Left 4 Dead

[final kaoss]

• "Blood Harvest: The Tunnel": Easy win as Infected

In Versus mode, there is a warehouse-type area immediately after the starting safe room. As a zombie, quickly run back to the emergency door on the other side of the warehouse. There should be a forklift near the door. Spawn and push this forklift in front of the doorway. Note: You may need to break the white door in front of the emergency door to get the forklift all the way in front of the doorway.

• "Dead Air: The Construction Site": Shortcut

In "The Construction Site", there is a metal door and a raised fence by the barricade that you burn. Jump on the fence and follow it until it begins to go downward. At this point, jump on the metal siding "door". Note: Some practice may be required.

• "Dead Air: The Crane": Shortcut

In "The Crane", jump on the fence after climbing on the vent cover. Go across the fence then jump to the other side of the horizontal fence. Turn left and go to the end. Jump up and to the right to air conditioning unit box on the corner of the next building. Once on the next building, go to the left corner. Jump to the top branch of the tree below you. You will lose a lot of health after landing. However you will be at the next safe room.

• "Death Toll: Boathouse": Items

Under any difficulty setting, a health pack and pills will spawn in the bathroom across the field from the house.

• "No Mercy: The Apartments": Easy kills

In level 1 of the No Mercy chapter, the Survivors must jump into a sewer hole to enter them. As an Infected, use this to your advantage. One must be a Smoker or a Hunter. Do not spawn; instead hide behind one of the large canisters in the room. Once the players open the hole and are done checking the vicinity, they will jump in. Due to the fact they must jump in one at a time or get stuck, make sure you have a clear view of the last one in line. Once all three are down and the fourth Survivor is still up, pounce or grab him. By doing this he will not be able to be saved, unless someone throws a Molotov or a pipe bomb.

• "No Mercy: The Apartments": Shortcut

As soon as the level starts, look over the edge of the building and down to the street. Notice the box-like object that is partway down. Drop down to it. Although you will take some damage, you will still be alive. You can then drop down to ground level and continue the level.

• "No Mercy: The Hospital": Easy win as Infected

Before you spawn, go all the way up to floor 28, where the elevator lets out. Just outside of the elevator is a generator. Move it in front of the elevator door. , if the Survivors know what you are doing, they can move it. It will require three survivors to move an object. However if you have someone else on the Infected side, they can go a little bit further and move the forklift that is there in front of the doorway.

• "No Mercy: The Sewer": Easy way through

Over by the trucks is a door that you can open later. However if you have some people meleeing it, it will eventually break.

[final kaoss]

• "No Mercy: The Sewer": Easy win as Infected

This trick works best as a Hunter. Before you spawn in No Mercy level 3, go all the way to the very end, at the hospital. Once up the ladder, turn to your right and there should be a dumpster. Move it all the way over to the manhole and one of two things will happen. It will either fall all the way down, which is bad because the Survivors can move it; or it will partially fall in. The survivors cannot move this at all. If you are a Tank, you can move a car over it, which is better than any dumpster. From here, do not puke on them as a Boomer. It will attract the Horde. The Horde will try to move the object away from the manhole. Then, as Hunters and Smokers, you can just attack them. They may shoot you, but every so often, you can hurt them until finally they die.

In the warehouse near the end of the level, immediately after the area with the gas station and the lift, there is a forklift which you can use to block the door the survivors must go through. When the level starts, do not spawn. Instead, quickly go to the warehouse. When you get there, spawn and start pushing the forklift to the door. To push the forklift, keep attacking it. It will move very slowly but you will have time to push it before the Survivors reach it. The only way the Survivors can move it is by throwing pipe bombs at it repeatedly.

[final kaoss]

• Dead Rising reference

The amount of zombies you have to kill for the "Zombie Genocidist" achievement (53,595), is the same zombie kill count and achievement in Dead Rising.

• Death Toll: See Newburg burning

You can see the city of Newburg from the "Dead Air" episode burning at the end of "Death Toll".

• Defeating Survivors

When Hunters are on fire, their pounces and attacks on Survivors do significantly more damage per hit. Use this to your advantage and deliberately set yourself on fire with the many fire pits or burning cars, then attack. This allows you to easily down Survivors. Note: This only works for Hunters, not Smokers, Boomers, or Tanks.

• Defeating Tanks

To kill a Tank faster, throw a Molotov cocktail or a gas tank and shoot it. When the Tank is on fire, shoot him with an assault rifle.

