Turtle Rock Studios has added a supply cache's-worth of new content in Back 4 Blood with its most recent River of Blood expansion. The third major expansion for the co-op zombie slaying shooter brings new weapons, dangers, supply cards, and a new playable character with an AI Ridden companion. Back 4 Blood fans who have exhausted everything Cult of the Worm has to offer owe it to themselves to dive back into the zombie post-apocalypse for the latest chapter in Fort Hope's saga.
Game ZXC spoke wtih members of Turtle Rock Studios including Senior Writer Spencer McCurnin, and Junior Designers Matt Baeli and Mike Schrauth, about everything River of Blood has to offer. The following transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Q: Please introduce yourself and provide a brief overview of what the River of Blood expansion is bringing to Back 4 Blood.
Turtle Rock Team: You’ve got Spencer McCurnin from Narrative, plus Matt Baeli, and Mike Schrauth from the Design team tag-teaming these questions! River of Blood consists of a brand-new Act, a new Cleaner and “companion,” new enemies, new cards, new skins, and of course the flamethrower which we’re really excited about.
Q: Tell us about River of Blood’s new Cleaner, Tala, and her Ridden companion, Jeff. How will they mix up the established B4B formula?
McCurnin: Tala is the youngest and brightest Cleaner in the group. She’s quick to jump into action, solve a problem, or fire off a witty remark, however, she’s a bit sluggish when it comes to trusting others. You can’t blame her, though -- the cultists promised her and her brother paradise, and instead, they delivered hell on Earth. In order to escape, she had to make a friend... literally. Using some spare parts and ingenuity, Tala was able to create a high frequency whistle that allows her to control a Tallboy (AKA Jeff). He doesn’t talk much and he’s dumber than a box of rocks, but when it comes to smashing stuff, nobody does it better than Jeff!
Baeli: When Jeff is summoned into the world, he goes around attacking Ridden for your team. Being a Tallboy, he’s quite large and can guard doorways and choke-points for your team, pulling aggro and killing Ridden as they funnel in. This makes him very effective in close quarters. Tala has a unique bleed effect that allows her to stack up massive amounts of damage as time goes on, making her effective at killing higher health enemies with rapid fire weaponry. Finally, she spawns a Warped Chest on every level as her Team Effect, potentially giving massive buffs (and a curse!) to your entire team. Tala’s well-rounded effects make her great at team play and addressing any ability deficits your team may be lacking.
Q: What weapons and cards would you recommend players pair with Tala to get to know her play-style?
Baeli: To get the most value out of Tala’s bleed stacks, look for weapons that have high rates of fire and ammo, like SMGs and LMGs. Rapid firing shotguns cause per-pellet bleed stacks, making them highly effective too!
Q: The new expansion boasts five missions. About how long will it take players to clear?
Team: This largely depends on the player and play style. If you’re going to play on No Hope difficulty, it’s of course going to take longer than a Recruit run. If you like to stop and take in the scenery and find good loot that’ll take extra time too.
Q: Are there any new enemies, hazards, or other threats arriving with River of Blood?
Team: We’ve got a brand new Ridden, the fearsome Sentinel that has a total of three variants. Sentinels are heavily mutated colonies of worms that behave as a single organism. Although capable of movement, Sentinels generally stay in one place, defending their territory with sticky-bombs, parasitic swarms, or floating “Wailer” mines. You can stun them with flash bangs to expose their weak spots. We also have Razor Worms which are the Ridden equivalent of Razor Wire. You can crouch through them or light ‘em up with the Flamethrower to get past them unscathed.
Q: Faith was a central focus in Children of the Worm. Does River of Blood’s narrative explore any specific topics or themes?
McCurnin: The theme of faith is once again present in River of Blood. However, this time, we look at it in a different light. The Cleaners’ faith will be tested when they team up with a former cult member, Tala, and it will be tested again when they’re forced to go behind enemy lines in hopes of finding her brother, Derek.
Revenge also plays a major role in our story. The Children of the Worm lied to Tala and now, worst of all, they’re holding her brother captive. She’ll stop at nothing until they pay for what they’ve done. But she’s not the only one that’s out for revenge—after her last encounter with the Cleaners, The Mother of Worms is eager to dish out some righteous justice.
Lastly, we focus on the bonds of family and the relationships that are created through troubling times. This is not just evident in Tala and Derek’s storyline, but also in the Cleaners’. They continue to face overwhelming obstacles, but with every new challenge comes a new member that they’ll call their own, making them not just a stronger team, but a stronger family.
Q: Tell us about the new supply cards and corruption cards coming with the River of Blood expansion. Do you have any personal favorites?
Schrauth: One of my favorite new cards is a corruption card called Razor Worms. It spawns a ton of creepy razor wire-like worms throughout the map that players need to strategically move around to avoid taking damage. Or you can just burn them all to bits with the Flamethrower that spawns in the saferoom with the Razor Worms corruption cards.
Q: Are any new weapons coming to B4B with River of Blood? If so, do you have any tips or recommended builds to get the most bang for your buck?
Schrauth: One of the new weapons is the flamethrower which does great with a player card called Pyro; it lets you double your fire damage while also healing as you take out Ridden. That combo is even good to quickly take out bosses. Another new weapon available only in the Act 6 final mission is the LAW Rocket Launcher, which is especially satisfying to use when Ridden bunch up in a big group. The Bow also got a pretty nice rework that brings a lot of new versatility to the weapon.
Q: What kind of new cosmetic items can players expect to find in River of Blood?
Team: We have 12 new Weapon Skins and eight new Cleaner skins that are exclusive to River of Blood owners, the “Who’s Next?” set for the weapons and the “Steamed Cleaners” set. We also have some new skins that are earn-able via Duffel Bags.
Q: What was the hardest part of developing Back 4 Blood’s latest expansion?
Baeli: Coming off the heels of Children of the Worm, which ended on a cliffhanger, we knew we had high expectations to live up to. Players wanted to know what became of the Cult and the Harbinger that the Cult is growing. Getting the final fight against the Harbinger to feel fun and engaging was especially a challenge. The maps went through a large number of iterations, play-tests and polish before we arrived at what we have now!
Q: Is there anything else you would like readers to know?
Team: Hope everyone enjoys the new content and to stay in touch with us via our socials and Discord.
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Back 4 Blood: Rivers of Blood is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
