Keep your arm and leg, in more ways than one

Hey all you fans of zombie killing, put down that wallet and pick up that shotgun! Valve recently announced that the Left 4 Dead Survival pack we've all been eagerly awaiting will be free of charge. That's free on PC and Xbox 360. Players will be receiving a brand new mode, as well as the ability to play existing maps, Death Toll and Dead Air, in versus.

Secondly, they revealed a few details about the upcoming Survival mode. And yeah, I totally called it. It turns out that it will be very similar to Gears of War 2's Horde mode, in which players must survive an endless onslaught of undead, coming at them in waves. They haven't gone into details about how ammo and health will be handled, but I imagine those things will have to be carefully rationed out if one wishes to delay their ultimate demise for very long. Survival mode will take place over 12 maps, but before you get too excited, these are probably taken from existing areas of the campaign mode, as no new play areas have been mentioned.

I personally think it's great that Valve are managing to get this content to us without charging. Microsoft don't seem to like the idea of giving customers anything without making a few bucks off of it, but it's possible that they have some kind of rule about how much a company can release at one time for free. A couple of new modes and options are probably okay, but new maps, weapons, or achievements most likely require an exchange of Microsoft Points somewhere down the line. They don't seem to understand the concept that free DLC not only boosts sales of the game, but also discourages players from trading their copies in too quickly. It should also help Valve sell more of their "Critics Choice" version Left 4 Dead, which will include the extra content right from the start.

Of course, now that we know the DLC will be free, it kind of negates the need for another version of the game, as anyone could just pick up the regular edition then update it online. And yes, I realize that not all players have their system hooked up to Xbox Live, but if that's the case, what the hell are you doing playing Left 4 Dead anyway?