Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2

Blood Proof
Nicky Grimes Jun 19, 2023 @ 5:17pm
Nicky's Review of "Blood Proof": Decent Cityscape & Multiple Crescendo Events
Full video walkthrough on Youtube.

After multiple playthroughs of Blood Proof, there's a recurring pattern in the campaign. Each level is given one crescendo and one Tank/Witch (or sometimes both) for each level. The saving grace is that there's no scavenger event, nor a lot of holdout events.

In terms of navigation, it seems fairly simple until the church and the train. There's not a lot of signs scattered throughout the campaign nor is very telltale signs unless you explore each area thoroughly. It's very possible to get lost if you're not looking out for huge holes in the wall or out of place ladders to guide you where you need to be.

The author's taken time in constructing environmental cues to tell the player where to go. Sometimes it's helpful, sometimes it's ambiguous if the path you're taking gets you to where your team is.

From my most recent playthrough with the church, it looks both avoidable but with a necessary need to turn the alarm off. Don't be fooled by the gated door. It's just there for aesthetic. Your goal is to turn the alarm off, and then look for a hole in the building to escape through.

The finale is entirely skippable but it's much longer than the Parish. I've found some sections felt much larger than the original (visual take, but it would be the author's perspective that counts as the final word) inspiration, Blood Harvest. This felt much longer than the Parish.

As this was the author's choice to put multiple crescendo events and lots of Tanks or Witches into one campaign, I commend it for being challenging. The only overall improvement needed is placing more obvious signs to help the survivors go through the church or to get through the houses. A majority of the campaigns is spent running and jumping through houses if you're not outside on the streets going through a maze.

An aesthetic suggestion would be adding some rain as I noticed it sometimes looks like a town that recently had a storm. If there was some light rain to make it feel immersive along with some light fog and having the world as cold - that could help the perspective that it's not entirely dead and gives a shroud of mystery to it.

The major things that I disliked would be infinite hordes spawning in areas that's not well navigated out. When I told the bots to lead, they couldn't climb the ladders nor navigate out of the church properly.

I'd say this campaign's a well done aesthetic take on some old assets but put with a creative twist and lots of threats designed to keep players on their toes. However, I definitely will say I had a lot of fun playing through this more than another campaign I've played through recently, Two Evil Eyes.

By contrast, Two Evil Eyes is a more detailed campaign with immersive features but features many more infinite hordes than Blood Proof. There was more than one crescendo event sometimes, or it would be completely NOT navigable.

This campaign was well put together and there wasn't any parts where I got stuck as a player (excluding the Church).

The Finale is Skippable.
If you notice a very large section in the train, you can crawl through there and not have to activate the infinite horde up until you reach the elevator. I noticed that I could activate the generator and it immediately calls the rescue without signaling another infinite horde. These hordes felt like it was placed by the Director - they didn't spawn too much nor did they swarm you instantly.

I also say well done to the cutscenes that the author took the time to create - beginning and end. There's a lot of ambiguity within the campaign regarding the fate of the survivors, how exactly did the town get run over, and if there was any active military presence. However, those are very minor details that wouldn't affect gameplay in either way. I respect the author for making this campaign as it's a breather compared to the very fast and unforgiving campaign that loves putting multiple crescendos, more infinite hordes, and more puzzles rather than letting the players choose whether they want to take it slow or fast.

Well done, author! Well done! I'm keeping this in my collection.

Other campaigns I would recommend are:
- Precinct 84: Bigger setting with equally creative use of default assets, doesn't rely on flashiness nor hasty environmental changes.
- Detour Ahead: Another larger campaign with an equal pace but more challenging finale.
Last edited by Nicky Grimes; Jun 19, 2023 @ 5:32pm