Back 4 Blood developer Turtle Rock Studios debuted not one but two trailers at the Game Awards. First, a reveal trailer and immediately after, another to show off gameplay. As a spiritual successor to the Left 4 Dead franchise, does it look like Back 4 Blood can carry the torch? Here's everything we saw between the two trailers at the Game Awards.
Back 4 Blood was initially revealed in March of 2019. Developed by Turtle Rock Studios, the developers of the first Left 4 Dead and Evolve, and published in association with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Back 4 Blood's reveal trailer shows us that this zombie plague results from some kind of frozen worm. The video opens with researchers surrounding a crater in a snow-covered tundra and recovering a sample of the invertebrate. Studying the worm in Quebec City, a scientist becomes patient zero when the creature awakens and attacks. From there, it's inferred the condition spread rapidly considering the next scenes show the undead (or worm-zombies?) ripping people from their vehicles and creating pandemonium.
This is where our cast of characters enter, combating the growing hordes of the yellow-eyed monsters with overwhelming firepower and snide remarks. The character cast appears varied, with some representation present for women and POC. They soon face off against a more devious array of threats as a four-armed monster spots the group from above and throws a woven ball of slime, trapping one of the characters. As one comes to his companion's aid, an enemy resembling a Boomer from Left 4 Dead confronts the group. No sooner than it's dispatched, a giant enemy with a malformed mess of flesh forming a club for an arm lumbers out from the darkness, leading a new swarm of the undead to surround the characters.
Immediately after showing off their reveal trailer, Turtle Rock Studios delighted viewers by following up with a gameplay trailer. Showcasing a short jaunt through a rundown outdoor area adjacent to a highway, it offers a glimpse at what players can expect. Starting in a safe room that'll look familiar to Left 4 Dead fans, the group begins making their way out and towards the nearby highway.
In addition to the three special infected shown in the reveal, the group soon encounters a behemoth of a foe. Even larger than the club-armed infected, this monster tears barricades down with ease as it pursues the group into an underpass. As the characters fight, glowing areas can be spotted on the infected look to indicate weak spots. Just before the group escapes, the player is grabbed by an infected, and the trailer shuffles through various gameplay snippets featuring different weapons and locales.
At least from what we've seen so far, automatic weapons, shotguns, pistols, rifles, explosives and melee weapons are all part of the toolset. It looks like Turtle Rock Studios changed up the special infected enemies just enough to introduce some new ideas while keeping what made these foes so fun to face in the first place.
Back 4 Blood will release June 22 next year for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X/S and PC through Steam and Epic Games Store. A closed alpha test is scheduled to start on Dec. 17; you can register here.