Back 4 Blood - Left 4 Dead's spiritual successor

[ZMOT]

The problem with Evolve wasn't the microtransactions, it was the gameplay: 4 vs 1.
With Back 4 Blood they're going back to the L4D formula, which is a good thing.

not really, there are a few games that do it successfully (you could even include l4d in that since monsters work completely different, so it's kinda asymmetric as well).

the main problem as mentioned was that they tried to balance it across the board with no modifiers (or no significant ones, can't remember, it's been a while).
any uncoordinated team with the wrong lineup is gonna get wasted by the monster, at high level where people know what they're doing it's almost the complete opposite where monsters get easily stomped, which meant no one would have a satisfying "gameplay experience" they like to use for metrics and shit. add to that it was all matchmaking, there was no lobby where people could play together for several matches in a row, get used to each other, easily learn from another while making it less competitive "just playing a few games for fun" etc. I get it's easier for devs since they don't have to extend basic bitch matchmaking, don't have to police chat rooms and typing on consoles is a PITA anyway, but I'm not sure they are aware how much they lose.

it was also pure pvp for the longest time, which completely ignores the large casual market that just wants to grind shit. no idea why companies still make this mistake constantly when all the assets are already in place and some shitty horde mode can be lifted wholesale from any other game. I mean, just imagine l4d and it's versus only, that was basically evolve. when they included coop it was way too late and too barebone at that point. the smart thing would've been putting it in much sooner and not trying to duplicate the versus experience (at first), especially when people need to get used to the game as a whole, the classes and how it all fits together. once that has clicked it's much easier to replicate it in versus where everyone, including monsters, would benefit from it. ffs you already have all the banter and exposition in the game with fuckhuge maps, just put it into a generic narrative framework while have the players run from A to B shooting shit and be the fuck done with it. even bioware figured that one out with anthem, and those guys suck.

If you listen to the dev commentary in L4D, they legit couldn't make maps larger due to people getting lost or unable to figure out routes in the established layouts of maps like No Mercy.

mainstream vidya was a mistake.

 

[Overcast]

1. Zombies stop being horrifying when they are twenty feet tall and barely recognizable as human. The Left4Dead infected are clearly humans mutated by a fictional disease; even the largest one, the Tank, looks like he was once human. With the exception of spider-lady (who doesn't seem like a good idea from a gameplay standpoint; why does a zombie have a long-ranged snare trap?) all of the creatures in Back4Blood look more like the result of magic (in this case magic worms) than an outbreak of super-rabies, or anything that could feasibly exist. They don't look like they were ever human, which is especially problematic in the zombie genre.

2. The playable character designs look confused as well. I don't even need to explain this, just do a basic visual comparison.

Spoiler: Back4Blood

Spoiler: Left4Dead

https://sneed.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/_UC7eV389LhfB.NZBHBhWQ--~B/aD0xMDAwO3c9MTYwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://o.aolcdn.com/hss/storage/midas/5503725caae2fbd71240d292c8798ecd/204558300/left-4-dead-1600-ed.jpg

Left4Dead has four playable designs that are simplistic, yet tell the audience exactly what they want to know at a glance.

• Ex-military Boomer
• "The girl"
• Productive Civilian (also black)
• Manly Biker

Let voice acting color the designs a little more thoroughly and you have a solid cast. There is no instance of "that character nobody wants to play." Back4Blood has about four characters I don't want to associate with in comparison, chiefly because three of them look like obnoxious millennials wearing kneepads and satchels. Someone's dad also showed up, for some reason. How difficult could it have been to come up with basic archetypes like "police officer", "EMT", "day trader", "struggling actor", "priest", etcetera?

Personal problem I have is the color of their clothing.

I remember hearing that Zoey's jacket was red partially because it's an easy to see color and can serve as something for other players to follow and keep track of. The other characters and the ones in 2 all had looks and colors to them that were easy on the eyes.

Here we have a girl with a bright yellow shirt and two black guys wearing similar looking bright blue clothes. All three have accessories that clash with each other making things look like a visual mess.

The fourth guy looks okay. Doesn't have anything that would make him stick out in a non-obtrusive way though, which in of itself would be a problem.

 

[Dom Cruise]

As a big fan of the Left 4 Dead games I'm glad we're getting something new rather than nothing at all.

I just hope there's some new meme worthy dialog.

 

[Mooger Meng]

After giving the OP's gameplay video another, deeper watch, my opinion of it has gone up from "bleh" to "meh" - visually it's a fucking mess, and the card system really rubs me the wrong way by potentially locking you out of useful upgrades via RNG bullshit (to say the least), but it seems like the game has an overall slower pace that works out better than I thought at first blush. Yeah, you're moving a lot more slowly than something like L4D or Vermintide, but it seems like it's built around that, and seems to fit the attempted gritty realism more than zipping around like Doomguy.

Black Soldier Man is still the only one who isn't annoying, though Captain Boomer is starting to grate less on me. Quirky Gonzalez and Yass Kween still need to eat an entire bushel of 7.62.

 

[JEB!]

