From what I've seen online Back 4 Blood has a lot of people hating on it and calling it boring and bland. I can completely see their point of view because coming from the Back 4 Blood Beta I knew this game wasn't ever going to break any records or blow people away. I predicted the game would get some backlash for its bare bones setup and I was on the fence about buying it but I have to say I've actually become quite addicted and am having a great time meeting new people each time to play through it with.
I'm someone who loves the classic days of games like Gears of war, Rainbow six vegas and other games including Left 4 Dead where co-op gameplay was brilliant and fun. Over the years that has become a distant memory and gave way to PVP only games stuffed with more loot boxes than you can shake a stick at, but Back 4 Blood brings the good old Co-op slaughter I love.
I'll start with the positives:
Great exciting gameplay, fast paced action, lots of dangerous "Ridden" enemies, good variety of weapons, weapons feel truly unique and sound great.
The card system was more intriguing than I first thought, the characters have special 'abilities' which makes for great strategy especially on the harder difficulties. The graphics on Series X were great, the blood and guts effects are great and stand out. The co-op campaign is my favourite genre.
The negatives: Not nearly enough customisation items, repeating the same campaign missions will bore most people after a while, some of the challenges are FAR too unachievable, the matchmaking system needs work, there is simply no story.
The lack of story is one that a lot of people won't mind and while I don't care too much I can envision how they could have implemented a better story rather than 4-5 cutscenes and that's it. There is a PVP mode but I have to be honest it's not something I'm interested in and from gameplay that I've seen it doesn't look like it's going to blow your socks off (Think Gears of war Judgments beast mode)
The matchmaking for a specific mission, especially if it's a mission in the middle of an 'Act' can be brutal because you almost never find a compatible game (Xbox Series X) If you can however complete the full campaign then 'quick play' is great for simply dropping into a random mission and helping others out while earning yourself some nice supply points along the way.
For me I would have loved to see a ranking system implemented where each level you gain you unlock a new customisation item, This means more customisation items and more reason for people to continue to play so they can level up and unlock new stuff. There is a form of this In the game with the supply groups but it's not nearly as enticing. That being said I think the replay ability is to gain 'supply points' and use them to buy some of those limited Customisation items, and while some of the challenges are so far beyond what a normal player could achieve I do think this will be fun for the hardcore player to brandish a special spray, Weapon skin or character model that very few people have. While the items are limited I did find myself really excited to work towards and unlock certain items, for example recently I unlocked a gold desert eagle skin which looks great and stands out.
Overall I do agree this game is pretty bare bones right now and needs a lot of additions, both in terms of unlocks and modes/campaign maps however I found myself really addicted to the fun and challenging gameplay, the strategy of the card system, the style and graphics and finally the intrigue of what's to come with the promised DLC's. I love this game because it's a rare co-op Campaign game that you can hop on for 30 mins or 8 hours and have fun every single time. Long live Co-op games.
