internisus
BACKER
Back 4 Blood 2021
Log Status
Abandoned
Playing
Backlog
Wishlist
Rating
Unrated
Time Played
24h 48m
Days in Journal
11 days
Last played
February 25, 2022
First played
October 15, 2021
Platforms Played
Library Ownership
February 2022
|
25
January 2022
|
07
December 2021
|
29
|
24
|
19
Since I have yet to write down my thoughts after a couple months of sporadic play sessions and I have now completed the campaign at least on its easiest difficulty, I'll say something here.
B4B lacks the character of L4D, as much in its presentation as in its actual characters, but it gains modern gunplay that feels pretty good (and gets bonus points for doing the thing where weapon sounds change as magazines run dry). It features a broader array of special infected, but they desperately need greater clarity in identification and ability. It has more varied level setups and campaign structures but sacrifices consistency to achieve them. Taking a cue from roguelikes, it adds per-run random weapons and mods complete with quality tiers that can provide equal amounts investment and frustration. It offers unique character traits and a deckbuilding system of bonuses and trade-offs that contribute substantial strategic depth but threaten significant bloat.
I've been feeling a 3 out of 5. I don't dislike it; it's fun and takes some swings, but I haven't made up my mind on its perhaps overindulgent mess of modern design trends. And I really, really miss the music, dialogue, and theming of Left 4 Dead. (Back 4 Blood's writing is pretty dreadful a lot of the time, incidentally.)
B4B lacks the character of L4D, as much in its presentation as in its actual characters, but it gains modern gunplay that feels pretty good (and gets bonus points for doing the thing where weapon sounds change as magazines run dry). It features a broader array of special infected, but they desperately need greater clarity in identification and ability. It has more varied level setups and campaign structures but sacrifices consistency to achieve them. Taking a cue from roguelikes, it adds per-run random weapons and mods complete with quality tiers that can provide equal amounts investment and frustration. It offers unique character traits and a deckbuilding system of bonuses and trade-offs that contribute substantial strategic depth but threaten significant bloat.
I've been feeling a 3 out of 5. I don't dislike it; it's fun and takes some swings, but I haven't made up my mind on its perhaps overindulgent mess of modern design trends. And I really, really miss the music, dialogue, and theming of Left 4 Dead. (Back 4 Blood's writing is pretty dreadful a lot of the time, incidentally.)
|
17
November 2021
|
19
|
12
|
05
October 2021
|
22
|
15
I was reluctant to buy this at full price, but my main Left 4 Dead squad did, so I felt I had to as well. I've heard some things that have put me off, and I can't verify them yet after such a short time, but I did enjoy myself for our first session, which was just an easy-difficulty run through the first finale (effectively 4 stages, I guess, for the first segment of Act 1).
My biggest impressions right now are how nice the guns feel, especially compared to the arcade-like weapons in L4D that don't even have ADS, and that I like the roguelike element of weapons, attachments, and cards that you find during a run coming together to form a build and a play style, as well as the increased incentive versus L4D that they provide to scavenging around even when well supplied and healthy.
My biggest impressions right now are how nice the guns feel, especially compared to the arcade-like weapons in L4D that don't even have ADS, and that I like the roguelike element of weapons, attachments, and cards that you find during a run coming together to form a build and a play style, as well as the increased incentive versus L4D that they provide to scavenging around even when well supplied and healthy.
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