If you were a fan of the “Left 4 Dead” games there’s a surprise new game by “Turtle Rock Studios”, the team who developed the franchise. Back 4 Blood is a new first-person cooperative zombie survival shooter, which is now available for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One consoles (Gamepass), PlayStation®5 (PS5™), PlayStation®4 (PS4™) and PC. It takes everything you loved about the Left 4 Dead franchise and cranks it up to max.
In a brilliant move, they have even developed it with cross-play and cross-generation support across all launch platforms meaning you can play with anyone that has the game on any system.
Back 4 Blood on Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass has delivered the goods by adding it to the service via Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles, Windows PCs, and play on your mobile device through the recently introduced Cloud Gaming (Beta) with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. “Xbox Play Anywhere” means that you can play on both Xbox and Windows PC with shared saves making it one of the most accessible games ever created. PS4 players can also upgrade to the PS5 version at no extra cost if they can finally get their hands on the new console.
back 4 blood 
back 4 blood
Playing the Back 4 Blood co-op campaign is really impressive. The jump scares are worthy of praise and the gameplay has strong replayability. Join with up to four friends online or use matchmaking for quick outings. The most fun with these titles will always be with mates you can talk to via your headset creating brilliant moments of banter and making it much easier to call for assistance in a tight situation.
Same Old Story
The story is for the campaign is nothing new as it takes place after a catastrophic outbreak where most of humanity has either been killed or infected by a parasitic ‘Devil Worm’. Your team plays as apocalypse veterans called Cleaners, a group of spirited zombie slayers, as they take on the infected horrors known as the Ridden in their effort to reclaim the world. So really the names are changed but it’s a classic post-apocalyptic zombie shooter, thanks for being creative but sometimes a spade is just a spade.
“This is the game we envisioned for our passionate and dedicated community, and we are proud to finally see it realized for our fans to enjoy.”
Chris Ashton, Co-Founder and Design Director, Turtle Rock Studios.
Back 4 Blood gives you more choice of characters than ever before with a diverse choice of eight playable avatars making up the “The Cleaners”.
Holly, Walker, Doc, Karlee, Jim, Hoffman, Evangelo, and Mom. (Naturally, I’ll always lean towards playing a character called Doc) Each team member has their own in-game perks and a secondary weapon that matches their unique personalities. For example, Doc is the field medic of the team so can apply dressings to each teammate once per level giving them 25 health.
back 4 blood 
back 4 blood
An interesting addition to the game is an innovative “Hearthstone” style Card System that enhances the gameplay experience helping each playthrough be a bit more unique and allowing players to take some control of their character even more. It involves creating a personalized deck of cards to combat the adaptive A.I. known as the Game Director, which monitors player actions and responds accordingly by adding obstacles like enemy mutations with “Corruption Cards”. You’ll need to play your cards to counteract the Game Director. This is a fun inclusion that takes a few playthroughs to get the hang of.
A PVP mode called “Swarm mode” is a great take on the “strike team vs terrorists” scenario we’ve seen before. To break it down two teams of four face off against each other in a best-of-three scenario swapping between playing as the hero Cleaners and the evil Ridden. Points are gained based on how long the Cleaners can stay alive, the team that clocks the most time wins the match. When you play as The Ridden, you choose one of the nine Ridden types, each with different upgrade mutations to help take down the Cleaners.
The Verdict
Back 4 Blood is a wonderful new take on what was originally created with the groundbreaking game “Left 4 Dead” the similarities are extremely noticeable in a way that at times it feels like an homage to the original game. However, the impressive graphics and additional features turn this into a title that makes it its own beast and the replayability is like nothing we have seen before. If you like lots of blood and gore in your video game with some of the best co-op play available right now, Back 4 Blood will deliver for you.
Buy it here in the US
Or in Australia
Xbox: https://amzn.to/3AY6ftG
Check out our competitions here