• Defeating Witches

To kill a Witch faster, throw a Molotov cocktail. When the Witch is on fire, shoot her with an automatic shotgun.

[final kaoss]

• Easy "Akimbo Assassin" achievement

Start a mission and shoot a few zombies using only your pistol. Then, select the "Take a Break" option and allow the NPCs to complete the level.

• Easy "Cr0wnd" achievement

Play under the Easy difficulty setting. Get an auto-shotgun and find a Witch. Quickly approach the Witch with lights off and force her to rise. Quickly shoot her head as she stands.

• Easy "Dead Stop" achievement

Use a shotgun and run at a Hunter, hitting [Melee] repeatedly.

• Easy "Helping Hand" achievement

Go to a safe house, preferably with a combat shotgun. Incapacitate the other three members of your group, then revive them. Doing this counts toward your achievement. It is easier with a combat shotgun because it deals a lot of damage fast. In a single player campaign, make sure all other survivors are in the lower red health area. When you incapacitate one of them, the others will try to revive them. You then need to shoot the others before they revive the incapacitated players or you will not get the points for reviving.

• Easy "Man vs. Tank" achievement

Start a new game in "Dead Air" under the Easy difficulty and select the finale. Once you have made it to the tanker, restock on ammo, grab a pipe bomb or Molotov cocktail, then answer the radio and start the gas pump. Once the pump is activated, run around to the right-hand side of the rescue plane and prepare to fight off the horde. A benefit of this position is that the horde cannot come at you from behind. When it is time for the Tank to appear, it will usually spawn on the far side of the plane. Run up to opposite side then run back and forth without coming around the plane to your side. Your AI teammates will not shoot the Tank when it is on the other side of the plane. By crouching you will be able to easily aim at the lower body from beneath the plane and take it down quickly.

The open area at the end of "Death Toll" is a good location to unlock this achievement. There is enough room here to fend off the horde yourself and deal with the tank.

• Easy "Stand Tall" and "Unbreakable" achievements

Select the Easy difficulty while playing offline. Let the bots clean up the enemies on the map. If you get healed, you can restart the map after dying and not have it count against you.

• Easy "Unbreakable" achievement

If you have a health pack and are low on health, pause game play and select "Take A Break". While you are idle you will be healed. When it is done, rejoin the game and the healing will not count against you. Note: This was done under the Easy difficulty setting.

• Easy "Untouchables" achievement

In No Mercy, Level 5, when you climb to the rooftop, there is a small building with a satellite dish by where the helicopter lands. Climb on top of this building. There is a small staircase on one of the sides leading up to a sealed door (only zombies can open it). Stand above it on the edge, and knock the zombies down as they come up. Eventually one will knock the door down. The Survivors can stand against the back wall in the room, and no infected will come in, including the Tank. Once the helicopter lands, throw a pipe bomb, and quickly run to the helicopter.

• Easy "Zombie Genocidest" achievement

This can be done anywhere, except in Versus mode. You must kill 53,595 zombies. When playing in Campaign mode, you get a few friends (Louis, Bill, Zoey, and Francis) to help you. The bots can sometimes kill the zombies and special Infected more than you can. In order to kill more zombies than the bots, find a sniper rifle. Get to a high area and snipe each zombie. You can also go lower, but turn off the flashlight or your snipe can be ruined by the attack of a zombie. The best levels to do this are any until the finale in "Blood Harvest"; "The Greenhouse" and "Crane" levels in "Dead Air"; "The Church" and "The Town" in "Death Toll"; and the first three levels in "No Mercy".

• Easy kills as Infected in No Mercy: The Sewer

The Survivors must jump into a sewer hole at a certain point. As an Infected, use this to your advantage. While playing as a Smoker or Hunter, hide behind one of the large canisters in the room. Once one of the Survivors open the hole and are done checking the vicinity, they will jump in. Due to the fact they must jump in one at a time or get stuck, make sure you have a clear view of the last one in line. Once all three are down and the fourth Survivor is still up, pounce or grab him or her. By doing this, he or she will not be able to be saved, unless someone throws a Molotov cocktail or pipe bomb.

• Easy wins as Infected in Blood Harvest: The Tunnel

There is a warehouse-type area immediately after the starting safe room. Quickly run back to the emergency door on the other side of the warehouse. There should be a forklift near the door. Spawn and push this forklift in front of the doorway. Note: You may need to break the white door in front of the emergency door to get the forklift all the way in front of the doorway.