I've really wanted a new l4d game, but that pricetag is pretty gross looking

 

[White Devil]

I've really wanted a new l4d game, but that pricetag is pretty gross looking

$100 for their "Ultimate Edition" is some Ubisoft / Rockstar bullshit and pretty much put me off buying the game entirely because I can already tell they're going to try to nickel and dime the playerbase.

 

[armoreddinnerjacket]

As a side note, B4B weapons and other assets are already being ported over to L4D2 from the alpha. With disatisfaction with the alpha being stated as one of the reasons, we may end up with a B4B full overhaul for L4D2 by official release.

 

[Kane Lives]

As a side note, B4B weapons and other assets are already being ported over to L4D2 from the alpha. With disatisfaction with the alpha being stated as one of the reasons, we may end up with a B4B full overhaul for L4D2 by official release.

Trust in Source autists to make a better L4D successor than a full-fledged dev studio.

 

[Rice Paddy Peasent]

From some gameplay that I saw the special infected spawn in groups of 2 or 3 of the same type. Are they going for the big infected combos from L4D or just throwing bodies? I'm fine with a shitty infected AI in the solo campaign as long as they don't fuck up versus mode.

 

[BrunoMattei]

As a side note, B4B weapons and other assets are already being ported over to L4D2 from the alpha. With disatisfaction with the alpha being stated as one of the reasons, we may end up with a B4B full overhaul for L4D2 by official release.

Just recreate the maps and they're done.

 

[BrunoMattei]

I just noticed that Back 4 Blood will have a card system. You just know... You just... Fucking... Know... There's going to be Gacha bullshit. It's published by Warner Bros. and they've been pushing for that shit in their games for a while. Plus no mods either because UE4 games cannot have mods because fuck you.

I'll pay attention to it but I think it's just going to lead to more people playing Left 4 Dead 2.

 

[Capsaicin Addict]

Some of the L4D/L4D2 fan maps are absolutely bonkers but interesting. One 4 Nine is a military base built around an ancient, alien tomb that contains the fucking monolith from 2001.

I wonder if the B4B devs used the same technique Valve did for L4D and L4D2's faces -- building them using 3D scans and high-rez digital sculpts of real people, especially for the survivors.

 

[Dark Emporer Dood]

At first they thought players would be smart enough to follow light sources as a means of guidance. After all, if you see a light in the distance, it's worth investigating right? Nope. So they legit had to put big fucking arrows above or around the light sources to direct players which way to go.

Reminds me of HL2 EP2 in the Antlion tunnels, there was a bit that looped that they had to change because play-testers would run in circles for hours on end. Thats why you don't hire journalists to test your games folks.

From what I watched on stream last night, I ain't sold on the "card" bullshit either.

 

[unclogged]

feels like the soul was ripped out of l4d yanno?

 

[RJ MacReady]

I watched streams of this game during the alpha and it lacked momentum. Commons have longer reach than their models suggest, melee is slow and ineffective, zombies are spongy and survivors die outright at 0 HP, all of which I felt was influencing people to constantly backtrack and camp good spots instead of progress as fast as possible like L4D. The money system is cumbersome and unnecessary, players feel perpetually starved for ammo on high difficulties and the character designs are dangerously forgettable except for the dad looking guy.

Overall it feels like it's afraid to be a horde shooter. I imagine this game will undergo a ton of reworks before release. If it doesn't it's going to flop and immediately be forgotten like Evolve.

 

[White Devil]

I watched streams of this game during the alpha and it lacked momentum. Commons have longer reach than their models suggest, melee is slow and ineffective, zombies are spongy and survivors die outright at 0 HP, all of which I felt was influencing people to constantly backtrack and camp good spots instead of progress as fast as possible like L4D. The money system is cumbersome and unnecessary, players feel perpetually starved for ammo on high difficulties and the character designs are dangerously forgettable except for the dad looking guy.

Overall it feels like it's afraid to be a horde shooter. I imagine this game will undergo a ton of reworks before release. If it doesn't it's going to flop and immediately be forgotten like Evolve.

The sad part is that Evolve's core gameplay was really fun.

 

[Coldgrip]

...designs are dangerously forgettable except for the dad looking guy.

All he wanted to do was grill, then the zombie apocalypse happened.

 

[Uncle June]

Looks nothing like L4D. Doesn't look bad in its own right, but hardly looks like their "successor."

 

[Dom Cruise]

Does anyone know what the fuck Valve's problem is and why they didn't just let Turtle Rock make a L4D3?

The sad part is that Evolve's core gameplay was really fun.

Evolve is very clearly a case of a game fucked over by it's publisher.

 

[McAfee'sCorpse]

Hate how the new "zombies" look more like SCPs then actual zombies. The L4D1 and L4D2 zombies still had some resemblance to actual people and had simple functions like the spitter goo and boomer bile. Im getting some bullet spongey Destiny vibes and I'm afraid they'll ruin it with greedy monetization practices. Paying with real money to buy weapons a upgrades is going to be a big problem if they implement this. If it's purely cosmetic, i'm fine with it. Hopefully this doesn't end up as the World War Z game or The Avengers game. Kinda looks like they're going to be trying to push some political agenda with the characters is shitty, it really is with every company who tries and do it, I mean just look at the New Warriors comic. Its pointless in contributing to a endless war of disagreement.