Back 4 Blood

Without a doubt, Back 4 Dead is all about the co-op gameplay and mixed with the newly introduced card system. If you combine the two, killing those ugly creatures is extremely fun, though be warned, it’s also extremely challenging as well. On the other hand, if you’re not the biggest fan of co-op multiplayer and would rather stick with the solo mode, this isn’t as exciting as it should be. Though, as I said, even the co-op multiplayer has a bad side, as the overall experience depends on your team and their way of playing the game.

Back 4 Blood is a wonderful call-back to the games that have come before it. And even though it’s not a direct sequel to Left 4 Dead 2, it brings back the most important elements of the series. But it shouldn’t be seen as only a spiritual successor because it adds so many new features that make it an extremely satisfying modern-day FPS. While a few elements impede the gameplay, they can be easily overlooked when you have a great team to play with.

Back 4 Blood is the successor made and a perfect evolution of what Left 4 Dead in its day. It is true that it does not revolutionize, but it does improve its formula

Anyone who loved "Left 4 Dead" and can accept that special zombies in co-op mode are not controlled by other online players will have a lot of fun with "Back 4 Blood". Difficulty spikes, the lack of a split-screen mode and problems with the bot AI do however lower our overall impression.

The main game is a beautifully balanced blast of team-shooter perfection. Who needs a story when the action is this good? It’s only let down by unnecessary PvP. [Issue#8, p.82]

Turtle Rock Studios has once again created a fantastic co-op shooter with Back 4 Blood. The game is good when playing solo, but amazing when playing with three friends. The gameplay, characters, and card system make the game dynamic and create another dimension for us to enjoy. These things are so great, making the cookie-cutter story and the repetitiveness of the environments just a bit more painful and unfortunately, these elements hold the game back.

Having the same gameplay core as its spiritual parents (Left for Dead), Back 4 Blood implements some new tricks to keep the player hooked. Light RPG elements, through weapon customization and deck building, enrich the basic formula of the game, providing a much needed modern approach.

Turtle Rock Studios have built a solid game, though it is teetering on a house of cards. If they take the wrong direction with the Corruption upgrades in the future in a bid to monetize the experience via add-ons or DLC, the L4D creators could shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to replayability. Ignoring any card concerns though, Back 4 Blood delivers a rip-roaring party-mode atmosphere and well and truly scratches that long-standing Left 4 Dead itch 12 years later.

Back 4 Blood successfully continues what started by Left 4 Dead, and even though there some bumps here and there in the road, everything that matters for a game in this genre is done the right way.

Back 4 Blood lacks the personality and charisma of the Left 4 Dead franchise, but at the same time, it also introduces some quality of life changes that make this game blast to play with friends. However, playing alone feels unrewarding because of the lack of progression.

Having spent a lot of time with Back 4 Blood, we think it's well worth your time and, crucially, your money. It's just a lot of fun blowing Ridden heads off or smashing them with a baseball bat like a watermelon in an anime beach episode. It doesn't really deliver a compelling experience solo – the bots are just a touch too stupid for that – but Back 4 Blood ought to become a multiplayer fixture for the rest of the generation to come. Unless they bring out Back 4 Blood 2 in, like, a year.

Back 4 Blood is a fun spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead franchise. It’s entertaining, graphically well-done and offers a lot of customization for all kinds of players. While the game will get old for some, others will find ours of entertainment cleaning things up with their friends.

Back 4 Blood is not just a new coat of paint. It tries new ideas to shake up its legendary formula, mashing together their learning to create a cohesive, insanely fun co-op experience.

While it never forges its own identity, or escapes the shadow of Left 4 Dead, Back 4 Blood provides a great cover act, that captures all of the original series’ magic.

Back 4 Blood stands as a new standard in co-op shooters. With vibrant, intricate level design, solid gunplay, and intense moments brought on by a variety of dizzying enemy types balanced through a deep card system, it stands as a great achievement. The difficulty wall is annoying and other in game choices feel odd, to say the least, but that doesn't stop you from having an absolute blast, especially playing with friends.

Back 4 Blood manages to live up to its predecessors, offering an improved, deeper, funnier and more addictive experience.

We're back to the old cooperative mode of busting zombies like there is no tomorrow with Back 4 Blood, the heir to Left 4 Dead that keeps the essence of the franchise alive and incorporates new mechanics, but with lessons to be learned in the field of PvP.

Back 4 Blood is one that I’ll be playing for a long time to come. Turtle Rock Studios has committed to improving the game, both through new content and patches. And I trust that they’ll right most of the wrongs with their latest zombie-slaying simulator. It may feel light on content, and you’ll need a team of people if you want to make any actual progress, but hop on board now, and you still be pleasantly surprised at just how fun Back 4 Blood can be.

Back 4 Blood offers fun co-op action with a somewhat bumpy start and not always successful balancing.

A diamond in the rough, though one that's definitely worth playing in co-op. When you're on your own, however, the lacklustre AI and the inability to progress through the game will definitely put a damper on things...

Back 4 Blood is indeed the worthy heir of the first two Left 4 Dead games. There is no doubt about that. The title from Turtle Rock Studios offers nervous and impacting gameplay that knows how to reinvent itself as the players progress thanks to this successful deck system and these varied objectives that take place in many different places. Unfortunately, the production still lacks balancing. The game is either too simple or too punitive. We hope that a future update will correct all this.

B4B has so much potential and if it does end up getting the classic versus mode so many L4D fans want so badly then it will end up being a near-perfect game. For the time being, it’s a solid bit of zombie slaying fun that’s a cut above some of the other undead shooting gallery games out there. I just hope Turtle Rock gets the message and brings classic versus mode back from the grave, because the current incarnation of PvP is dead on arrival.

The campaign is Back 4 Blood's main draw, but you really need a group of friends to enjoy it to its fullest. As a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead, it ticks almost all of the right boxes. The modern additions add to the game's variety and ensure that each run is unique, while the moment-to-moment gunplay is intense and incredibly gratifying. The overwhelming frequency of the special infected, and their disappointing blandness, is a downer, and the lack of some quality-of-life features makes playing with strangers more frustrating than it should be, especially when you're penalized for playing alone. The landscape of cooperative shooters has changed a lot in the past 12 years and Back 4 Blood might not live up to the heights of Left 4 Dead at its peak. Nevertheless, Turtle Rock's return to the genre it created is still excellent fun, provided you have others to share in the zombie-bashing.

Back 4 Blood is brilliant, co-op fun, with an interesting card system, but it's marred by terrible bots, awkward solo campaign choices, and a lackluster PvP mode.

Back 4 Blood delivers the joy of zombie slaying in small bursts, but can become a slog the more prolonged the play session. This is blood you’ll want to return for because it’s fun to slay zombies with friends, just don’t stay too long.

If you have a squad of like-minded buddies ready to lose many an evening to slaying some zombie infested hordes, Back 4 Blood will provide you plenty to satisfy that urge. It doesn’t quite capture the greatness of its forebears and it stumbles over itself with its erratic difficulty curve and repetitive nature, but Back 4 Blood has immensely satisfying, if simplistic, gameplay mechanic. This is a veteran, war-torn survivor who’s maybe danced this bloody dance once too many times, but it knows damn well how to deliver that co-op fun.