Back 4 Blood

[BlasteroidAli]

A month after it released I am playing the Critic's all time fave 4 player zombie co op shooter!!! Well the updated version. Being a cheapskate I am playing it on Games pass for PC. £$1 for 3 months. As with all games on PC you need to spend a lot of time working out the setting to get the thing running really well. I have just played the game.

1 player game.
So you can get a flavour of the game playing the one player game. This was always where left 4 dead shone. You could play it on easy and learn the ropes, then start playing MP when you understood what was required of you. There are a number of new enemies to destroy but basically they are all the ones from Left 4 dead with different skins, the fat dude who puked on you so all the zombies come running to you, is now a fat exploder dude, the witch who alerted all enemies you were here, a flock of birds who bring the horde to you, the tank, well has been replaced by an even bigger tank. You get the idea.
So first level is great, pure left for dead. I was really enjoying myself and the bots were pretty good also. I thought I can play it through on easy, then play MP. You could never play the harder levels on bots. Well one of the new features is that you cannot play b4b on easy with the bots. First few levels were fine. Then the bots got increasingly erratic. Now what they do is stand in front of you when you are trying to shoot the boss whilst shouting at you why are you shooting at me, coz you are standing in the way.
MP
Totally superb. It is fun to be back in the team playing with people. What no group chat? Hey I just protected you and got the vines off you but now they are on me, why are you not protecting me? Group chat is one of the things that Xbox did so well back in the days of the 360. It is early days and I have not worked out how the crew works yet. Though I played it for 3 hours straight on Quick play.
Cards. They do something but not sure what at the current time. Give you extra abilities but so far I have not seen how they make a difference.
Overall. B+

[Crummylion]

Tried the game during open beta and I honestly thought it lacked the traditional Valve flair, of combining story and gameplay. Didn't help that the writing was bad and the characters were just "lel, quirky m̶i̶l̶l̶e̶n̶n̶i̶a̶l̶ zoomers!" There's always gameplay, but that bored me to tears too. Had more fun with multiplayer tho, but probably because I was playing with a friend. I probably have the same feeling about this the same way I do with Friday the 13th the game and Sea of Thieves, boring games made tolerable by playing with other people.
If a friend wants to play, I'll probably tag along since I technically have the game anyways, but it's certainly no L4D killer to me.

[BlasteroidAli]

Tried the game during open beta and I honestly thought it lacked the traditional Valve flair, of combining story and gameplay. Didn't help that the writing was bad and the characters were just "lel, quirky m̶i̶l̶l̶e̶n̶n̶i̶a̶l̶ zoomers!" There's always gameplay, but that bored me to tears too. Had more fun with multiplayer tho, but probably because I was playing with a friend. I probably have the same feeling about this the same way I do with Friday the 13th the game and Sea of Thieves, boring games made tolerable by playing with other people.
If a friend wants to play, I'll probably tag along since I technically have the game anyways, but it's certainly no L4D killer to me.

Yep. Your summation is correct. 6 hours in and the cracks have begun to show. If you are just playing with random people you are going nowhere in this game. No plot to speak of. L4D 1 and 2 were fun with good stories. This one go from A to Z trying to kill everything. Though since I do not have a crew. It is a lot harder.
As of tonight I give it a C, it is good fun but it is nowhere near as good as L4D 1 or 2.

[VideoGameCritic]

I took a look at this on Amazon, and was actually thinking about getting it until I saw "internet connection requires for all modes".

[BlasteroidAli]

I took a look at this on Amazon, and was actually thinking about getting it until I saw "internet connection requires for all modes".

It now has a 1 player game. The AI is a lot better and you can play most of the game by yourself. Sometimes it is easier to get to an online game to get past a bit you are stuck at.
B plus after the December update.