Left 4 Dead 2 - Dead Air
Developer: Valve Corporation
Publisher: Valve Corporation
Platforms: PC (Steam)
Release date: July 22, 2011 (if promotion is successful)
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According to Valves Left 4 Dead 2 Blog, they plan on releasing the new DLC for Steam "Dead Air" early, if 20,000 people achieve the Stream Crosser achievement. All the achievement requires of you is to complete the level "Cold Stream" on any difficulty.
Instead of having the whole development team sit down and play the game to hammer out all the bugs and glitches in "Cold Stream" they are asking players to help contribute to the debugging process. A few people have told me that they disagree with this method of essentially releasing an incomplete game and having players debugging it, which has led to lots of problems with other games in the past, I have to agree with this particular method in that the benefits highly outweigh the hindrances. For what little bothersome bugs one may find, you will be unlocking a new DLC, as well as being able to find Left 4 Dead 2 on sale on Steam for $4.99 (75% off) for today only.
Dead Air is a five-chapter Left 4 Dead campaign. On first release, it was the third campaign in the game but moved to fourth position in the wake of the subsequent issue of the Crash Course campaign.
The campaign opens, somewhat bemusedly, in a rooftop greenhouse when a low-flying C-130 sparks the idea that the local airport may still be operating evacuation flights. Thereafter, the campaign follows the challenges and travails of The Survivors as they make their way through Newburg to its Metro International Airport.
Along the way they must traverse rooftops, apartment buildings, becubicled offices, defy health and safety regulations by lowering a dumpster using a crane, shoot their way through a deconstructed construction site, surmount the manifold dangers posed by an electrical sub-station, find somewhere safe in short-term airport parking, deliver various keynote addresses at the airport's conference center, attempt to check in, discover what really happens to lost airline luggage, battle crowds in the departure lounge, check their economy boarding passes before proceeding to the departure gate, and (in true budget airline tradition) ensure the airplane is prepped to fly before finally boarding their flight through the rear exit.
