#LEFT 4 DEAD NEW GAME SERIES#

But with games like Warhammer : Vermintide 2 and even Aliens: Fireteam Elite branching out and taking more of a class-based approach, I was sure Back 4 Blood’s more classic bone structure would crumble under the pressure. Left 4 Dead is a beautiful relic, something I and many others spent hundreds of hours playing in high school and college. Back 4 Blood hit me with that variety on a regular basis, and it kept me engaged even when I was playing with random players or bots.

#LEFT 4 DEAD NEW GAME SERIES#

The Left 4 Dead series had other similar sequences, but they were mostly reserved for the big finales of the chapters. Left 4 Dead 2 had a level where you needed to fill up a racecar in a mall with gas so you could escape, and it’s still the one I remember most vividly. Interactive EntertainmentĮvery time I’d start to feel bored by the classic Left 4 Dead formula, Back 4 Blood would do something like hit me with a stealth level, or ask me to build my own safe room. And while you restart with basic weapons and cash each time you begin a new run, you’ll always be able to buy some more cards and build a permanent deck once you get back to camp. These coins are only useful for the run you’re on, so you have to spend them all before the finale, since you can’t take them with you. You’re picking up coins as well, which you spend at safe houses on improvements to your guns or pills to keep yourself alive. One card transforms your standard kick into a more lethal knife, while another may just increase your health, or make you deal more damage with shotguns.Īs you run through levels, playing cards and dodging the Director’s shenanigans, you’re collecting and upgrading your weapons. To combat the Director, you can play your own cards, which can impact your stats or even augment your basic gameplay abilities. At higher levels, it’ll give enemies different perks to make them more lethal, or make it easier for you to alert the horde. On lower difficulties, this might just give you an incentive, like getting to the exit with all players alive. The Director - Turtle Rock’s HAL 9000-esque name for its zombie AI - plays a card at the start of each run. Each run, even those on the same map, is slightly different from the last. These cards add yet another layer to Left 4 Dead’s already roguelike formula - transforming it into a rogue lite instead. You can then slot those cards into a deck, and play them on your next run. By completing runs, you’ll earn points to spend at a shop in town, permanently unlocking new cards. Back 4 Blood’s progression takes the shape of a game mechanic that’s become familiar over the past several years: cards and decks. Now it’s for fun and progress, be that in the form of usable loot or cosmetics. Gone are the days when people would just play a few acts of Left 4 Dead to have fun. Weapons have color rarities and attachments, there’s a useful ping system, it looks gorgeous, and yeah, it’s got some deck building.

It emerged with the same bone structure and shape, but with some evolved features more fitting for the modern era. And all that thinking paid off, as what’s different between Left 4 Dead and Back 4 Blood is just as interesting as their many similarities.īack 4 Blood feels like someone dropped Left 4 Dead in some radioactive ooze and let it sit for 12 years - which isn’t surprising, since Turtle Rock Studios is composed of many of the same developers who originally built Left 4 Dead.

Someone - or many someones - at Turtle Rock Studios spent a lot of time thinking about what Left 4 Dead would look like in 2021. And that’s what Back 4 Blood does: It takes Left 4 Dead seriously. As fans of Left 4 Dead, the spiritual predecessor to Back 4 Blood, know, the zombie horde is something to take seriously. The jukebox defense is a rare moment in Back 4 Blood where you get to just “be cool, Honey Bunny” instead of stressed. And nothing captures the attention of zombies quite like surf rock. While a group of survivors tries to escape by bus, you and your crew - the Cleaners - get to play bait.

That’s how one of the missions toward the middle of Back 4 Blood’s first act ends. If you’ve never fought off a horde of zombies while Dick Dale’s (and Pulp Fiction’s) “Misirlou” blares on a beat-to-shit jukebox, by all means, give it a go.

Left 4 dead new game