We had a great time with Back 4 Blood

We were covered in blood less than a minute after leaving the Safe House; Turns out there was a bunch of Ridden waiting for us right outside the door. Then, after a flurry of gunfire and laughter, we turned to look at each other to see how utterly covered in grime we were as Ridden’s lifeless bodies were strewn about the place.

This brief shooting was just a taste of Back 4 BloodThe multiplayer mayhem awaited us, a session that featured numerous frenzied shootouts, tons of loot, a gigantic undead ogre, sacks full of kittens that had to burst, pesky crows, and many, many zombies. It was everything we were looking for (and more), from a spiritual successor to one of the best cooperative multiplayer shooter games of all time.

Suffice it to say that the blood in Back 4 Blood is very deserving, as are the comparisons with Left 4 Dead and its excellent sequel Left 4 Dead 2, which makes sense given that Turtle Rock Studios is made up of developers of those games, and they haven’t shied away from this fact in their promotional materials. Everything we’ve played so far seems like a natural evolution of those games, from the loot drops to the variety of weapons to the expansive tier design, making this feel familiar and new. It’s like riding a bike … through a zombie apocalypse.

Take a letter

One of the unique mechanics that will add a ton of replay value is Back 4 BloodCard system, in which you will build a deck from a variety of unlockable cards through the game that you can equip your character to provide a variety of upgrades or stat modifiers.

At first it seemed a bit overwhelming to understand, we just wanted to jump in and start shooting zombies, but after a few breaks mid-mission in Safe Houses it gave us a chance to better understand the hands that were dealt to us and what is the best way. to do so. to apply them to our team.

For example, cards like Sunder will cause targets to take 20% more damage for five seconds, Durable grants a small bonus to trauma resistance, and Combat Knife turns your Bash ability into a knife that counts as a melee weapon. exist tonne of cards so you can unlock and shuffle to create your optimal deck (15 cards per).

Then in the game, you will receive a set of random cards from your deck to play with. It’s a very deep system, one where we barely had time to scratch the surface during our playing session, but it’s easy to see the potential this card system can have on the replay factor of the game.

A bloody world

During our co-op campaign session, we played most of Act 1 on a wide variety of levels, two of which really caught my eye: The Crossing and Hell’s Bells. That’s not to say the other levels didn’t offer a great mix of frenzied firefights and challenging targets, they largely did, but The Crossing featured such an epic end-level scenario, where we had a near-impossible goal to navigate a container ship. . , that led to defending a Ridden avalanche checkpoint on a bridge felt spectacular.

Then at Hell’s Bells, after moving through layers of thick fog, which kept us all nervous throughout the level, it all culminated in the defense of an old church where we had to work to cover the windows while holding Ridden. at bay. , long enough to clean the church and survive to see another day. And all of this was only in Act 1! I can’t wait to see and play what’s in store at launch.

Get rid of them

The Riddens we’ve encountered so far bring a unique trait to the shootout that keeps everyone on their toes, like the heavy Tallboy swinging a huge club-like arm, the massive Reeker that can explode when killed, covering those around them in sticky pus. , or the Stinger that can ping with phlegm, all help keep the game moving at a rapid pace.

Then there are your masses of basic growls that continue to invade you whenever they get a chance, especially when you hit some mid-level goals that will create a lot of noise, like turning on a crane to help clear the way, causing them to move. come running towards you, or if you disturb a flock of crows feasting on the undead (don’t).

We even came across a huge mounted ogre (I didn’t understand his name) that emerged from the ground, but imagine the Cave Troll from “The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” and you get the picture. Except it could generate huge blood rocks and throw them at you causing massive AOE damage to you and your party.

Cleaning equipment

It’s not just The Ridden or the Card System that can bring a tremendous amount of replay value to Back 4 Blood. Cleaners, the characters you can choose to play with, each possess their own unique set of perks to help the party. Like Mom, who can instantly revive, or Hoffman (serious vibes from Walter Sobchak) who can generate ammo with kills, or Doc, who can heal low-health teammates without items. In total, there are eight Cleaners to learn how to play and that helps bring a tremendous amount of depth to an already in-depth multiplayer zombie shooter.

On top of that, there are over 20 weapons in the game that are a mix of assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, pistols, and some fun melee weapons like a fire ax, spiked bat, and machete. For weapons, there are also a variety of accessories ranging in rarity, from common to legendary, that you equip to improve stats like handling, accuracy, range, firepower, and mobility. Examine some of the loot boxes mid-mission remember Devil while choosing which accessories to use with the MP5 I became quite biased during my session.

Join the open beta

Best of all, starting today, early access to the Back 4 Blood The open beta has started with the cooperative experience that we played during our session and the player versus player (PvP) mode that we were unable to verify. The open beta also introduces the new PvP mode, Swarm, where two squads of four face off in a series of best-of-three rounds, trading between Cleaners and Ridden. You can choose from five Cleaners to battle the Riders with your friends, or play with six different Riders variants as you check out a variety of weapons along the way.

The open beta starts with an early access portion starting today, August 5, and running until August 9 for those who pre-order. Back 4 Blood in the Xbox Store. Players can also register at Back4Blood.com/Beta to have the opportunity to access the early access part. The open beta will continue next week from August 12-16 for all players. Both parts of the open beta will be playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X | S with support for cross-play and cross-gen.

Everything we’ve played so far has us very excited about the full release of Back 4 Blood October 12 with Xbox Game Pass. We’ll have more to share on this amazing multiplayer zombie shooter in the coming weeks, so stay tuned on Xbox Wire.