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Back 4 Blood (B4B) is a first-person shooter zombie experience which is played either cooperatively with people and/or bots, or against other people playing as the humans or the Ridden (zombies). The Ridden and humans both get cards to bolster their abilities and grant skills (only exception is Ridden in vs. mode, they get a more traditional upgrade system), which dramatically affects how players will approach combat situations. All players can build their decks with a maximum of 15 cards, while each level the Ridden themselves get dealt a new hand of cards. These cards determine what mutators will be in effect during that level for basic Ridden (e.g. blighted – acid zombies), what special Ridden will appear, and any beneficial or detrimental field additions (Boss Mutation – boss fight in the level, Blood Samples – find the sample container for bonus money). Players are to use whatever weapons and accessories they find in a run, and each level players need to adapt to the ever changing Ridden threat.

There are 4 acts (base game), with a combined total of 33 levels. You could beat all acts in a few hours tops. The real value comes from the replayability, though 60 USD just isn’t acceptable. The game isn’t actively maintained anymore, meaning no more DLC, so getting this game is great on a sale and if you’re planning on playing with friends.



B4B starts out with a simple delivery to a fodder character. In a not so subtle manner, within minutes it is apparent that the world is not only on its last leg, but zombies are to blame. More over, the threat seems to have died down. Naturally, this first cutscene is when the dying dead become living dying undead again, and the mutation thing comes into play.


All throughout the game, random NPC chatter, story events, idle Cleaner chat, and the environment give context clues regarding everything happening in the world. Ranging from conspiracy theories, to “second hand” accounts, and doctors, it all slowly comes together. The idle chat alone reveals much, as younger characters reminisce their college days, as if they happened yesterday.



The fundamental mechanic in B4B is the deck building system. Everything ultimately revolves around it: how obnoxious the enemies will be, how effective players are at what, and when found and purchased in a run, can turn the tables in one’s favor. The Ridden, the collective zombie threat faced throughout, get dealt a new hand each level, changing the threat constantly, while players must rely solely on their decks to ride through the whole act. Combined with the random nature of weapon spawns and enemy placements, your way of dealing with a specific level will change frequently through multiple runs.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2950920070


Another important mechanic, though easily handled when everyone playing understands the game, is trauma. Whenever damage is taken, players take a small amount of trauma chip damage, basically removing an active part of your health and removing the ability to heal it. When dealt with timely and properly, it isn’t too much a threat, even on harder difficulties, but I felt it was worth mentioning since it is a prominent mechanic and makes going gung ho generally a bad idea.


Cleaners is the aptly given name to anyone whose job it is to clean areas of their zombie infection, and are the playable characters. Each one has up to 2 unique character abilities and one team ability, with rare exceptions. Cleaner Evangelo can break out of grabs, has a bonus 25% stamina regeneration, and grants +5 movement speed to the team, while Hoffman can grant an accessory spawn when killing a Ridden, has an additional offensive accessory slot, and another team ability of +15% team max ammo capacity.

Weapons and attachments work well in tandem with a player’s deck and Cleaner, in some ways too well. If properly built around a mechanic, like bullet penetration or reload speed, the gains are incredible. The weapons are your standard fanfare: shotguns, ARs, snipers, SMGs, the good stuff. When you start using a penetration weapon mod on a shotgun, or an effective range extending barrel on a sniper, you can reach a whole new level of weapon effectiveness, and can pull off some incredible feats.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2950920148


There are 3 game modes, but the basic principle is always the same: Ridden vs. Cleaners. The game mode most people start with is the Campaign, the vanilla pudding of B4B. Here you can experience the story and get a feel for what the opposition consists of. Swarm, the game mode in which you get to play as the opposition, is the PvP game mode. Players get to play as the horrid Ridden and spawn in as special infected. And finally, there is the Trial of the Worm. I recommend this mode last, or at the very least after you get really comfortable with the Campaign. Basically, all players choose between a set number of random levels with random cards, but the catch is you get a higher score the harder the level you play, so you are incentivised to add difficulty modifiers on top of all the cards.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2950925817