Back 4 Blood, the spiritual predecessor of Left 4 Dead by the same creator, was announced in March 2019. Since then, fans have been on the edge of their seats to see if this new rendition will be up to par.
With the beta, which just ended, I had a chance to check it out and reacquaint myself with all the things I loved (and hated) about Left 4 Dead. While doing so, I noticed some things that were new or missing.
Kill All Zombies
Back 4 Blood is a cross-platform FPS (First Person Shooter) centralized around getting rid of zombies known as the Ridden. A four-man team of survivors, called Cleaners, navigate through the apocalyptic landscape fighting off hordes of zombies and special infected- I mean, extra mutated Ridden.
Unlike L4D, Back 4 Blood will be cross-platform between Xbox One, Xbox X|S, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and PC. This includes players using Game Pass (Windows) being able to play with friends who play on Steam. Though the framerate may be lower on last-gen consoles, the game will be the same one running on all platforms. This ensures there won’t be any gameplay inconsistencies during cross-play.
Another fantastic feature Turtle Rock Studios included is the ability to play DLC if the host owns it. As mentioned in a blog post back in June, the company announced that in PVE, as long as the party leader owns the paid content, all team members will be able to play it. This includes maps, gameplay, and campaigns.
Did I Tell You About The Time that Keith and I-
Unlike the Left 4 Dead games, you get a decent size cast to choose from when going out to slaughter the undead. These characters have their own perks and weapon of choice, though you can still swap out weapons when you find them.
The original L4D games had four characters each, and each with their own personality and narrative. These characters often would chat or work as a team. Anyone who has played L4D2 has an opinion of Ellis, good or bad. These narratives are what made the game for a lot of people, myself included. They would also call out things in the surroundings and give extra insight when playing solo.
That being said, the AI was one of the only issues I really had in Back 4 Blood. The intelligence seemed to be lacking in conversation, but also competence. I was unlucky enough to try a level with myself and bots since I have never been a huge fan of multiplayer and generally prefer friends or bots. This was the biggest mistake I could have made.
Running through the campaign act was a nightmare. Holly was the only one who at least tried to show that developers had worked on her. Hoffman literally stood still while being attacked, ducked down, then stood back up again and booked it to a machine gun. Evangelo, who had the least commentary of the group, was the first to die.
Holly stayed with me till the end, while Hoffman stayed with his machinegun, not shooting the zombies but firing randomly. I tried this twice before realizing I could get my toddler son to join the campaign, and he would have probably been able to do a better job.
I love the potential of the characters so far and the diversity in personalities. Still, I hope they improve the bots with all the beta feedback. Many still live in areas where online play is glitchy, or they simply don’t like playing with random people. If this bot issue isn’t fixed, this could impact the game’s reception in a big way.
The Cards Will Tell
A new concept added has been the deck system, which brings all-new challenges and assistance. Each character has base cards they get when starting the game and a starter deck. As players complete acts of campaigns, they get Supply Points. These points are then spent talking to an NPC on your HUD in Fort Hope to progress through the Supply Line. The Supply Line has exciting rewards such as cosmetics and cards, but they must be purchased in order, starting with one. Once the first has been purchased, the player can move on to the next item.
Though starting out, there is only one line to spend the points on; once it has been completed, there are three Supply Lines you can unlock items from independently should you choose. You are not committing to one singular supply line either. You can bounce around between the Supply Lines to unlock cards or items you want first.
Each deck has a limit of 15 cards, and no duplicates are allowed. The top card will automatically be activated for the entire campaign, so it is best to choose a powerful one. Once a campaign starts, the player draws five cards from their deck and chooses one to activate for the rest of the campaign. The remaining cards are shuffled back into the deck.
This is repeated when starting each act, so it is vital to choose a balance of cards based on the campaign. While some cards just boost stats, others can be used to combat the Corruption cards. These are pulled during the act before a player picks their card.
The system chooses corruption cards randomly, altering the missions’ difficulty and adding unpredictability to the campaign. This could be as simple as collecting a unique item to get more points to adding fog to decrease visibility.
Since launching the beta, the overall reception has been positive. Fans have turned to social media to voice their options and fill out the survey found in the beta.
Pre-order is open for the game and includes the Fort Hope Elite Weapon Skin Pack. This pack contains the following skins: 870 Shotgun, Uzi SMG, M4 Caribine, and RPK LMG. GamePass subscribers on Xbox and PC will have day-one access to Back 4 Blood.