A Baltic Tale

Title: A Baltic Tale
Links: http://gamemaps.com/details/17626 
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=809649733
Author(s): Grobi
Survivors: L4D2
Notes: Applies shadow common infected mod.

This is a two-map Christmas-themed campaign that bills itself as a 15-minute mini-campaign. It consists of running to a Christmas tree to light it up and then run back, sort of like Hard Rain only much smaller and without significant changes to the map.


Thematically, the campaign takes place in Scandinavia and the level design is pretty good. I enjoyed the layouts and the setting was realistic enough to pass for an actual city. It's a well-polished campaign as well, as it didn't look like there were any glitch spots or areas that didn't look good. There were several places that intentionally deceived the player into thinking it was the right way to go, only to force the player to find the real path, which was usually through a door nearby. This made it pretty fun and rewarding when we found the right path, plus the level isn't so long that this ever gets annoying.

I guess there's some sort of a story here in that the city is cursed. In essence this is just a way to justify using Zetnus's shadow infected mod, which turns the common infected into shadow-looking figures. This adds a layer of uniqueness to the campaign and adds to the overall character of the campaign. The special infected are unaltered, so they're still just as noticeable as always.

I think where this campaign could be improved is some better instructions in regard to turning on the tree as well as horde placement. To turn on the Christmas tree, you just need to find a giant key and then go into the saferoom. Once the next map loads, the tree is automatically lit and you escape. I
thought for sure there would be some sort of switch near the tree that causes a horde to appear, but no, you just run through a very oddly designed museum, find the key, and enter the saferoom with no extra horde. I think a tank is supposed to spawn (because I heard it die) but it couldn't reach us.

While the museum is creative and cool, it isn't really there for any reason other than just to be there. This is kind of how I feel about the whole campaign. There isn't any feeling of necessity in going through this, it feels like it was just created for fun. That's all well and good, but it doesn't give it much of a sense of purpose. It's just kind of a thing that was made. I can't imagine myself ever saying "Let's do A Baltic Tale!" It's just too short and not challenging enough to be kept on a running list of active campaigns to cycle through. But if it's Christmas time and a team wants to do a Christmas-themed campaign, one could do worse than this.

Difficulty: This campaign doesn't pose much of a challenge, aside from possibly dickish witch spawns. The bots take their time in catching up to you, but it shouldn't be anything out of anyone's league. This is at a very average if not slightly easy difficulty. New players can start immediately on Normal without fear of being overwhelmed, while experienced players may choose Advanced or Expert right from the start. Resources are plentiful, lighting is very clear, and there shouldn't be much confusion about where to go.

Final Verdict: This is a well-made but ultimately somewhat pointless feeling campaign. With no real challenge, urgency, or reason to exist, this comes across more as a fun or joke campaign. It's a prime example of a quick in-and-out campaign. The suggested timeframe is 15 minutes, while I beat it in 12 and it's surely possible to complete it in less time. Good enough to play once.

Rating: 3.43/5.
68.6 diversion rooms with a stuffed elephant with a mallet chasing a stuffed crocodile out of 100.