Death of a Game: Back 4 Blood

foreign this video is brought to you by the creators of  death of a game no seriously and in this episode   we're covering another turtle rock studios game  back for blood said to be a spiritual successor   to Left 4 Dead 2. from the creators of Left  4 Dead well sort of more like the creators   of evolve another title we covered in the series  back for blood was a Cooperative zombie narrative   action game that launched back in October of 2021.  although back for blood would Garner some success   thanks in large part to its feature on Xbox game  pass within just over a year support would be   reportedly canceled for the game I personally  played the game pre and post launch extensively   and have some thoughts about the title but the  series is really about navigating the timeline   of a game from pre to post-production and finding  the largest Clues and bits of evidence that lead   to uncovering what the largest reasons for the  game's failures are stay tuned until the end   of the episode for every detective's favorite  final deduction where we put it all together thank you following the flight and then fall of their  previous multiplayer shooter evolve Turtle Rock   Studios which used to be a part of valve and then  became independent again before tencent acquiring   them in 2021 would express interest in a new title  this time relying more heavily on the roots of the   company to an extent AKA zombies and AKA action  total rock studios would announce what many were   calling a spiritual successor to the iconic Left  4 Dead series by Valve and turtle rock studios   dubbed back for blood March 14 2019. if you  remember in my evil video which should be a hint   to go watch that one if you haven't detectives  then you remember that Turtle Rock Studios or   whoever owns it now is quite fond of advertising  their Left 4 Dead Roots including on future   projects as a marketing tool now there isn't  anything inherently wrong with doing this except   that I'm back for blood for instance it contains  only six of the over 200 plus developers involved   in Left 4 Dead 2 and Chromecast video concerning  back for blood they highlighted this discrepancy   and great detail not only does it come across as  disingenuous out of the gate again since starter   rock studios already did it with evolve it feels  like they're setting an insanely high standard   and expectation on their upcoming new game it's  like if someone made a new vacuum but had a few   creators of Dyson or something working on it and  advertise that straight out of the gate well you   better be putting Dyson out of business because  with all likeliness you're probably getting   buried by a corporation the point is is that heavy  expectations can kill you before you even get past   the starting lineup still TRS could deliver in  fans like myself were excited enough as a new Left   4 Dead like shooter hadn't come out in some time  that doesn't mean that there wasn't a plethora of   zombie games in circulation just that cinematic  narrative-based Cooperative shooter zombie games   or kind of left for Dead's whole Realm back her  blood's closed down for what happened December 17   2020 and it featured one level from the campaign  and some details concerning the game itself for   starters you would now play as a cleaner which  as TRS would state would be less scared and   impressional versions of the survivors from Left  4 Dead laners were effectively professionals there   was also a new card system which basically  served as mutations or upgrades for players   back for blood was supposed to launch the summer  of 2021 but would be delayed until October 12   2021. back for blood would become playable to  everyone during their open Beta summer 2021   priming everyone for their new targeted fall  launch this is the first time I played the   game and had quite a length I easily put 40 hours  in the back for blood during this time as I was a   huge fan of Left 4 Dead but more specifically the  PVP and Left 4 Dead the amount of hours I spent   dangling survivors off of buildings as a smoker  are just too many to count when I came to back for   blood I was expecting some evolution of that model  and some more of that fun but was like many other   players let down tremendously when I realized  that the PVP experience in b4b is all about a   swarm mode where teams take turns competing for  the best time if that sounds boring well it is   especially when compared to the classic Left 4  Dead experience where you progress through the   story while also pvping but the mode itself wasn't  the only reason that PVP and back for blood was   turning out to be boring in the open Beta already  which wasn't a good sign it would quickly become   repetitive due to the locations being limited but  even the ridden themselves as they were dubbed in   this game the special hero zombies were all rather  poorly and boringly designed while in Left 4 Dead   Infected brought with them the special tools that  made them both useful and fun to play many of   the ones in back for blood just felt like boring  reskins of another variant and not a good reskin   either I feel like quality over quantity here  would have helped a lot more in actually evolving   some identity for your monsters would have helped  as well another element of back for blood that was   hitting with mixed results was the new card system  that set the game apart from Left 4 Dead but it   was one of those why set yourself apart sort of  things I