Yes, shooting through as many zombies as you can is literally the point of the game, but when there’s so many of them, it quickly becomes a chore. There’s the fact that, even on the game’s easiest difficulty, it throws a ridiculous amount of enemies at you. But piled on top of each other, they equate to a game that’s disappointing at best, and infuriating at worst. Most of the issues I’ve found with the game are small, and by themselves wouldn’t ruin the experience so much. While I’ll never understand why developers don’t choose to cater well for people who prefer to play solo, that’s ultimately the least of Back 4 Blood‘s problems. Even if you set to friends only or private after starting a game, it doesn’t matter.
Bots will fill in the gaps, but they’ll eventually be taken over by real players. Set to ‘friends only’, if there’s less than four of you, you’ll never begin a match. It can also be an ordeal setting up a private game with two or three players and bots filling in the gaps thanks to a convoluted menu system and privacy options that don’t quite seem to work correctly. Almost every time I looked at my AI teammates, they’d be stuck on something in the environment, haphazardly running around and generally not being particularly helpful. But there’s just as much chance that they’re currently glitching into a wall at the other side of the map. Can you rely on AI teammates to do the job? Maybe. There are enemies that grab you, or pin you with some sort of webbed goo – and you simply cannot escape unless another player frees you or kills the enemy that has you. Practically every level has some sort of mechanic that requires multiple players, which feels like it’s shoehorned in to prevent single-player enjoyment. And the AI here is so incredulously stupid that you’ll absolutely not have a good time with them. You’ll never be truly solo, either you’ll be placed with three bot teammates. The cards and progress you unlock there remains separate from the ‘main’ (i.e. Yes, there’s a Solo Campaign mode, but it’s placed more as a ‘practice’ run. This is designed to be played co-operatively with four players. Here’s the first problem: if you like to play games alone, Back 4 Blood isn’t for you. To me, it feels like developer Turtle Rock Studios has decided the concept is enough to sell the game – which, in fairness, maybe it is – but then didn’t bother to give it any personality or really consider how engaging its levels might be to play. It’s not that Back 4 Blood is a bad game it’s more that enough hasn’t been done to make this a good game.
Of course I do shooting so many zombies that you end up covered head-to-toe in blood and guts is the literal definition of ‘bloody good fun’. It’s a real shame too, because I want to enjoy Back 4 Blood. Unfortunately, the more time I’ve spent with this Left 4 Dead-a-like, the more problems have reared their ugly, zombified heads. When I previewed Back 4 Blood back in August based on its beta, I sang its praises.
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