• Easy wins as Infected in No Mercy: The Hospital

Before you spawn, go all the way up to floor 28, where the elevator lets out. Just outside of the elevator is a generator. Move it in front of the elevator door. If the Survivors know what you are doing, they can move it. It requires three survivors to move an object. However, if you have someone else on the Infected side, they can go a little bit further and move the forklift in front of the doorway.

• Easy wins as Infected in No Mercy: The Sewer

In the warehouse near the end of the level, immediately after the area with the gas station and the lift, there is a forklift which you can use to block the door the Survivors must go through. When the level starts, do not spawn. Instead, quickly go to the warehouse. When you get there, spawn and start pushing the forklift to the door. To push the forklift, keep attacking it. It will move very slowly, but you will have time to push it before the Survivors reach it. The only way the Survivors can move it is by throwing pipe bombs at it repeatedly.

This trick works best as a Hunter. Before you spawn in the No Mercy campaign, Level 3, go all the way to the very end, at the hospital. Once up the ladder, turn to your right, and there should be a dumpster. Move it all the way over to the manhole, and one of two things will happen. It will either fall all the way down, which is bad because the Survivors cannot move it; or it will partially fall in. The survivors cannot move this at all. If you are a Tank, you can move a car over it, which is better than the dumpster. From here, do not puke on them as a Boomer, as it will attract the Horde. The Horde will try to move the object away from the manhole. Then, attack them as Hunters and Smokers. They may shoot you, but every so often, you can hurt them until finally they die.

• Faster melee attacks

Rapidly tap [Melee] and [Weapon Switch] alternately to double your melee speed.

• Floating Tanks

Tanks will float when dead.

• Half-Life reference

In some of the newspapers seen throughout the game, Dr. Breen from Half Life can be seen.

• Hunter runs while crouched

As a Hunter in "Ghost mode" (blue screen), walk into an object that you can move through (for example, a crate or door). Press [Crouch] for a moment. If done correctly, your view will be crouched and you will run twice as fast while still in Ghost mode. After you spawn, your Hunter will be completely silent and cannot be detected by Survivors, as well as be able to run around. In this state you can pounce immediately without having to wait for your meter to build. However, you can only pounce once, otherwise the glitch will end. You can die and try it again in Ghost mode. The same thing happens when crouching again and jumping. You can still melee, climb, and walk off edges.

• Hunter wall jumping

Use the following trick to jump off the walls of buildings as a Hunter in Versus mode. Crouch to charge your jump. Click the Mouse to jump. As soon as you hit the wall, quickly turn your character around so that you are at least facing 180 degrees away from your original point of view before the Hunter begins to drop. Quickly Click the Mouse again while still holding [Crouch]. You will be propelled off the wall and further into the air. This trick is useful for reaching higher places. It may require some practice.

• Invincibility while reloading

Press [Reload], then hold [Melee] to knock back attacking zombies while reloading your gun.

• Keep CPU characters from healing you

When offline, there is a way to keep CPU characters from healing you. When a CPU character is trying to heal you with first aid, take out either your own first aid or pain pills. The CPU character will immediately stop healing you. Note: As soon as you put your healing item away, they will try again. This is useful when trying to get the "Unbreakable" achievement.

• Kill two zombies with one bullet

Use a sniper rifle and zoom in on a group of zombies. When you see a zombie standing behind another one, shoot at the one in the front. The zombie in back will also get shot.

• Left 4 Dead self-references

In the hospital levels of "No Mercy", you can find a lot of X-rays with only four fingers. This is a reference to the game's cover art.

If you are an Infected when the elevator in "No Mercy" is activated and moving down, the number of what floor it is on will not change from "04", which is a reference to the "4" in the game's title.

In the hospital starting safe room of "No Mercy", there is graffiti on the wall reading "I killed..." and then lists different variables, including 53,594. This is the number of Infected you must kill to receive the "Zombie Genocide" achievement.

[final kaoss]

• Minigun launcher

Stand behind any mounted minigun on any level, and melee it. You can do this by yourself or get other people to help. Every time your gun hits the minigun, its launching strength will increase. Once you hit it enough, jump on top of it. This will either make you bounce very high or launch you across the map to your death. Bouncing straight up on it allows you to get to unreachable places such as buildings, airplanes, barriers. etc.

