A Left 4 Dead mapper has painstakingly recreated the fortress of Helm's Deep from Lord of the Rings in the form of a huge Left 4 Dead survival map, which means you can create Gimli and Legolas' competition to slay the most enemies over the course of the battle, only this time using assault rifles instead of a bow and an axe. If you don't have the Zombie Genocidest achievement for killing 53,595 zombies yet, this map might be a good way to get it.

The three walls of Helm's Deep have been faithfully recreated, meaning you'll have to fall back deeper and deeper into the fortress as the zombies press, much like the defending forces were forced to in Lord of the Rings. The Left 4 Dead Survivors do get a few advantages over their Tolkien counterparts, though, like four mounted machine guns on the outer wall of the fortress. On the other hand: no Gandalf, so they're probably even. You can download the level from Left 4 Dead maps. Here's a video of the new map.

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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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?

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.