Players got their first in-depth look at Back 4 Blood, a spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead franchise, during the 2020 Game Awards. Developed by the team responsible for bringing Left 4 Dead to life (and essentially creating the genre), Turtle Rock Studios aims to reinvigorate the four-player zombie survival genre with this new title.
Back 4 Blood will change up the formula just enough to bring a fresh experience to players while maintaining its predecessor's spirit. It has been 11 years since Left 4 Dead 2 launched, so it's about time for a follow-up.
Turtle Rock Studios describes Back 4 Blood as "a thrilling cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of the critically acclaimed Left 4 Dead franchise." In it, players are fighting against the Ridden, terrifying creatures who were transformed from their original human forms by a deadly parasite that threatens the existence of humanity. It's up to players to take back the world by destroying the Ridden.
Despite a lengthy development cycle, Back 4 Blood was prominently featured at E3 2021 during the Xbox/Bethesda Conference. Turtle Rock Studios showed off a new trailer, offering another look at the title in addition to revealing the Swarm PvP mode. They also revealed a new mechanic, the Card System, wherein cards are used to alter the stats and perks of player characters, adding a roguelike element to the game.
Back 4 Blood's original reveal trailer hinted at details about the plot and setting players will find themselves wrapped up in. Instead of a disease or mutation, this zombie apocalypse appears to originate from an arctic worm. The trailer shows a group of researchers excavating the specimen from the snow-covered Pingualuit Crater, a crater that exists in the real world in Nord-du-Québec, the northernmost part of Québec. From there, scientists take the worm to Québec City, where the specimen awakens in the hands of interested scientists. The worm-driven zombie plague soon overtakes the area and makes its way south towards the United States, where the game will take place. The reveal trailer shows the four protagonists in what appears to be New York City battling the rising horde of the undead.
Instead of scared survivors doing their best to make it through a zombie apocalypse, the protagonists are part of a group called The Cleaners. The Cleaners make it their responsibility to eliminate the Ridden and carve out a safe existence for other survivors. From what can be discerned from the various trailers, the Cleaners appear more confident, trained and capable than the protagonists from Left 4 Dead.
Along with the reveal trailer, Turtle Rock Studios also showcased a gameplay trailer for Back 4 Blood. Here, we got a first look at how the title will play. As a cooperative first-person shooter and zombie survival title, it looks like the game will borrow some of the best details from the Left 4 Dead franchise. Players will start in a safe room where they'll be able to prepare for the upcoming stage and manage their loadout before charging headfirst into the chaos. A variety of different firearms are spotlighted in the trailer on top of melee options and explosives. As the characters gun down zombified foes, they yell out insults and comments that seem context-sensitive to the situation players find themselves in. One character calls out, "I've got a bullet for you, and you, and you," with each additional "and you" coming when a new enemy falls into their gun's sights.
Back 4 Blood will also have its own take on the Special Infected enemies from Left 4 Dead titles. A few different variations of Special Infected have made appearances in the trailers, including a four-armed foe that attacks players by spinning a ball of goo that traps unlucky players, a bloated undead who attacks with projectile vomit, a giant club-armed mutant and an even bigger enemy that can tear through obstacles when in pursuit of characters.
The E3 2021 trailer for Back 4 Blood offered an additional peek at some gameplay and revealed a PvP Swarm mode. Working somewhat similar to Left 4 Dead's PvP multiplayer, one team of players will consist of survivors and the others will be Ridden. However, the twist here is instead of clashing during story missions, the mode looks to center on survival and horde management.
Back 4 Blood is set to release October 12, 2021. Turtle Rock Studios ran a Closed Alpha Test on PC from December 17 through 21, and it has confirmed interested players should stay tuned for more opportunities to get hands-on with the title before release. The game is available to pre-order now, however, it will also be available on Game Pass for Console and PC at launch. Back 4 Blood looks like it'll be more than suitable as a successor to the Left 4 Dead series, and interested players should keep an eye out for future testing opportunities via Betas, but everyone will be able to get their hands on the title soon enough.
Developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Back 4 Blood will release on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store October 12, 2021.
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