It takes a special kind of entitled bellyacher to complain that you wanted a different game from a game that hasn't even been announced yet, and which may simply be an internet rumour. It's like the "glass half empty" mindset, but the bartender hasn't even taken your order and this might not even be a bar. Odds are you've wandered into the local antique shop. Well I, friends, am that bellyacher. Here I stand at the "bar", gesticulating wildly over my non-existent glass.
In this scenario, the confused bartender/antique shop owner is Turtle Rock, developers of Left 4 Dead homage Back 4 Blood. Rumour has it that they're making a Back 4 Blood 2 - but as I loudly explain to the bartender/antique shop owner, showering the cocktail measures/vintage Toby Jugs in spittle, I don't want a Back 4 Blood 2. I want a follow-up to 2015's Evolve, in which four hunters team up to track down a fifth person playing as a kaiju. "A flagon of your finest Gorgon, please," I roar, thumping the bar, while Turtle Rock tries to sell me a gentleman's travelling suitcase from the 1920s.
]]>Co-op zombie smasher Back 4 Blood won't be getting any new content. Developers Turtle Rock say that River Of Blood, the expansion which launched in December 2022, was it's last as they're now working on a new game.
]]>Mutant-battling co-op horror shooter Back 4 Blood sees the arrival of a moustachioed new character and some very angry enemies with its second DLC pack today, Children Of The Worm. There's also fresh campaign missions, weapons and cards. Watch the trailer below, and my heartfelt condolences to anyone from Ireland.
]]>Back 4 Blood has received its first paid expansion since release. Tunnels Of Terror adds a new level, two new playable characters, and new Legendary weapons. It also arrives alongside a free update which makes umpteen balance changes, adds a new difficulty mode called No Hope - sounds fun - and introduces "unofficial" support for the Steam Deck.
]]>A new Back 4 Blood trailer gives a look at the new characters, enemies, and weapons of its upcoming first paid expansion, but forget all that. Far more important is that apparently, the new tunnels in the Tunnels Of Terror DLC are made of meat? A meatmaze? A spiralling meathell? A non-stop exploration of guts? What a feast!
]]>Chinese game developer-gobbler Tencent have acquired Slamfire, the parent company of Back 4 Blood developers Turtle Rock Studios. In a statement about the acquisition, Turtle Rock say that "the Back 4 Blood franchise is here to stay and we will be working on it well into the future."
]]>"Sometimes a bit of difficulty can add a lot of replayability, but as of right now there are issues and bugs we've encountered in development that are making it far more difficult than intended," Back 4 Blood developers Turtle Rock Studios have said. The Left 4 Dead-style monster-mashing has become notably more difficult following the big November update, with undesireable consequences, and they laid out plans to remedy it.
]]>The problem with coming Back 4 Blood is that soon you'll want more blood, and more blood. Thankfully, Left 4 Dead creators Turtle Rock have detailed more of the post-launch plans for their new zombie-smashing shooter, laying out the content roadmap for the next few months and into next year. Before paid expansions start rolling in 2022, this year we should expect to see new free stuff including a solo offline mode with progression, a new card type, new cards, and more.
]]>Want a list of songs that play on the Back 4 Blood jukebox? A few missions into Act 1, you’ll come across the Bar Room Blitz mission. Sure, there are some story points about distracting zombies and saving people, but this mission is a smash-hit for one reason. There’s a jukebox that plays some very cool tunes in the background whilst you shoot, slash, and slaughter zombies from every angle. If you really like that one scene in Shaun Of The Dead, then this will be your fever dream.
This guide will show you all of the songs that you can hear on the Back 4 Blood jukebox, so that you can repeatedly replay Bar Room Blitz whilst waiting for someone to inevitably get Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to play the mission on Youtube.
]]>Want to know the best build for Karlee in Back 4 Blood? Karlee isn’t one of the best characters in Back 4 Blood, but she still has some killer abilities that deserve a spot in your team. Most notably, Karlee can sense nearby hazards and Special Ridden, so you won’t be surprised when a Tallboy smashes around the corner. She also gets an extra quick inventory slot (used for defibrillators and stun guns) and increases the team’s use speed by 50%.
