Turtle Rock Studios held a short but amazing showcase for their upcoming title Back 4 Blood. The focus of the stream was the new player-vs-player mode Swarm, which gives us a unique take on a fun experience. The mode has two teams of four in a Cleaners vs Ridden matchup. The mode is a best of three with the first to take two rounds winning the game. The twist is that when one round ends, the players switch sides. The Cleaners become the Ridden, and the Ridden become the Cleaners, which is a nice breath of fresh air and is sure to keep things interesting through the entire match.
The main objective for the Cleaners, or humans, is to obtain as much material, recourses, and whatever else will help, finding a position on the map and surviving for the entire round. The Ridden’s, or monsters, objective is to kill the Cleaners before time runs out. That sounds like a much simpler goal on paper, but if the Cleaners can get a good defense going, then the Ridden are going to have a tough time winning matches. Once the players switch sides, then their goals become reversed, which forces the players to completely change up their game plan.
As we already mentioned, the Cleaners are the humans, and each character comes with their own distinct personality and weapon loadouts. The Ridden however, are a completely different type of breed, literally. Every Ridden is unique and has their own abilities to boot, which can create some serious chaos for the Cleaners. For example, The Reeker moves extremely fast and can quickly overwhelm the Cleaners with its fast combos. The Retch is exactly as it sounds, able to vomit at long range which slows down the Cleaners. The Exploder walks up to the Cleaners and does just that, explodes right next to them.
On top of that, every Ridden can upgrade their abilities with mutagens as well as aid your fellow Riddens as you try to take out the Cleaners. Once the switch is made in between rounds, every player will have to rethink their strategy. Back 4 Blood is the labor of love for Turtle Rock Studio, which is comprised mostly of former Left 4 Dead developers, and after this showcase it’s easy to see why there are so many similarities. However, the differences are also there, and Swarm mode will more than likely be one of the many things that sets it apart. The game was also revealed to be part of the Xbox Game Pass when it launches later this October, so that’s yet another excellent title for those who uses the subscription service.
Back 4 Blood will launch later this year on October 8, 2021 for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/Series S, and PC.