BACK 4 BLOOD

PC, PS4, PS5, XB1, XSX

While almost every Call of Duty title has a Zombies mode, it’s been over a decade since we last got a Left 4 Dead game. After moving on to the asymmetrical multiplayer Evolve (which sadly didn’t evolve much) and so-so experiments in VR, Turtle

Rock Studios is back to its roots with a spiritual successor to its zombie survival shooter.

Back 4 Blood has you in a team of four ‘cleaners’ fighting their way through the zombie apocalypse. Not exactly everymen, the characters revealed so far are veterans with their own distinct personalities and perks, including the military-trained

Walker, who seems very much the team leader.

The formula of surviving against a zombie horde of growing intensity is intact, though one modern twist is the use of deck-building: each player needs to select cards that add modifiers to the game, such as more health, damage or stamina. You’re also at the mercy of the AI Game Director who issues corruption cards that introduce nasty surprises such as fog, extra zombie spawns, or much tougher enemies including a huge undead ogre.

Early impressions from a PC alpha have been good; and with the developer back on familiar zombie-infested ground, what can go wrong?