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'Back 4 Blood' Is Finally Here From The Creators Of 'Left 4 Dead'

Sponsored by Warner Bros
Sponsored by Warner Bros
'Back 4 Blood' Is Finally Here From The Creators Of 'Left 4 Dead'

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

What is Back 4 Blood?

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Turtle Rock, the original studio behind Left 4 Dead - one of the greatest multiplayer experiences of all-time - returns with Back 4 Blood: an online, four-player co-op shooter which pits human survivors against the parasite-infected, apocalyptic horde known as the Ridden.

As one of eight playable 'Cleaners' - humans with a host of customisable weapons and items - you are the last, best, and in fact only hope for humanity as you smash through a co-op campaign. When you're done saving the world, of course, it's time to destroy it, by switching sides and playing as the Ridden in PvP.

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Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock
Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock

Campaign Co-op

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Whether fighting with three other human players online or going solo with an AI squad, Back 4 Blood's world is filled with heart-pounding horror and adrenaline-spiking combat. As one of the last known survivors of a parasitic disease known as the 'Devil's Worm', your mission is to fight until the last for all that humanity has left.

Each of the Cleaners has a reason to fight, and each of them brings a specific skillset to that fight which players can take advantage of. Walker is a former soldier, whose proficiency with ranged weapons means that he's a natural sharpshooter for those inclined. Doc's medical background makes her - and those controlling her - the go-to for when things start to get a little out of hand. Finding it tough to break free of the deadly embrace of the infected? Evangelo is your man.

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Watch Back 4 Blood in action in the video below...

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Whichever playstyle you prefer, Back 4 Blood caters to it, with each of the eight Cleaners having individual and team buffs to suit every squad loadout, from movement to healing, ADS speed to stamina, and everything in between. Surviving the Collapse isn't just about pulling the trigger; it's about making sure you have the right team to deal with what happens after you do so.

The Ridden are a formidable enemy: they come in a variety of forms, each as dangerous as the last, and they are just as capable as using teamwork as you. The Snitcher acts as an early warning system, emitting a piercing screech when aggravated to draw the horde. Tallboy is a bully, obliterating Cleaners with a swing of a mighty club-like arm and splitting teams' defensive positions as it does so. The Reeker is dangerous even in death, covering survivors in pus. And the Stinger? Like a zombie spider, it pounces from all angles with deadly phlegm, pinning Cleaners to the ground.

Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock
Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock

PvP

To defeat these monstrosities you've got to know how they operate, and what better way to do so than to play as them. In eight-player PvP, two teams square off on both sides of the human/zombie divide, aiming to either continue or crush what's left of humanity. Like the human squads, Ridden teams must use their individually inherent abilities to isolate, engage, and eliminate the survivors of the Collapse.

While the Ridden don't need traditional firearms or other man-made weapons, they don't need them: what the Collapse has taken from them in terms of humanity, it has more than made up for in violent mutation. Co-ordinating those mutations is the key to victory: using projectile attacks from unseen buildings to pin down stragglers and force the team back, while another player smashes into the remaining resistance with sheer force, and yet another team-mate calls in NPC hordes as backup is just one of many, many strategies. Who knows, you might even enjoy being dead better than you do being alive. In PvP, at least.

Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock
Back 4 Blood / Credit: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Turtle Rock

Dynamic Gameplay

Like the Ridden you face as you make your way through the campaign's post-apocalyptic world, Back 4 Blood's co-op levels dynamically adjust to the player's actions, ensuring you'll have to use teamwork and strategy to make sure you don't drop as much as you chop.

Moving too quickly through a stage? The Game Director might make sure your favourite route up and over the baying zombies has changed to going down and through a nest of much more dangerous foes. One of those players who likes to lead the charge, heading off guns blazing and leaving your team to follow in your wake? You better hope that glory doesn't turn gory as you get stomped by a 20-foot tall Ridden you'd never met before. Like all good shooters, Back 4 Blood encourages teamwork, heroism, and nerve. Like all good horror, the darkness is always one step ahead of you.

The best part about Back 4 Blood's dynamic gameplay however is the 'Card System', which enables players to build their own stages for near-unlimited replayability. Enemy types, placements, and other hazards can be placed as players see fit, ensuring no two runs will be the same. Whether playing with a standard 'deck', or creating a world heavily stacked against the player, the Card System's flexibility means you'll always be Back 4 Blood.

Back 4 Blood is unleashed today, available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One and PC. Find more information and purchase options at the game's official website.

Topics: Back 4 Blood

Jack Woolfenden
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