get having upgrades in the game but the   card system felt like a needless and pointless RNG  that doesn't even thematically fit the game sure   some of the upgrades could be useful and even  help and benefit your team which made playing   as a loner or support player a reality but the  execution just felt needlessly convoluted if they   wanted you to upgrade skills doing the classic  MOBA level as you go approach seemed to be the   best one in my opinion the card system being a  bit of a hit and miss wasn't too bad of a loss   for backer blood though the most worrying thing  that I noticed during the open Beta was actually   the content and the shelf life of the game itself  I had concerns that the game's content would last   players past a few months of casual play but  TRS possibly anticipating this issue as they   were fully aware that they were launching a game  as a service which means that people were probably   gonna hate it at lunch would release their game on  Xbox game pass making it playable to millions of   players without having to buy the full price game  this would not only open up back for blood to a   massive Xbox audience and online pc audience but  give them a healthy player base to last the next   coming months which would be crucial for the  launch of the game and also potentially give   them the most time to release more DLC content  that they could package together for a combined   Edition at a later date much like evolve and  all the other games as a service have featured   back for blood would as expected launch October  12 2021 as lead designer Chris Aston of Left for   Dead Fame would State back for blood encapsulates  all of the hard work by the entire Turtle Rock   Studios team to deliver a brand new best-in-class  zombie shooter back for blood was a first person   Cooperative zombie shooter that played over the  course of six different Acts or four at launch   each Act contains different missions and story  content throughout it and you can find special   weapons and unlocks hidden throughout the maps  not that much different than Left 4 Dead in a   sense players must choose one of the eight unique  cleaners and work together in groups of four or   play online solo with Bots oh that's right did  I mention that you can't play the game offline   not only does back for blood have de novo boys  it actually can't be played offline with Bots   and while some of you might be saying but it's  a Cooperative game why would you play with Bots   won't contrary to popular belief this was actually  a very common way that people played Left 4 Dead   back for blood not having it would greatly harm  the player base just like Halo not having it harm   to their player base IGN who scored the title in  8 out of 10 would state that between its Stellar   card augmentations excellent campaign and jovial  tone that creeps into every facet of its design   back for blood puts some exciting new spins on a  familiar genre which I disagree with heavily well   at least the jovial Parts is the game jovial  and connected in all these parts well yes but   that doesn't really match the whole horror theme  of the game and the whole zombies and the gore   and it doesn't help build the atmosphere but more  on that later Gamespot was slightly less positive   but would still rate the game positively with a  7 out of 10 score they made a point to say that   back for blood felt like a worthy successor  to Left for Dead and that they enjoyed the   chaotic combat they like IGN would also laud the  card system overall an aggregate review website   Metacritic back for blood would score a 77 out  of 100 from 46 different critics though as I've   always done on the series when it's present I must  acknowledge that there was a strong divide between   the critics and the players regarding back for  blood players on most websites were raiding the   game at around the 50 rating which was a whole two  letter grades worse than the critics critics are   rather positive about back for blood and nearly  none of them were talking about the game serious   and apparent issues for example the performance in  the game was very poor and would lead to a number   of bugs and poor gaming experiences that have been  documented in various YouTube videos critics also   didn't acknowledge the giant elephant in the room  that we hinted at with my experience in open Beta   that's the lack of content in back for blood the  game felt clearly like a game as a service and I   mean that in the bad not finished but trying  to sell future content sort of way even with   the Game Pass buffer players on Steam and other  platforms were complaining about a severe lack of   content in back for blood it wasn't just because  the Acts were rather short and lack replayability   which was kind of a cardinal sin for a replay bulb  Cooperative shooter it was because TRS wouldn't   be including player made content yeah that's right  all of that invoking the Left 4 Dead name and they   wouldn't even be including mods which help make  left did arguably one of the most famous games   ever mods and Left 4 Dead are everything from  balancing to skins and overhauls not having mods   with both [ __ ] replayability community support  and the game's longevity in the case of back for   blood I mentioned it in this segment regarding  a lack of content because sometimes players and   player generated content can bridge that Gap  just ask xenomax without it though now players   would be inevitably waiting for new content  to come and