In 2008, the people of Turtle Rock Studios managed to create together with the hand of Valve one of the cooperative games best valued by the gaming community: we are talking about neither more nor less than the Left 4 Dead franchise. Although after her there have been many who have tried to revalidate their success, to this day no one has managed to generate the same sensations in the gaming community.
However, after the failed launch of Evolve, Turtle Rock Studios brings us Back 4 Blood, a title to which we have been able to access its beta and which is highly reminiscent of what was seen in the Valve franchise. If you want to know more about this spiritual sequel to Left 4 Dead, we will tell you about it in our Back 4 Blood first impressions.
A Proposal that sounds to us
As in Left 4 Dead, Back 4 Blood offers us a cooperative playable proposal, in which we will form a group of four players with whom we will have to face countless enemies that will get in our way when trying to advance through the different scenarios of the title.
In its campaign mode, which is divided into several acts, we will have the possibility of playing with three other friends. However, the game also offers us the option of playing alone, for which we will have three characters controlled by the AI. Although it is true that the possibility exists, we have to say that the experience has not been entirely satisfactory when we have had characters controlled by the game.
Allied AI behavior seems too inconsistent, generating occasions in which they sin too conservative behavior, while in other situations they ventured excessively before waves of enemies, causing the loss of a team member with great ease.
This is also influenced by the level of difficulty of the title. Back 4 Blood has three modes Difficulty: Beginner, Veteran and Nightmare. Almost all the games we have played have been in the second of these difficulties, and we have to say that we consider the damage generated by the enemies somewhat excessive. Although it is normal that the big infected like the Big Guy or the Stinky generate significant levels of damage, the truth is that we have the feeling that the enemies “putty” inflict too high damage, which together with the impossibility of getting away from them When they surround you, it means losing a team member too many times.
Back 4 Blood will not have offline launch modes
However, entering to speak properly of the experience, Back 4 Blood entertains a lot. Unlike other games of the genre that make the experience somewhat monotonous and linear, the Turtle Rock Studios title generates different situations that cause all the games to generate interest.
An important aspect in this regard is the procedural title system. Both the objects that we can find on the map and the enemies, except for the big final bosses (and what bosses), are generated procedurally, which means that all the games we play are completely different from each other. Rarely will it be the occasion in which playing two games on the same map you will find chests or ammunition in the same places; and the same goes for enemies. There have been games that have taken us a long time to meet more important enemies, while in others we have had the misfortune of encountering 3 big guys and two stinkers at the same time.
As we say, this generates a great sense of replayability, because no game will ever be the same as the previous one. However, it is important to bear in mind that this greatly affects the difficulty of the title, since, if we previously mentioned that normal enemies generated a large amount of damage, facing 5 “special” enemies at the same time will cause many times fail in our mission.
Replayability per flag
In addition to the procedural generation of enemies and objects, Back 4 Blood introduces another important element for the replayability of the title: its chart system. As seen in other games, we will have a card system that will generate a series of advantages for the player, for which we will have to form our own deck.
Once made, the cards that we have in our deck will appear before starting each level, so that we choose 1 of the 5 options that the game makes available to us, something that increases the differences with other games. However, it is true that we have seen that there are cards that are better than others, so it will be necessary to see if in the final game the people of Turtle Rock will be able to balance this aspect correctly.
Another point to take into account is that of the so-called exterminators. Each of the eight members of the title has their own abilities, which adds a certain strategic factor when choosing our group. Although it is early to ensure if it will be something really important, in the games that we have played if we have been able to appreciate the influence of one or the other characters, that extra physical vigor that Evangelo offered us or that physical resistance that Holly provided is vital.
A decaf versus
Finally, we want to talk about Back 4 Blood versus mode. While it is true that it is an addition that increases the variety of the title, we do not believe that it will be the center of the experience for the players. As if it were a battle royale, we will play on a map in which there will be a circle that will gradually close, leading players from one side to another to face each other.
The key in this mode is that there will be players who will control the exterminators, while others will do the same with the infected, which have some variants. As we have commented, it is still too early to draw conclusions, but it seems that it will be one more way of “disconnecting” from the campaign than a proposal in which the players focus their hours of entertainment.
Be that as it may, we will be able to clear up doubts as of October 12, at which time the title will be available on Xbox Series X | S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 and PC. Also, remember that the game will be available on Xbox Game Pass from that same day.