A few pointers before you start your first run
With the early access period wrapped up and out of the way, it’s time to get into theBack 4 Bloodopen beta, which runs from August 12–16. Assemble your oldLeft 4 Deadcrew.
You don’t need to do anything special to partake — theBack 4 Bloodopen beta is free across PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, as it should be. you may download it from thePlayStation Store,Microsoft Store, orSteam. It’s already live now, and access won’t be shut off until noon Pacific on August 16. A pretty good span of time, I’d say.
When you first start up the game, you’ll get to poke around Fort Hope, a hub where you’re able to customize your deck of PvE and PvP cards. (And yeah, the beta includes both modes.) Deck crafting might look like too much of a bother at first glance, butit’s worth picking out cards for a custom deckso you can draw the sorts of abilities and perks that best fit your playstyle while you’re progressing through the Act 1 campaign levels.
Battle Lust(“Melee kills heal two Health”) andCombat Knife(“Turns your Bash into a Knife that counts as a Melee weapon”) are easy recommendations. From my playtime so far, trust me, you’re going to want something that can help you sustain.Back 4 Blood, at least on the lower Survivor difficulty, tends to be a death-by-a-thousand-cuts situation.
Once you’ve played a bit, you should have some red currency (Supply Points) that you can invest into card and cosmetic unlocks using Supply Lines back at Fort Hope — they’re set up on linear progression tracks. It’s early, but I already like the look of theInspiring Confidencecard that heals all teammates for 10 seconds whenever a player is downed.
Another tip: in the main Play menu (accessible with the Tab key on PC), there’s aPreferenceslisting — that’s where you can go to disable cross-play, flip to a private campaign lobby, and choose your preference for voice chat in matchmaking.
With that said, have at it. This is as close to a newLeft 4 Deadas we’re gonna get. Chris and I alreadyshared our thoughtson theBack 4 Bloodbeta, which we liked it, even if we do have some reservations about the online-only requirement and lack of split-screen.
