During The Game Awards Show, Turtle Rock Studios, the team that brought us Left 4 Dead, showed off their latest game – Back 4 Blood. In every sense of the word, this new title looks like it could be an expansion to Left 4 Dead, with many (including myself) labeling this as the spiritual successor to the game. More so now that the studio has released a snippet of alpha gameplay, and it has piqued my interest.
So as you can imagine, I’ve been following this game as closely as possible. And now that they’ve released some gameplay from the upcoming alpha and released some tidbits about what we can expect to play, I just had to talk about it.
But first, there’s the trailer. Watch it a few times; it’s ok. I can wait.
As we can see in the video, we not only get to see some more gameplay, but we’re also given a bit of the plot (like we needed one) as well. First and foremost, we can stop calling the zombies, well, zombies. They’re actually called the Ridden, and I suppose that makes sense, as we have to “get rid of them.”
They also have names and classifications; The cannon fodder we’ll be mowing down is referred to as common infected, while the one we saw that uses crowd control is called the Stinger. There’s also the Retch, Tallboy, and the giant Ridden we saw during TGA 2020, known as the Orge – a fitting name. I don’t think these are all the creatures we’ll see, but just what they’re ready to show. After all, the game doesn’t release until June 2021, and they’re still in the midst of development. Still, this is a nice assortment of baddies we’ll get to shoot or run from. Definitely getting a Left 4 Dead vibe from them, but I also hope there’s something that similar to the Boomers.
Just like Left 4 Dead, Back 4 Blood will feature an AI director, called the Game Director. This dynamic system will constantly change the game’s mechanics, such as the number and difficulty of the Ridden, gear, and more. This will assure that no game session will play the game – and I’m looking forward to this.
We don’t know what game engine is powering the game, but from this gameplay trailer, there’s an insane amount of enemies on the screen, very detailed enemies, and it reminds me more of World War Z instead of Left 4 Dead.
Now we turn our glare to the playable characters, called the Cleaners. As of now, there are four of them, Walker, Holly, Evangelo, and Hoffman. Again, like Left 4 Dead, we’re able to pick from any of these characters, though it’s not currently known if there are differences between them other than looks.
Something new that Turtle Rock has added is the Card System. Both the players and the game director have access to this; for the AI, it will pick from several corruption cards that will change how the game plays, as mentioned above. Things like making ammo scarce, environmental effects, spawning more enemies, and basically making the game harder based on how well you play. At the same time, players will also have access to the card system that can benefit both the player and the team. These cards are earned by meeting certain requirements in the game. It sounds like a great way to make certain cards exclusive to harder quests.
This will add an interesting dynamic, as each game will vary on if you or your teammates have any useful cards. This also begs to ask if there are any cards or combo of cards that could end up being overpowered, or for that matter, could the game director end up throwing a card combo that could be too much for players. Sure, that’s what the AI is there for, to gauge this, but it’s an interesting thought.
The Back 4 Blood alpha takes place from December 17th – 21st, 2020, while the full game is scheduled for a June 22, 2021 release date for PS4, SP5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. If you haven’t signed up for the alpha, there’s still time – head here to do so. Just keep in mind that the alpha is for PC (Steam) only.
I can’t wait to check out the alpha and we’ll be sure to have lots of gameplay for you to digest, assuming we (I) get picked to partake that is. We’ll be following Back 4 Blood up until it is released.