This guide will show you how to make the best Karlee build in Back 4 Blood, so you can stop staring at cards and start using them. Of course, you’ll need to unlock all the cleaners in Back 4 Blood before you can play as Karlee.
]]>Want to know the best build for Jim in Back 4 Blood? Jim is quick to take aim and fire thanks to his increased ADS speed, but damage is his real strength. With each precision kill, Jim gains 2.5% stacking damage, which stays until you are hit. This means you could increase Jim’s damage to ridiculous levels if you avoid damage. Oh, and he also gets a 10% boost to team weakspot damage, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Jim deserves a spot on your team in Back 4 Blood.
This guide will show you everything that you need to know to make the best Jim build in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Want to know the best Hoffman build in Back 4 Blood? Hoffman is one of the best characters in Back 4 Blood, as he has a chance to find ammo when he kills Ridden, whilst also increasing the team’s max ammo capacity by 10%. As a bonus, he also carries an extra grenade so that you can make more zombies go boom.
This guide will show you everything you need to know to make the best Hoffman build in Back 4 Blood, which also happens to be a very powerful shotgun build. However, don't expect to play as Hoffman straight away. You'll need to actually unlock all of the cleaners in Back 4 Blood first.
]]>Want to know the best build for Doc in Back 4 Blood? Doc is the resident healer in Back 4 Blood, so she takes on a supportive role like Mom. Doc’s passive bonuses allow her to heal each teammate for 25 health once per level, whilst also increasing her healing efficiency and the team’s trauma resistance. However, you'll need to know how to unlock all cleaners in Back 4 Blood before you can select Doc in your campaign.
This guide will show you everything that you need to know to create the best Doc build in Back 4 Blood, so that you can keep your teammates at the top of their game.
]]>Want to know the best build for Mom in Back 4 Blood? Mom is one of the best characters in Back 4 Blood, with the ability to instantly revive a teammate once per level. She also grants the team an extra life and has an increased support inventory, which you can use for bandages, painkillers, or other medicinal goodies that you find on your zombie-stomping adventures.
With our Mom build, we push these supportive capabilities to the limit. Mom won't be able to match more combat-focused characters like Walker when fighting the undead, but she'll definitely pull you back from the brink of death and defeat. This guide will show you how to make the best Mom build in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Want to know the best Holly build in Back 4 Blood? Holly is our own Alice Bee’s favourite character, and with very good reason. Holly recovers 10 stamina each time she kills a Ridden, gets +10% damage resistance, and even gives the whole team an extra 25 stamina. However, with the right cards, you can push Holly even further, making her an absolute powerhouse and solidifying her position as one of the best characters in Back 4 Blood.
This guide will show you how to create the best Holly build in Back 4 Blood, so you can dive into a session and start punching, stabbing, and smacking Ridden with your choice of melee weapon.
]]>Can you play Split Screen co-op in Back 4 Blood? Back 4 Blood harkens back to some classic co-op games like Left 4 Dead, so many of you are probably wondering whether you can hunker down on the sofa and play split screen like you did before.
This guide will let you know whether you can play split screen in Back 4 Blood, so that you can jump into a match, pick up a gun, and start slaying all kinds of zombies and Special Ridden with your friends.
]]>Want to know how to enable crossplay in Back 4 Blood? Nightmare mode can be pretty tough, so you’ll want to assemble the best team possible to survive the zombie onslaught in Back 4 Blood. Although you won't be able to play with friends using split screen on the same device, you can stretch beyond your platform to find only the best zombie slayers by enabling crossplay.
This guide will explain how to enable and disable crossplay, so that you can pick and choose exactly who you play with in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Want to know the best Walker build in Back 4 Blood? Walker is a sharpshooter who gains increased accuracy with precision kills. He also deals 10% more damage and increases everyone’s health by 10, making him an invaluable member of any team. However, to really unlock his full potential, you need to create the best build using all of the cards at your disposal. There are over 100 cards in Back 4 Blood, so check out our Supply Lines guide to see how you can start unlocking them all.
