Left 4 Dead 2 is a zombie survival game that was developed by Valve. The game features seven different campaigns, including the campaigns from the original Left 4 Dead. Despite having fun campaigns and memorable characters, Left 4 Dead 2 is also known for the mods and custom campaigns fans have made. Some campaign creators go above and beyond, creating custom skins for the infected and escape vehicles.
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Some of the campaigns are simple, while others require the player to solve puzzles. New voice lines were recorded, adding to the setting of the campaign. By playing these custom campaigns, players are able to travel to other areas that have been affected by the Green Flu.
Updated October 28, 2023 by Erik Petrovich: One of the things that keeps Left 4 Dead 2 alive is its modding community, which tends to be particularly good at designing custom maps and campaigns for the game. Some of the L4D2 best custom campaigns are story-driven, atmospheric, crafted horror experiences that could only be accomplished through mods, like The Bloody Moors. Others, like Tank's Playground, go the complete other way, cutting out any semblance of story for pure, unadulterated thrills as one faces down waves of Tanks. Check the end of these two entries, as well as others in this list of the best L4D2 custom campaigns, to find out where to download these custom Left 4 Dead 2 campsigns.
12 Tank Challenge (& Tanks Playground)
These two Left 4 Dead 2 Workshop campaigns feature simple L4D2 custom maps and a premise that's as hard as it sounds. Both Tank's Challenge and Tank's Playground challenge players to survive increasingly difficult and increasingly numerous waves of Tanks and nothing but Tanks.
The Tank's Challenge map is an offshoot of Tank's Playground. Tank's Playground tasks players to survive for 10 minutes, for a total of 13 to 15 Tanks to face down. Tank's Challenge spawns one new Tank for every round – Round 1 spawns one, Round 4 spawns four, and so on until Round 10, in which a total 10 Tanks will spawn at once.
Where To Get Tank Challenge And Tank's Playground
Both Tank's Challenge and Tank's Playground can be downloaded on the Steam Workshop without any dependencies or other compatibility mods required.
11 The Bloody Moors
The Bloody Moors is a lengthy, multi-part campaign that tasks the survivors with making it through the moors of Yorkshire in England. It's quite an atmospheric custom campaign, with gothic and eldritch themes that add to one of the best L4D2 maps on the Steam Workshop.
The Bloody Moors comes in five parts, but it's recommended for players to start at the first one to get the full context and story. It's one of the best L4D2 custom maps to explore with friends, which more than 750,000 subscribers can attest to.
Where To Download The Bloody Moors
The Bloody Moors is available on the Steam Workshop, though it is split into five separate parts. Be sure to download them all, and play them in order, to get the intended experience.
10 A Variety Of Half-Life 2 Custom Levels
It's no secret that some of Valve's greatest hits all used the same engine - the Source engine - and many of the engine's assets merge seamlessly between games. The game Garry's Mod exemplified this by loading assets from installed Source games directly into the user spawn interface, but it goes a lot deeper than GMod.
Fans of Half-Life 2 and its two DLC episodes thusly ported over the level layouts for three separate areas into the Left 4 Dead 2 creator. These fully-fledged maps feature sights, sounds, and even NPCs from the classic FPS merged with the gameplay that the Left 4 Dead series is known for.
It's worth noting that for most of these Half-Life 2 maps an additional texture mod must be installed.
Point Insertion
The Point Insertion level from Half-Life 2 is one of the most recognizable opening areas from early 2000's FPS games. It originally served as the place where Gordon Freeman enters City 17 through the train station and escapes the Combine to an apartment complex while constantly under the gaze of Dr. Breen on overhead monitors. The Left 4 Dead 2 version of this level was taken directly from Half-Life 2 and serves as a nostalgic (and terrifying) trek through one of the game's most iconic locations.
Red Letter Day
Red Letter Day is the level that immediately follows Point Insertion in Half-Life 2 and introduces the player to Alyx, Dr. Kleiner, Eli Vance, and of course Lamar. The level in Left 4 Dead 2 quickly whisks players through the secret lab area and into the following hectic chase through the Route Kanal, just like in the original game. Instead of the Combine, though, players will have to deal with Left 4 Dead 2's variety of zombie archetypes.
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Route Kanal
Route Kanal is the level that immediately follows Red Letter Day, taking Gordon Freeman through canals and the urban landscape in a hectic sprint away from the Combine. The level appears in Left 4 Dead 2 almost unchanged, though there aren't any Barnacles to trap and pull players to their death. Perhaps the Smoker serves as a decent (and much more dangerous) alternative.
Water Hazard
Water Hazard is the last of the five chapters from the original Half-Life 2 that were modded for functionality within Left 4 Dead 2, making a significant portion of the original story playable in this new setting. Water Hazard takes the player on a speedy hover boat-based journey through swampland and urban marshes. Though the original level was a quick one in Half-Life 2, Water Hazard is the hardest of the five chapters available in Left 4 Dead 2.
City 17 (HL: E1)
The custom campaign of City 17 allows players to fight through the familiar setting of Half-Life 2: Episode 1. The campaign starts at the train crash and ends when the player makes it to the train station, fighting through the underground and the hospital. While players might be used to zombies in the Half-Life series, they most likely won't be used to zombies who can leap from rooftops or throw concrete at them. The campaign also caught the attention of Valve, who featured it on their blog.
9 Suicide Blitz 2
Suicide Blitz 2 was featured on the Left 4 Dead blog on June 17, 2011. The campaign is unique, as it is full of Easter eggs, a custom tank model, and has the survivors travel through a city to a football stadium, and there is a Half-Life 2 Easter egg which requires the player to carry a gnome from the beginning of the campaign to the last chapter.
The escape has the player fight through three tanks on the way to the helicopter. Afterward, there is a flyover of the stadium, which is then bombed by military jets.
