If you boot up Left 4 Dead 2 today you'll notice a new addition to the campaign list. The modder made map, Cold Stream, has been added to the line-up as a beta campaign. It looks a lot more polished than you might expect from a beta map, but Valve expect players to find a few bugs. To help people report problems, they've extended the in-game bug reporting feature, and asked that fans post feedback on the Cold Stream Steam forums. For more information, check out the Left 4 Dead 2 blog.

A while back we highlighted Mines of the Dead, a map dedicated to bringing Minecraft's cuboid world to Left 4 Dead 2. The map's creator is still working hard on finishing the project. The first stage of the campaign is complete and ready to download, and a survival map is also available. You'll find a video of the new survival map below.

The first stage of the campaign, The Caves, can be downloaded now from Left 4 Dead maps. Most of the action is underground, but future stages will take the fight outside. The survival map provides a glimpse of what those stages will look like. It's called The Village, and is also available now on Left 4 Dead maps. Here's a video of the survival map in action.

Valve have announced that they will be releasing a set of maps for Left 4 Dead 2 once Portal 2 is done and dusted. The three remaining maps from the first Left 4 Dead will be ported over to Left 4 Dead 2 as part of the pack, and there will be a fourth map from modder Matthew Lourdelet, who made the excellent 2 Evil Eyes campaign. Instead of quietly finishing work on the new map, Valve are throwing its development open to the community, asking for ideas and feedback to help them develop the campaign.

Valve made the announcement on the Left 4 Dead 2 blog, where they say that they've been playing Lourdelet's new campaign, Cold Stream. "We love it so far but it isn’t done. We were tempted to have him quietly finish it with our help and release it as part of an upcoming DLC."

"Tempted… but we decided against that. Instead, we think we have a better idea. We want you the community to be part of the process of taking his unfinished campaign and releasing it as DLC on the Xbox 360, PC and Mac."

Valve's latest experiment is looking to crowdsource development on the map, taking feedback on each aspect of the campaign as it's developed. Valve also say they'll be giving the community feedback on the changes they decide to make, which should provide an interesting insight into the way they develop their levels "we will also share some data we collect on player experience and show how we put that data to use. We will include you with regular posts, polls, and updates."

There's a new section of the Steam forums dedicated to Cold Stream where you can leave your own thoughts and suggestions. Do you think opening up the development process will result in a better map? What would you like to see from Left 4 Dead 2 DLC?

That sound you heard was December 7 being circled on 12 million calendars at once. The PC Gamer crew, joined by Chris Perry of MMOReporter.com, ponders the release date of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Then we reconsider OnLive as a non-subscription service, and take a better informed look at the TF2 Polycount update. Chris jumps into Left 4 Dead's new DLC, Evan recounts his Medal of Honor beta experience, and our jaws hit the floor when we hear how much 3D Realms spent not making Duke Nukem Forever.

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If you've ever bought Left 4 Dead 2, or if you buy it before 4pm Pacific Standard Time today (that's 11pm, UK folks), you'll get Ellis's hat and a skillet in TF2. Look, a picture of the soldier threatening three tiny, quadriplegic Michelin Men that he's keeping in one!



Oh right, they're maggots. My items haven't arrived yet, anyway, but you know how these things go. One day you'll die and get a hat and a skillet. It's a classic tale of rags to death to riches and frying pans.

The Sacrifice, Left 4 Dead's thrilling comic, has concluded. It tells the story of how brave Bill went to the final respawn closet in the sky, as was revealed in The Passing, the Left 4 Dead 1 DLC released earlier this year. In a similar vein, The Sacrifice DLC has just shipped for free for both L4D 1 and 2, and lets you play through the fighty bit leading up to the climax of the comic. And the best part? Everything Left 4 Dead related has suddenly become ridiculously cheap.

You can get Left 4 Dead 2 on its own for £5.09/$6.79, the original Left 4 Dead for £4.41/$6.79, and both bundled together for £7.81/$10.19. The 4-packs are pretty cheap too. International prices courtesy of SteamPrices.com, hyperbolic salesmanship courtesy of Whitaker. Man, I'm glad those boycotters showed Valve what for so we could have free content for L4D this long after the sequel came out.

Has anyone played through the new campaign yet? Which game did you play it in? What did you think?

Michael Louisseize has made a Minecraft map. Nothing amazing there though, right? I see more Minecraft maps than I see exploding people in computerised entertainment devices. BUT WAIT.



Yep, he's made it in L4D2, and he's made that lovely poster to go with it. It's intended as a 4-level campaign with above and below ground levels, and the first one is pretty much done:



When he's done with them, he'll be running screaming through them with some familiar industry names:

Left 4 Dead maestro and funny guy Chet Faliszek,
God of War creator and actual God of War David Jaffe,
and Minecraft craftsman Markus Persson.

Michael Louisseize owns and runs World of Minecraft, a massive community of Minecraft servers that supply their own Minecraft client wrapper for use with their servers.

Valve have released a cinematic trailer for the upcoming Sacrifice update For Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, due out October 5th. The trailer features a couple of situations that might illustrate the 'Sacrificial gameplay' Valve say the update will include. Francis disturbs a witch, Zoe has a last stand on a bridge and Bill, well, he charges three tanks with a molotov cocktail. Check it out.

Valve's latest batch of Left 4 Dead DLC has been announced. It's coming to both Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 on October 5th and, on the PC, it's completely free. It's also adding a new way of playing online: "sacrificial gameplay".



Both versions of the game will receive a new campaign called The Sacrifice, set just before the events of The Passing, which will centre around the original Left 4 Dead survivors as they fight their way south. The campaign will include a whole new type of finale which will include 'Sacrificial Gameplay', where players "get to decide who will give their life so the others may live," which sounds as though it might ruin a few friendships.

The Left 4 Dead 2 version of The Sacrifice will also have you playing as the original survivors from Left 4 Dead 1, but will also include all of the extra weapons and special infected that Left 4 Dead 2 players are used to, so you'll be able to play as Zoe and chop up Chargers with a Chainsaw. As an added bonus, the whole No Mercy campaign from the original Left 4 Dead is being ported to the sequel, and will include additional support for L4D2's Scavenge mode.

The Left 4 Dead comic, also called The Sacrifice, is currently being released, one part at a time. Perhaps it'll offer some clues as to where we'll be fighting the infected in the new campaign.