The L4D Achievement, Nothing Special

Left 4 Dead has been out on the PC for over two months now along with its 50 stress-inducing achievements, the broken LAMB 2 SLAUGHTER notwithstanding. Of those, NOTHING SPECIAL is inarguably the most difficult to attain with only 1.5% of all Left 4 Dead players having unlocked it, beating out UNTOUCHABLES (no Survivors take damage after contacting the rescue vehicle) at 3.8% and WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO PROVE? (survive all campaigns on Expert) at 2.5%. Although you really should not waste your time or money (replacing smashed peripherals), here are some more specific guidelines* for those stupid– I mean, hardcore enough to try:

  • Failing means starting over from the very beginning of the campaign. You cannot die and restart the chapter as with some other achievements.
  • Through console, you can turn cheats on “sv_cheats 1” to check your status using “achievement_status”. If you have failed, it will be in all caps on the right side of the box. Don’t forget to turn cheats back off “sv_cheats 0” before continuing.
  • When you fail, you must restart the campaign twice before the failed status is cleared.
  • Watch for Boomers and Hunters hiding behind corners – they will scratch you instantly if they don’t have enough room for their special attacks.
  • You do not take damage from the Smoker if he is dragging you along the ground. You have less than a second to be freed after you are pulled up off the ground before you start taking damage.
  • Damage from the Tank’s thrown rock = no fail.
  • Damage from hits received by common infected in Boomer bile = no fail.
  • Damage from hits received by common infected in Smoker smoke = no fail.
  • Damage from direct hits/scratches/flails from the Tank, Boomer, Smoker, Hunter, Witch = FAIL.
  • Damage from Tank-punched objects, i.e. logs, cars, pillars = FAIL.
  • Of course, attempt this in Easy mode with friends. Kick any bots as they will only be a hindrance.
  • Once you feel that you have sufficiently punished yourself and/or honestly earned NOTHING SPECIAL, it is possible to get using cheats.

* Testing was done through “achievement_status” in Easy mode. Thanks goes to Domino and Seyon for the research and information.

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