• Orange Box reference

Near one of the escalators in the subway, there is an ad for "Orange Box" Juice, which is a reference to Valve's Orange Box game compilation.

• Play as infected

Enable the "ent_fire !self setteam 3" code. After spawning and dying, press [Jump] until the camera changes into Free Roam mode. Then, enable one of the following "z_spawn" codes to play as that type of infected:

z_spawn smoker
z_spawn tank
z_spawn boomer
z_spawn hunter

• Reload shotguns during melee attacks

This trick works with either shotgun because reloading causes the bullets to stack, and they are not reloaded with one single clip. To perform this trick, press [Melee] as soon as you choose to reload. You character will initiate the melee action, which will knock the Infected back, and therefore cancel the reload animation. Despite this happening, your gun will continue to reload. This makes it much easier to keep yourself safe while reloading the shotgun.

• Safe area

When hordes of Infected appear, try to find a room with a door and no windows. Go inside, and close the door. The Infected may break the door, but when you see a hole in it, shoot the Infected trying to break it down. Your teammates can handle most of the Infected.

• Shortcut in Dead Air: The Construction Site

There is a metal door and a raised fence by the barricade that you burn. Jump on the fence, and follow it until it begins to go downward. At this point, jump on the metal siding door. Note: Some practice may be required.

• Shortcut in Dead Air: The Crane

Jump on the fence after climbing on the vent cover. Go across the fence, then jump to the other side of the horizontal fence. Turn left, and go to the end. Jump up and to the right to the air conditioning unit box on the corner of the next building. Once on the next building, go to the left corner. Jump to the top branch of the tree below you. You will lose a lot of health after landing; however, you will be at the next safe room.

• Shortcut in No Mercy: The Apartments

As soon as the level starts, look over the edge of the building and down to the street. Notice the box-like object that is partway down. Drop down to it. Although you will take some damage, you will still be alive. You can then drop down to the ground and continue the level.

• Split-screen mode

Insert an Xbox 360 controller. Use a text editor to edit the "360controller.cfg" file in the "\left4dead\cfg folder" directory. Replace its content with the following:

unbindall // Prevent mouse/keyboard control when gamepad is in use (to prevent autoaim exploit)

joystick 1
joy_advanced "1" // use advanced joystick options (allows for multiple axes)

joy_name "L4D Xbox360 Joystick Configuration"
joy_advaxisx 3 // x-axis controls GAME_AXIS_SIDE (strafing left and right)
joy_advaxisy 1 // y-axis controls GAME_AXIS_FORWARD (move forward and back)
joy_advaxisz 0 // z-axis is treated like a button
joy_advaxisr 2 // r-axis controls GAME_AXIS_PITCH (look up and down)
joy_advaxisu 4 // u-axis controls GAME_AXIS_YAW (look left and right)
joy_advaxisv 0 // v-axis is unused
joy_forwardsensitivity -1.0 // movement sensitivity
joy_sidesensitivity 1.0
joy_forwardthreshold 0.1 // movement dead zone settings
joy_sidethreshold 0.1
joy_pitchsensitivity 1.0 // look sensitivity
joy_yawsensitivity -1.5
joy_pitchthreshold 0.1 // look dead zone settings
joy_yawthreshold 0.0

joy_variable_frametime 1
joy_autoaimdampenrange 0.85
joy_autoaimdampen 0.5
joy_lowend 0.65
joy_lowmap 0.15
joy_accelscale 3.0
joy_accelmax 4.0
joy_response_move 5
joy_response_look 1
joy_autoaimdampen 0.3
joy_autoaimdampenrange 0.85
joyadvancedupdate // advanced joystick update allows for analog control of move and look

