The recently concluded The Game Awards 2020 finally gave fans an impressive first look at Turtle Rock Studio’s new four-person coop zombie shooting game, Back 4 Blood. The spiritual sequel of Valve’s Left 4 Dead franchise is proof that a remarkably formulated zombie game, much like a zombie itself, never really dies.
In spite of years of rumors over a Left 4 Dead 3, the supposed new entry in the groundbreaking zombie franchise never managed to make it to production, although Valve didn’t seem to be bothered by it. However, the good guys at Turtle Rock Studios saw the importance of cooperative survival games and started making Back 4 Blood, which they revealed back in March 2019. There wasn’t much information provided back then besides its concept art until last night’s big announcement at The Game Awards 2020 live streaming event.
Back 4 Blood’s first official trailer video brings back memories of the Left 4 Dead intros and trailers of the past which features four characters fighting it out against hordes of zombies, along with several specially mutated creatures with unique abilities, in a world infected by the zombie apocalypse.
There were familiar weapons featured from the original games as well such as M-16s, SMGs, handguns, shotguns, Molotov cocktails, and even nail bats. However, the new game’s difference from Left 4 Dead is that Back 4 Blood actually contains a backstory as to where the zombie apocalypse began, which may imply that the new game will be a little bit more story-focused than its predecessor. Otherwise, the action and gameplay are most likely the same, which is definitely fine.
Even if this is not actually Left 4 Dead 3, since Valve has obviously abandoned the franchise completely, but this is absolutely close. Back 4 Blood is about as accurate as it can get as a reincarnation of Left 4 Dead, down to its title’s spelling and even punctuation marks.
Squad up and register now for a chance to join the #Back4Blood closed Alpha! https://t.co/jw3VlIv2XT pic.twitter.com/FeUYep9jDq
— Back4Blood (@back4blood) December 11, 2020
Developer Turtle Rock appears to be dedicated to reminding Valve that they had the golden ticket with its original Left 4 Dead series and that they didn’t do anything about it – Turtle Rock is certainly committed not to make the same mistake. It’s familiar enough that fans of the Left 4 Dead franchise will no doubt be purchasing a copy when it will be released.
However, its exact release date has yet to be revealed since the trailer didn’t provide any information about it. While Back 4 Blood was originally scheduled to release on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, the fact that the first trailer is only revealed now, a few weeks after the next-gen consoles were released, it’s safe to say that the game will be adapted for the Xbox Series X|S and the PlayStation 5.