If you want to stop looking at stat numbers and start looking at mushy piles of zombies, then you’re in the right place. This guide will cover everything that you need to know to make the best Walker build in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Back 4 Blood is out today, that new game from the original developers of Left 4 Dead that is definitely not Left 4 Dead 3, but is still about turning waves of zombies into splashes on the post-apocalyptic pavement as a co-op team. And yes, I still love it. It is fun. It is so much fun. When is this formula not fun? The release version is, in several respects, an improvement on the beta. The characters do more bantering, it has cinematic cutscenes, and if you have to play with bots those bots do not spend all their time shooting into the drywall. Tick, tick, tick.
But in playing the full game in context, with stuff like opening cinematics and tutorialising videos all embedded in it, something else has become clear: this game is peak early-00s cheese. Not just because many of the enemies have the same texture as a fully loaded pizza.
]]>Most of my Back 4 Blood playtime has been spent getting brutalised by an endless queue of Special Ridden, like an zombified take on that bit in Airplane!. Even so, it’s nice to see Turtle Rock Studios’ latest co-op shooter goes a lot easier on PC hardware than it does on me. It runs smoothly on older low-end hardware, and scales well enough on luxury kit that with one of the best graphics cards you can easily secure 144fps at 4K. Back 4 Blood is also one of few games to support both Nvidia DLSS and AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR), so there’s ample opportunity to boost performance via upscaling.
]]>Want to know the best build for Evangelo in Back 4 Blood? Whilst the best cards could fit into any deck, you should always aim to specialise when creating a specific build in Back 4 Blood. Creating the best build for your character is essential if you want to survive on Nightmare difficulty, but it can be tricky to weed through every card to find the perfect match.
If you've looked through the characters and decided that you like Evangelo, then you're in luck. This guide covers the best melee build for Evangelo in Back 4 Blood, so that you can stop scratching your head looking at cards and start slashing (which is sort of his speciality). Evangelo might not be one of the best characters at first, but you can transform him into a powerhouse with certain cards.
]]>Want to know the best weapons in Back 4 Blood? Once you’ve figured out the best characters for your playstyle, you’ll need to think about the best weapons for your build. There are over 30 weapons to choose from in Back 4 Blood, so you’re spoilt for choice in your fight against the Ridden.
The weapon that you choose will mostly come down to your playstyle. If you want to run and gun, an SMG will be best, whilst creating a sniper rifle build will suit those who want to pick off their targets from a distance. This guide will show you the best weapons in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Want to know how to unlock all of the cleaners in Back 4 Blood? When you start Back 4 Blood, you will see that only 4 out of the 8 cleaners are playable. Doc, Hoffman, Jim, and Karlee are locked, so you won’t be able to play as them straight away. Doc and Hoffman are some of the best characters in Back 4 Blood, so you’ll want to know how to unlock them as soon as possible.
Back 4 Blood is a difficult game, regardless of whether you are playing on Recruit or Nightmare mode. If you’re new to the game, you won’t have many cards unlocked, so it’s especially important to choose the best cleaners and weapons for your team in the early stages. This guide will cover everything that you need to know to unlock all cleaners in Back 4 Blood.
]]>Want to find the best cards in Back 4 Blood? The swarms of Ridden are ridiculously powerful in Back 4 Blood, especially when you make the leap to the appropriately named Nightmare mode. If you want to survive, you’ll need to construct the best deck for your character. Whilst you should choose certain cards depending on your character and build, there are some cards that are undoubtedly worth using no matter which character you play with.
This guide will show you the 11 best cards in Back 4 Blood, so that you can quickly assemble a powerful deck and jump into the action.
]]>Back 4 Blood may be the successor to Left 4 Dead we've long waited for, and as a launch day arrival, logic dictates that I should be excited about its inclusion in Xbox Game Pass. But among October's haul of new additions, it's today's arrival of Totally Accurate Battle Simulator that interests me more.
