Ask anyone of a vaccinated age just what their favourite co-op game was back in the day, and their eyes will gloss over with nostalgia juices as they fondly recall mowing down hordes of the undead in Left 4 Dead. Valve’s seminal pair of zombie-slaying co-op shooters became the stuff of legend after launch, setting a benchmark for multiplayer and essentially establishing a new genre in its wake. Since then though? There’s been a void in the industry that other games just haven’t quite been able to fill.
A gaping wound in a shambling genre, dripping blood and imitators along the way… Back 4 Blood, might just be the perfect chunk of fresh flesh to shove into that chest cavity, as it’s unashamedly Left 4 Dead in all but name.
It’s no surprise either that the game wears its influences on a blood-soaked machete. Developer Turtle Rock was responsible for the original Left 4 Dead games and after spending the last couple of years experimenting with VR games, and the ill-fated Evolve that drowned under the weight of its egregious microtransactions, it’s back to doing what it does best: grabbing four friends, arming them to the teeth and unleashing them on a world that has fallen to the endgame in unvaccinated terror.
All the plot beats of a proper Left 4 Dead-alike are right there, as players don’t just have to contend with hordes of cannon fodder Ridden (please just call them zombies), but also a few deadly variants such as a toxic loogie-spittin’ Hocker, a Tallboy who’ll smash your face in with its gigantic arm of muscular worm-tendrils, and even a Kaiju-sized titan that’ll stock you in some levels. The game has enough guns to give Charlton Heston’s grave an NRA-endorsed six-foot-long boner, but the real difference-maker here beyond all the graphical updates and quality-of-life changes is a deck of cards.
Back 4 Blood’s big draw is how each player can equip and activate three cards from their deck. Each one is randomly drawn from a deck that you’ll build and invest in as you progress through the story. Some of these cards have obvious benefits such as increased health and stamina, while other cards provide quicker reloads or team-wide buffs to abilities. The trick here is that each character in the game’s roster has access to unique cards that bolster their own offense, defense, mobility, and utility traits, with the game having more than 60 cards currently.
How teams organise their decks, decide which cards to bring, and when to use them, is going to form a huge part of Back 4 Blood’s long-game strategy, especially when you factor in approaches that allow for players to go in guns blazing or a tactic built around survival elements. There’s obvious room to grow, and should Turtle Rock decide to come up with new cards that can create even wilder possibilities for teams, this is one heck of a system that adds a ton of value to Back 4 Blood. These are still incredibly early days though, and the full launch of the game won’t be until the fourth quarter of this year.
The actual core gameplay though, especially with the campaigns, is incredibly meaty. Don’t be surprised to dedicate two hours or more to a single run of one of the main acts, which do a terrific job of funneling players into Ridden showdowns with tight corridors of action. There’s some terrific banter on show as well, interactions never outstay their welcome, and the omnipresent AI director does a decent job of keeping the game challenging with dynamic difficulty.
That’s another highlight, because for the most part the strategy of “kill ’em all and let the gods sort ’em out” works well until the end stages of an act, when teamwork becomes essential and everyone bands together to take down literal hundreds of charging Ridden. This early taste of Back 4 Blood does a solid job of selling its ideas and themes, while also showing just enough of its hand to hook fans of the genre.
It looks great, the chunky gunplay has clearly been designed by Americans, and the teamwork options shine. The big question though will be if Back 4 Blood can retain that momentum after launch, especially in a genre that is neck-deep in upcoming co-op shooters such as Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Bethesda’s Redfall, Evil Dead: The Game, Rainbow Six: Extraction, and The Anacrusis.
Back 4 Blood has some neat tricks up its sleeve though, and if anyone is going to claim Left 4 Dead’s throne, it’s a game developed by the people behind an industry legend, and for a market that has been hungry for some fresh gaaaaaaaaaaaammeeessssssss.
Back 4 Blood arrives on 12 October for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can check out Koodoo and BT Games for preorders, while Xbox players can access the game as part of Xbox Game Pass.