Price: £ 49,99
Developer: Turtle Rock Studio
Publisher: Warner Bros
Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One
Initially, I was horrified by the confusing disorder laid down in front of me. This is a game folded with so many bells and whistles and whistles that it will not look inappropriate in the Rio carnival. All this seemed to be a massive compilation of simple and elegant multi -user fun of Lealh4dead, and I was concerned that the developer of Turtle Rock completely ruined this.
But the more I played Back4blood, the more I warmed the design of the Turtle Rock. I do not think that this is a brilliant game, but this is a good enough successor to leave 4dead to keep me in the know, and also be excellent so that it is not a simple return.
The premise, at least, is essentially the same. Back4blood sees that up to 4 players play the role of “cleaning funds” working together to break through the city, crowded “Turtle Rock” (Turtle Rock could also call them “I cannot believe that this is not a zombie”). Since players fight one Safehouse to another, the game is controlled by the invisible inspirer of AI, who is trying to prevent the progress of the players, giving rise to non-zobi, as well as “special riding” that attack players with various abilities.
But where LEFT4DEAD was a platonic ideal of a cooperative shooter, a fiercely accelerated experience that allows its systems and environmental design to speak, Back4blood largely agrees with the realities of modern multiplayer games. It has a complex production system that combines a dazzling set of weapons with all kinds of affixed. It has twice as many symbols, like a left -handed manner. At the top of all this, there is an involved card game for the construction of a deck that sees that both cleaning products and on movement become more powerful and specialized as the game develops.
All this is presented to you at the same time, and it is irresistible to such an extent that it pushes out. The new player could leave Grok 4dead after about five minutes. You choose a gun, you shoot in infection, and you work together so as not to be disgusted by a special infected. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I played LEFT4DEAD and its continuation for hundreds of hours, I spent my first couple of hours when Back4blood, not embarrassed by the old man. What are corruption cards? What is supply lines? How does it all work?
What does not help the matter is that Back4blood also looks a little soft. Left4dead was an extremely characteristic game. Its cinematographic visual effects, Grindhouse style posters and a very distinctive soundtrack gave him instant attractiveness, which lacks Back4blood. The early levels of the campaign are muddy and fuzzy. Back4blood initially feels much less interesting. Cleaners do not have the same feeling of partnership as the left survivors of 4dead, while special drives are fuzzy fleshy drops.
The first couple of hours are not so bad. All weapons are feeling excellent. I especially love heavy pistols, desert eagle and magnum, both of which have a wild blow and are great to turn off the ride in a quick sequence. Semi -automatic rifles also satisfy, although the Back4blood hobbies in the Duty Scoped Scoped style seems a little strange in the game, where most of the battle occurs at close range. I also like that different types of weapons have their own ammunition basin, and that players can drop ammunition that they do not use for other players to pick up. This encourages you to cooperate with your team and tactically think about your choice of weapons.
Indeed, it is here that Back4blood becomes interesting, slowly revealing itself to a more thoughtful game than the left 4dead. 4 “Acts” Back4blood are much longer things than the left 4dead, becoming more stringent when you move further in them. Both ordinary and special driving over time, becoming stronger, faster, more aggressive and even develops new abilities. Meanwhile, random events, such as a thick fog that hides your viewing lines, or a flock of birds that can launch hordes if they are amazed, can affect the levels themselves.
To deal with the growing problem of Back4blood, you need to expand your own card deck, or buy them with resources in the “feed line” menu, or make opportunistic purchases during the campaign itself. There is a wide range of cards that can be combined to create specific assemblies. For example, you can combine the cards that give you a bonus attack in close combat with a map that heals you when you kill the enemy with the help of near -fight weapons, in fact, turning your character into a tank of your party. Or you can focus on protecting your parties with cards that give players a bonus for health when a party participant is knocked down. You also draw cards in the order that you build your deck, which means that you need to think when you want to get a certain opportunity to be affordable.
To start work, it takes some time, but the deck construction system works. And this is not the only way that Back4blood reveals itself more interesting than it seems initially. While the first few missions are somewhat not inspired, later chapters become more and more diverse, both visually and in terms of goal. Each act is divided into several chapters, each of which has its own unique finale. One particularly memorable chapter is to pull through the bridge, which was amazed at the ferry, which was recorded in destroyed concrete. After the transition to the other side, you need to return to the ferry to blow it up, not allowing the ride to cross the river. Another, more terrible main point includes a search in the area surrounding a police station for parts of the body of one of its senior officers, so you can use the hand printing scanner to unlock the safe.
Back4blood undoubtedly improves as it develops, it is undoubtedly confused design gradually falling into place. However, there are some problems that themselves are not solved. While the game is intended for 4 players, I found that it plays best with 2. With 4 players, the experience is very confusing and intense, and the game throws a stupid number of special people who have appeared on you. He played alone, for comparison, the game is too simple. Back4blood bots are much more capable than left and idiots.
My other problem is that the actions are too long. This does not mean that the game is too long, more, that stimulation will benefit from a larger number of shorter actions. Currently, each act takes 5-6 hours, which is too long for the evening. I understand why Turtle Rock approached the design in this way, since it gives the card system more chances to change experience over time. But it also makes every action feel like a little.
Nevertheless, Back4blood is far from the disaster that I was afraid of. The main battle is satisfactory and cheerful, and how experience develops when you play is really impressive. I even like the card system, and I found that I was very interested in the experiment with new assemblies of the deck and looked at how they influenced the game. Back4blood may not surpass Left4dead, but, nevertheless, this is a worthy successor.
