Back 4 Blood Review: It was a bit short of the ideal.
Back 4 Blood Review: Left 4 Dead 3
Turtle Rock Studios is the team behind Left 4 Dead, a classic in which a team of four blasts through maps filled to the brim with bloodthirsty zombies. Back 4 Blood is the spiritual heir to this hit, at times looking just like another sequel. The gameplay is certainly satisfying, but not completely satisfactory.
The plot assumptions are slightly changed compared to the brand owned by Valve. The zombie apocalypse was caused not by a virus, but by a parasite of unknown origin, and both infected and surviving people are called differently, but it’s the same thing. The story itself presented in the pages of the four acts of the campaign is a simple story that is mainly a pretext for presenting the next maps on which we run and eliminate hordes of zombies. Nothing fancy, but the plot is not the point here.
The true essence of this type of game has always been two things. The first is an exciting co-op campaign, and the second is the player versus player mode, whose appeal has kept the community activities for nearly a decade after its premiere. Both elements are present here, but one of them, unfortunately, does not bode well for similar success.
On Back 4 Blood Review we noticed The campaign can be played solo or with other players (also with users of other platforms) and we are even encouraged to choose the latter option, otherwise, we will not get many bonuses, currency, and other things necessary for character development. We choose from eight available heroes who, apart from their appearance, differ in special advantages: detecting traps increased damage from firearms or more effective healing of themselves and companions. These fundamental differences are just the beginning of personalization.
The real novelty – and what distinguishes Back 4 Blood from the original – is the card system. We are building a deck that helps to modify the style of the game: increasing damage from a given type of weapon, faster stamina recovery, or running. Some cards change the gameplay – like replacing a weak melee attack with a quick knife blow, which can save lives.
At the beginning of each act, we select a few randomly presented cards from the deck, and with each subsequent chapter, we add more, gradually strengthening both ourselves and our companions. This system seems incomprehensible at first, but after a few games, it becomes a natural method of developing our character towards the fighting style that suits us best. A surprisingly successful item.
We start each act with very common equipment and we have to develop the equipment anew to gradually increase our chance of survival. In addition to the chests scattered around the map, we can also spend the currency collected in the game on items in the store available between chapters.
Moreover in Back 4 Blood Review, Cooperation requires communication and cooperation from players to jointly survive the attacks of opponents, mini-bosses and achieve the set goal. There is nothing more satisfying than completing the next steps, covering your companions and successfully reaching the hideout, which is also a progress save point. Worse when living companions are replaced by a computer. Bots are not the most intelligent and if we do not play with at least one real person, the chances of our survival may be greatly underestimated.
Also check: Call of Duty Vanguard Review
The chapters divided in this way in each act lead us through various regions of America plunged into chaos. The design of the maps is very interesting and atmospheric. We leave city streets full of zombies and quickly head too much more interesting places, such as romantic suburbs, cemeteries, misty swamps, toxic tunnels. You will remember for a long time crossing a barge through a lake full of zombies, or dragging the beast away with a combine rushing through an infected cornfield.
While Back 4 Blood Review we experience, Shooting in Back 4 Blood is very rewarding. We are happy to experiment with different types of firearms and their accessories because sometimes a different sight or a stock can radically change the shooting experience, not forgetting about the more effective knocking down of hordes of brain-eaters.
Chopping zombies with lead is exciting, and it’s worth getting to know this game just for the clashes with the waves pressing in tight spaces. In addition to the usual “cannon fodder” in the form of classic fast zombies, there are also stronger enemies with different skills and special characteristics. One monster spits acid or explodes when it reaches us, another has a huge hand that hits it like a club, and yet another one walks on the walls and covers us with sticky slime. These enemies pose the real threat, and at higher difficulty levels, they can make the difference between the entire team’s death.
However, these are not very original opponents, and during the campaign – despite the appearance of other versions of enemies – they quickly become commonplace and fail due to the lack of greater variety. The only thing that diversifies each game is the fact that at the beginning of the game when we draw skill cards, the computer draws its cards that provide negative effects on a given map. An artificial intelligence director can seriously spoil our ranks when the known area is filled with burning monsters, which, in addition, leave puddles of acid after death.
These minor permutations of the repeating stages are interesting and prove once again that the card system (even the negative ones) is something great in Back 4 Blood Review that Left 4 Dead fans might like. For die-hard fans, however, we must warn you that, after all, this is not the same level of “AI directing” as in the original, where the computer adjusted the world and the pace of clashes to the dynamics and experience of the players. Here it is much more straightforward and less revolutionary.
It is a great help to inform players about when the next wave of zombies will come using the counter. The waves in Left 4 Dead were the real antagonist of the game and the experienced zombie exterminators were mainly preparing for this moment. Here, the role of the waves is much less emphasized as a real threat, and on the normal difficulty level, it does not even stand out from the usual crowded places on the map.
Also on Back 4 Blood Review we also noticed The player versus player mode is only a shadow of its former glory. We have one type of game at our disposal, called Swarm, where two teams of four alternately fight for survival in a clash, in which one plays with people and the other with special monsters. The maps here are extremely small, the gameplay is chaotic and short, and we have no motivation to push us towards further clashes. It narrows down to the playing area, so after a few minutes, everything takes place on a dozen or so square meters – worse than wedding games and fun.
At the current stage of development, Back 4 Blood is unlikely to attract all fans of the original, especially due to the extremely poor PvP mode, but it is certainly an exciting cooperative game. The card system is so interesting that you want to come back to the game and experiment with the development of your heroes, trying challenges on higher difficulty levels.
Pros:
- Satisfying shooting
- Card system and character development
- Modifiers that hinder the game
- Atmospheric, interesting locations
Minuses:
- No progress in solo play
- A lot of facilities compared to the original
- The boring and boring PvP mode
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