Back 4 Blood

GREAT CAMPAIGN, LESS THAN GREAT PVP.

Back 4 Blood is like post-apocalyptic puberty with the range of emotions it can elicit in one play session. At one end of the spectrum, there’s the exhausted, frantic, elated exhilaration of surviving a particularly brutal section in one piece, everyone launching themselves through the Safe Room door or into the back of a Hum-Vee to speed into the distance with barely time to catch your breath. At the other end, there’s the sheer frustration of staring at the back of a bot’s legs as they refuse to revive you… again.

Turtle Rock’s spiritual L4D successor is at its most enjoyable when you gather together three friends and squad up to tackle the game’s cast of zombies – or the Ridden, as they’re known. The campaign you’ll work through is a brilliant b-movie, with fantastic set-piece moments that you’ll want to show anyone who’s yet to play them.

★★★✩✩

Back 4 Blood is brilliant, co-op fun, with an interesting card system, but it’s marred by terrible bots, awkward solo campaign choices, and a lackluster PvP mode.