Back 4 Blood

This isn't a terrible game by any means but the thing that I could not get over is that I feel Left 4 Dead 2 played better. I'm going to assume this plays better on PC like a lot of games similar to this and isn't terrible on PS5 but it just feels so slightly off. One thing I really liked was the variety of settings that you can adjust, that is always welcome. The gameplay is what you'd expect from something trying to evoke L4D. Annoying enemies that stun you, special enemies that incapacitate you in some way and an emphasis on cooperative play. I played this solo with bots and had a easy time as the bots are pretty competent. The weapon balancing isn't great but I believe it's by design. There is an rarity attachment system pulled straight out of PUBG. It's simple but it works. What I don't like is just about every automatic gun has a 20 round magazine and I found even with extensions it was pretty small. Obviously this gives more reason to use the LMGs in the game. The other unique thing is their card system. While I'm not a huge fan of how it's implemented, it works and gives a lot of options for builds. For the most part I wasn't sure how the health perks worked because I'd start with a good amount and half way through an act it would be a lower amount. They also made a point to mention Burn cards and how they can turn the tide of battle in your favor but the ones I found didn't do much of anything besides give me more money and a revive. I liked the design of some of the enemies but for the most part this really felt like a worse L4D game. I appreciated the amount of customization they let you have but that doesn't mean much when you aren't enjoying playing the game.

Concise Review:

Amazing:

Great: # of levels. Chaotic zombie mayhem.

Good: Environmental atmosphere. Blood splatter. Deck building. Roguelite mechanics. 

Fine: Zombie art style. Overall graphics. Gun customization and feel.

Bad: Gun sounds are a bit weak. Character design and dialogue. The difficulty and balance feels off.

Awful: Way too difficult to find games for a game that forces you to always play online. I should be able to continue my runs from where I left off (fixed but I’m leaving my complaint)

Journal Style Review:

Opening day impressions were pretty meh but I played solo and then realized you don’t gain any progression from playing solo. So it was essentially a total waste. They really want you to play online so I havnt really experienced the game yet. The gunplay felt a bit off at first. But I have been messing around with the settings and I think I’m getting a better feel. I am intrigued by how the “run” mechanics work. That might be unique and fun.

I understand more about how the individual runs and deck building works after playing online and getting supply points. Such a dumb decision for them to have that single player mode that doesn’t progress anything. So far I don’t think the actual zombie gunplay is that good, but I like the idea of building a deck and how the runs carry over. So hopefully the gunplay grows on me and the run mechanics have a lot of depth to them. We will see.

I want to continue my run at a later time, like the game says I should be able to do, but it takes soo long to find a game. Painfully long, as in I’ve never found one. I googled it and I think it’s a bug. Frustrating though because I am close to beating the section and I had a good build. I wish I could just spawn with bots until someone else joins. I know you can play with bots in online mode because that’s what happened when I played quick play. Why can’t I do it on my own run?

I feel like something has changed with the game and now my guns lock on to targets when I ADS. The lock on is actually pretty aggressive. It feels a bit better. It still doesn’t feel as good as world war Z though. The game structure and amount of content might be better, but I liked the look and feel of WWZ more. Zombies look fine in this one but not that interesting. The characters are very generic and some of the lines have been awful. I’ve only seen a few levels so far and they have been fine but again they haven’t been very exciting locations. Still, the deck building and the mini rogue lite systems I am enjoying. I am drawn in to keep playing.

Alright day 3 and I have a lot of thoughts. I’m finding the game fun, addicting and frustrating. My main complaint is that the game doesn’t let you continue runs like it should. So it forces you to play for a long time or you lose your build. It’s especially frustrating because you can play online with bots. So why the fuck doesn’t the game just let you start with bots and people can join in when able. It needs to be fixed. It’s a bug. Second complaint. The difficulty needs balancing. Specifically for the first couple levels of a run. I was playing on veteran and could never find real people when starting the campaign from my farthest checkpoint, so it was always with bots. I failed the first mission like 8 times in a row because I never had good enough gear and the bots suck dick. Finally I got an easy enough card draw and a reasonable gun off the start and I made it past the first level. I proceeded to finish 7 levels in a row (3 mini acts). I had to leave so that run is now lost since I’ll never be able to continue it (until it’s patched). But it was so much easier the longer I progressed. That’s backwards. It shouldn’t be like making it past the first mission is a hurdle and then it’s smooth sailing afterwards. It should get harder the longer the run goes. Or it should be closer to a consistent difficulty. That being said, I’m liking the game. The gunplay feels better than I originally thought. The guns and attachments are pretty standard but they feel decent enough and the attachments make a noticeable difference. My favourite part of the game right now is the deck building. It’s really growing on me. 

Too much waiting for people to select their cards before missions. I should be able to open the shop before everyone joins rather than just have to sit there for 3 minutes.

The Act 2 and Act 3 levels are better than Act 1. There are some cooler zombie locations. It’s also more fun because the people you play with are better since they have to have already beaten Act 1. I also have found the AI to be better. I’m not sure if they made a change or if I’m just more used to them but they feel competent now. Some of my best runs have been just me and 3 bots. They do a good job of cleaning up the stragglers and they give me ammo and heals which is great. I’m enjoying this game more the more I play.

Act 3 has been kicking my ass so far. This game is hard. It’s especially hard to get a run going. Once you have blue guns, some team upgrades and a good deck going then it gets a lot easier but at the start of runs it’s very challenging.

They fixed the bug and now I can continue runs which is nice. Now sitting down and playing for 30 minutes is an option again. That’s nice.

I only have the last mission of act 3 and the final act 4 mission remaining. I’ve had fun with this game. It’s decent. It’s a middle of the pack B+. I’m ready for it to be over though. I’ll beat these final missions, and then maybe I give the swarm mode a try but from what I read online it isn’t that good so I may skip it entirely. My biggest complaint with B4B is the difficulty needs some adjusting. I like the rogue like idea and it’s satisfying when a good build happens with some upgraded gear, but it makes the start of runs feel like a struggle. I also didn’t give this game the best chance to reach its potential because I never played with friends. This game is pure coop and communication is needed. I played with randoms or bots. It’s hard to start a run with bots and it’s hard to progress with shitty teammates so it puts extra stress on runs where I actually have decent teammates. 

Beat the campaign and I’m calling it quits. Maybe I pick this up again in the future but I honestly doubt it.

Current Score: B+