Cold Stream is an unexpected piece of Left 4 Dead 2 DLC. It’s releasing almost 18 months after the previous add-on. It’s community-made rather than Valve’s handiwork. Unfortunately, despite some stellar work from the original creators, it’s also the rare bit of Valve-sanctioned content that’s not a must-purchase.

The main event of Cold Stream is the four-part fan-made campaign. It starts on a riverbed in a forest and…pretty much stays there, with some brief diversions onto decaying bridges and a finale that takes you onto solid ground. It’s not a visually distinct campaign like Dark Carnival and it doesn’t play tricks like Hard Rain’s torrential return trip, but Cold Stream is still a decent engagement. Because you’re essentially heading down a corridor (the stream is usually buffered by unscalable cliff walls), the game makes no bones about tossing waves of undead and special infected at you (though witches are absent, oddly).

Even though it’s made from old content, Cold Stream still packs some crazy setpieces.

Our biggest qualm about Cold Stream is that Valve hasn’t given it enough substance. Community developers (rather ingeniously) cobbled together the new campaign’s dialogue from old sound clips, but Valve could have gone a bit further and recorded canon-setting dialogue  —  at least give a new Keith story! And if you’re looking for new weapons, items, or scavenge levels — or even new Achievements — you won’t find them here.

We’re glad to fire up our 360s for some Left 4 Dead 2, and the addition of four of the first game’s campaigns (with the sequel’s items, special infected, and new scavenge maps) is a nice touch. But we would have enjoyed our dip into Cold Stream more had Valve freshened the water a bit.

The Tank will often stop you in your path with nowhere to retreat, leading to situations like this.

PUBLISHER: Valve Corporation  •  DEVELOPER: Valve Corporation  •  ESRB: Mature  •  MULTIPLAYER: 2 in split-screen co-op, 4 in co-op and 8 in versus (both over Xbox Live)  •  ACHIEVEMENTS: None  •  COST: 560 Microsoft Points ($7)  •  RELEASE DATE: August 3, 2012

On Xbox 360

+ A nicely structured campaign with a great final chapter.

+ Four classic Left 4 Dead campaigns return with L4D2 enemies, weapons, and modes.

– No witches, Achievements, or unique dialogue; sometimes the path is unclear.

? Is this the last L4D2 DLC we’ll get on Xbox?

7.0