I don’t typically play/rate Survival Mode Custom Maps, but for this classic and iconic Survival map, I’ll make an exception (especially since this one actually has an ending, after you survive for 30 minutes).

The Battle of Helms Deep from The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers (2002) is a classic scripted battle which is faithfully recreated by fans in nearly every mainstream video game.

And Left 4 Dead 2 is no different, with Helm’s Deep Fixed being a faithful recreation that sticks closely to the original source material (scripted segmented fallbacks, epic LotR music, and all), in order to provide a dramatic and authentic experience of fighting your final battle, against an overwhelming force, across every last inch of Castle Hornburg.

Gameplay-wise, as is typical for Survival Mode, the relative difficulty of Helm’s Deep Fixed will depend greatly on the quality of your teammates, in addition to your own skill.

So long as your team camps the infinite Military Sniper Rifle and focus-fires the Special Infected from afar (without ever reloading), and guns down Commons and Tanks with Assault Rifles/Shotguns at medium-close range, you shouldn’t have too much trouble on this map (as is generally true on all Survival maps).

Once you fall back to the Keep, you can use Snipers, a mounted gun (temporarily), Molotovs, Gas Cans, and Magnums (especially when the Ammo Pile gets taken away) to easily hold off the onslaught in the chokepoint.

You then get gradually pushed back up the stairs, across the castle battlements, and up the stairs of the main tower, as the two Tanks chase you up. At the top of the main tower, you meet up with Gimli, who is apparently using a horn in order to call for Gandalf.

Finally, near the end, close to the 30 minute mark, Gandalf The White arrives to yeetus-deletus the hordes of Infected, and the whole team charges back through the entire Castle Hornburg at super-speed to push the Infected back to the field.

Upon reaching the field, you can toss a Bile Bomb(s) on Gandalf, as anything that touches him will die instantly.

A dramatic slow-motion scene will play out for a long time here, and then when it ends, Gandalf will be almost fully charged up, and will begin attracting and killing all of the Common Infected on the map automatically.

At this point, you just have to focus on the Specials and Tanks (preferably from inside the walls, as the Gap is a natural chokepoint in of itself) until you reach 30 minutes.

Once the timer hits 30 minutes, Gandalf releases his charged up spell, which automatically kills all Infected on the map and ceases their spawning, and thus you’ve won The Battle of Helm’s Deep.

After this, you can give Gandalf a kiss, fiddle-diddle him (he never leaves), make love with Legolas in the stables (who notably didn’t help at all in the battle), vocalize death screams, walk around, shoot your friends, read a book, and go AFK to your heart’s content; as triumphant Lord of the Rings music plays and the Incoming Horde scream sound effect continues to play on loop for all of eternity.

I have no real complaints with the map as-is, other than there’s an obnoxious invisible wall near the Military Sniper Rifle on the outer wall, next to a fake painted-on door, which prevents you from walking along/sliding down the stone ramparts next to the castle’s main tower, which you totally should be able to with L4D2 logic (I’m definitely not salty due to getting pinned in this corner and killed by two Tanks, because I didn’t know there was an invisible wall placed here).

Fortunately, if you happen to die on any scripted segment, your surviving teammates can pull conveniently-placed levers in the next area, which teleports all dead Survivor on the map there, where they can then be revived with the Defibrillators provided.

This respawn mechanic, along with the very generous amounts of supplies provided by the map in each segment, ultimately makes Helm’s Deep Fixed fairly easy to win with a half-decent team.

Overall, even though it’s not the hardest Survival map, Helm’s Deep Fixed is a very fun experience and a well-designed map, and everyone should play it at least once.


For more Expert Custom Map Reviews and ratings, see my full Collection here. https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2252724380