Back 4 Blood after 70 hours: so good is the co-op

zombie fan Cortyn of MeinMMO hatBack played 4 Blood extensively and reveals what the co-op shooter even after 70 hours still is good.

I make no secret of the fact that I was extremely after the beta of Back 4 Blood gehooked . Even the beta had I really liked. Accordingly, I had planned vacation along with some friends a few days to extensively play the new zombie shooter. Now, almost 10 days later, and with a little more than 70 hours of play time on the clock it is time to evaluate the shooter in conclusion.

About the author

Cortyn writes for over 8 years for MeinMMO and has always had a soft spot for zombie games. Whether solo adventure like The Last of Us or co-op games like Left 4 Dead 2 with over 800 hours of gameplay - if zombies and their congeners by a redeeming headshot begging Cortyn is on the spot.

Story - One steals the show

The Story of Back 4 Blood is relatively simple and is, more or less, by the way explained. In the deep ice an ancient life form was discovered - a special worm. However, that is a greedy parasite that eats into human body and spreads rapidly. infected by the worm people are transformed into mindless slaves who Ridden - or just zombies. As her Cleaner is one of about 1% of people who are immune to the worm.

Since the outbreak is now a long time passed and the remaining people have gathered in camps - such as the Fort Hope, which is at the heart of Back 4 Blood. From there it moves out again and again to fulfill various missions. Time survivors have saved times collected resources and times simply a place to be freed of zombies.

Basically, not spectacular - a solid zombie apocalypse flat. Not more but also not less.

Although Back has 4 Blood a few rendered cut-scenes, but of which there are actually only 4 pieces. Two relatively close to the beginning and two more to the end. Which are made damn cool and good, but fell a bit thin out for my taste. I would have liked more such scenes and can only hope that the DLCs there s something replacement delivery.

While the individual maps the characters tell every now and then a few sentences from their past or explain their views on current events. That s cool and breathes life into the characters lives, otherwise only (more or less) cool one-liners bang out when they beat up zombies.

However, there is a character who steals the show all - and that almost without exception.

The conspiracy theorists Hoffman simply has the best lines. Perhaps this is also at the current explosiveness that conspiracy theorists to Corona are around also a bigger issue because Hoffman could 1: 1 come from the camp of contrarians and climate change deniers. That Hoffman while somehow interacts with the small but subtle difference yet personable and everyone has more or less resigned to the group so that he simply is a little misleading.

A few short dialogue bite where my team only once, laughing must take a break.

Ah, here it is. have made my final university where I mean. Hoffman, that s a primary school ...

Here we find all the secret documents. All that the government plans and up to. With all the knowledge and technology they have accumulated here, they might even stay very relaxed climate change. Kurze Sprechpause. If it were to really give.

Even Holly, Jim and Doc had from time to say something, but her sayings and stories paled somewhat in comparison to Hoffman, in which you simply had to always laugh. If Hoffman talks about the Lame Stream Media or fervently it tells how the lizard people in government guarantees deliberately made sure that almost 1% of all people are immune against the zombie worm, you have to grin. Also, since all the characters then make fun of it and you can almost hear the amused eye roll from the dialogues.

It would, of course, possible that the other characters do not have cool dialogs that give them a little more profile. But in our first pass, especially the interactions with Hoffman remained in the memory of some of the most venues nonsense has dovetailed.

Gameplay: Solid zombie action with Left 4 Dead -Nostalgie

Who plays Back 4 Blood, which will have many flashbacks in Left 4 Dead . Sure, the principle of four survivors fighting against zombie hordes and special zombies is simply nothing new and that s recipe for success that Left 4 Dead has been successful.

Back 4 Blood builds on it, but offers more variety. So there is the card system. These are quasi additional Perks, which unlocks you in the course of a campaign and customized your character so stronger.

If the cards are rather irrelevant at the beginning and the bonuses low, such as 25% more ammunition or 20% more damage due to melee, these bonuses add themselves and allow a strong specialization. At the end of the first day we had a highly specialized team in which each member had a firm role:

Our sniper in the team became more and stronger the more headshot kills he performed without suffering herself harm. He himself was able to promote the toughest special zombies with few shots into the worm-beyond or bring Tallboys to stumble so that the rest of the team could return. Our healer could produce huge healing with small associations, lowering the trauma damage of the team and even dramatically increase our maximum life points. In addition, every time a team member went to ground, the whole group was healed additionally. Our Hoffman player was equipped for every situation. He could wear two main weapons and properly harm damage with shotgun or machine gun depending on the situation, while every kill had a chance of spawning ammunition. I was responsible for the melee against the normal zombies. Any killing in melee felt stamina and accelerated my melee attacks while every melee-kill healed me and gave my team temporary life points (quasi shields).

These are just four of the possible roles - you can invent many infinitely many by combining the cards. Whether you are highly specialized or an all-rounder will be left to you.

