Dec 12, 2020
Why it is Okay, that Back 4 Blood looks like a Modern Left 4 Dead
The second I saw the name Turtle Rock Studios appear on the screen at the Game Awards, I knew this was the Left 4 Dead spiritual successor that I had been waiting for.
Left 4 Dead was an iconic game for me, one that I played with friends and family. I still occasionally pick up from time to time just to play or to see what crazy things the mod community has put in the game. Everything from anime avatars to replace the survivors, to equipment to role play a Division operator, to mods that make your weapons look like the models from Call of Duty.
I saw some people disappointed that Turtle Rock’s Back for Blood looks to just be sticking (for the most part) to its roots. The truth is that I am very excited that it is sticking to the foundations that made Left 4 Dead a game that I can still go back to and enjoy.
I would even argue that it you go back and watch the gameplay video there are some pretty significant additions to Back 4 Blood that actually have me very excited.
The first being that it appears that all, or at least most, guns have ads (aim down sights). This was something that could only be done with sniper rifles in the previous Left 4 Dead games.
The way that guns operate is not the only difference. When watching the clip you can also see that there are differences in how the new special infected work. Not only do they look different and have new abilities, we also see a zombie that is the size of a building that teammates will most likely have to take on together to defeat.
There are also other examples of new special infected like a zombie with 4 limbs that appears to toss a web-like substance that can trap survivors and a taller infected that has a large arm that can be used as a melee device against the survivors.
The gameplay that was shown at The Game Awards has provided me with a really great feeling for what Turtle Rock Studios is planning to deliver with Back 4 Blood.
The game looks like Left 4 Dead, but with new features and updated graphics, this is really all I could have asked for at the end of the day. I hope that it will get supported with mods and the amount of content that the original games were given over time.
I’m excited to jump into Back 4 Blood next June, when the game is scheduled to launch. Did you notice anything in the video that I may have missed, let me know in the comments!
