This past Thursday, players who tuned into The Game Awards were treated to many new trailers for games coming in the near and far future. Between the Vin Diesel trailer for Ark 2 and the reveal of a new Perfect Dark game from Xbox studio The Initiative, it seems like players have quite a bit to look forward to over the next few years when it comes to new titles. However, one game trailer in particular seemed to grab the attention of Left 4 Dead fans around the globe.
Developer Turtle Rock Studios, in conjunction with publisher Warner Bros. Interactive, released both cinematic and gameplay trailers for its new co-op zombie shooter game, Back 4 Blood. Fans of the Left 4 Dead franchise will instantly be familiar with what this game will be as it looks like it has an incredibly similar gameplay loop. And while some may think that the studio is copying the zombie slaying Valve game, this entry will be Turtle Rock returning to its roots as the devs behind the original Left 4 Dead.
While some players may recognize Turtle Rock Studios from its work on Evolve, the studio's origins go back farther than that. The developer had initially formed as a small team and performed contracted work for Valve on both the Counter-Strike and Half-Life franchise. One of the games that came from this partnership was the popular title Counter-Strike: Source. Not long after that, Turtle Rock Studios pitched a game based around surviving the zombie apocalypse in 4 player co-op to Valve, which then helped fund and publish the game. This game, of course, went on to become the original Left 4 Dead.
After seeing how promising Left 4 Dead was throughout its development, Valve then proceeded to acquire Turtle Rock Studios and rebranded it as Valve South. This marriage ended up not being a happy one, however, with Turtle Rock co-founder Phil Robb stating that both studios had a difficult time working together. Robb later cited the 800 mile distance between Valve proper and the southern branch as a major obstacle, and so after Left 4 Dead shipped, they Turtle Rock parted ways amicably with Valve. And while the studio was able to retain its studio name and logo in the separation, Valve kept the rights to Left 4 Dead.
This history between Turtle Rock Studios and Left 4 Dead is likely quite important for players to know when it comes to discussing Back 4 Blood. Although the team did not develop the Left 4 Dead sequel that followed in 2009, it now seems that this style of zombie survival game will be going back to its roots now that Turtle Rock has hopped back in the saddle.
While Back 4 Blood appears to be the long awaited Left 4 Dead sequel fans have been awaiting, that doesn't mean that the game will be a carbon copy of the past. In the gameplay trailer that was shown during the Game Awards, players can get the sense that Turtle Rock is bringing new ideas to the table with various new special zombie types. With one new enemy type appearing to be spider-like with multiple arms and an ability to stick enemies with web spittle, not to mention a colossal zombie that makes the Tank look like five year old child in comparison, it seems that fans of this format have a lot to look forward to in June 2021.
Back 4 Blood is set to launch on June 22, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.