Incidentally, there were some sensible changes since the beta - so the shop can no longer be used in the start sacerouse after a few minutes. Before that it was useful to go back the half card just to shop just before the final fight again. Made resource management completely superfluous - in the release version of the game that is no longer possible and made a better fame.

However, who thinks he or she builds a deck and so that the campaign can play completely - that should not succeed. At least on the difficulty veteran we have come to our limits several times several times and had a little brainstorms , as we want to proceed in the future.

For example, there is a mission in which one must quasi throughout and 12 has to turn off different goals, while no underlaid special zombies appear. The map was simply not feasible with our decks. We tried them 10 times and have failed brutally every time.

So we have rewritten. Everyone built a sprinter deck completely based on motion speed and endurance regeneration - and Zack, the previously insurmountable map suddenly made in the first attempt.

However, Back 4 Blood also allows a few more absurd strategies. With the right cards you have almost infinitely copper, which can be invested in equipment. My team has made a fun of simply investing several thousand copper in barbed wires - especially on cards where a certain place needs to be defended is the powerful.

Back 4 Blood here, however, allows such sillary quantities of barbed wire that we were able to pump the whole map with barbed wire in the truest sense of the word. This ensures that normal zombies are slowed down and damaged so much that they often did not arrive with us, but already on the way. This strategy makes even the toughest holdouts to a joke and does not seem to be intended.

These and other small quirks cloud the picture of back 4 blood but not. It s fun to kill zombies and also the repeated run of already known maps is exciting and varied - thank the card system.

Incidentally, I found particularly cool the representation of the world that is really feeling together and not just loose maps are bonded together. So you come over in the course of the campaign 4 times on the same petrol station and must definitely visit multiple times. This never felt like recycling of a map, but was logically built. So at the beginning of an act, you can already see the church tower in the distance, which you first reach some tickets later.

The game world of Back 4 Blood is consistent and many small details ensure that you like to shop around in the brutal, post-apocalyptic world without the humor here is completely lost. Who takes the time, just to look around, find entertaining details - such as sodas cans of the brand 6 down or numerous amusing messages of other cleaner in the safe rooms.

... and then there s the PvP

When PvP mode back has 4 Blood still only the swarm mode. Here two teams of four players each play against each other alternately as zombies or cleaner. The Cleaner must survive as long as possible and must then the second team to beat the time submitted.

Basically, I have to state that the mode is more fun, the more time you invest in it. Only if you have deep into the card system reingefuchst and the time had all PvP maps to explore dangerous places and good defense points, then the mode is really fun.

However, the mode sickly even now because with and against players leave a game early. This occurs in almost every second match and suppressed the fun but very. Here it takes simply tougher penalties for leaver , which should be easily excluded from this mode after repeated misconduct.

Also, nothing has changed the fact that Back 4 Blood begs cries one to have Versus campaign mode, as it had Left 4 Dead. The game is based on the same foundations, works almost identical. With minimal adjustments - such as boss fights - is back would 4 Blood in a Versus campaign playing great.

long-term motivation - The big question mark

I m doing me a little hard time to talk to only 70 hours already on the long-term motivation, but do have a tendency to determine - and is quite good.

After we had made the first pass on veteran was in any of us, the fun is over. We wanted to directly create new decks, try different characters and game modes and venture to the Nightmare mode.

But then pulls the game again so hard that we have rapidly adopted by the thought. For when it was on the second card Here s the way all full of poison gas and you die when you kill zombies not permanent, was the trip for us over.

Now, we re at it durchzuzocken the game a second time on veteran with other roles.

In principle provides back 4 Blood also some incentives that you put a lot of time in the game. We have for a long time not unlocked all the cards and each character has a number of successes that give cosmetic rewards - and all of them need a lot of time.

Also, the card system has a quite positive. Each map feels different about the second run and thanks to the different decks and the many possible combinations, there are many game styles that will I retest at least.

So if baking can still motivate after 200 hours 4 Blood, I do not know - after about 100 hours my thirst for is more but far from satisfied.

More about baking are 4 Blood s here MeinMMO:

Show Reviews: Back 4 Blood is not Left 4 Dead, but still good

Lunatic melee build makes you to drug-berserk 10 Tips for Back 4 Blood that will make you better players

worth Back 4 Blood then?

Back 4 Blood is for all their love not a perfect game and just the fluctuating level of difficulty between the various missions is a big negative point for me, as well as the PvP not quite as elaborate acting.

However, can not hide the fact that I especially had one in every session without exception in Back 4 Blood that: fun. It has always been a good time, with many absurd situations, cool boss battles and a lot of action.

I know that I will certainly spend another 100 or 200 more hours in the game and feverish already the campaign DLCs now opposed.

Back 4 Blood makes simple uncomplicated way fun. At least when it goes out with a group of friends.

But what is your opinion about Back 4 Blood? Do you still enjoy? Or you have not even looked inside?