Back 4 Blood for PC is a co-operative zombie shooter game with a new card-based perks system. It is the unofficial successor to Left 4 Dead due to having the same creators who have indulged themselves in producing very similar gameplay.

About the Game

New to this game and something quite different for games of this type is the card deck. You must build your deck to gain as much advantage as you can as regards: health and healing, damage taken, stamina usage and restoration and so on. Meanwhile, the AI director within the game, will issue you with corruption cards from time to time, which work as debuffs, weakening your characters and making everything a bit harder for a while.
As well as occasionally annoying you in this way, the AI can also spawn enemies, create a boggling fog that will send you wandering around in circles and can also boost the size of a horde in the PvE modes, bursting any complacent bubbles that you might have allowed to grow!

The premise of the game is this: a worldwide outbreak of a mysterious parasite has devastated the world, turning those afflicted into creatures known as ‘the Ridden’. They are not undead, but are basically zombie-like characters against whom the survivors must battle.

Survivors are who battle the Ridden are called Cleaners and they consist of various people: Walker, Holly, Hoffman, Evangelo, Karlee, Doc, Jim and Mom – you choose one of these to play as – pay attention to the stats in the opening scenes and pick a character that chimes with your inner you.

You and your companions will fight your way through the story campaign in groups of four, all battling to clear the zombies from one room before moving to the next and doing it all again. The mission-based drops you in at point A with a list of tasks to complete before making your way to point B for some rest and recuperation in a safe room.

The Nitty Gritty

There are plenty of weapons to get to grips with, and they are all colour-coded by rarity, so you know when you’ve got a good one, a nice feature that makes shooting excellence that little bit easier. Each gun ‘fires’ differently, so you will want to come back time after time to try out all the weapons that you can as you acquire and master them.
The end of each level sees the advance of a special ‘boss’ Ridden. These number among them, the likes of the Ogre, an immense monster who lobs meaty cannonballs at you with devastating effect – so keep your concentration high and your ammo handy when the end of the level seems to be approaching!

There are various types of Ridden (detailed below) and you will need to learn how to anticipate and tackle each of these. As well as being to play either as Cleaner or as Ridden, you can enjoy four player co-operative play and 8 player multi-play Player vs Player.

The game has a special focus on multi-play and re-playability, much like the game’s spiritual predecessor Left 4 Dead.

Join the Ridden Family

Whichever side you want to play on, but especially if you want to be a Ridden in the PvP multi-play events, you must learn to distinguish between the following types of Ridden, who tend to travel in similar groups:

• Stingers – these are sneaky and weakly creatures that sidle along ceilings and walls. They are easy to kill if you spot them, but a real nuisance if you don’t, spitting a sticky goop that anchors you in place until another Ridden or a horde of them can take you out
• Snitches – about as popular with Cleaners as snitches in schools and prisons – these Ridden sound an alarm if they spot you, summoning the others to come and give you a very hard time indeed
• Exploder/ Retcher – twins of a sort, these Ridden look similar, but they have quite different properties. One blows up taking out you, your team, and anyone else who happens to be nearby, while the other kind of vomits acid on you – another similarity is that neither of them is very pleasant!
• Bruisers/ Tallboys – known by both names, these Ridden have one huge arm that is literally a built-in club and they know how to use them. Best avoided!

Back 4 Blood for PC is available for purchase on Instant Gaming for a fraction of its retail price. You will receive an official key and be able to play the game in seconds. Play smart. Pay less.