

Owners of the Standard Edition of Back 4 Blood have the option to purchase the Annual Pass separately.

In terms of content, it is the same as the version that can be played through the Xbox (PC) Gamepass. The Standard edition contains only the base game, which is necessary to play Back 4 Blood.
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In Swarm when playing as the Ridden team, the Zombie Mutation System is used to upgrade the Common ridden as well as to power up the playable Ridden classes.īack 4 Blood is available in three different editions: Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate.īelow we will explain the differences between the editions. Cleaners upgrade their characters with Cards in both all modes. There are currently three modes: Coop Campaign played through several Acts, Swarm which is a Player versus Player ( PvP) mode, and Training which is Coop Campaign but solo with bots. 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. These once-human hosts of a deadly parasite have turned into terrifying creatures bent on devouring what remains of civilization. You are at the center of a war against the Ridden. The annual pass (which is included in the Deluxe and Ultimate editions of the game) will include new playable characters, both Cleaners and playable Mutation Ridden for PvP. Each Cleaner has different abilities and perks. Any four of the eight Cleaners can be selected in a game. The remaining 4 cleaners are Doc (woman physican), Jim (man in hunting outfit), Karlee (punk woman), and Mom (middle-aged woman). The first four cleaners were introduced in the reveal trailer: Walker (man in the hat), Holly (woman with the red hair), Evangelo (man with the fluffy hair), and Hoffman (man with glasses). There may not be much in the way of style or flare from what we’ve seen in this pre-release build, but it’s astill fun romp and one that could have us playing on a loop if the Decks, card collecting and class creation really take hold.Back 4 Blood features 8 survivors, known as Cleaners. Back 4 Blood looks primed to avoid this pitfall. Where a lot of games in this genre can fall down is content, not having enough missions to play or rewards to keep players coming back. Still, that won’t appease those who want more of Left 4 Dead’s versus campaigns… You can see that there’s going to be a real competitive edge to this, as cards come into effect between rounds, and as the zombies are able to tactically spend points to buff themselves and the regular AI Ridden. The human team is given the chance to scout out the map, hunt for weapons and pick ups, before trying to set up and stave off the incoming waves of zombies and human-controlled specials, trying to survive for as long as possible as a damage circle pushes everyone closer and closer together.Įach team plays as humans and zombies on one map, the round going to whoever can survive the longest, before moving to the next map in a best of three match. The “for better” side comes from the canny blending of a horde mode with the kind of attack and defence multiplayer that you might find in games like Overwatch or Rainbow Six: Siege. That’s the “for worse” side of the equation. Where Left 4 Dead versus had you playing through the campaign levels while trying to survive the combined efforts of an AI director and human controlled special zombies, Back 4 Blood does not feature such a mode. For better and for worse, you would be wrong. You might have read all that and assume that Back 4 Blood’s versus multiplayer offering would also follow a similar formula to Left 4 Dead. However, much of that appeal is lost when riding solo or matchmaking with randoms. Playing with friends, gradually turning the up the difficulty and expanding your Decks – Back 4 Blood will have no problem finding hardcore groups of survivors. The pacing of missions, satisfying shooting, and splashes of character humour come together with an identical seamlessness. Without Decks, we’d honestly struggle finding ways of differentiating the game from Left 4 Dead.

These alter all kinds of stats from sprint speed and duration to ammo clip size, giving players a way to create character builds that hew toward certain roles for your team to succeed. Back 4 Blood will also force you to draw negative cards, this system giving it a somewhat roguelike quality.

You’ll then use these to construct Decks of gameplay modifier card that you’ll draw and play cards from whenever you hit a safe room checkpoint. Throughout your infected hunting career, you’ll earn supply points, a currency that can then be spent on unlocking cards. This fuses the frenzied co-op shooting with a layer of strategic customisation. One new twist Back 4 Blood brings to the table is Decks.
