So far, Back 4 Blood is a lot of the things I love about Left 4 Dead Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. So far, Back 4 Blood is a lot of the things I love about Left 4 Dead Thanks, Mom. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Updated on 12 Oct 2021 36 comments Nice parquet flooring. Is it weird that that's the first thing I notice? There is some very nice parquet flooring early on during the campaign in Back 4 Blood. But maybe it's not weird at all. Back 4 Blood is the spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead - it's another zombie game. And zombie games are, perversely, often the most domestic of games. To work properly they have to take place in a recognisable world, so game designers must drag themselves in from the heavy metal album covers and space stations and focus on the things a lot of us live around. Like parquet flooring. (I wish.) Nice, perhaps a little scuffed. Maybe a bit too much blood and brain smeared about. I have put in a few hours so far, and they have been happy hours. This I was not expecting, to be honest. Over the last few days I have getting a sense that people are a little annoyed with Back 4 Blood. Progression systems and unlocks that don't work if you play solo. Frustrations that I can easily understand. The more I play, I suspect the more this stuff will make itself known. The basics are clear at least from my first few hours: reanimated for 2021, the Left 4 Dead template now has the trappings of most modern live games. Unlocks, things to earn towards, cards that flair each run in different ways. I will leave this stuff for Chris Tapsell and his review to pick through. I'm not ducking it because I can't be bothered to dig into it. I'm ducking it because so far I can only play Back 4 Blood the way I used to play Left 4 Dead: as a game in which progression is a fairly alien term. A game that takes place in an endless pinwheeling present, with no thought for what comes next, what comes after. Watch on YouTube It feels a lot like Left 4 Dead in this regard, which is to say that Back 4 Blood understands both parts of the deal. The zombies must be energetic and panic-inducing and studded with Specials, the way that muesli is studded with raisins. (Too few raisins and you feel robbed, too many and you feel strangely disappointed, as if the rationing that makes the whole thing special is missing - for more on this read Fergus Henderson.) That's one part of the deal. The other part is that your team, the four of you pitched against this antic wilderness, you four must feel a bit like the cast of a Community-type show. A sitcom with a thing for violence and menace and chaos, but with a warm heart too. You must like the people you are, the people you travel with, and their frantic barks during firefights must go beyond information - ammo! Bandages! - and feel like bickering: in-jokes, personal frustrations, a funny thought occurring at the worst moment. Back 4 Blood has this too, thank God. Already when I play I'm keeping an eye out for those special zombies while simultaneously leaning forward so I don't miss a zinger from one of my team. The roster you pick from are called Cleaners, which is just the right kind of cool, aloof term for this hipster apocalypse. I already have favourites: who wouldn't like the woman who has taken the time to drive nails into her baseball bat? Who wouldn't like the one whose nickname is "Mom"? You follow these people through worlds that are both familiar and rather new. The wriggly route through destroyed buildings and scattered lawns feels very familiar - that sense, instantly evocative, of ducking through a hole in a wall, then out a window and across a pathway of planks strung above a car park. The wonderful realisation, just as your ammo starts to get low, that there is a safe house nearby. But new stuff too - new flame effects when someone (generally me) blows up a petrol can at the wrong time. A really surprising variation on special events and - whisper it - the odd boss monster who towers over the scenery. And perhaps a new eye for the striking piece of staging. Rounding one corner a few games back I found a room of blazing reds and oranges as fire did its out-of-control thing. But in front of that, silhouetted against the raging heat, five dark figures with bits missing. They heard my approach and they started towards me, and thoughts of cards and decks and unlocks were very far away for the next ten minutes. Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 28 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Google announces cloud gaming Chromebooks less than a fortnight after Stadia shutdown GeForce Now preinstalled. 4 Genshin Impact Path of Gleaming Jade dates, login event rewards Including other anniversary rewards and how to claim them. Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store