HANDS ON - Back 4 Blood Means Business

Ogre’s on the loose. By Jay Tee 04/01/21 Previewed on PC. Closed Alpha access provided by Warner Bros. — Ogre’s on the loose.
By Jay Tee
04/01/21
Previewed on PC.
Closed Alpha access provided by Warner Bros.

Back 4 Blood occupies a curious spot, ticking boxes as both a spiritual successor and a new IP unafraid to challenge convention. It is both immediately familiar and fundamentally different, featuring the mad dash excursions of Left 4 Dead alongside the ironsight aiming and customisation synonymous with modern shooters.

We went hands on with the recent Closed Alpha, and after stumbling through the single included campaign with some inept A.I teammates, we were able to secure a decent squad and make meaningful progress. Balance is the key thing needing to be addressed, with computer controlled allies lacking the spatial awareness and… usefulness required to adequately substitute for real world buddies. They’re great in quieter moments, but when the action really kicks into gear, they’ve got the intelligence of a discarded gnome.

Thankfully, any perceived issues on this front are offset by the expanded toolset at your disposal, with a cards based perk system layering in opportunities for some helpful tinkering. It’s a pleasing wrinkle to a recognisable formula, and helps you prioritise stats that speak to your playstyle without sacrificing what made Turtle Rock’s approach so memorable.

That’s probably our biggest takeaway from our time with Back 4 Blood; this is a type of experience long since abandoned, and it feels so good to be back. Mowing down hordes in first person, facing off against special infected, and doing so in a squad of four is exactly the kind of classic co-op desperately in need of a revival. Despite its work in progress status, the appreciated graphical touches add a premium feel to what was traditionally a rather basic visual design.

The things you’d hope to see included are present and accounted for; snappy and randomised character dialogue, subtle alterations to the level design during each run, environmental storytelling, and grotesque mutations that make eliminations more satisfying. It’s also nice to see some spins on the expected, like the crows which can be distrubed and will alert the horde, and the hulking Ogre who can smash through scenery and gives chase during specific sequences.

There’s a crispness to the approach here, and a clarity of purpose, that makes Back 4 Blood the right kind of nostalgia. It’s also much faster than either Left 4 Dead titles (which again might be addressed through balancing), and keeps you moving with little downtime. With some additional polish, and the right kind of post launch support, all signs point to victory.

TARPS?

At the bottom of some of our articles, you’ll see a series of absurd looking images (with equally stupid, in joke laden names). These are the TARP badges, which represent our ‘Totally Accurate Rating Platform’. They allow us to identify specific things, recognise positive or negative aspects of a games design, and generally indulge our consistent silliness with some visual tomfoolery.