Valve Details Left 4 Dead 2's Upcoming DLC, Teases L4D1 Add-On

Valve was present and accounted for at Microsoft's X10 conference held yesterday, and it didn't hold back when it came to making announcements. The main news that came our way was the announcement of "The Passing" and its expected arrival date, Valve marking the DLC for a late March release. The DLC will feature quite a few new things, though some of them have only been hinted at. Even so, those that were confirmed were enough to get us excited and waiting to once again march upon the undead hordes.

First of all, the new DLC will feature at least one new type of infected, the Fallen Survivor. The new zombie is a human who believed himself immune to the infection, was obviously wrong, and ended up on the other side of the conflict. He's going to be somewhat easy to spot, with his bonnie hat, bandoleer and Molotov cocktails, but also as a hunted infected, as he'll sometime drop health kits or ammo when killed, remnants from his survivor days.

As far as the campaign goes, players will have a chance to hook up with the old crew, the cast of the original Left 4 Dead, Francis, Bill, Zoey and Louis, who will act as NPCs. According to the information that Kotaku extracted from Valve, the veteran survivors of the first Left 4 Dead will help players finish the third map in the campaign. "The Passing" would also allow them to get a bit more intimate with the cast of the original game, learning a bit more about their traits, Valve's Chet Faliszek explained. The story will most likely be detailed in the Left 4 Dead digital comic that will be illustrated by Powers artist Michael Avon Oeming, and will come out after the release of the DLC.

And if that wasn't enough for the fans of the old L4D, then Valve announced that it had another treat for them. Approximately a month after the digital comic book comes out, L4D will receive a special add-on, detailing the adventures of the survivors in the time that passed since the first title ended up until the events in The Passing. Right now, the add-on is still unnamed and it will only be available in the original game, and not in the sequel.