The game’s core experience remains much the same and provides a four-player co-op experience like no other when at full flight, it’s all of the other insane design choices that should have been discarded on the cutting room floor.Īs a spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead series, Back 4 Blood adheres to a lot of the concepts those games established over a decade ago.
I’ve spent the last weekend with the full game and I’ve got to say, the results are less than convincing.
It managed to be gruesomely satisfying, it handled like a dream, and held a firm connection -a must for a game like this. This is disappointing for players who want to enjoy the game on their own.During our hands-on with the Back 4 Blood beta a few months ago, I spoke glowingly about the four-player monster mash that this game promised to be. But the lack of stat tracking, supply points, or even achievement unlocks kept me far away from the solo action. Back 4 Blood’s AI companions are competent and helpful when you need an extra health boost or ammo. On the flip side, solo players may have fewer reasons to be excited. Whether we were yelling orders to one another or laughing as someone shrieked after being tackled by one of the wall-hugging Sleepers, Back 4 Blood reminded me why I spent so many hours fighting the undead in the past and why I’m excited to do it all over again in 2021. Even after I faced the final boss, I still had plenty of cards to unlock and new reasons to return to the earlier levels.Īs with most co-op-focused games, B4B shines brightest when you have a full team shredding through the special Ridden. The more my team varied our decks and loadouts, the less we’d have to drop ammo for one another, and we became a more efficient unit. Another time, my team and I were failing to finish off a boss, only to roll over him when we all added a card that added 20 percent damage to the special Ridden’s weak spot. By Act 3, I had assembled enough cards to create a shotgun-wielding tank that could sprint into the fray, mow down dozens of zombies, and run back without losing much HP, thanks to a card that gave me health for landing hits with my boom shot. The experience started to click for me when I began to build classes that matched my situation. These range from minor 10 percent boosts to vital skills such as gaining health back from kills to an extra life if your team fails its objective.
#Back 4 blood review upgrade
As players progress through the co-op campaign, they gain supply points that can be spent on upgrade cards for each Cleaner. That difficulty curve is more manageable thanks to the card system, Turtle Rock’s wrinkle on the classic formula. The game can strike the right balance, but I wish those highs and lows had been tuned to offer a more consistent experience. The Director also seems to overcorrect after zombies became too oppressive, and my squad would easily walk through the rest of a level with little more than a scratch after a big fight. There were too many times I would get through a level with minor hiccups, only to get overpowered within minutes of the next segment and vice-versa. This system tinkers with players’ experiences from level to level, throwing everything from fog to flaming infected at you, meaning two playthroughs of the same stage can be completely different. The changes in challenge come from the Game Director. While I loved the heated moments where victory is in question, the difficulty balance is off. Everything from crushing Ridden craniums with your nail-covered bat to mowing down zombie hordes with an LMG has the proper weight, controller-rumble, and sound effects to immerse you in an intense experience.īack 4 Blood is difficult, especially at the start, and I was surprised by its unrelenting enemy mobs. The weapons should be familiar to anyone who’s played titles like Left 4 Dead before, but the thrilling moment-to-moment battles with the undead are satisfying. Back 4 Blood’s gunplay is a major highlight.
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