New Back 4 Blood trailer introduces the Cleaners and their special talents

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Eight characters will each bring their own abilities to the table

The latest Back 4 Blood trailer introduces the eight playable characters, known as Cleaners, and their special abilities. 

Back 4 Blood is a four-player co-op game made by the studio behind Left 4 Dead that pits the Cleaners against the Ridden (AKA zombies). Where Left 4 Dead only had four playable heroes, Back 4 Blood has eight, and they all have different abilities and gameplay bonuses. That means that, unlike its inspiration, Back 4 Blood players will likely have favorite characters (or mains) based on their abilities. 

Here are the eight Cleaners, and what they have to offer:

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  • Walker: Increases damage and team health, while precision kills will increase accuracy 
  • Doc: Increases healing efficiency and team trauma resistance, while adding a low health heal bonus 
  • Karlee: Adds a single inventory slot, increases team speed, and can sense hazards
  • Jim: Increases ADS speed and team weak spot damage, precision kills increase damage
  • Hoffman: Adds a single offensive item slot, increases team ammo capacity, spawns ammo with every kill
  • Evangelo: Increases stamina regeneration and team movement speed, can break out of grabs
  • Mom: Adds an extra support inventory slot, adds one extra team life, can instant revive
  • Holly: Increases damage resistance and team stamina, will recover stamina with kills

It seems like Back 4 Blood is taking the zombie-killing aspects of Left 4 Dead and adding a healthy dose of hero shooter, which will make facing off against its different enemy types even more interesting. The Ridden you'll be up against  include a the tank-like Breaker and the Snitcher, who acts as an enemy spotter. There's also the Ogre, who throws boulders, and the Hag who will eat you whole.
 

It seems like there's even more enemy types that have yet to be revealed, so expect Back 4 Blood to throw the zombie book at you. Back 4 Blood will release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, PS4, PS5, and PC on October 12. 

How Back 4 Blood is using a card system to be different from Left 4 Dead.  

Alyssa Mercante
Alyssa Mercante
Former Features Writer

Alyssa Mercante used to be a features writer at GamesRadar+ and is now a freelance writer and editor. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.