]]>The regular Ridden in Back 4 Blood might not be much of a threat alone, but Special Ridden certainly are. Each of these zombies have unique abilities that you will need to look out for to survive, especially on Veteran and Nightmare difficulty. If you’re not sure what the Special Ridden do or how to deal with them you’ve come to the right place. This is our guide to the Special Ridden in Back 4 Blood.
]]>This week's episode of the Ultimate Audio Bang podcast kicks off with some chat about ice creams, which Imogen then sprinkles with some news shavings. We talk Apex Legends cross-progression, Titanfall hacking drama, and nice buffs. Also, Back 4 Blood is a bit good isn't it? PUBG has naked zombies, Splitgate is doing very well, and one Valorant Agent's feeling a bit stuck.
]]>Back 4 Blood is finally here, and the campaign is a doozy. Veteran and Nightmare modes pack some punishing difficulty, and many players will struggle to complete the campaign on the higher difficulties (even the Left 4 Dead pros will struggle here). That makes the game extremely rewarding though, so whether you're just getting started or looking to finish the grind, we’re here to help with some Back 4 Blood tips and tricks for Nightmare difficulty. Before you get stuck in though, you should learn how to unlock cleaners in Back 4 Blood, so that you can choose the character that's right for you.
]]>Back 4 Blood has finally arrived and with it the unique new card system. Cards are one of the biggest elements that set Back 4 Blood apart from its spiritual predecessor, Left 4 Dead. If you’re looking to learn the system and get the best cards to take on Nightmare mode, look no further than our guide to Back 4 Blood Supply Lines and cards.
]]>Want to know which are the best characters in Back 4 Blood? B4B looks a lot like Left 4 Dead on the surface, but there are some key differences you will need to learn about to succeed on Nightmare difficulty. One of the biggest is Back 4 Blood’s characters, each of whom have unique abilities that aid your team and shape how you play the campaign.
You will need to choose your team wisely to beat Nightmare difficulty, and we're here to help with our guide to Back 4 Blood’s best characters.
]]>While some folks had a chance to play Back 4 Blood's beta last week, today the open beta goes live so everyone can give the new Left 4 Dead-like a go. If you haven't had a chance to try it out yet, players get access to a bunch of campaign missions, with a different objective in each. It's a decent chunk of content that gives a good sense of what to expect in the full version of the first-person zombie basher, plus you can try out the PvP versus mode.
]]>There's a type of Special Ridden in Back 4 Blood called a Sleeper. It's a torso encased in a fleshy pod which, in the Freudian nightmare of my brain, is kind of part-barnacle, part-vagina dentata. The Sleeper will launch at you without warning, trapping you and ripping with teeth and claws to do serious damage. The first time I was ambushed by one I swore with such depth and vehemence that it shocked the colleagues I was playing with, including my actual boss.
"That's because you were off on your own, and you weren't watching your corners," says Brandon Yanez, adopting the tone one might use to tell a toddler that it's their own fault they fell over when they were told not to run around the pool. It turns out the Sleeper was designed almost specifically to punish over-confident fools like me. "That character actually came from a want to keep players together. We added the Sleeper as basically a trap," Yanez says.
]]>I've never played a single second of Left 4 Dead. So, I can't properly compare the new game to the source material. However, I can say that I had a ball playing the Back 4 Blood beta with other members of the RPS treehouse. It's good, old-fashioned zombie killing funtimes!
]]>I spent some time this weekend wallowing happily in Back 4 Blood, the co-op zombie smasher positioned as a "spiritual successor" to Left 4 Dead. Had a great time; got covered in blood. Genuinely, I favour melee quite a lot, and one of the people I played with kept saying "You are covered in so much blood!" in a tone I took to be one of admiration.
Back 4 Blood does have a whole rich story (including that the Ridden are technically mutants and not zombies, but potayto, potarto. There's also some lovely set dressing, particularly in safe houses. One is a flat that has a calendar with a picture of a snapping turtle. Ed really liked that. My favourite bits, though, are the graffiti and post-it notes.
