Back 4 Blood (from the creators of L4D)

Mr Crispy · 11-12-2020 5:10pm #1

Whatever I said
Whatever I did, I didn't mean it
I just want you back for blood
(Want you back... Want you back... Want you back for blood)

Official Site

Release Date - 22/6/2021

PS4/PS5/XB1/XSX/Steam/Epic

Blurb - "Back 4 Blood is a thrilling cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of the critically acclaimed Left 4 Dead franchise. You are at the center of a war against the Ridden. These once-human hosts of a deadly parasite have turned into terrifying creatures bent on devouring what remains of civilization. With humanity’s extinction on the line, it’s up to you and your friends to take the fight to the enemy, eradicate the Ridden, and reclaim the world."

So this was revealed a while back, but we just had a couple of trailers drop at the Game Awards. And given that the alpha starts in a few days (17th), we might as well have a thread for it now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rok9-g8E0PE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RCgT-XOPr4

It's from Turtle Rock Studios who made L4D, so yeah, it's pretty much L4D3 in all but name. I put hundreds of hours into the originals, but that was 10ish years ago now. I'm not sure if the exact same template will cut it these days, but it looks like this will have a few tricks up its sleeve to add depth and replayability. From the website;

Cooperative Story Campaign – Fight your way through a dynamic, perilous world in a four-player co-op story campaign where you must work together to survive increasingly challenging missions. Play with up to 3 of your friends online or go solo and lead your team in battle.
Competitive Multiplayer – Play with or against friends in PVP. Become a Cleaner, one of the immune survivors, with special perks or switch sides and play as the horrific Ridden. Both sides come with unique weapons, abilities, and specialties.
Extreme Replayability – A new “roguelike” card system creates different experiences each and every time, putting you in control to craft custom decks, roll different builds and undertake more demanding fights. The Game Director is constantly adjusting to player actions, ensuring exciting fights, extreme gameplay diversity, and tougher legions of Ridden – including mutated boss types up to 20 feet tall.

They tried something different with Evolve, and gameplay-wise it was okay, but was ruined initially by shitty monetisation models, and ultimately by balance issues they never fixed. I wouldn't rule out more shitty monetisation seeing as this is being published by Warner Bros, but hopefully this gets the balancing act right. If they do, I'll be on board. I may even be able to tempt some friends out of gaming semi-retirement!

Although seriously, that douchey bro-type Jersey Shore-esque character will get on my nerves QUICK. Bring back Francis.

11-12-2020 6:08pm

They key for these games is content.

World War Z was good but only having 3/4 locations meant it got stale quick.

L4D thrived on PC with the free map content made by the community.

Mr Crispy · 11-12-2020 6:35pm

gilberto_eire wrote: »

They key for these games is content.

World War Z was good but only having 3/4 locations meant it got stale quick.

L4D thrived on PC with the free map content made by the community.

True, and there'll be stiffer competition this time around with Darktide and Rainbow 6 Quarantine on the horizon as well.

Homelander · 11-12-2020 8:41pm

Looks amazing - basically Left4Dead 3, right down to the safe rooms, special infected and weapons.

Why Valve never commissioned an offical L4D3 is kinda bizarre.

Mr Crispy · 11-12-2020 9:52pm

Homelander wrote: »

Looks amazing - basically Left4Dead 3, right down to the safe rooms, special infected and weapons.

Why Valve never commissioned an offical L4D3 is kinda bizarre.

They were working on it apparently, but abandoned it.

I liked the little references to L4D in the trailer for this - the church at the end, the Algheny National Forest t-shirt etc. I was nearly expecting to see Chicago Ted referenced in the safe room's graffiti!

Zero-Cool · 11-12-2020 9:58pm

The first was one of my favourite multiplayer games of all time, had the best laughs with 3 friends in every night. Never carried over to the 2nd one and i doubt I'll get sessions like those back but super interested in this. Hopefully it will be cross platform or at least be good enough to get a good few on here playing.

dreamers75 · 11-12-2020 11:18pm

Same lads who made Evolve, just saying like Evolve.

wes · 11-12-2020 11:37pm

I skipped Evolve due to the nonsense monetization they tried to pull.

I don't mind paying for DLC, but what they did with Evolve was taking the pi**.

The game looks good, and as long as they don't pull what they did with Evolve I might pick it up.

Mr Crispy · 11-12-2020 11:56pm

dreamers75 wrote: »

Same lads who made Evolve, just saying like Evolve.

Yep, as mentioned in the OP.

Mr Crispy · 15-12-2020 3:57am

More info on the alpha, and the game in general;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDSn3VY6wQU

The good news then is that with 8 "cleaners" to choose from, no game need ever feature Evangelo. The bad news is that the deck building mechanic is ripe for monetisation.

wes · 15-12-2020 5:09am

Mr Crispy wrote: »

The bad news is that the deck building mechanic is ripe for monetisation.

