Back 4 Blood Review

00:00:00.000this is tamar hussein reading for

00:00:01.280reviewer richard wakeling let's not be

00:00:03.520around the bush back for blood is left

00:00:05.600for dead 3 in all but name the

00:00:07.520similarities between the original game

00:00:09.360and this spiritual successor are endless

00:00:11.440even after a 12 year gap yet it's their

00:00:13.679overt differences that proved to be the

00:00:15.679most interesting part of back for blood

00:00:17.840it still maintains all of the familiar

00:00:19.760hallmarks of left 4 dead only now these

00:00:21.920new foundations are interspersed with

00:00:23.519contemporary ideas befitting of the

00:00:25.439modern era resulting in a game that

00:00:27.199captures what you might expect from a

00:00:28.880reanimated left for dead in the year

00:00:30.6402021

00:00:38.480back for blood's chaotic template might

00:00:40.320be the most overt similarity between the

00:00:42.399two games as you and up to three friends

00:00:44.559are tasked with surviving the ravenous

00:00:46.320zombie hordes as you desperately fight

00:00:48.079from one safe room to another the

00:00:49.920campaign is split into four acts with

00:00:51.760each one containing a variable number of

00:00:53.760chapters the first act is the longest

00:00:55.760for instance coming in at 13 chapters

00:00:58.399while the final act consists of a single

00:01:00.480boss fight finishing the entire campaign

00:01:02.559on the game's regular and easiest

00:01:04.400difficulty will probably take you around

00:01:06.080six to seven hours but back for blood

00:01:08.080offers plenty of replayability when you

00:01:09.840factor in the other two punishing

00:01:11.360difficulty levels and the game's

00:01:12.960inherent variety the ai game director

00:01:15.360which makes on-the-fly decisions on

00:01:17.119where and what enemies spawn returns

00:01:19.360from left for dead and ensures that each

00:01:21.040character is noticeably different on

00:01:22.799repeat visits as it also manipulates

00:01:24.960hazard placement weapon availability and

00:01:27.280zombie frequency which differ with every

00:01:29.520playthrough you're also faced with the

00:01:31.200same kinds of objectives throughout the

00:01:32.720campaign whether that means simply

00:01:34.479making it to the next safe room alive

00:01:36.479alerting the horde in order to remove an

00:01:38.159obstacle and progress forward or

00:01:39.759defending a location until you're able

00:01:41.759to escape it's familiar territory if

00:01:43.680you've ever played left for dead and

00:01:45.119this works him back for blood's favor

00:01:46.640when it begins to veer from that exact

00:01:48.399formula during one chapter you find a

00:01:50.399safe room almost immediately but instead

00:01:52.240of escaping you have to locate and

00:01:53.920rescue a group of survivors first there

00:01:56.479are more interesting examples too

00:01:58.159including a chapter that sees you

00:01:59.439stumble upon a decimated police station

00:02:01.439where the only way out is locked by a

00:02:03.040hand scanner not only do you have to

00:02:04.719find a dead guy's severed arm to unlock

00:02:06.640it but whoever picks it up is forced to

00:02:08.560wield the limp as a morbid weapon while

00:02:10.399you mash your way back to the door

00:02:12.160there's another chapter where you have

00:02:13.440to plant explosives on the ship and

00:02:14.959escape before it blows while one of back

00:02:16.959for blood's best moments occurs in a bar

00:02:19.040as you're tasked with creating a

00:02:20.319distraction so another group of

00:02:21.680survivors can slip away unnoticed as it

00:02:24.080turns out zombies can't help but

00:02:25.840gravitate towards the sound of let me

00:02:27.440kill myself gravelly rasp emanating from

00:02:29.599a tired old jukebox as motorhead's ace

00:02:32.080of spades provides the energetic

00:02:33.760soundtrack to the ballroom massacre not

00:02:36.160every objective is quite as exciting

00:02:37.840though there are a few too many

