Silent Fear

Description
Take Left 4 Dead. Now, mix it together with Silent Hill, F.E.A.R., and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Sounds crazy, right? Well, Adam Sierra is here to prove to you that a strange concept on paper can turn into something amazing in execution with his single-map campaign, Silent Fear.

The map contains scripted events and randomized map elements that shift location every time you play it, adding increased replay value and many different scenarios for you to experience. In Silent Fear, you and the other Survivors have just climbed out of the wreck of NewsChopper 5, taking a cue from Crash Course. Stranded in a lonely, foggy town, you discover that there's no way out, and that something sinister lurks beyond the back alley.

Never before have I played a campaign that makes Left 4 Dead feel like a genuine survival horror game. Sierra takes it to the next level by adding paranormal elements. The Witch, normally just a crying nuisance, now takes on a whole new role as a psychic entity. Like F.E.A.R.'s Alma Wade, she levitates objects and makes sudden appearances out of the blue. Not only is this unique, it's executed flawlessly.

Unlike standard Left 4 Dead campaigns, you must search the town and find symbols called "Glyphs" in order to break the magic cypher and unlock the gate in the back alley. While this sounds simple, Sierra's randomizing map changes shift the locations of the symbols each time, opening and closing different parts of the town with each playthrough. While some of the map components are re-used from Valve's official campaigns, the architecture and layout of the town is something to be admired. The haunting atmosphere and almost sandbox-like gameplay are top-notch.

Once you break the cypher and head into the back alley, you come across one of the most impressive feats of map-making I've ever seen in Left 4 Dead:

A custom-modeled, fully-scripted boss battle.

The fight had a very Ocarina of Time-like feel to it, especially with the introductory cutscene. While the safe room not ending the campaign was disappointing, it was perfectly understandable, and I really didn't mind. Defeating the boss was one of the most satisfying moments in Left 4 Dead for me, and the rest of the campaign was of such superb quality that I really wasn't bothered by it.

One of the most concerning issues I've come across during my many playthroughs of this campaign is the Survivors' inability to move if they've been rescued after a Glyph cutscene has been triggered. The only method I know of that fixes the problem is completely restarting the campaign. The Survivors can also be rescued from open closets, but that's definitely going to be fixed in the next release. Thankfully, performance-wise, the framerate is consistently stable and has no noticeable drops whatsoever.

Silent Fear is the most unique campaign released to date, and if you haven't downloaded it yet, then I suggest you fix that problem.

--Odyssey1319