From the "4" in its title, to its brutal zombie-shooting gameplay, it's clear to anyone familiar with both games that Back 4 Blood is the spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead series. It's easy to compare the two, as they both feature plenty of similar elements that make them feel like they're in conversation with one another, but they also both stand strongly on their own with their own identities. It certainly feels like Back 4 Blood took most of the elements that worked in Left 4 Dead and expands on them in interesting new ways as a pseudo-sequel. That said, the game seems to be missing one of Left 4 Dead's most memorable encounters: the Witches.
Not everything included in Back 4 Blood is ripped directly from Left 4 Dead, but a lot of the enemy designs and powers featured in Back 4 Blood's Ridden seem to have their origins in Left 4 Dead's special zombies. Unfortunately, Left 4 Dead's iconic Witches don't have a Back 4 Blood counterpart, which is a shame because the Witches were an important part in making Left 4 Dead the nail-biting experience that it was.
The Importance of Left 4 Dead's Witch
While the game could have certainly worked without them, Left 4 Dead's Witches left an impression on just about everyone who crossed paths with them. At certain points in any campaign in Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2, players will begin to hear faint, eerie piano music, accompanied by the unsettling sounds of a woman sobbing. Upon further investigation, the four survivors will find the Witch; a special infected that, if startled with a flashlight or weapon, will immediately attack and kill whichever person upset her.
As soon as a Witch enters the equation in Left 4 Dead, the game completely shifts in tone for several minutes as the players decide what to do with her. They can either stealth around her by turning off their flashlights and hoping that she doesn't hear them or they can try and shoot her down from afar before she makes contact with any of the survivors. No matter what solution they come to, the Witch provides a tense situation that completely shifts the tone of the game from a run-and-gun zombie action shooter to a brief survival horror nightmare.
Back 4 Blood's Lack of Witch Characters
While it does feature a lot of unique zombie variants, Back 4 Blood doesn't have a Witch-like character with the same impact as the ones that are found in Left 4 Dead. Back 4 Blood does have the Snitch which, if startled by gunfire, will alert the horde, but the mutated Ridden doesn't have the same level of horror surrounding it. There are plenty of other things that will alert the horde throughout the game, so one more just seems to add to the pile without changing up the formula in any new way. What made the Witch special was the terror surrounding it that encouraged players to give the zombie space and be careful not to startle it.
The Hags also seem to be like Back 4 Blood's interpretation of the Witch but similar to the Snitch lacks the fear that the Witch instilled in players. Sure, seeing a giant indescribable monster in the middle of the woods in Back 4 Blood is scary, but the game lacks any sort of context for them and they just end up being another mutated Ridden to be added to the pile. The Hag has a similar "startling" mechanic as the Witch but lacks the unsettling music and atmosphere that Left 4 Dead's most memorable zombie had.
Back 4 Blood is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.