring and annoying on easier modes makes it more stressful and thrilling on harder ones
edit: after watching the video i have decided i dont think i want to do cold stream expert again, a gauntlet event every time and 4 sounding like a long one is just, bluh! bleh! pleh ptooey!!
While I've no experience in map design, I do have experience in playing maps... in games... What I think can fix Cold Stream is the following: 1)Allow time to breathe; your points on the pacing are just spot on, I turn to Dead Center as an example for pacing-- You're given alot of chances to explore the streets before the mall and even inside the mall, which adds to the atmosphere of the campaign. 2) Change up the path/goal; I've played plenty of custom campaigns that start with a significant route and destination, wherein the route doesn't overwhelm the environment too much. What I mean is if Cold Stream had started off with the first 2 chapters following the stream where it leads to an "urban" area for chapter 3 and into the finale, it would allow for diversity in the environment and still stick to its theme. A decent comparison is Swamp Fever, you start off trudging through mostly empty swamp until you do end up in a more "populated" area... or atleast formerly populated, until the finale in the abandoned plantation. Other examples I can bring up are Blood Harvest and the Parish. 3) Ease up on the Crescendos, for the love of god... self-explanatory.
I don't know how, but I always thought that the Cold Stream campaign was based off the "Cabin In The Woods" movie due to the fact that the movie had some L4D cameos in it. Like, dunno, Valve made a weird collab with the creators of the movie.