most likely having to pay for it   back for blood the game as a service it was would  receive its first expansion paid expansion I might   add April 12 2022 new much needed content was  introduced including new ridden hives two new   cleaners three new warped written new skins and  new cards hives were a sort of mini dungeon and   were a fun addition to back for blood but like  the generic name sort of implies the expansion   wasn't really anything to write home about tunnels  of Terror was a good update but a paid expansion   that seemed like a bit of a stretch players were  suggesting that it should have been a part of the   base game anyway but it was cut up to release  separately and then line some pockets nothing   new our expansion level enough was added with  tunnels of Terror which set a poor precedent   going forward to make matters worse turtle rock  studios would sell an annual pass meant to account   for the new DLCs at a separate price for players  who didn't pre-order the problem being is that   for those that did pre-order they're basically  paying for more and got less in the end because   at launch the DLC was supposed to be available  and it wasn't which is already a sin in itself   right day one DLC ew but the annual pass was  a bit of a slap in the face for those who were   early adopters and they got nothing to show for it  total rock studios would follow that expansion up   with another Children of the worm August 30th 2022  Children of the worm would add a new playable act   a new cleaner to play as a number of new items  cards and skins while the story content Edition   and new cleaner Dan were welcomed editions they  weren't very hearty meals and players were yet   again complaining about the expansion being light  on the bones while the original story of the game   wasn't particularly liked by the players as the  disjointed themes and characters made the story   feel really out of place a six Mission paid DLC  no matter how you sliced it was a meager offering   the assumptions of content being sliced up and  packaged for post launch were seeming more and   more realistic due to selling a DLC season pass  TRS only needed to sell one more expansion to   complete their yearly content their willingness  to continue to make content then would likely   depend on their successes selling the new DLC our  things get a bit weird is with the final expansion   released August 30th 2022 now I say weird because  well it was actually a good expansion and it would   be received well it would add a new five Mac  act that would feature arguably the most diverse   Locale in environments yet new cleaners that  were very loved and enjoyed new items weapons   cards and more skins were also added to the game  besides another Super generic vaguely horde genre   name River of blood was another paid expansion  for players eager for new content so even though   it was positively received it made playing back  for blood on anything not game pass an expense   Adventure while this makes TRS money in the short  term it's not the best strategy for attracting a   long-term audience after players would exhaust  their funds to buy the first expansion they   likely wouldn't buy anymore and play the game  anymore it also Spurs fans of your game and your   company when it seems like you're completely  willing to monetize on an unfinished game on   purpose remember the game was delayed as well when  Community morale is already low for your company   due to your previous failures and abandonment  with a similar approach and evolve well back   for blood's failure could spell disaster for TRS  as prospects going forward as their reputation   would be heavily damaged repeating the same  thing again their comments on the reviews are   back for blood that even State this obviously  saying that you shouldn't support TRS because   they abandoned their games now whether this is  because their contracts are up and they can no   longer and have to work on those games or they're  just moving on to their next project it wasn't   a good look for the company whatever the reasons  were especially one that repeatedly even two games   later was still trying to Loosely cash in on the  success of a game that came out over a decade ago   proving the dissenters and spurned evolve fans  right development for back for blood would   reportedly end February 2nd 2023. totoroc Studios  is actually pretty small for a studio making AAA   games we don't have enough folks to continue  to work on back for blood content while we   spend another game yes another game I've found  the press release to be quite shocking as TRS   seems to be literally confirming what some of the  player's concerns of them were as a company the   problem is is that they're not even seeing it  as a problem now I get that companies and well   all companies have to make money and they have  a limited amount of Workforce and each company   has to position those to work efficiently but  TRS had now abandoned two of their multiplayer   Shooters with this logic which seemed really poor  form especially for a multiplayer developer it   seemed like they basically had no accountability  after just one year into their game's launch and   while there's a legion for some reason the fans  who are defending TRS and back for blood like   kutaku ew stating well it's not an MMO it's not  supposed to go on forever but sure it's supposed   to go on long enough to to reach a form of quality  though right well at least most people would kind   of