Perhaps one of the most anticipated games since its unveiling at The Game Awards last year, Back 4 Blood, developed by the makers of Left 4 Dead, marks a return to a lost era. Turtle Rock Studios has been explicit in saying that it has been disappointed by releases in the zombie shooter genre in the past decade, so it has come back to the genre do it itself. And while it has also been explicit about the fact that this is a new IP, the studio has not shied away from the game’s familiarity with its spiritual predecessor and its formula.
The game was delayed in March, from 22nd June to 12th October, giving the team more time to finish it off. It was also revealed Back 4 Blood will be on Xbox Game Pass on day one and will be always online. An open beta is also set to be launched on 12th August, with early access available right now for those who pre-ordered.
I had the opportunity to try out the beta with Eurogamer’s video team and have a chat with Chris Ashton, co-founder and design director at Turtle Rock Studios. I asked him about storytelling, Xbox Game Pass, the new card system, Left 4 Dead’s legacy, and more.
Let’s Play Back 4 Blood Open Beta PC Gameplay – BACK 4 BLOOD MULTIPLAYER GAMEPLAY REACTION Watch on YouTube
Is Back 4 Blood just Left 4 Dead 3 in all but name?
Chris Ashton: You know, we did try to clean slate it. I think the foundation, some of the moment to moment feel, feels like a Turtle Rock game. We did have a lot of goals, a lot of things we wanted to bring to the genre in general, things we wanted to see in the game with the clean slate. So, for example, the eight playable characters was a big thing for us. And attaching some gameplay to those characters was important. Having a bigger story, this time, was important.