Following its strangely off-mark beta testing period, players had largely written off the idea that Back 4 Blood is better than Valve's very own Left 4 Dead. To be sure, the developers - Turtle Rock Studios - had worked on L4D back in the day, too, but hype had died down, and few anticipated that the game would recover in earnest.

Enter possibly the biggest change of heart the gaming community has had about a game in recent history - Back 4 Blood's final launch version is actually downright phenomenal. Reviewers have been singing praise to Turtle Rock's new zombie FPS from the get-go, with the game earning some of the highest marks we've seen in quite some time now. The general consensus is simple: the game is amazing. What you might be wondering, however, is how is it that Back 4 Blood is better than any of its predecessors?

Today, we'd like to tackle that question by discussing three of B4B's main feature pillars: survivor build variety, monster variety, and character progression systems. Namely, there's a lot to Back 4 Blood, and this is one of the best ways in which we can explain why is it that the game works.

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Back 4 Blood is Better than Left 4 Dead: Here's Why!

It's worth pointing out that the core gameplay loop of Back 4 Blood is pretty amazing on its own, too. The gameplay's been vastly improved since the beta. Guns hit harder, feel chunkier, and absolutely demolish stuff that's in front of them. Movement is snappy and satisfying, and the card system hits just right. If these were the parts that you got worried about - fret not!

Survivor Builds

Back 4 Blood's roster of characters - Cleaners - consists of a rowdy bunch. Same as was the case in L4D, these were mostly ordinary people, now suddenly thrown into the meat grinder due to their immune system's ability to filter out the virus. Not only are these folks way more fun than we thought they'd be (mid-match banter, interesting personalities, etc.) but we were also surprised to see how important actual builds are for the game.

Namely, there's an entire layer of RPG build crafting present in Back 4 Blood. Yeah, we were surprised, too! A major step forward for the game archetype, though, is that whereas all of L4D's characters were functionally the same, here they fit into specific roles and niches. Each comes with a special loadout that's unique to their kit, and this can include custom weaponry and gadgets, but also skills and abilities.

Support players may wish to opt for Doc, for example, who can heal others whenever needed. If you're hoping to get started with a berserker archetype, instead, then Holly and her baseball bat might fit the bill, instead. The character system does take some getting used to, but it's a stellar reinvention of a tired old trope.

Since each character is a bit of a smartass, too, you can expect plenty of fun dialogue and interactions between them - possibly our favorite part of the whole shindig, really.

Mutant Variety

Here's one that we definitely didn't expect: zombies/mutants/monsters come in more shapes and sizes than you'd think! In fact, we've managed to count at least three sub-varieties of some types. And that's not counting the unique boss encounters, mind you.

The way it works is that - yes - you can come across classic L4D archetypes, but revamped on the fly. Take the so-called Reeker as an example. This is essentially L4D's Boomer mutant, as you can probably tell. Depending on how (un)lucky you are, though, you may come across a baseline explodey Reeker or one of its mutated forms. So, a random Reeker might also be a Retch or an Exploder.

Most of Back 4 Blood's special monstrosities come in multiple flavors. This not only adds heaps of variety to any given mission but also provides more randomness and chaos. You could definitely still learn all these sub-types and niches by heart. You probably will, now that we think of it. It's still a whole lot more than L4D ever did with its zombies.

The more variety the merrier, if you ask us. As of right now, Back 4 Blood offers a comprehensive enemy roster of five unique Specials and four unique Boss encounters. That's on top of the regular "Ridden", mind you. A whole heckin' lot of things to kill, we think.

Account Progression

As was to be expected, there is a meta-progression system in Back 4 Blood. In fact, there are several of them! All intermingling to deliver a consistent and coherent account progression for every player. Not only will you gain access to more powerful (or rewarding!) Cards as you play, but you'll also get to customize your loadout. Both visually and mechanically.

The first thing to take note of here is that weapons are customizable. And not in the same way as Left 4 Dead handled customization. In Back 4 Blood, you can find attachments on the floor. However, you can also buy them via the 'Copper' currency during breaks in the action. We know! This sounds like blasphemy to L4D veterans. Here's the thing, though: it works.

A good gun isn't a be-all, end-all in Back 4 Blood. If the rest of your kit doesn't mesh with your gear, you're going to have a hard time punching through the zombies. There's an extremely wide variety of customization options present. Both visual and mechanical. To the point that it can feel a bit overwhelming, even. The last thing we expected from B4B is to offer RPG progression. Yet, here were are. Not only did Turtle Rock did it, but they did it well.

There's always a new Card around the corner. A new skin, a new gun, or a new set of attachments. As replayable as Left 4 Dead (2) may have been, Back 4 Blood has the leeway to go way further than that.

Final Thoughts

To be perfectly fair, it's not all sunshine and roses with Back 4 Blood. For one, there's no way to play the game offline whatsoever, and even if you do opt for its admittedly hackneyed singleplayer mode, all of your progression will be disabled from the ground up. It's... an interesting approach to solo gamers, to be sure. This may be alleviated in the future, mind. Solo players might want to hold off for a bit.

Regardless, if you don't mind joining forces with up to three other players, Back 4 Blood has proven to be quite the contender for the GOTY title of 2021, we feel. The game is fun, snappy, and quite possibly shows the biggest batch of improvements since its beta we've ever seen. Seriously - the differences are downright mind-boggling because everything's been improved across the board. We were surprised, too!

If you're in the market for a new cooperative FPS game, definitely check out Back 4 Blood when you catch the time. As of right now, it's at least as good as WWZ: Aftermath, and there's a lot of potential for future growth, too. Turtle Rock Studios has got something special on their hands, that's for sure. Now, let's get to it - the Ridden won't shoot themselves.