PC Gamer - UK (2021-12)

Back 4 Bloodrecaptures the tempo of

2009,whereI’mlining up headshots

bythedozenwhileI shoot the shit

withfriends.TurtleRock has

faithfullyresurrected the fun,

heart-pumpingzombie

slayingthatothershave

onlyattempted.Just

makinganunambitious

Left 4 Dead 3 would’ve

beenenoughforme,

butBack 4 Bloodisalso

adeckbuilder,alooter,

aheroshooter,and

evenabitofaroguelite.

It’sagamethatTurtle Rock couldn’t

havemadetenyearsago, and it’s the

additionofthesesmart, modern ideas

thatmakeitgreat.

Rightfromthejump, Back 4 Blood

flipsthepremiseofLeft 4 Dead on its

head. You’re no longer average-Joe

survivors scrambling to escape

crumbling cities. You’re zombie-

killing mercenaries who hunt down

infestations, rescue trapped civilians,

and gather supplies for

surviving settlements.

Each bundle of levels

begins with your party

leaving the safety of the

Fort Hope hub world

to go look for trouble.

It’s kinda like skipping

straight to later seasons

of The Walking Dead

in which everyone still alive is a

superhuman murder machine.

This describes Back 4 Blood’s

Cleaners, eight tough characters with

unique stat bonuses for themselves

and the entire team. These aren’t

Overwatch heroes with splashy

ultimate abilities, but the Cleaners do

invite interesting, slightly different

playstyles – Holly is a melee specialist

who earns stamina back on each kill,

Hoffman carries an extra grenade

and gives the whole team more

ammo, and Mom gets a free revive

once per mission. Back 4 Blood’s

Cleaners won me over, not because

they have a ton of personality, but

because it’s fun to play a specific role

in this sort of game.

STACKED DECK

Between runs, players can build

15-card decks from 100-plus

unlockable cards with effects that

range from minor health bonuses to

major gameplay changes. Each

player can handpick a few cards at

the start of a run, but after that they

only draw one per level. If a run

ends with zero continues left,

everyone’s deck is then reshuffled.

The starter cards are a bit boring

(+10 stamina, hooray), but before long

I was unlocking transformative skills

that encouraged me to specialise.

Over 20 hours I’ve crafted one hell of

a support deck that pairs nicely with

Doc. By the time I’ve drawn all of my

cards, I can carry more medkits, heal

teammates better than they can

themselves, and tank a ton of damage

while I revive others.

Some of the coolest cards also

come with a significant drawback,

like Admin Reload, which will

automatically reload guns when you

holster them at the cost of 15% of

your ammo carrying capacity.

Honestly, I was ready to hate the

card system when I first read about

it. It seemed like a way to artificially

extend the replayability of Back 4

Blood, and as an FPS player, I was

worried all these passive bonuses

would create a bunch of invisible

maths for me to fret over. Who wants

to mess with cards in an action game?

I’m happy to admit that I was

wrong and grumpy – I’ve spent at

least an hour of game time building

R

emember when Left 4 Dead established the run-and-gun

co-op genre as we know it, and then Valve stopped making

themafter hitting the number 2? I love Left 4 Dead 2 and no

otherco-op game has managed to scratch the same itch.

Back4 Blood, which was made by the original Left 4 Dead

studio,isaremarkably fun shooter that manages to out-zombie Left 4

Dead,whichIwasstarting to believe was impossible.

FRESH FACE

BACK4 BLOOD makes a triumphant return to the genre Turtle Rock created

By Morgan Park

A game that

Turtle Rock

couldn’t have

made ten

years ago

NEEDTOKNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A co-op FPS from the

makers of Left 4 Dead

EXPECT TO PAY

£50

DEVELOPER

Turtle Rock Studios

PUBLISHER

Warner Bros

REVIEWED ON

RTX 2060, Ryzen 5

2600 3.4GHz, 16GB

RAM

MULTIPLAYER

Yes

LINK

back4blood.com/en-us

CLEANUP

Meetmyfourfavourite Cleaners

WALKER

Favoriteweapon:

Glock 23

Walkerisa great

startercleanerthat

dealsextradamage

toeverythingand

givestheteammore

health.Healsogets

anaccuracybonus

foreveryprecision

killhenails

HOLLY

Favorite weapon:

Wooden bat

Holly can fit into all

sorts of deck builds,

but her unique ability

to gain stamina back

on each kill makes

her deadly with a

melee weapon. She

also comes with

damage resistance.

DOC

Favorite weapon:

MP5

Doc can heal

everyone for free

once per level and

restores more HP

with medkits. She

also grants trauma

damage resistance,

protecting

everyone’s max HP.

KARLEE

Favorite weapon:

AK-47

Karlee helps herself

and her team by

sensing special

zombies through

walls, a perk that’s

never not handy. She

also boosts her

team’s use speed for

tool items.

Back 4 Blood

REVIEW