The Shantytown is the third chapter of the campaignSwamp Fever in Left 4 Dead 2. This chapter is home to a Crescendo Event, in which a rusty ramp must be dropped to move to the next shack on stilts. The loud creaking of the rusted ramp attracts the Infected. There is a mixture of houses with stilts and those without most half flooded with the rising swamp waters.
Pack up your guns and start running! The safe room contains various weaponry and health kits. When you're done, go out and search what is left of the swamp people's home. Staying too long will cause a Horde to spawn from the gate that a car has been stuck in. Search the houses to find various Gas cans, grenades, and temp. healing items. Once you're done, go to the house northwest of the safe room (in Survivor's point of view). It contains various items. Leave by the backdoor and you'll find the small fenced area which does nothing important. A Tank tends to spawn here, so keep moving to a fallen tree that has smashed onto a trailer. This allows you to get a bird's eye view of most of the town.
Most of the houses here are useless and contain a few items, so keep moving until you find some moss rocks. Climb on them to the a small walkable wood verison of a "swamp" street. Instead of going to the main path, wander off to the two houses across from the needed path to find various grenades, ammo stashes and weapons there. Once you're done searching, go to the eletricity pole (the one that you see in other campaigns) and check for a Grenade Launcher, which often spawns there. A Witch tends to spawn around here, so be careful.
Once you're done, search the last remaining house for now to find a "checkpoint" that contains weapons, temp. healing items and the occasional Health Kit. Proceed through the swamp, noting for Tanks. There is a small "swamp" portapotty that most players do not notice to the left of the "checkpoint" house that serves as a Rescue Closet. Once you reach the other shantytown, search the two shantyhouses for various items such as Adrenaline shots. A Tank spawns here, so if it does, fall back and after it has been killed start the Crescendo. You have several options on how to do this:
Option 1: Players will fall back to the "checkpoint" house and hold off all waves from there. Though this does not award you with an achievement, it does save health in the long run and it focuses all the Commons and any Specials into a line of fire rather then being surrounded. Restock on the guns on the table and proceed when necessary.
Option 2: Players will hold the Infected off at the second house. This is usually recommended on Easy or Normal due to the low amount of damage recieved, but this usually is dangerous as of course, Smokers can pull people off and they will have a hard time being saved quickly. Melee weapons are a must if doing this option.
Option 3: The most dangerous of all, players will rush to the safehouse at their own will. An Adrenaline shot, Pipe bomb/Bile bomb is absolutely needed to distract a wave of Infected that spawns while the ramp is lowering. Players must jump onto the roofs and avoid being hit by Commons, Hunters and Smokers. Use an Adrenaline shot to rush to the safehouse. They must be wary of any Witches and/or Tanks if they have not appeared yet, and is not recommended on higher difficulties due to the damage and reaction time of the Infected.
Once players follow options 1/2, move quickly through the shantyhouses, searching for supplies when needed. The last shantyhouse contains various items, notably weapons and a Gas can or two. A swamp portapotty is located across the house and serves as a final Rescue Closet for anyone who died during the Crescendo. Go across the wooden bridge and kill the Infected.
The safe room is quite easy to acess. Just climb up some wooden stairs taking a 180 degree turn and the safe room is there. Just take notice of any Witches that tend to spawn on or around the wooden stairs/path to the safe room, and of course, Special Infected that spawn in the safe room at times. Close the door and take a breath, you're almost going to get rescued now!
The Survivors use the rusty old ramp to reach the other side, but it doesn't work. The noise the lever made is now drawing the attention of an endless horde. Will the Survivors reach the end of the swamp or the end of their lives?
Overall Tips
Teamwork is essential to long-term survival.
In this mode, most of the popular choke points, closets and easily defensible corners are removed. Even if you find one that has not been removed, it is not recommended that you fight from there as The Tank will quickly defeat you when he arrives.
You have an infinite amount of time to prepare. Use this to your advantage. Take as much time as you need to set up gas cans, propane tanks, oxygen tanks, and to find a good place to fight from.
When searching for a place to fight from, remember that you need a location that not only limits where the horde attacks from, but also gives you a fair chance against the Tank. You either need to be able to fall back and deal with the Tank easily, or have a good enough vantage point to kill him before he can get too close.
Ammunition is a problem. Unless you are being overrun with Infected or fighting a Tank, try to use your pistols as much as possible. Conserving ammunition should be a priority, as trying to get more during a horde attack can often be fatal. When you do head out for ammunition, remember to take at least one teammate with you.
Notes
The surgical tools.
Close to where the Survivors leave the safe room is a pile of corpses of both humans and cattle burning in a small fenced area, hinting of a failed attempt to prevent the Infection from spreading
A pile of dead cows, thought to be infected by the former inhabitants
through the town.
At the safe room, there is a reference to Belle Foret and Emmy (Emily) LeBlanc. This could possibly refer to the book "Giving Up the Ghost" where it is based at a plantation house in a swampy forest (Belle Foret) and is about a ghost named Emily LeBlanc.
Several pieces of graffiti in the upstairs rooms of the plantation house refer to Village En Marais (Village In Marsh). It's possibly the name of the shantytown.
It is possible to get on top of the houses near the Crescendo Event by simply running against the lowering ramp until it becomes climbable. This spot can be easily defended in the coming horde battle. Just watch out for Smokers, Spitters, and possibly Jockeys. Hunters and even Tanks are a trouble if you remain on the roof long enough.
There is a hole in the wall near the rusty ramp that NPC Survivors regularly exploit. If you are facing the ramp, turn left and head backwards towards the swamp path you just left. Near the corner of the walls, hidden among a small group of trees with a large impassible bush to the left, is the NPC's hole. It's to be seen if this is exploitable by players easily.
Certain walls of the Shantytown can be shot apart using any weapon but shotguns are most effective.
In the safe room, there is a mention of a Virgil among the list of dead.
There is a large list of dead relatives scribbled on the walls of the beginning safe room, some of them references to pop culture.
There are surgery tools in one of the shacks in this chapter for no clear reason. It is unknown if these were involved in the spread of the Infection throughout the shantytown.
The denim-clad lower body of a fallen survivor can be found in this chapter, with a blood trail leading from the stump where the upper body used to be; this implies that either the survivor attempted to crawl away before succumbing to blood loss, or that the upper body was dragged away by an Infected. The upper half of the corpse can be found farther on in the chapter.
Gallery
The flooded shacks of the Shantytown
Concept art of Shantytown
Another concept design for Shantytown
The rusty plank that will attract the horde when lowered
The lower half of an unfortunate soul, notice the marks showing the other half as being dragged away