]]>Ten years ago, I went through a brief but intense stint of being well into Left 4 Dead. I was absolutely appalling at it, and I don't think I ever truly grasped what was going on in a single match I played. Nevertheless, I was at least so enthusiastic in my bewilderment that I was eventually taken on by a clan, grudgingly, as a sort of court jester. Everyone knew that playing with me was basically a death sentence. But my towering overconfidence whenever I got to play as the Charger - and then the barks of hapless sorrow which inevitably followed, as I sent them hooning straight out of a skyscraper window - were apparently just amusing enough to make me worth carrying.
In the spirit of my barnstorming PvP days, then, I am going to give you some weapons-grade tactical insight into the new mega zombos, or "Riddens", appearing in Left 4 Dead's upcoming spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood. Admittedly, I've not played the game yet. I've not even watched the footage from my colleagues who have played (and you can find their full Back 4 Blood open beta report right here). But that's not going to stop me telling you exactly what these exciting new deadoes are about, or how you can leverage their abilities to win every single time you play its humans vs zombies PvP mode. I am going to offer my analysis based purely on a cursory glance at each monster's concept art, my staggering powers of intuition, and nothing else. Hope you're ready to learn.
]]>I had a grand old time blasting through the open beta of Back 4 Blood's campaign mode earlier this week, and I'm pretty sure everyone from Left 4 Dead diehards to complete newbies like myself will have an equally fun romp with it when the open beta starts for real on August 12th. What I'm less confident about, though, is whether people will be saying the same thing about the game's PvP Versus mode, which will also be available to try in the open beta when it comes out next week.
Due to some technical difficulties during our hands-on preview session, I was the only RPS squad member who actually made it into a PvP match, so most of my experience is based on playing with strangers, which we all know is never as good as playing with a proper group of mates. However, even if you do end up playing Back 4 Blood Versus with friends, the 4v4 maps I got to play definitely felt like they gave the human team a much bigger advantage than the side playing as part of the game's zombie horde. With games spread over three rounds, effectively consisting of six runs at the same objective - stay alive longer than the other team - I wonder whether it will have enough staying power to keep players coming back for more once the campaign's done and dusted.
]]>Back in 2020 Turtle Rock, developers of the original Left 4 Dead and more lately the asymmetrical multiplayer game Evolve, revealed the existence of Back 4 Blood. It's a game where four players can engage in co-op PvE against zombies or PvP against other players. It is not Left 4 Dead 3, but because my ideas aren't owned by Valve, I think I can safely say after an early peek at its open beta campaign that it is, to all intents and purposes, Left 4 Dead 3. But more.
]]>If you have a console gamer in your room, please tell them to avert their eyes, or just send them to the shops for sweets. The latest Back 4 Blood trailer (Left 4 Dead’s younger cousin) is very, very PC based, showing it's pretty much got as many settings as zombies in it. The viscera will be in 4K, and Nvidia DLSS support will make it all flow at gruesomely smooth frame rate.
]]>During E3 week, Back 4 Blood developers Turtle Rock were asked via Twitter whether their spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead could be played offline with AI teammates. The Turtle Rock account responded to say that, at launch at least, you wil need an internet connection to play the game.
Do you care?
]]>On this episode of Ultimate Audio Bang, Imogen and I comb through the shrapnel left by the E3 explosion. There is lots! A charred Randy Pitchford, lots of games like Left 4 Dead, and shooters like Stalker 2, which we have no history with, but it sure look nice.
]]>There was a moment over the E3 weekend where Alice0 pointed out that a lot of people are remaking Left 4 Dead - apart from Valve. I have mentioned this before, but playing L4D2 accounted for about 60% of my time at university. I have a tattoo of the safe house symbol on my ribs (it is terrible).
The Left 4 Dead formula is simple on paper - small team of co-op players vs monster horde, getting from point A to point B with potential incidental side objectives on the way - but is tough to nail. You need to get the mix right. And this year's E3 has revealed a lot of people are rolling up their sleeves to have a go. Let's have a look.
