Left 4 Dead is just another victim of Valve’s almost comical antipathy towards the number three, with the series seeing two brilliant entries in quickfire succession over 2008/2009 before it was left 4 modders. Who over the years have done quite the job, it has to be said, with a particular favourite being the mod that added Jaden Smith’s tweets to the game as deranged graffiti (also a shout-out to the one that replaces the Charger enemy type with Homer Simpson in his car).

Now, a new challenger approaches. Eight of them, in fact. The Blue Archive mod by HCHA for Left 4 Dead 2 adds protagonists and extensive stylings from Blue Archive, a popular gacha-style tactical RPG from Nexon Games that casts you as the “sensei” of an apparently all-female academy city, in search of that classic combination: “military action, love and friendship!” Yep, it’s one for the weebs.

And now, one for the infected mobs too. The mod replaces eight of the Left 4 Dead protagonists with the Blue Archive characters, as well as adding a voice pack, the dynamic main menu of Blue Archive, icons, and the loading interface. Here it is in action, and what a sight. Especially note the music and all the daftness around the safe room transitions.

You want to see the girls blast through the hordes on that concert stage at the end of Dark Carnival? This player’s got you covered.

This thing is just hilarious. I also have to give props to the creator who, responding to a typically entitled comment requesting they add the commenter’s favourite characters, said “Sorry, I’m busy” and pointed them towards tutorials to learn to do it themselves.

Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock Studios most recently made Back 4 Blood, which was touted as a spiritual successor to the series but, for many, lacked the magic (incidentally, the studio also released its final, unfinished Left 4 Dead campaign back in 2016). Valve meanwhile most recently returned to add a small nod to Gnome Chompsky’s IRL charity space flight, and packaged-together a bunch of community content into a 2020 update. Now we’re down to the kawaii anime mods, unless the unthinkable really does happen. If you’re a glutton for punishment, here’s everything we know about Left 4 Dead 3.