One would hope they learned from the last time.

Mr Crispy · 15-12-2020 9:45am

wes wrote: »

One would hope they learned from the last time.

Fingers crossed.

Mr Crispy · 18-12-2020 12:17am

So the alpha started this evening. Haven't had time to read through everything yet, but here are a few of the choice headlines from my news feed;

Back 4 Blood is everything I'd want from a new Left 4 Dead - Eurogamer

I can't stress enough that Back 4 Blood is Left 4 Dead 3 - PC Gamer

Back 4 Blood adds new complexity, bravado to the Left 4 Dead formula (Original Left 4 Dead developer Turtle Rock evolves the zombie shooter) - Polygon

Independent players on forums have been giving feedback too, and there's a lot of footage on YT for those interested. The jury is still out regarding the card dynamic, and in-game currency bollocks, but watch this space I suppose.

Mr Crispy · 18-12-2020 2:29am

Ugh, and the pricing has been released - it'll be a full priced game (€60 on Steam), with an annual pass costing 50% more again (€90 for the deluxe edition). The pass will include "Three upcoming downloadable content drops with New Story, Playable Characters, Special Mutated Ridden, and more".

So the player base will be split early doors.

Dcully · 18-12-2020 1:53pm

gilberto_eire wrote: »

They key for these games is content.

World War Z was good but only having 3/4 locations meant it got stale quick.

L4D thrived on PC with the free map content made by the community.

WWZ game has tonnnes of content now, very decent sized community playing it too on PC.

dreamers75 · 18-12-2020 2:07pm

WWZ is very good, I still look in awe at the sheer amount of Zombies on screen coming at you. Impressive game design.

fixXxer · 18-12-2020 2:25pm

Was there a PS5 update for WWZ?

Mr Crispy · 29-12-2020 11:12pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2IjkyTmRNY

Looks like you'll be playing as the infected ridden in third person.

dreamers75 · 30-12-2020 12:54am

Mr Crispy wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2IjkyTmRNY

Looks like you'll be playing as the infected ridden in third person.

ahh jaysis they still after that symmetrical PVP/E

Honestly still shocked noone has nailed it by now.

Zero-Cool · 30-12-2020 7:44am

dreamers75 wrote: »

ahh jaysis they still after that symmetrical PVP/E

Honestly still shocked noone has nailed it by now.

I loved it in the original L4D, felt like they nailed it but weird we don't see it more.

EoinMcLovin · 25-03-2021 5:14pm

https://twitter.com/back4blood/status/1375115260282073093?s=19

Mr Crispy · 05-05-2021 2:35pm

Newest trailer, highlighting the card system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NT7zrkQjmM

pixelburp · 05-05-2021 3:57pm

Anyone got any non-age gated versions? There's no way I'm giving a CC or my ID

Choose how to verify your age

Use a credit card to verify immediately
- You won’t be charged. Any transaction fee will be fully refunded.

Use your ID
- Submit an image of a valid ID, like your driver’s licence or passport. It may take up to three days to verify your ID.

muddypuppy · 05-05-2021 4:38pm

pixelburp wrote: »

Anyone got any non-age gated versions? There's no way I'm giving a CC or my ID

https://ytprivate.com/watch?v=_NT7zrkQjmM

EoinMcLovin · 20-05-2021 2:37pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riSgUcg-n_Y

Mr Crispy · 20-05-2021 3:29pm

There's still the nagging doubts over microtransactions and season passes etc, but I'm still onboard thus far.

EoinMcLovin · 04-06-2021 5:26pm

https://twitter.com/summergamefest/status/1400649050098225161?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1400649050098225161%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=

Mr Crispy · 04-06-2021 7:37pm

Tweet unavailable. Was it to do with the E3 showcase, and a look at PvP? The official B4B twitter feed had something like that, but it disappeared too...

EoinMcLovin · 04-06-2021 8:22pm

Mr Crispy wrote: »

Tweet unavailable. Was it to do with the E3 showcase, and a look at PvP? The official B4B twitter feed had something like that, but it disappeared too...

Yeah it was related to PVP reveal

Mr Crispy · 04-06-2021 9:41pm

EoinMcLovin wrote: »

Yeah it was related to PVP reveal

Wonder why it was deleted. If they just spilled the beans too early, you'd imagine they'd have just left it up?

Mr Crispy · 10-06-2021 9:33pm

New teaser trailer, including the date for the open beta (August 5th). Looking forward to the PvP showcase now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HE6Rh5eXqQ

Mr Crispy · 12-06-2021 5:24pm

Looks like this will be hitting XB Game Pass on day one - Eurogamer.