]]>As well as the announcement of a new co-op FPS from Left 4 Dead writer Chet Faliszek's new studio, the Summer Game Fest stream today brought news of Back 4 Blood, the new co-op FPS from the studio who originally created L4D. Back 4 Blood's open beta will run August 12-16, publishers Warner Bros. confirmed today, with a chance for "early access" if you pre-order or get lucky The recent closed alpha looked decent, from what I saw on streams, so I'm certainly game to batter some zombies.
]]>The digital clouds have darkened and E3 looms, promising an absolute downpour of trailers starting this weekend. In among all the other announcement blasts kicking off in short order is one from Warner Bros., who are having the first E3 presser of their own on Sunday. The Bros. forecast promised 100% chance of zombie slaying Back 4 Blood. We'd also anticipated that perhaps we might hear about some other upcoming WB joints. Not so, it turns out. If you were hoping for some DC news, I'm sorry to tell you that Batman's been left for dead. At least as far as WB's own showcase this Sunday is concerned.
]]>Back 4 Blood looks a lot like Left 4 Dead, but one of the twists it introduces is characters with their own particular abilities. A new trailer introduces the cast below, along with the menagerie of monster types you and your co-op pals will be blasting.
]]>Though Left 4 Dead 2 still exists, and has a reasonably healthy if sodium-infused community, it’s still stuck in its 2009 ways. It's exciting, but it lacks proper personalisation. Back 4 Blood, the spiritual successor from the original-ish developers of L4D, is fully embracing 2021 by letting players and the AI game director throw down some game-changing cards before each battle.
]]>Alas, we'll have to wait an extra four months for the new cooperative zombie-smashing shooter from Left 4 Dead creators Turtle Rock Studios. They announced today that Back 4 Blood's release is delayed from the June 22nd to October 12th. Making something huge and complicated is tricky during a global pandemic, y'know. But on the bright side, we will get to play some part of Back 4 Blood this summer in an open beta test.
]]>Many times we have prayed that Horaszdóttir's flock of turkeys will run out, but, like her, it is eternal and infinite. Each one disgorges a vision of a game yet to come, as Horaszdóttir the Tall stands and laughs, the sound rolling like thunder through the dark pine forest that is her home. We are so cold.
Today Horaszdóttir augers yet more games, speaking through us. Hear the crack of distant gunfire, the roar of an enraged enemy, and the thump of heavy bass and synth. Today we are called to action! (Please note that Horaszdóttir is not accepting criticism over how we have divided up games between RPG and action.)
]]>I'm sure we all have our fond memories of playing through Left 4 Dead and its brilliant sequel. But fun as they are, there's no hiding the pair are getting on a bit, and it's time enough something stepped in to carry on that co-op carnage*. Fortunately, Turtle Rock's own Back 4 Blood entered closed alpha today, and while it's not Left 4 Dead 3 by name, early reports suggest the devs have delivered a rock-solid successor to Bill and the gang's zombie-smashing classic.
]]>Forget Left 4 Dead 3, it's all about Back 4 Blood, baby. If you're looking for your next zombie fix, Turtle Rock Studios, the folks behind Left 4 Dead, revealed a trailer and some gameplay of their upcoming first-person zombiethon at the Game Awards tonight. Surprise, surprise, Back 5 Blood looks an awful lot like L4D. It also looks pretty great, and comes out next year, on June 22nd.
]]>If you're not tired of zombies, the good news is neither are Turtle Rock Studios, the folks behind Left 4 Dead. Last year they announced Back 4 Blood, a triumphant return for the numeral 4 and zombies, but have been quiet about it since. As proof that their project remains undead, Turtle Rock have shuffled out a new concept art image. You can spot the not cropped version below.
]]>Turtle Rock Studios, the mob who created Left 4 Dead, are revisiting their cooperative zombie-shooting days in Back 4 Blood, a name which seems a clear a statement of intent. Expect to shoot a load of zombies together with your pals, though Turtle Rock are keen to stress that they want Back 4 Blood to be more than just Left 4 Dead with a new name. Today's announcement is mighty vague, without even a logo to show for it, but they do hint that it's got some new tricks. No, it's not a battle royale game.
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