In the run-up to the launch of the Left 4 Dead spiritual successor, Back 4 Blood, Turtle Rock Studios managed to hype the game up to no end, making it seem like a very promising follow-up to the dormant Valve series. While it did receive some pretty good feedback when it was released in October last year, it did, sadly, go down as one of the more disappointing games of 2021. One of the more prominent critiques of the game was its high difficulty and far-too-frequent spawning of special infected enemies. While the overall excitement quickly died down, the chance to play some new content should hopefully give it a new lease on life.
The studio is prepping to release its first DLC for the co-op zombie shooter in the form of Tunnels of Terror, which is expected to release for PC and consoles on April 12. The new content will see Back 4 Blood players take on the Ridden once more in seven new locations, dungeons with labyrinthine tunnels, to be specific. The add-on will also feature a brand-new enemy, known as the Warped Ridden, as well two new Cleaners, axe-wielding Sharice, and "tough-as-nails" restaurateur Heng. As if that wasn't enough, there will also be new skins, new weapons, new cards, and more.
It's sounding like Tunnels of Terror is going to come packed with a lot of new content. Turtle Rock has been promising some Back 4 Blood DLC for some time now, so it's nice to finally see that it's just on the horizon. Since the initial backlash against the vanilla game's difficulty, the developer has been taking steps to balance it better, and a recent patch has also introduced some additional features, such as a streamer mode, as well as some bug fixes and general updates.
Despite the criticisms that have likely caused the game to be somewhat short-lived, it's still one of the best zombie survival co-op FPS games, especially for those who have Xbox Game Pass. It took the original format from the Left 4 Dead titles, as well as some of the crew who worked on those, and briefly rekindled the community's love of team-based zombie shooters. It's just a shame that the hype didn't last too long.
For good or ill, Back 4 Blood will always be considered Left 4 Dead 3 in many ways. With the new DLC coming up, it will hopefully bring the game back into the fore. And the best thing about it is, there will be zero microtransactions.
Back 4 Blood is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox One.