// Alternate control 1
bind "0" "slot10"
bind "1" "slot1"

bind "2" "slot2"
bind "3" "slot3"
bind "4" "slot4"
bind "5" "slot5"

bind "6" "slot6"
bind "7" "slot7"
bind "8" "slot8"
bind "9" "slot9"

bind "a" "+moveleft"
bind "c" "+voicerecord"
bind "d" "+moveright"
bind "e" "+use"

bind "f" "impulse 100"
bind "h" "motd"
bind "m" "chooseteam"
bind "q" "lastinv"

bind "r" "+reload"
bind "s" "+back"
bind "t" "impulse 201"
bind "u" "messagemode2"

bind "w" "+forward"
bind "x" "+mouse_menu QA"
bind "y" "messagemode"
bind "z" "+mouse_menu Orders"

bind "`" "toggleconsole"
bind "SPACE" "+jump"
bind "TAB" "+showscores"
bind "ESCAPE" "cancelselect"

bind "SHIFT" "+speed"
bind "CTRL" "+duck"
bind "F1" "Vote Yes"
bind "F2" "Vote No"

bind "F5" "jpeg"
bind "MOUSE1" "+attack"
bind "MOUSE2" "+attack2"
bind "MOUSE3" "+zoom"

bind "MWHEELUP" "invprev"
bind "MWHEELDOWN" "invnext"

// controller2 bindings
cmd2 +jlook // enable joystick look
cmd2 bind "A_BUTTON" "+jump;+menuAccept" // (A) button - Jump -menuAccpt allows us to make selections on hud menus
cmd2 bind "B_BUTTON" "+reload" // (B) button - Reload
cmd2 bind "X_BUTTON" "+use" // (X) Use
cmd2 bind "Y_BUTTON" "lastinv" // (Y) button - swap pistol/rifle or z_abort -used to respawn as a ghost.
cmd2 bind "R_TRIGGER" "+attack" // RT - Main weapon - Primary trigger
cmd2 bind "L_TRIGGER" "+attack2" // LT - Melee
cmd2 bind "R_SHOULDER" "+lookspin" // RB - Fast 180 spin
cmd2 bind "L_SHOULDER" "toggle_duck" // LB - Duck - is also used to give objects to people.
cmd2 bind "STICK1" "vocalize smartlook" // LS - vocalize
cmd2 bind "STICK2" "+zoom" // RS click - Rifle Zoom

// Fixed bindings, do not change these across joystick presets
cmd2 bind "BACK" "togglescores" // (back) button - scores
cmd2 bind "START" "pause" // (start) button - pause
cmd2 bind "S1_UP" "+menuUp" // Hud menu Up
cmd2 bind "S1_DOWN" "+menuDown" // Hud menu Down
cmd2 bind "UP" "impulse 100" // DPad Up - Toggle flashlight
cmd2 bind "LEFT" "slot3" // DPad Left - grenade
cmd2 bind "RIGHT" "slot4" // DPad Right - health
cmd2 bind "DOWN" "slot5" // DPad Down - Pills

At the main menu, select "Options", then choose the "Keyboard/Mouse" selection. Enable the "Allow Developers Console" option. While playing the game, press ~ to display the console window. Type "Exec 360controller.cfg" and press [Enter], then set your split screen mode with the following console codes: "ss_splitmode 1" ("Horizontal-Cut" for standard monitors) or "ss_splitmode 2" ("Vertical-Cut" for widescreen monitors). Connect to a server. Join the server with the "connect [IP address] 2" console code. You must now set the Xbox 360 controller to player two (with the light on the Xbox logo pointing to "2"). To do this, quickly unplug and reinsert the Xbox 360 controller while the game is running. You can now play in Co-op mode in split-screen.

• Star Wars reference

The APC in "Blood Harvest" is marked "TK-421" is a reference to the stormtrooper in Star Wars that Luke Skywalker and Han solo incapacitated.

• Stay alive longer

When hordes of Infected appear, find a room with a door and no windows. Go inside and close the door. The Infected may break the door, but when you see a hole in it, shoot the Infected trying to break it down. Your teammates can handle most of the Infected.

• Stronger Hunter

When Hunters are on fire, their pounces and attacks on Survivors do more damage per hit. Use this to your advantage, and deliberately set yourself on fire with fire pits or burning cars, then attack. This allows you to easily down Survivors. Note: This only works for Hunters, not Smokers, Boomers, or Tanks.

• Team Fortress 2 references

Before the finale in "Dead Air", while still in the safe room you can sometimes see a box which advertising Team Fortress 2.

John Slater, who is the voice actor for the person who drives the boat in "Death Toll", also voices the sniper in Team Fortress 2.

• Unbreakable door

If you are low on health and need somewhere to hide, find a bathroom stall. Go inside the stall and close the door. The door never breaks down. This works well if you are trying to heal yourself.

• Zoey has three hands

On the movie poster for "No Mercy", look closely to see that Zoey has three hands holding her gun.