We first caught wind of Back 4 Blood in 2019, when developer Turtle Rock Studios revealed it was working on the co-op zombie shooter alongside publisher Warner Bros, and its release date has been on our minds ever since.
Known for its work on the Left 4 Dead franchise – FPS that left its mark on the subgenre focused on culling seemingly infinite waves of undead – the developer is looking to pick up that torch with Back 4 Blood while adding some new mojo to the beloved recipe.
Here is everything we know about Back 4 Blood, including details on its release date, story, characters, gameplay, and more.
Back 4 Blood Release Date
Back 4 Blood’s release date is now slated for October 12, 2021, after initially being set for June. While the wait might be longer, to summer beta tests are scheduled in August, after lucky players got to play an alpha version of the game, giving us more chances to try out the game prior to release and offer feedback to the devs.
Turtle Rock Studios is targeting the PC, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, and PS4 with this launch.
Back 4 Blood Story and Characters
Back 4 Blood’s story sees players jumping into its world after a catastrophic outbreak has occurred, infecting most of humanity with the Devil Worm parasite.
The parasite turns those who it infects into ravenous monsters called the Ridden while mutating some into grotesque abominations with heightened reflexes, increased strength, and lovely abilities like hurling deadly acid vomit at opponents.
You take on the role of a hardened Cleaner, hell-bent on fighting the zombie threat despite being vastly outnumbered.
Each of the eight playable Cleaners has distinct personalities, secondary weapons, and perks that aid them in battle. So far, Turtle Rock Studios has revealed the names of four of them: Walker, Holly, Evangelo, and Hoffman.
Back 4 Blood Gameplay
Back 4 Blood will feel familiar to players who’ve already killed countless infected in Left 4 Dead. At its very core, an arsenal of guns, communicating with your team, and a steady aim get the job done.
You always enter the fray alongside three teammates, whether human or AI-controlled. Making good use of the Cleaners’ weapons and character Perks (one for each character) gives you even greater chances to see the mission to its end.
The weapons showcased so far included assault rifles, some of which had attachments like grips or scopes, shotguns, SMGs, revolvers, and bats.
Back 4 Blood will feature both a story campaign and a PvP mode in which you’ll be able to also take on the role of stronger versions of the Ridden. These include the agile four-armed Stinger, bulky Retch, Tall Boy, and massive Ogre.
The Game Director is a system that acts in the background, keeping you on your toes by throwing enemies your way and changing elements of the environment – like where you find much-needed gear – with each run.
It can also make enemies tougher and spawn mutated versions of boss enemies up to 20 feet/6 meters tall.
To this, Back 4 Blood also adds a card system inspired by rogue-lite games. At the start of each map, the Game Director plays a set of Corruption cards.
These are modifiers with such effects as making ammo scarce, spawning fog on the map, or having the Retch’s acid spew attack leave damaging pools on the ground.
Players can then use cards of their own – earned by completing challenges and objectives – to gain benefits like faster healing, more ammo, or a higher likelihood of finding a certain type of weapon in the environment.
Where Can You Buy Back 4 Blood?
The PC version of Back 4 Blood will be available both on Steam as well as the <a href=https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/p/back-4-blood”>Epic Games Store</a> and will set you back 59,99$/59,99€ or your regional equivalent. Console owners can get the game from the Microsoft and PlayStation stores. Alternatively, the title will also be available on Xbox Game Pass once its release date occurs.
Back 4 Blood Trailers
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