expect that and go long enough to stand up to  the reputation that they're trying to invoke at   least in some fraction right defending the fact  that corporations design business models around   games as a service and then giving up support on  them after the season pass expires doesn't make   you virtuous or helpful in any discussion except  boot licking it's resulting in worse games too   and defending it is aiding in that outcome so  please stop especially when as I seem to be the   only person who keeps repeating this ad nauseam  the game is always online which means it can die   damn it yes we've already seen this multiple  times multiple single-player games that we've   even featured on this series that were online  only died just like back for blood could so   while you might be okay with the game not ever  having reached its expectations whether lofty or   just the basic foundational ones you shouldn't  defend the game that maximized how much money   it made and will have nothing to show for  it long term when it could eventually die   and become unplayable too it's not like turtle  rocks videos hasn't done that before too in fact   after back for blood was announced launched  and development was ended it was dwarfed on   Steam by Left 4 Dead and I'm talking like 20x the  population dwarfed now if you're wondering why   besides just being a Legendary game and having  quite the name recognition in the next section   I will cover in detail why back for blood wasn't  left for dead and how the comparisons ultimately   proved to be toxic and even fatal and how a  game nearly 15 years old is still kicking ass   we've avoided the comparisons as much as  possible but sorry detectives TRS brought   this upon themselves nobody else was screaming  from the creators of Left 4 Dead and placing   that pressure on them until they publicly did  it themselves when they announced the game out   of the gate so that pressure might be part of what  cooked them in the end and I'm going to break down   why the comparisons were far less helpful than  TRS expected the probe cat video I reference   shows that the 200 plus developers that worked on  Left 4 Dead between valve and turtle rock studios   only six of them would go on to work for back  for blood so this means that not only is it not   the same original team it would be hard to capture  the original magic when you're lacking so many of   the same key characters the other aspect really  acknowledged in the back for blood and left for   dead discussions is the engines now I'm not going  to sit here and say that back for blood's engine   which is the Unreal Engine 4 is not a Quality  Engine however the argument that I'm going to   make is that the source engine was just better  suited especially in this particular type of   game and it outperformed it it doesn't take long  to notice that either for starters Left 4 Dead has   positional damn image Ragdoll effects accounting  for very live and real feeling zombies that you   can blow all over your screen to Smithereens the  lip syncing as common with the source engine is   also just fantastic and helps contribute to the  immersion overall back for blood by comparison   feels like it's definitely done on a high-end  engine but it lacks much of that same detail and   special aspects that said Left 4 Dead and Source  the engine apart so the discussion and debate of   the two games is very much one about engines and  which one performed better for the task and in   this case the source engine just performed better  it's not always just the engine that's the culprit   though in fact that's very rarely the case I mean  it's just a tool right the other thing that feels   quite apparent though when playing back for blood  versus the legendary Left 4 Dead is just a lack of   soul soul in the context of a video game is the  little things that you notice when exploring the   world like the Survivor notes in Left 4 Dead in  the Survivor rooms souls are zombies having their   own unique identities and outfits like the Witch  and Left 4 Dead are like the construction zombie   you get the idea a soul in this context is going  above and Beyond and making the little things   count they might not individually wow anybody  but when combined together help round out a game   back for blood had a severe lack of soul in these  sort of moments that could be felt from anything   from the main story to the characters you played  at to even the overall dialogue and Narrative of   the game the cleaners for example are incredibly  generic and lacking in personalities they just   feel like superheroes thrust into a zombie  game and really good at killing zombies I think   dolly for example let's compare her to Zoe from  Left 4 Dead 2. Holly's whole gimmick is being the   tough girl that has a bat and stuff okay well to  be fair her bio says that her parents died and she   has a Never Say Die attitude wait what why does  she look so happy and smug for someone who's lost   their parents as somebody who lost my parents you  shouldn't look that way compare this to Zoe and   you have a world of difference in Nuance Zoe is a  true survivor not this weird professional Zombie   Slayer hot chick thing that TRS came up with  meaning she was thrust into the zombie situation   against her will and also lost her family the  differences is that you can see that and hear   that in Zoe and her demeanor and no she's not just  some scared heroine the majority of the time she   does plenty of zombie slaying she undergoes