Left 4 Dead spiritual successor Back 4 Blood begins closed alpha this week

Back 4 Blood
(Image credit: Warner Bros.)

Back 4 Blood, the latest co-op zombie survival game from the studio behind Left 4 Dead starts its closed alpha this Thursday (December 17). Tweeting from their official account today, Turtle Rock Studios released a trailer to give players a taste of what's to come in the upcoming alpha test. 

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The trailer showcases an early mission and gives players an idea of what to expect from this first-person shooter. Made up almost entirely of gameplay, the trailer also gives fans a first look at character selection, upcoming Ridden (yes, they're basically zombies), and the in-game rogue-like card system.

Back 4 Blood promises a different experience upon each playthrough with new threats appearing each time you load up the game. Teams of four players can choose from 4 playable characters aka “ the Cleaners” who are faced with infected known as the “the Ridden”. These creatures range from the disgusting to the downright terrifying and each Cleaner has their own unique weapons and personalities. By utilising the card system, players can make the Back4Blood Alpha more challenging or simply customise it more to their liking. This can include spawning larger hordes of enemies, generating fog, and/or restricting the amount of ammo on the map.

Fans were quick to voice their excitement for the game after it was first announced at The 2020 Game Awards last week, with many making comparisons to Left 4 Dead thanks to Turtle Rock's past work on the series. 

The alpha is available from December 17 - December 21 and requires players interested to sign up at back4blood.com 

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Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.