If you played and enjoyed Left4Dead as much as we did , then you noticed something was missing. Valve nailed the desperation, the random grouping of survivors, a frantic fight to safety, and the horrors of a ruined world after the zombie apocalypse. What was missing, however, was the after credits death of all of the survivors. Well, fear no more! Valve’s just released their Downloadable Content for the Xbox 360 version of Left4Dead. This time, there are no happy endings.
What you are getting for your time is a tightly focused little addition to an already great FPS game. The download is free, so if you’re enjoying the game so far and have the disk space for it, pick it up. Those who enjoy Versus will find the final two maps unlocked. Those of you who are masochists will find something else entirely. Each of the game’s four Movies, plus a just released fifth film setting, have been updated to allow for some last man standing gameplay.
The fifth film is entitled, The Last Stand, and subtitled “It Doesn’t End Well.” That little bit of foreshadowing is spot on. You can actually click here to see what Valve is going to be throwing at you. Wave after wave of Infected will hurl themselves at you, along with a seemingly endless wave of Special Infected and Tanks. There is no way to beat this gametype, you can only play to see how long you can hold out before being overrun.
Fortunately, you have as much time as you want to set things up before the pain begins. 
There are about fifteen fuel tanks and propane drums scattered about the level, and all the weapons, ammo, pipe bombs, and molotov cocktails you could ask for. Your final stand takes place on a hill with a lighthouse standing at the peak. You can try to fortify the inner rooms, or you can climb to the heights of the building and fire down at the onslaught. In my time with it so far, going high seems to be the best bet, but you will run out of ammo and explosives up there. Also, getting hit by the meaty fist of a Tank has a nasty habit of knocking you all the way off the cliffs. Even if you drop the first couple of Tanks, it won’t be long before you are facing multiple Hunters and Smokers, which can pull your group (and your intestines) apart in seconds if you aren’t careful.
Survival mode is a blast to play in short increments, and as it is free, you’re not losing anything by trying it. Friends are nearly a must though, as you will want people you can count on to save you. There is a lack of victory or even satisfaction at a job well done when you play too much of it though, as the game is designed to be unfair. Valve must have decided that they were tired of hearing how easy it was to beat the game on hard mode. After enough playthroughs, you might find yourself wistfully thinking to how relaxed and forgiving Horde mode is in Gears of War 2. My best time stands at 5:05 right now. I’m not sure I can beat it. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to try…
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