EoinMcLovin · 13-06-2021 10:01pm

Pvp showcase just started

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxXCTkB9bHM

EoinMcLovin · 13-06-2021 10:10pm

https://twitter.com/GameOverGreggy/status/1404180476227559424?s=19

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psDItFj9i8o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR-JAP0pT6I

Mr Crispy · 13-06-2021 10:14pm

"Everyone who bought Back4Blood".... so excludes those on Game Pass I guess?

Zero-Cool · 13-06-2021 10:19pm

Some of the best multiplayer i ever experienced was with my friends on Left 4 Dead, both trying to escape the zombies and also the PvP, absolute hysterics with some of the kills as the infected. I really hope this turns out popular and gets a good player base

Mr Crispy · 13-06-2021 10:24pm

Same, great times. I don't know if this will manage to convince the old crew to come out of retirement, but a few of them have expressed an interest in it for sure. I'll just have to brow beat them into agreement!

EoinMcLovin · 13-06-2021 10:32pm

Like with it being on gamepass it's guaranteed to have a big player base at the very start but I wonder if it will have cross play as that will determine what platform people will play on. I love a good coop game, had some great times with the lads here with the division 2.

EoinMcLovin · 13-06-2021 10:35pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GzUK4UYDus

Homelander · 16-06-2021 2:35pm

Left4Dead is one of the great co-op games of all time. Given their insane popularity as well it's baffling that Value never bothered to make a thir....oh wait, yeah.

Mr Crispy · 24-06-2021 10:59pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdKzcXjilJg

Zero-Cool · 25-06-2021 9:29am

Ha! "Will it have crossplay?" "Yes we fully intend to support crossplay".
*Playstation enters chat and cocks shotgun* "Not on my watch!"

It's looking class and I totally forgot to sign up for the beta, just did it but hope I didn't leave it too late.

Mr Crispy · 25-06-2021 12:06pm

In an interview this very week, Jim Ryan said "We support and encourage cross-play". Eh, time to prove it Jimbo.

Zero-Cool · 25-06-2021 12:08pm

Mr Crispy wrote: »

In an interview this very week, Jim Ryan said "We support and encourage cross-play". Eh, time to prove it Jimbo.

I think he just meant crossplay between PS4 & PS5

Saying that, Rocket League let's me play with friends across the board which is very handy as we all have different platforms, not sure why Sony are reluctant sometimes, might just need to be a very popular game.

Mr Crispy · 25-06-2021 12:16pm

There's a handful of games supporting it already apparently, with more to come. But yeah, looks like they'll judge it on a case by case basis. (Games Industry Biz)

Stone Deaf 4evr · 25-06-2021 12:45pm

Mr Crispy wrote: »

In an interview this very week, Jim Ryan said "We support and encourage cross-play". Eh, time to prove it Jimbo.

Of course he encourages it. Sony charges developers a fee to have the game be cross play, so its effectively free money for them.

Mr Crispy · 20-07-2021 4:08pm

A new trailer for PC-specific features, but it does show off a couple of interesting new beasties;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwqgU1PQNKI

Mr Crispy · 28-07-2021 2:43pm

So apparently I can't just post a video today without adding text to the post. This is that text. I hope you liked it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Epmnk8G4Q

EoinMcLovin · 28-07-2021 3:44pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117673977#Comment_117673977

Ready for your Summer Slay-cation? Back 4 Blood’s Open Beta is coming August 5-9 & 12-16! Pre-order for Early Access.

Don’t miss any of the apocalyptic mayhem in the Beta, including:

- 2 PvE Campaign Maps

- 2 PvP Swarm Mode Maps

- 5 Playable Cleaners

- 6 Playable Ridden

- Fort Hope Communal Hub

- All Weapons & Gear

- Cross-play and Cross-gen Support

Watch 1 hour of Back 4 Blood on Twitch and get into Early Access!

Zero-Cool · 28-07-2021 4:16pm

"watch 1 hour of Back 4 Blood on twitch and get early access". Wonder how that works exactly, pc only?

Zero-Cool · 28-07-2021 6:22pm

Twitch details:

https://back4blood.com/en-us/twitch-drops

LINK. WATCH. GET REWARDED.

Link Twitch to Your Warner Bros. Games Account

INSTRUCTIONS

STEP1

Create or sign into a free Warner Bros. Games account must be 13 years or older. CLICK HERE

STEP2

Connect your Twitch account to your Warner Bros. Games account. To complete this, click here (must be signed in), then go to “Account Settings” and click “connect” to complete the Twitch linking. CLICK HERE

STEP3

Watch a Twitch streamer playing Back 4 Blood content with drops enabled for 60 minutes to earn early access to the Open Beta between 8/5 12:00pm PST and 8/9 12:00pm PST. CLICK HERE

STEP4

To check on your progress or once you’ve completed the task, go to your Twitch Drops homepage to claim the Drop. CLICK HERE

STEP5

Claim your Early Access Open Beta for a platform of your choice in your WB Games Account. CLICK HERE

Back 4 Blood (from the creators of L4D)

Comments