00:02:39.200instances where you have to destroy

00:02:40.720pulsating zombie nodes before being able

00:02:42.720to progress and the final chapters in

00:02:44.640three of the four acts are

00:02:45.680disappointingly anticlimactic and

00:02:47.760tedious fortunately caving in craniums

00:02:50.319and filling zombies full of lead remains

00:02:52.000enjoyable throughout your arsenal of

00:02:53.840weapons consists of the usual assortment

00:02:55.680of assault rifles smgs shotguns snipers

00:02:58.560and a lethal collection of melee tours

00:03:00.800the gunplay is more in line with modern

00:03:02.720shooters than left for dead as you'll

00:03:04.239spend most of your time aiming down

00:03:05.760sights to pop headshots and focus fire

00:03:07.760on the special infected's glowing weak

00:03:09.360spots the weapons are punchy and zombies

00:03:11.760react to your shots in satisfying ways

00:03:14.000gradually coating everything in a thick

00:03:16.080crimson layer of blood

00:03:27.920there are other modern touches too

00:03:29.519including colour-coded weapon rarities

00:03:31.519because of course there are each of the

00:03:33.599eight playable characters begins with a

00:03:35.200specific primary and secondary weapon

00:03:37.200but you'll acquire more firearms as you

00:03:39.040loot abandoned houses and spend copper

00:03:40.879to purchase new guns in the safe rooms

00:03:42.799store you can also find and purchase

00:03:44.720weapon attachments that will boost stats

00:03:46.720like firepower and accuracy but these

00:03:49.280don't carry over if you swap weapons

00:03:51.200which feels oddly restrictive the most

00:03:53.439notable new addition however is the

00:03:55.200introduction of a deck building mechanic

00:03:57.599as you complete chapters you'll earn

00:03:59.120supply points that can be spent on

00:04:00.720acquiring more cards in order to build a

00:04:02.720custom deck of 15. the most basic cards

00:04:05.360provide small boost to vital stats like

00:04:07.519health and ammo capacity but you'll

00:04:09.200eventually gain access to more elaborate

00:04:11.200ones that have a tangible effect on the

00:04:13.360moment-to-moment gameplay this might be

00:04:15.439a card that turns your bash into a knife

00:04:17.680essentially giving you a third weapon

00:04:19.359store or a card with a team-wide effect

00:04:21.600that provides everyone with a 30 damage

00:04:24.000increase whenever someone is

00:04:25.280incapacitated you can even build a deck

00:04:27.759to suit a particular play style by

00:04:29.520focusing on healing base cards to become

00:04:31.520the team's de facto medic for instance

00:04:33.840or boosting your health and using a card

00:04:35.840that heals with each melee kill to

00:04:37.680become the frontline tank meanwhile the

00:04:40.000ai game director uses corrupted cards

00:04:42.320during each chapter to really emphasize

00:04:44.320back for blood's variety by challenging

00:04:46.080you with additional obstacles one

00:04:48.160corrupted card shrouds the environment

00:04:49.919in a dense fog that makes it impossible

00:04:51.759to see a few feet in front of your face

00:04:53.919while another introduces flaming zombies

00:04:55.919to the mix these hazards become more

00:04:58.000devious on higher difficulty levels yet

00:05:00.080it's tough to strategize and count as

00:05:01.680specific threats with your own cards

00:05:03.600when the corrupted ones are chosen at

00:05:05.280random which does take away from the

00:05:06.880system's dynamism somewhat this also

00:05:09.039contributes to some glaring balancing

00:05:11.039issues on every difficulty level unlike

00:05:13.440left 4 dead which threw special infected

00:05:15.520at you every now and then back for blood

00:05:17.759strongest zombies come at you in an

00:05:19.440incessant stream of tour boys hawkers

00:05:21.840and reekers there's nothing particularly

00:05:23.759special about these abominations when

00:05:25.440they're almost ever present so fighting

