One of the best parts of the Left 4 Dead 2 “The Passing” DLC, is the new Mutations mode. In this mode, gamers will be given a variety of new, otherwise inaccessible modes on a weekly basis. The first mode which was showcased in this fashion was Realism Versus, a versus mode that hampers the survivors and boosts the effectiveness of the infected with the buffs given in Realism mode. Many more are coming our way, however, and a tiny bit of hacking has revealed many new game modes in the Mutations list. Here is what we have found so far.

Bleedout – In this game mode you are given only temporary health, which reduces at a speed much faster than normal. No health kits will drop, however, pills will spawn very frequently. The game will also increase the amount of random panic events in an attempt to catch you off guard.

Chainsaw Massacre – Also known as Chainsaws. No weapons will spawn. Players will be given chainsaws with infinite gas to use for the entire campaign.

Last Gnome on Earth – Also known as Guard the Gnome. Gnome Chompsky will spawn at the beginning of the campaign and must be carried to the end of the campaign to win. Zombies will only attack the player carrying the Gnome.

VIP Target – Like Last Gnome on Earth except in versus mode.

Follow the Liter – Also known as Linear Scavenge. This game mode plays like normal scavenge mode, however only one gas tank will spawn at a time forcing the survivors to pick them up in a specific order.

Versus Survival – A competitive survival mode. Players take turns controlling survivors and special infected in survival mode. The winner is the team that lasts longer as the survivors.

Gib Fest – Also known as M60s and Rambo. Each player spawns with an M60 and a Magnum with infinite ammo. No weapons will spawn.

Hard Eight – In this mode, eight special infected may spawn at once in an attempt to kill you, as opposed to four.

Max Specials – This mode plays like survival mode except there is no cap on the number of special infected that may attack you forcing you to deal with many at once.

First Man Out – If one survivor dies, the entire campaign is lost.

Room for One – There is only room for one survivor in the rescue vehicle at the climax. Players will have to fight each other to be the last survivor standing while still helping each other enough to get to the rescue vehicle.

Healthpackalypse! – This is versus mode except no health items will spawn.

Iron Man – Also known as Hardcore. You won’t be able to respawn or restart once you die in this mode. Once you are dead you are dead and you have to restart the whole campaign.

The Four Swordsmen – No weapons will drop, each player will be given a katana, and only special infected will spawn.

Boom Headshot! – Only headshots will kill zombies, but each zombie goes down in one hit. Special infected also need to be killed with headshots.

Ultra Realism – Realism mode but even harder. Death is permanent for the entire campaign. Basically Realism and Iron Man mode combined.

Last Man on Earth – This is a mutation of single player mode. You will play through the campaigns alone without any assistance from computer controlled characters. Only special infected spawn, and reaching incap means death.

The Last Samurai – Another mutation of single player mode. You will play through the campaigns alone armed with only a katana, facing wave after wave of normal zombies.

The names of these modes and final gameplay parameters are not final and subject to change, and of course more mutations will be made as time goes on, however this is a pretty interesting list to start with. I’ll see you on the versus survival floor!

4/26/2010 6:00 pm Edit – Three new modes have been revealed! They are:

Realism Scavenge – Scavenge mode with realism modifications. Stronger infected. Survivors don’t get outlines.

Versus Co-Op – It’s the plain old multiplayer campaign mode, but in reverse! Four A.I. bots take control of the survivors, and it’s up to you to stop them as the infected.

Madness – Also known as SPARTAAAA! Just kidding. In this mode no special infected will spawn, however normal infected will spawn much more frequently, will move faster, and will deal increased damage. In addition, there will also be an increase in the rate of random panic events.

Related posts on 30ninjas.com:

• Left 4 Dead 2 Mutation Report #3
• L4D2 Mutations May Go Permanent
• Left 4 Dead 2: The Passing Review
• Left 4 Dead 2 DLC Still Not Here
• Left 4 Dead 2: The Sacrifice — Review
• Left 4 Dead 2 Review — You Now Suck