Back 4 Blood Review (suniki)
Back 4 Blood is one of the best zombie horde shooters, reviewbombed due to high expectations set by the developers. A lot of people seem disappointed that it wasn't Left 4 Dead 3.
I believe we should judge things for what they are and not what they aren't. By doing so, the argument that it isn't Left 4 Dead 3 partially falls apart.
The core gameplay is exactly what Left 4 Dead is, an ebb and flow of overwhelming zombie hordes with occasional boss fights, and periods of calm intended for scavenging. Back 4 Blood, as can be expected, applies the formula well, with a variety of commons, specials, and bosses, which necessitates strong teamwork much like L4D. Every special has 3 different variants, even commons have variants, and there are a couple of bosses. There are 4 difficulty levels ranging from Recruit to No Hope, which don't really affect damage. But they change the number of corruption cards, which can change or add different types of enemies and affect HP and weapons. All that is to say, the combat has huge variety and replayability, more so than Left 4 Dead.
There is an RPG-like leveling system for weapons, weapon mods, and items (common, rare, ..., legendary) which give you a sense of progress for every campaign run. Upgrading medkits and pills require copper which can be found across the map. Some criticize the fact that you can't take a mod from one weapon and put it in another. I agree with the criticism, but I can also somewhat understand it. Comparing weapons and their mods takes a long time, and people often get hit in the meantime. They would take even more time and damage, if mods were swappable.
There is the infamous deck building system that some may not like because it adds a learning curve. I assure you, if you can read this review, you can understand it and make it your own. I think the cards are a nice feature as it allows you to make specialized classes, e.g. healer/support, tank, DPS, etc. thus enabling you to play how you want and putting even more emphasis on team-building. The downside is that often players don't think about roles, so they will for example hoard healing items even though you are the medic, or the DPS guy gets too far away from the support and gets incapped from a couple of commons.
You can easily obtain most of the cards in a couple of hours, so it's not too much of a grind. Some good cards require skull totems to unlock, which can only be found in the "hive" levels.
Some criticized the developers for haphazardly rebalancing the card system, but this issue is closed as the developers are not working on the game anymore for better or worse.
One thing B4B lacks, which L4D has, is good writing. Evangelo, in particular, I find jarring. He has a habit of always second-guessing himself. Is he supposed to be an insecure guy?, because this is not how insecure people behave. None of the characters are really memorable, except for Hoffman with his extensive knowledge of conspiracy theories. I can listen to him all day. There is also one line from Holly that always cracks me up, after she wacks a common in the face with a baseball bat: "I'm sorry, did that ruin your day??" Other than that, the writing quality doesn't come close to that of L4D. I mean, in the beginning I often confused Jim and Walker, because they both rarely speak and both wear a cap. Do B4B characters even have a backstory?
I think the main purpose of the characters in B4B is just to have team bonuses, which include things like more stamina, damage, ammo, etc. This complements the deck building aspect, and is more interesting than their dialogue.
Another more severe problem I have is with a part of the community. The complexity of the game introduces new communication issues. To give some examples, one guy got frustrated because he was pinging to a position and the rest of the team didn't follow his pings. He started to talk down on us, which led to a little fight. Not long after, he and another guy left and I had to finish the act with only 2 players. In another case I was playing as the doc and didn't realize someone wanted a heal, so the person got frustrated and screamed in their mic, then suicided during a horde and left. And so on. There are many more examples involving different aspects of the game that people got mad at or mocked others for, which would not have happened in a simpler game like L4D. It doesn't help that the game relies partly on crossplay with console gamers to maintain its playerbase, whose only means of communication is their microphone. This may be a non-issue for some, but for me it's the main reason I'm reluctant to play B4B. Other coop zombie games are less toxic I think for the above reasons and perhaps also because B4B can be quite challenging on No Hope.
One last, short note on the (rest of the) negative reviews. They can be summarized as follows: In comparison to L4D, B4B has very little interactivity with the environment, i.e. nothing breaks or flies away when you shoot at it, very few zombie animations, no mod support, and no further game updates. These are fair points, and if that bothers you, then don't buy this game. In my experience, however, I was too busy playing and enjoying the game to notice any of this. Those are also not the reasons why I enjoy L4D, but that's a whole 'nother story.
All in all, Back 4 Blood is a great coop zombie horde shooter, especially if you let go of the whole L4D comparison. Get it on sale and you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality gameplay. Read the negative reviews for potential dealbreakers, though I think I've been quite comprehensive and fair in representing them here.