Many were understandably excited when Back 4 Blood began doing the rounds, with the marketing for the game basically saying that it was going to be a spiritual successor to the beloved Left 4 Dead series. With Valve titles being considered some of the best zombie apocalypse video games ever made, it was natural that many jumped at the chance to play Turtle Rock Studio's upcoming cooperative shoot-em-up. However, many felt it was lacking somewhat, with one of the biggest criticisms being the game's difficulty spike. And while the developer has attempted to balance it, Back 4 Blood's new update comes with an even harder setting.
Anyone who is still playing Back 4 Blood may have already noticed April's pretty significant patch rolling out recently. The Tunnels of Terror update comes with a ton of new content and some tweaks, chief among them the new Ridden Hives feature. This latest addition introduces guarded treasures in underground labyrinthine lairs, which tasks players with seeking out the goodies in these new challenges.
One other interesting thing that's been implemented with the April 12 update is the No Hope difficulty mode. This may surprise some people, seeing as how Back 4 Blood was already considered quite difficult as it is, to the point where the studio attempted to nerf it, particularly when it came to spawning too many Special Ridden enemies. According to the patch notes, No Hope is described as a "relentless" challenge, but the notes also say that players who conquer it will "reap significant rewards," whatever that may mean. It's clearly an option not for the faint of heart.
As with most updates, there are some bug fixes to boot, as well as the addition of some new player and corruption cards. For those who haven't yet tried the game, Back 4 Blood's card system gives players the opportunity to tip things in their favor by building decks which can implement small advantages, such as increased reload speeds, more stamina, extra ammo, or additional slots for med kits and grenades. However, there are also corruption cards played before each round to make things tough, such as making the whole map dark, adding armored Ridden creatures, implementing a boss battle, or adding flocks of birds that call a zombie horde when disturbed.
There is too much in the patch notes to list in this article, but a link to the Back 4 Blood Steam page can be found at the bottom. Although the game was considered one of the most disappointing video game releases of 2021, it still has a decent community of supporters. It may not have matched the quality of Left 4 Dead, but many still feel Back 4 Blood is a competent zombie shooter.
Back 4 Blood is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Tunnels of Terror expansion is out now.
Source: Steam
