Over the last decade, Left 4 Dead fans have eagerly awaited the return of the beloved franchise. Despite rumors of Left 4 Dead 3 being in development, only images emerged showing concept art for the game. Now a decade later, fans of the beloved franchise can be reunited with the game they once loved in Turtle Rock Studios Back 4 Blood. Back 4 Blood was released on October 12th. Over the last two weeks, the Maroonersrock team has dived into Back 4 Blood and prepared for the Ridden (zombie) onslaught. For this Back 4 Blood review, Frank, Mike, and I dived into Turtle Rock and WB‘s newest game.
Diving into Back 4 Blood, it was easy to tell that it was the spiritual successor of Left 4 Dead. Although the zombies are now called ridden, the overall feel of the game is still the same. Unlike Left 4 Dead, once the player completes the first chapter, they have the option to choose between eight cleaners. Each Cleaner has their own unique abilities and team effects to help the team survive. The game offers three levels of difficulty to run the missions on; the difficulties are Recruit, Veteran, and Nightmare.
Building a Deck
At the start of each run, players select a number of cards from their deck; the number of cards picked at the beginning of each run depends on where the players start. Once the party completes a level, they are awarded supply line points. At the start of the next level, they will select between unchosen cards. Supply line points are affected by what level of difficulty the team is playing on. Recruit offers half the skill points but disables Friendly Fire. Sadly, supply points can not be earned on Solo Campaign runs.
Earned supply points can be spent at base camp to unlock new cards, sprays, titles, and weapon skins. Players can then take the cards they unlock and build their own deck. At the moment, the position of the cards will determine when the player draws them at the start of a run. Some missions will make the player choose multiple cards to start with. Building a deck that fits your unique play style is important in order to survive even on recruit.
Community Complaints
As a fan of Left 4 Dead, I looked forward to the release of Back 4 Blood; this game definitely hit on the nostalgia factor. Yes, it can be difficult to get used to the new mutations (special Infected), especially with their different variations, but once you do it brings back memories of what made Left 4 Dead great. As I was playing through the campaign, I heard a lot of complaints, some valid and some unreasonable. The first major complaint was that there was not enough special Ridden. At first, I thought this was true until I got further into the campaign. Each base mutated Ridden has multiple variations with its own special abilities. Additionally, certain special mutations do not show up until later in the game (Ogre, Hag, Snitch, Sleeper, and Breaker). Even if the various mutations did not exist, that’s still eight different special Ridden to kill.
The second major complaint I would hear is the inability to unequipped attachments from guns; now this complaint was definitely a valid one. Turtle Rock did a great job allowing players to drop a variety of things ranging from copper, ammo, and items, but not attachments. This makes it very aggravating when you find a gun progressing through the Act. You have to decide if the gun you love is worth it or if you should pick up another gun and lose all your attachments. Dropping attachments should be an easy thing to do.
Finally, the game could use an adjustment to the game’s overall difficulty and AI intelligence. Recruit difficulty shouldn’t feel like a job and the AI shouldn’t be completely useless. Yes, it is nice that the AI’s can tank for you, but they do very little otherwise. Thankfully, you can take over the bots when you die.
Matt’s Takeaways
Back 4 Blood can be a lot of fun to play when you have a full team. Playing through the runs solo or with one other person though can be exhausting. The decks are a fun add-on that allows players to play how they like, but cards and weapons shouldn’t be reset after each act. This makes players feel like their progress has been taken away especially since the story is linear, unlike Left 4 Dead; it’s one thing to do it in quickplay but another to do it after a run.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with Back 4 Blood more than I was expecting to. Other than some minor connection and graphical issues that game is a lot of fun to play with your friends. The deck system does take a bit to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, you can prepare for anything. Supply lines are random so there’s no true method to determine what cards you will get on a line. The game definitely isn’t for the faint of heart. Later levels are a bit more challenging especially with the random challenge cards pulled at the start of each round. The game is definitely solid overall but does require teamwork to have fun.
Frank’s Takeaway
Left 4 Dead was seen by many as a definitive coop experience. Back 4 Blood scratches that itch and completely improves upon its predecessor’s legacy. New to Back 4 Blood is the card system, which adds an entire layer of cooperation. To fully utilize the cards, it is best to coordinate deck builds with your teammates. Each player should build their deck to their specific role. A heavy melee build might consist of cards better suited for close combat, such as Battle Lust. When activated, melee kills grant the player 2 health. This combined with the Adrenaline-Fueled card ensures your health and stamina gauges are being refilled. On the flip side, another teammate might build their deck to better suit a medic. While the deck building system may initially come across as daunting, it eventually clicks and rounds out the experience.
Unfortunately, Back 4 Blood is a bit lacking in the visual department. The game is by no means ugly, however, given its release year, it leaves a lot to be desired. Environments are often a bit bleak and dreary, and many acts look too similar. With an HDR-enabled device and raytracing, the graphics do pop a bit more, yet environments still remain very dull in color. This issue may be due to the campaign’s ongoing story, which often sees The Cleaners retread familiar territory.
Our staff was split between PC and Xbox play. On the Xbox side, some staff members encountered some glitches and crashes. Thankfully, for PC players, Back 4 Blood appears to be better optimized. Those of us playing on PC came across very few bugs and had a much smoother experience. While annoying, nothing experienced was game-breaking, besides an occasional lobby crash. Hopefully, the console port receives some stability patches down the road.
Mike’s Takeaway
I really enjoy it. The new card mechanic adds a unique component to the format we’ve seen over and over again in recent years. It’s fast-paced, stressful, and the most fun I’ve had shooting zombies since… well since L4D.
Verdict
Back 4 Blood is a fun survival game that hits nostalgia points where other games like Grand Theft Auto Trilogy The Definitive Edition fails to do so. Whether you are looking for an enjoyable holiday gift or a new game to play on Xbox Game Pass, Back 4 Blood should scratch that itch. Gameplay is a bit rough at first but once you get a hang of the mechanics and card system, you are off to become a true cleaner.
