Back 4 Blood alpha test: Building decks, killing zombies, having co-op fun

Enlarge / Blood from other zombies' faces, making it slippery to reload during a terrifying moment in Back 4 Blood's solid closed alpha test. (credit: Turtle Rock Studios)

The face of co-op gaming was changed forever by Valve's Left 4 Dead in 2008 at a time when playing games with online friends usually meant killing each other or killing other teams of real players. Left 4 Dead had a different idea: take the fun of a solidly scripted single-player battle against AI zombies, then make it crazier with squadmates and randomness.

In every mission, your team of four had to traverse a linear, apocalyptic series of levels, pre-constructed with paths and cinematic events but remixed for each playthrough with new enemy and item configurations. Your crew could memorize some of the challenges, but an AI system would always watch for slip-ups-then pounce with dangerous, AI-controlled enemies for your foursome to contend with.

Entire co-op subgenres have emerged in the 12 years since L4D's launch, but few have aped its exact structure (with the obvious exception of 2009's Left 4 Dead 2). Hence, the most obvious selling point for this week's gameplay reveal of co-op shooter Back 4 Blood, slated to launch June 2021, is simple: the L4D formula is back, and it's coming from a team that co-created the original. But is that good enough?

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