Back 4 Blood delivers the Crimson Soaked Goods Cinemax
I bought the first Left 4 Dead the day it came out for the 360 and bought the second one the day it came out too. Bought it new for PC and played countless hours (including Steam) with mods. I bought the studio game Evolve when it came out because I believed in the company so much (the game wasn’t great). When I heard that the studio was developing a spiritual successor, I was excited. So far, Turtle Rock Studio has proven with Valve that they can make one of the best and most addictive zombie games of all time, but can they do it without Valve?
The day is here and it’s time. I put on my headset, look for the group option on Xbox, grab a group of people with microphones and get started! I put the controller on my hand, “Oh yeah!” I say as I get ready to kill the horde again.
The acts are much longer than L4D and the gameplay is solid. There are some of those intense moments where zombies keep coming and you feel like you’re almost losing but will pull through in the end. I can’t wait to play more. The shotgun feels so damn good, the blood splatters perfectly on the wall. It’s so nice to see how it spreads after shooting zombies and then seeing yourself covered in blood. The melee weapons are so satisfying. The game seems to introduce more and more things as I progress. First impression and honeymoon phase, I love the game. I can’t wait to see Versus mode, I hope it’s similar to L4D. The game is branded L4D but has been updated for today’s standards. Sometimes the lighting and fog effects work just perfectly, making the game look breathtakingly beautiful. The fact that it’s available on Gamepass makes it an obvious choice for anyone who wants to play it. If you don’t have an Xbox, I don’t know if it would be worth $60. But we’ll see! Even the crows suck! Play the game and you will know what I mean. Many of the zombies from L4D are here, but under different names and slightly different. The Boomer is much deadlier this time! The jockeys are assholes as always. I have to learn their names. So many damn names I need to get to know.
The conversations between the characters are also really fun. Listening to them talk shit or argue. Needs more shouts of “Reload!” “Pills here!” “Got some pills.” “Pills!” Damn, this makes me want to play L4D on PC. Plug in some mods and fight Donkey Kong characters instead of zombies while playing as Gumby, the Deadpool roaring of pills. This is the shit I’m talking about. What makes this game stand out among so many games that have just been released? Why is it worth my time compared to Metroid Dread, Castlevania Advance Collection and New World? Especially since New World has become very addictive to me. Plus, it’s 2021, mainstream zombie culture has existed and been done to death since Walking Dead. What can this game do that is so different? So many questions in just one day, consisting of four to five hours of play. Act one complete with the team, this time we have a good team. Good communication and calling our zombies. It was incredible and so much fun. I would heal someone with my last pack of medicine, taking a risk that would pay off. We would give away ammunition if someone else needed it. We just work really well together. There’s so much non-stop action that it’s difficult to take a break between sessions to eat or do something. It’s fun, but you have to take some time for it. It has a shine that Aliens Fireteam Elite doesn’t have.
We’ve played through most of the campaign and now I’m ready for PvP. I love L4D PvP, it was my favorite! If this is the same or something similar, then I’m hyped about everything. Finding a game that scratches your L4D itch is a rare and amazing thing. World War Z tried and failed, Aliens couldn’t do it either.
The multiplayer mode is not the same. It’s not bad, it’s just not the same as L4D where you go through the campaigns. It’s just a stand-off area where you try to get through horde after horde against other players with special effects. Then it changes and whoever continues to spawn in the horde wins.
It’s fun, but is it good enough to play for weeks? We worked so well together that people stopped in anger, it was so much fun. It’s 100% about teamwork. Make sure friends play along. If you do it alone or without a microphone, you may not have nearly as much fun. I play with a group of tough guys. We communicate and kill the enemy team in less than a minute. We lasted five minutes at a game and everyone was so excited! We killed them in less than a minute. There were always people who quit out of anger, game after game. It was so great.
We just beat the opposing team in 41 seconds after living for over five minutes. The hardest thing you can do when you have such a good group is signing off for the day. I kept saying, “One more game!” Until I wanted to stop an hour later. I can’t lie, I enjoyed this multiplayer. I wish they had the campaigns for multiplayer too, but they could add that later if they wanted.
No quick turning around either, it needs it. About halfway through the campaign, nothing stands out as much as some L4D maps that I still remember to this day, like the Carnival map. There’s nothing like this here yet, but it’s really fun. The sewers were fine and looked fantastic in some moments. Finished Act 2 and started the third. On the third day of the game, there is still no level that stands out as much as L4D levels like the airport, carnival or farm. There was a moment where it felt like you were at farm level with corn and everything, but then you start a tractor and it goes through the corn so it’s not as scary or intense. A bad partner can ruin your game.
Today I played with my buddy and then with a random guy and he was so bad he killed us so many times. Before he joined, we tackled the bots. From Act 3 onwards the levels get a little cooler. We just did one where we walked through a middle school and the area had such a nostalgic feel to when I went to school. However, there were no zombies in my school.
The campaign feels longer than L4D ever was. I remember hitting these all at once.
On the fourth day of the game I do it alone, the game is still really fun even alone. At least do levels I’ve never done before. Is this my recommended route? Absolutely not. Find a squad, form a group and have fun. Completed chapter three alone, the best chapter so far. I wish there were more outstanding levels. The more I pass them on the more noticeable they might become, but for now the early levels are fun but nothing we haven’t seen before in L4D. With so many cool places to create, it’s sad that they don’t.
There’s one final act left to do, and there’s only one chapter in it. I’m excited to see how the game ends, then I’ll go back to the beginning and play it again! In the end Holly was my favorite, with her melee abilities I built a deck around her specifically designed for melee kills. With a few random numbers we managed the fourth act on our second attempt. I say this was a good campaign, I have no idea what the story is but it was fun to go through. Now it’s time to play through it a dozen more times! It played for 15 hours, most of which was spent on the campaign. So I would say it’s quite long. I have a feeling I’ll be investing a lot more time into this game. It’s fun, the controls are tight, I wish there were more PvP options. Overall a good package, it doesn’t seem to be as repeatable as L4D but only time will tell. It’s the perfect Halloween game I needed. Intense action and moments in every single round. You will laugh with your friends and shout at them.
There’s loot and money in the game that makes you want more than just L4D. Aside from the PvP options, there isn’t much bad to say about this game. It would be cool if the modding community started creating levels like they did in L4D. Back 4 Blood is a good start to a game. If it expands further, I will continue playing it. Since the game is available on Gamepass, there’s no question about whether you should try it or not. It’s worth trying for a month. I preferred this game to all the other games that have come out recently and I definitely need to go back to Metroid Dread! Plus, nothing is as scary as a hunter!
Today I decided to play Left 4 Dead 2, the gameplay still holds up, areas and graphics are now a bit outdated. The levels seem much smaller than I remembered. Nearing a Dark Carnival run. Back 4 Blood doesn’t have those great moments where you grab a chainsaw and just know you’re going to rip through anything. No swords swinging and chopping off heads. Left 4 Dead 2 has aged really well. Things also seem to run much better in L4D.
I should be more careful because I might get addicted to it again! It’s so good and there are things that Back 4 Blood does with Bette. I like the card system and the fact that some characters are better at other things than others, so you put together a set of cards just for those people. Overall, I can see myself playing this game for at least the rest of the month.
