Zombie shooter games have been in the market for many years now, games such as The Last of Us, The Walking Dead, Dying Light, Day Z and many others being some of the most noteworthy.
However, all these games focus their gameplay on being either purely story-driven or of a survival horror action type. So, does Back 4 Blood capture the best parts of all these games? Let’s take a look.
About the game
Back 4 Blood was released in October of 2021 for PlayStation/Xbox/PC, and was advertised as a successor to the Left 4 Dead series. The game puts a strong emphasis on co-op gameplay and is best played this way.
The key difference between this game and all the other first person zombie shooter games is that the AI dynamically modifies the environment, enemy placements, obstacle placements, and several other aspects of the gameplay.
Gameplay
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by zombies, called The Ridden. There are a set of humans called The Cleaners, whose aim is to stop the advancement of the ridden.
The player is part of a team of 4, who are either AI bots or other players. Before the start of each level, the player needs to adjust gameplay prefrences, attributes, style of play, and other aspects by building a deck of cards.
There are several characters to choose from, each having their own set of abilities and perks. The AI can change several aspects of the game such as the weather, type of enemy spawning, and number of enemies amongst several other features based on the chosen deck of cards.
There is even a gamemode called Swarm, in which The Cleaners are controlled by four different players, whilst The Ridden are controlled by four different players.
Comparison with other similar genred games
While games such as Dying Light and Day Z both provide for some very thrilling gameplay with their survival aspects and large map, after progressing a releasonable amount into the game it isn’t hard to see that it is quite repetitive.
You upgrade weapons, unlock new outfits and gear, find a new area and kill the same enemies over and over.
Back 4 Blood might look linear and like any other multiplayer game, but what makes it stand out is that you never know what’s going to happen.
You will never have the same map layout, the enemies and their abilities will always be different, you can change the entire combat system by choosing different cards, and to top it all of every aspect of the game can be played with your friends.
The game does have a pretty basic story, so if you are looking for a jaw-dropping story, The Last of Us is probably the best there is.
Back 4 Blood is all about extreme replayability, permutations and combinations when it comes to combat, and of course the co-op gameplay.
With the upcoming expansion called Back 4 Blood Tunnels of Terror launching on the 12th of April 2022 that adds even more game modes and activities, it is not hard to see why the game has become such a commercial success.
What do you think about Back 4 Blood? Let us know in the comments down below.