Where To Download Suicide Blitz 2 Map
All three parts of the Suicide Blitz 2 map can be found on the Steam Workshop. It has no prerequisites except that all three parts must be downloaded for the full experience.
8 Helm's Deep
Helm's Deep is a survival map that takes players to Helm's Deep from Lord of the Rings. The map was also featured by Valve on February 20, 2013. This custom campaign allows players to survive against the hordes of the undead with their friends in the iconic fortress that served at the kingdom of Rohan's last stand against the forces of Saruman.
Players are able to fight the horde through a familiar setting, adding a bit of fun to the game, and it highlights the intrinsic fun of surviving a zombie onslaught with—or against—friends. It might feel anachronistic to use guns in the fantasy setting of Helm's Deep, but if roleplaying is important to you, you can always turn the difficulty down and go melee-only.
Where To Download Helms Deep L4D2 Map
The Helms Deep map was actually originally made by the Chivalry team around the time of their mod Age of Chivalry came out. Though it was bugged for a while, a new version is available through the Steam Workshop.
7 Warcelona
Warcelona takes players to Barcelona, Spain, where they can fight the infected in a brand new environment. According to the campaign's creator, every setting in the map is based 100% on a setting in Barcelona. The campaign also has a difficult finale, having players make their way through hordes of zombies to a helicopter.
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The Warcelona campaign was featured by Valve on November 9, 2012. The campaign features zombies in soccer jerseys, making this campaign one of the few ones that have custom infected.
Where To Download Warcelona for L4D2
Like many Left 4 Dead 2 custom maps, Warcelona is now available through both GameMaps and the Steam Workshop, though its Steam page doesn't give much of any details on what the custom campaign actually entails. The GameMaps page goes into detail on what to expect.
6 Urban Flight
Urban Flight has players escape a burning city as they try to make their way to a military outpost. The finale has players finding eight gas cans so they can refuel a plane and escape. The finale also has a custom tank, which is seen in a military uniform.
The campaign feels similar to ones from the first Left 4 Dead, having players fight through a city and refuel a plane for escape. The campaign does offer a new setting, making it worth playing.
Where To Download Urban Flight
The Urban Flight L4D2 campaign is available through the Steam Workshop and GameMaps, but players are highly encouraged to turn on the Instructor Hints after installation. In the Multiplayer Options menu, this option can be turned on and off, but it's required to understand the "important crescendo and finale event."
5 Deathcraft II
Deathcraft II brings the world of Left 4 Dead to Minecraft. The custom campaign has the players look blocky while fighting the zombies from Minecraft, and it definitely puts a nice spin on both games. While it's not technically a Left 4 Dead2 based campaign, it's nonetheless worth playing for any Left 4 Dead fan.
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There is also an Easter egg where, if the player brings a pumpkin from chapter one to chapter two, they can get an Eye of Ender. Bringing this to a portal in chapter three will allow the players to fight the Ender dragon, being rewarded with diamond swords.
Where To Get Deathcraft 2 Campaign
Like most custom L4D2 maps, the Deathcraft 2 Left 4 Dead 2 campaign is similarly available through both the Steam Workshop and GameMaps. However, there are a total of seven parts, and all other addons must be disabled for Deathcraft 2 to work correctly.
4 I Hate Mountains 2
The campaign I Hate Mountains 2 brings the original survivors to Canada, letting players play in a new setting. The campaign teases players in the second chapter, having them hold out for a rescue vehicle.
When the helicopter flies in, it crashes, and the survivors have to find a new method of escape. The true finale has players defend themselves at docks while they wait for a ship. When the ship pulls in, the players are able to pile on and escape for real.
Where To Download I Hate Mountains 2
I Hate Mountains 2 custom Left 4 Dead 2 campaign was originally available only on GameMaps, but has since been ported to the Steam Workshop. The complete campaign is conveniently contained in one file, too, rather than multiple parts.
3 Day Break
Day Break has players fight the infected hordes in San Francisco. The maps include downtown San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge, a cruise ship, and the finale takes place on Alcatraz. The players must find 13 gas cans so they can refuel a helicopter in order to escape.
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There is also an Easter egg where players can find a bar full of gnomes. On the table are pills, which prompt the player to eat them, causing their vision to start changing colors. By putting in the code, players are able to get a flamethrower. There are Easter eggs on each map, with that one accessible in the mod's first chapter.
Where To Download Day Break Custom L4D2 Map
The Day Break custom campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 is available primarily through the Steam Workshop in one download, though the same files are also available on GameMaps in five separate downloads.
2 Death Aboard 2
Death Aboard 2 starts the survivors out in a prison where they must fight the infected to escape. The players then fight their way through a town, docks, across a ship, and then they make it to an island. On the island, the survivors must fight to the top of a lighthouse to escape.
The escape vehicle is unique, as it is a hot air balloon (something that's not seen in any of the classic Left 4 Dead 2 campaigns). After all of the survivors make it aboard, they slowly float away to safety.
Where To Get Death Aboard 2 Map
The Death Aboard 2 custom campaign can be downloaded from either GameMaps or the Steam Workshop. The Steam Workshop version is a combination of both parts of the custom campaign.
1 Back To School
The campaign starts with the survivors as they just crashed their car. Players play as the Left 4 Dead survivors as they make their way to a school. The survivors fight through the woods, a train station, and a town before they make it to the school.
The finale takes place on the school's football field, where the survivors must collect gas cans to escape. There are two endings: one where the players escape in a helicopter, and one where they escape on a bus. During the latter finale, a nuke goes off and destroys the town.
Where To Get Back to School Custom Map
The Back to School custom campaign can be downloaded, like most L4D2 maps, from GameMaps or the Steam Workshop. All parts must be downloaded to function correctly.