00:05:27.520each variation quickly becomes rope and

00:05:29.520that's without mentioning they're mostly

00:05:31.360one note attacks that simply pin you

00:05:33.199into place the special infected in left

00:05:35.4404 dead didn't do much more than this

00:05:37.120either but they were infrequent and each

00:05:39.199one felt unique music played a

00:05:41.039significant part in this generating a

00:05:42.960feeling of simmering dread every time

00:05:44.560the witch's whaling theme would cut

00:05:46.160through the silence or the tank

00:05:47.680announced its terrifying arrival with a

00:05:49.440thunderous orchestra back for blood

00:05:51.360doesn't use musical cues probably

00:05:53.280because it would be an auditory mess

00:05:54.880with how many special infected appear at

00:05:56.720one time

00:06:14.639playing with friends papers over these

00:06:16.479issues to some extent and this is

00:06:18.080obviously where back for blood's co-op

00:06:20.000excels if you don't have three fans to

00:06:22.000play with the waiting times for

00:06:23.360matchmaking aren't too long via

00:06:24.960crossplay and the game's handy ping

00:06:26.880system means you're able to communicate

00:06:28.319fairly well without having to talk to

00:06:29.919strangers the quality of your teammates

00:06:31.759will inevitably vary which is a problem

00:06:33.919when you can't vote to kick afk players

00:06:36.160this is a puzzling omission especially

00:06:38.000when back for blood actively punishes

00:06:39.759you for playing solo while you have the

00:06:41.600option to play through an entire

00:06:43.039campaign with three bots doing so cuts

00:06:45.039you off from earning all of the game's

00:06:46.560rewards including both supply points and

00:06:48.880trophies this means that you can't

00:06:50.720unlock any cosmetic items or new cards

00:06:53.120for your deck so you're forced to play

00:06:54.880with other people to make any kind of

00:06:56.720progress back for blood is meant to be

00:06:58.639played cooperatively but punishing

00:07:00.479people who want to play alone is

00:07:02.080unnecessary particularly when it doesn't

00:07:04.000have the tools to deal with players who

00:07:05.520are wasting everybody else's time

00:07:07.440outside of the campaign back for blood

00:07:09.199also features a pvp swarm mode where

00:07:11.280teams take turns playing as humans and

00:07:13.440the special infected rather than

00:07:15.199adopting the left 4 dead method of

00:07:16.880making the campaign competitive swarm

00:07:19.039locks you into a multiplayer arena where

00:07:21.199whoever survives as the humans the

00:07:22.880longest wins the round it's fine for a

00:07:24.960few rounds mainly because playing as the

00:07:26.720undead offers something different but

00:07:28.479this isn't a mod you're likely to go

00:07:30.080back to the campaign is back for blood's

00:07:32.479main draw but you really need a group of

00:07:34.720friends to enjoy it to the fullest as a

00:07:36.960spiritual successor to left 4 dead it

00:07:38.800takes almost all of the right boxes the

00:07:41.120modern additions add to the game's

00:07:42.880variety and ensure that each run is

00:07:44.879unique while the moment-to-moment

00:07:46.800gunplay is intense and incredibly

00:07:48.479gratifying the overwhelming frequency of

00:07:50.560the special infected and their

00:07:51.919disappointing blindness is a downer and

00:07:54.000the lack of some quality of life

00:07:55.440features makes playing with strangers

00:07:56.879more frustrating than it should be

00:07:58.479especially when you're penalized for

00:07:59.919playing alone the landscape of

00:08:01.440co-operative shooters has changed a lot

00:08:03.280in the past 12 years and back for blood

00:08:05.280might not live up to the heights of left

00:08:07.0394 dead at its peak nevertheless total

00:08:09.440rock's return to the genre it created is

00:08:11.520still excellent fun provided you have

00:08:13.520others to share in the zombie bashing

00:08:17.100[Music]

00:08:28.720you