this  personal journey and then some having to kill her   own father to prevent him from turning and when  you encounter her in the later DLC she's a changed   character she's much harder much tougher and even  scarier cleaners on the other hand have no sort   of Journey they're not relatable they feel weird  already because they're basically professional   zombie killers in this survival zombie situation  which feels less survival and more like an action   game but also why are the cleaners even doing  this why are they all working together with such   random backgrounds if they're not struggling  to survive in the first place then don't get   me started again on how boring and lifeless the  ridden are they lack personality originality and   words just fun in terms of mechanics most are just  reskins of each other which is already annoying   but where's the personality where's something  like the smoker coughing from above is a dangle   survivors to their death or the belly bumbling  Boomer none of that personality was to be found   in back for blood everyone's personality was just  a scary zombie guy I mean it's telling that I can   actually recount each of the zombie sounds from  Left 4 Dead off the top of my head smoker Hunter the tank and then there's some other DLC zombies  that I kind of forgot but you get the idea these   are iconic and memorable and even though I haven't  played Left 4 Dead in years at this point I still   remember them I played back for blood this year  and I don't even remember the zombies I know that   most of them seem like basically poor copycats  have left for dead zombies and that's just a shame   the cleaner is feeling out of place and back for  blood though leads into my final point about the   comparison between the two games probably the  most damning one too and Left 4 Dead you play as   a Survivor you're trying to survive by making it  from checkpoint to checkpoint that's not just felt   and the characters you play as it's seen in the  world that you discover and felt in the design of   the game itself left for it is a cinematic horror  experience the developers wanted the game to feel   like playing a horror movie it being divided into  different campaigns and how the campaigns are even   showcased really feels that way too sure there's  plenty of zombie killing in action in Left 4 Dead   but it feels more like a consequence of you trying  to survive as a Survivor versus you just being   some zombie killing Maniac when playing through  back for blood it very clearly feels like a game   that wants to look and feel cool and scary by fans  but it doesn't feel scary when you play the game   because the game doesn't even treat itself like  a horror game it's just an action shooter with   zombies in it and the rooted encounters feel more  like a nuisance than a cinematic experience like   the infected did in Left 4 Dead that's because  they're just obstacles in your way and less of   something that serves as a serious threat you  must survive even thematically and back for blood   you're playing as the winners basically and the  game feels far more tame because of that writing   in the story issues aside back for blood struggles  to escape the shadow of its far more cinematic and   epic older brother Left 4 Dead for me back for  blood feels like a shooter with zombies and not   a zombie shooter the detective music is playing  which means it's time to gather up all of the   clues and put this case to bed what went wrong  with back for blood well it was over monetized   and understuffed no mod support poor performance  and bugs it launched incomplete and then they   charged for the rest of the content it just had a  lack of Soul it must be played with friends online   I had a lackluster PVP mode in written  I really wanted back for blood to be a   good game and I really felt like with evolve to  rock studios at the very least showed that they   had the potential again to make a fun multiplayer  shooter experience in the end we got a half-baked   first-person zombie shooter that relied on prior  name recognition and failed to Eclipse that same   name and expectation or even get close Mac for  blood won't just have potentially the legacy of   being the sort of Forgotten Left 4 Dead spiritual  successor it could even die I have a server shut   down and never be playable again it just doesn't  sound like something you should ever be saying   with a Cooperative zombie shooter but TRS is  already fast and hard at work on their next   title with next to no details released concerning  such while I was inclined to give them another   chance after the faltering of evolved humming  off yet another failure and back for blood at   an even larger scale I don't know how excited I  am for their next title making fun flawed games   isn't a crime nor even the reprehensible thing  but abandoning your multiplayer games merely   years after launch doesn't buy future faith in  your products just saying thanks for watching my friend the time has come to put  an end to this meaningless conflict foreign

Channel: nerdSlayer Studios

Views: 711,071

Keywords: gaming, videogames, video, game, multiplayer, online, massive, new, hd, nerdslayer, nerdslaying, nerd, slayer, slaying, critical, analysis, content, opinion, critique, life, of, death, character, look, back, at, mmo, mmorpg, n.s., back 4 blood, back for blood, l4d, trs, turtle rock studios, evolve

Id: 2mRe_tU0VRE

Length: 24min 12sec (1452 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2023