‘Crash Course’ DLC for Left 4 Dead hitting XBL this Thursday

Valve, via their Twitter feed, have today unveiled that their recently announced Left4Dead DLC is to be released next Thursday for both PC and Xbox 360 platforms.

In a statement, Gabe Newell told that “Since the release of Left 4 Dead last November, the design team has been excited about creating new experiences for this world and allowing players to do the same, by releasing much of our internal toolset, like the Survival Pack and Authoring Tools. We’re working with the fans toward the ongoing entertainment value of the product.”

This next piece of DLC is entitled Crash Course, and will encompass both new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay. In terms of its timeline, Crash Course will be used to bridge the gap between the end of the No Mercy campaign and the beginning of Death Toll that were included within the original game. This will therefore allow an expansion of the previous storyline, and allows for the inclusion of some new locations, alongside further dialogue additions from the cast of Survivors.

It is known that the Survivors will start out by the crashed remains of the helicopter that had rescued them at the end of the No Mercy campaign. Upon escape, the helicopter pilot had been infected, and during flight Zoey had incapacitated him to ensure their survival – even if it did mean that an emergency crash landing was in order! We are also aware of how the new campaign will conclude, but we didn’t want to spoil the ending for you – as it seems it must be experienced itself to be truly appreciated.

Players must be aware that the new campaign featured within the DLC will be much shorter than those available previously. This is due to player feedback regarding co-operative multiplayer – in which players had generally felt that the previous campaigns had been too long for multiplayer matches, with many assisting players dropping out even before they had reached the end. From this, the new campaign will only feature two chapters – and will last around half an hour.

Other additions include a recharge timer for infected teammates, as well as changes to the item spawn patterns to provide the player with much more balanced gameplay.

As far as we are aware, the DLC will be available for free to PC gamers, whilst Xbox 360 customers will have to pay 560 Gamerpoints.