![]() ![]() We got maybe 20 feet out from a mission's starting point before being overrun by the stronger Ridden types. So we dialed it up to veteran, and everything went to hell. My group initially chose recruit to find our footing, and we knew it was too easy before long. There are three difficulties available from the get-go: recruit, veteran, and nightmare. It's essential to sift through every card you come across while out scavenging in levels, too, because attempting Back 4 Blood's more challenging difficulties are a waste without them. Cards add brilliant RPG-like random elements while not veering off entirely into levels and skill trees. For example, just when we thought our builds were too strong, one corruption card spiced things up by adding an Ogre, a 20-foot tall lumbering mountain of flesh and bone, to the mission. Even ridiculous decks like that don't feel overpowered, though, as corruption cards crop up mid-mission to counterbalance your boons with challenging modifiers. A friend cleverly combined the effects of several cards so that he would gain loads of health back after swinging away at Ridden en masse. Stopping for anything became a fleeting memory with these cards, as I could bolt to and fro while often one-tapping through the undead hordes.Ĭompared to what others have come up with, my deck was relatively simple. So I built a deck with Superior Cardio, which increases stamina regen like nobody's business, and Power Swap, adding a hefty 20% damage boon to weapons after swapping between primary and secondary sidearms right before a clip runs dry. ![]() Since Karlee was my main and her unique Cleaner card buffs item-use speed, I wanted to keep up a fast pace on her feet and in her holster as well. There's a starter deck, and you'll find more scattered throughout environments or by plugging points earned in missions into the light progression treadmill called supply lines. Before missions, you can equip several cards that modify a Cleaner's stats and abilities. Deck-building might sound hilariously ill-fitting for a game about rattling off thousands of rounds at walking corpses, but it’s maybe my favorite addition to this familiar formula. They have a few distinct features that you can recognize to tell them apart, but it's stuff like small spikes on their arms that are easy to miss in the thick of a fight – and a wrong guess on your part can have significant consequences.īack 4 Blood's shockingly in-depth card system is the right sort of thing to get lost in, thankfully. Exploders and Retches are both bloated masses with broad shoulders, yet the former run towards you and, well, explodes, while the latter vomits acid from a distance. What's more egregious is several Ridden types look nearly identical despite behaving differently from one another. Your character can often come out of fights covered in blood and guts looking like a zombie, and that's decidedly not great when the entire goal is to kill anything even remotely resembling one. Too often, I'd accidentally tag friends with stray bullets while attempting to differentiate them from the sea of bodies rushing us like an unholy mosh pit because combat readability is sorely lacking. It's a shame then that losing sight of your target is incredibly easy during wild, up-close brawls. Even just a bat with a nail or two pounded through it! Whether you're into high-powered magnums or lighting fast assault rifles, every weapon feels excellent in Back 4 Blood. The M249 light machine gun packs enough of a wallop at high firing rates that I nearly always carried one, particularly if I found any damage-enhancing attachments laying around. Laughs aside, the gunplay has quite a satisfying kick too. Or hucking frag grenades into a crowd of living dead only to have the ensuing sinew-showers drench friends. All too often, I found myself grinning over utterly absurd sights, like Sleeper Ridden sitting comfortably in meaty wall-mounted cocoons suddenly springing to life then pinning a teammate to the floor. That surprisingly pleasant attitude pervades combat in Back 4 Blood as well. ![]()
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