Preview | Back 4 Blood (Closed Alpha) | Winter Spectacular 2020
Back 4 Blood is an upcoming first-person, zombie horde survival co-op shooter developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by Warner Brothers Games. Now, Turtle Rock rose to prominence on the Xbox and Xbox 360 with their port of Counter-Strike and work on Left 4 Dead, another first-person, zombie horde survival shooter. I wish that’s where the similarities ended but alas it is not.
Recently I was invited to the Back 4 Blood closed Alpha after applying whilst it was being teased at The Game Awards 2020. I played this alpha with my brother, who has clocked more hours on Left 4 Dead on console than I have the entire Assassin’s Creed franchise, so with that in mind I would like to tell you three things. What the game is, where the game looks to be going and where I’d like to the game to be during its time in early access. As such, let’s start with the first point.
Does this place have rent control?
WHAT THE GAME IS
Like I stated in the intro “Back 4 Blood is an upcoming first-person, zombie horde survival, co-op shooter developed by Turtle Rock Studios and published by Warner Brothers Games” but there is more to it. Turtle Rock Studios have stated this game is not Left 4 Dead 3, but it sure as hell feels that way to everyone I know that's played it - for better and for worse.
Similarities start with the premise: You and three survivors start locked in a safe room, once you open the door you make your way through hordes of zombies to the next safe room. You will fight special zombies in cramped corridors and open spaces and try to avoid alerting the horde as much as possible.
Take away all mentions of Back 4 Blood and guess what game I just described? I suppose with the flop that was Evolve, Turtle Rock Studios has gone back to what they know. The thing is, it has worked. Granted there are a few tweaks to the recipe, you can buy gun upgrades and healing items as well as find booster cards.
BOOSTER CARDS?
Oui Oui mon frère, booster cards. Now these cards make a huge difference to the gameplay. Think of them like buffs or perks. You pick three cards out of three random rolls and start the level (or act) with them. Each card allows you some special abilities or bonus. They can make you the real MVP or have you look like the bright spark that does not play the co-operative game cooperatively.
You seem angry.
Perks such as ‘Caretaker’ allow you to heal a teammate and receive the same amount of health back. ‘Blood Donor’ heals the team for 45hp over ten seconds if the person with the perk gets downed or killed. While ‘Martyr’ will give the team 100% extra damage, infinite ammo, 50% more Stamina and 25% revive speed for 10 seconds when someone goes down. Most of these booster cards help everyone. However, ones that offer something like 5% Stamina (for you and nobody else) has less use for the team.
Overall, I like this change. It gives Back 4 Blood a meta-game that starts in the lobby. If you can get a team of friends on Discord and build up some complimentary decks and trust each other not to throw the game, you’re gonna win. I can only hope the deck building dosent become some overbearing lootbox system like in Injustice 2 or recent Mortal Kombats. If it does though it better not be real-world transactions! Warner Brothers Studios don’t have a great track record with games recently published by them.
WHERE THE GAME LOOKS TO BE GOING
Well, if it hasn't been obvious from previous paragraphs: The game looks to be going down the route of a modified Left 4 Dead. Clearly, enough changes have been made to make this it’s own separate product though, or else we would probably be hearing of Cease and Desist letters being issued by Valve (the owners of the Left 4 Dead IP).
Obviously the game draws heavy inspiration from Left 4 Dead but that isn't inherently a bad thing. It seems to be the vox populi move to make, especially while Valve still has issues making game with the number three. So why not give the masses a game that is very similar but with a few gameplay tweaks and all with a better-looking engine? After all, the Source engine is so old that it can join the army and get married in the UK at this point. While on the other hand Unreal Engine 4 has yet to leave primary school!
Though I was not a big fan of the original Left 4 Dead or its sequel, I am thoroughly enjoying Back 4 Blood. There is less cringe-worthy banter between the playable characters or ‘Cleaners’ as they are called here, and that makes a surprisingly noticeable difference. It allows you to focus more on the task at hand, killing the ridden (zombies).
Ok but do any of these new characters yell, “PILLS HERE”?
WHERE I WOULD LIKE IT TO GO?
Honestly, I am loving this trajectory that is being plotted by Turtle Rock Studios. If all’s that’s added over the next few months is a few more levels and ‘Cleaners’ then so be it. Keep everything else as is. Granted, maybe work on the difficulty a bit. It took me about six hours to complete the alpha… on easy. Not necessarily a bad thing but then we kicked things up to medium… At this point Back 4 Blood proves it has less of a difficulty curve and more of a difficultly sheer cliff face.
Even when the difficulty plateaus at each level and it then it gets harder when you die. You lose maximum health and thus become less prone to surviving your next fight and making you feel like a liability! Dial it back a bit guys, it’s a bit much. ‘The Game Director’ makes a return for from L4D and is a good feature… sometimes. Implemented correctly, it can make every experience feel different, however, sometimes poor implantation makes everything the same. It’s also hard to notice these emergent events when there are preordained scripted events already happening. Worst of all though, at some points it just feels like loot tables and RNG are shafting you.
My advice: Remove scripted events or add more that can be pulled from a pool per level. The Orge is a terrifying foe until you advance to the next level and have to fight it again. Once you beat it, it loses all of its impact in subsequent playthroughs.
I will say now having managed to complete everything in the alpha on the “medium” difficulty - teamwork makes the dream work. It took three of us and one very cooperative random person but we crafted a strategy that worked
DIFFERENCES
So I harked on a bit about the similarities but let’s talk about the differences. Obviously the boosters are one thing but the shop is another. Each safe room you can trade copper for ammo, offensive ordinances, healing and utility items and even weapon upgrades. Ever seen a .357 Revolver with a Trijicon ACOG scope?
Unlike Left 4 Dead we actually know what caused the outbreak of zombies (or Ridden) in this story. From the cinematic shown at The Game Awards 2020 it seems that a group of scientists found a worm during an arctic expedition. This thing causes the outbreak. It’s very similar to the DC Black Label Comic The Plunge by Joe Hill, except the ridden aren't sentient alien worms who use a human host body.
Apart from these three very obvious changes, there are only a few minute ones: There are more than four playable characters (there will be eight to choose from in total but only four in the Alpha), there are four acts inside a chapter (level), more guns and more streamlined controls to bring B4B in line with modern sho0ter. Long gone are the days of LT or Right Click to melee.
OOOOOOOOH 4 NOW I GET IT.
I don’t get it but I’m too embarrassed to admit it.
IN CONCLUSION
Overall, I have enjoyed my time with this alpha more than I have enjoyed my time with most betas I have played. Though this does seem more like a full-blown vertical-slice and not some early alpha build. To be fair though, the team have done two very similar games in the past so a project like this must be easier.
If Turtle Rock stay the course, I will definitely be buying this game myself at launch.
Back 4 Blood will release on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store and is slated for a June 22nd 2021 release date! If you missed your chance to play the closed alpha then keep your eyes peeled as Turtle Rock Studios FAQ hints at more to come.
