Through its previous releases, Turtle Rock Studios has made sure each of its games have been highly replayable. Left 4 Dead featured an AI Director that worked behind the scenes to change the experience based on how players were doing by either changing enemy placements, triggering hordes, and more. This made each run feel different, even if players have run the same mission hundreds of times.
While not nearly as successful as Valve's Left 4 Dead, Evolve also leaned heavily into the idea of unique gameplay moments and high replayability. The game pitted four Hunter players against 1 monster player, which typically involved a game of cat and mouse with both sides attempting to eliminate the other, or prevent the monster from evolving and destroying a critical point on the map. Through these experiences, Turtle Rock is debuting its latest innovations for its upcoming zombie co-op shooter, Back 4 Blood with a brand new Game Director feature and gameplay altering cards.
As the trailer indicates, every run in Back 4 Blood will be different than the last thanks to the Game Director. Similar to Left 4 Dead's AI Director, this enhanced version runs things behind the scenes using a card system. When a mission begins, the director plays a set of corruption cards which add challenges or modifiers to the match. This can include environmental changes such as buildings having no electricity or enemy related like Riot Shield, which gives zombies extra armor.
Following that, players can then play their own cards using a premade deck from the game, or a loadout specifically created by the individual. These typically include player buffs such as added health or better stamina regeneration, but they can also offer gameplay tweaks such as extra melee damage, or unlimited secondary ammo at the cost of slower reload speed. Completing optional challenges and objectives earns supply points, which can then be used to unlock more card packs or cosmetic skins.
While this card system would clearly lend itself to some sort of microtransaction system in game, Turtle Rock Studios has quickly addressed fan concerns. A new post on the official website reveals that cards will not be sold through any in-game or first party store. The only way to really acquire new cards is through in-game progression. However, the studio does note that it does plan to add more cards post launch, likely being included in paid content drops as well as being earnable by all players. Back 4 Blood will also launch an in-game store sometime after launch, but Turtle Rock has confirmed the items up for sale will be cosmetic only and have no associated gameplay elements or other pay-to-win scenarios.
With multiple playable characters known as Cleaners to pick from, customization options, and now this card system, Back 4 Blood is promising a unique experience every time. With Turtle Rock's track record, players will likely be coming back match after match.
Back 4 Blood releases on October 12, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.