Turtle Rock Studios' Back 4 Blood was revealed during the last year's The Game Awards. A spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead games, Back 4 Blood quickly amassed a decent fanbase that is anxiously waiting for it to release in June of this year.
Thanks to what has been shown of it, it seems safe to say that fans can expect a Left 4 Dead-esque experience come release.
Left 4 Dead's Spiritual Successor In The Truest Sense
Back 4 Blood is a spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead games in the truest sense, which can be a good thing. After all, Turtle Rock Studios worked on the original Left 4 Dead game as Valve South before declaring itself independent in 2011. A notable achievement of the developer is making these mechanics feel at home and distinctly recognizable within a completely new space, at least at the time of Left 4 Dead. Much of what made Left 4 Dead's mechanics addictive and fun had to do with Valve's proprietary Source Engine, and Back 4 Blood seemingly, successfully replicates it using Unreal Engine 4.
Just like Left 4 Dead, the focus is on facing humongous hordes of zombies while trying to ensure the team's survival. The game's shooting mechanics seem to be different than Left 4 Dead games, with the biggest change being the addition of iron sights to weapons. The gunplay seems fun and engaging, which is a good thing considering the game is supposed to be played with friends for a long time.
Back 4 Blood Could Be Bigger And Better Than Left 4 Dead
The showcased gameplay does establish a familiar framework like the Left 4 Dead games, but Back 4 Blood isn't without its own ideas. The first is the addition of modifier cards, a system where players choose from a pack of cards that modify the player stats such as extra explosive damage and the likes. While many would consider this as a novelty, it could do a lot of work in increasing replayability as players can experiment with them to find the best builds.
Back 4 Blood's zombie types also seem to be a lot more in number than their previous games. The gameplay showcases a lot of special zombies with two distinct giants, one of which looks strikingly similar to one of Bloodborne's most powerful bosses, the Orphan of Kos. Animals also make an appearance with one particular segment showing the birds alerting a horde of zombies nearby. The closed alpha shows a notably tougher and brutal experience than the original Left 4 Dead, which means that players will have to co-operate a lot more to make it out alive.
Back 4 Blood's gameplay looks to be a mix of both equal parts old and new, which seems tantalizing for long-time lovers of the zombie co-op game genre. With no Left 4 Dead 3 in sight anytime soon, Turtle Rock Studios could very well carry the torch forward for years to come.
Back 4 Blood is slated for release on June 22nd, 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.