Why a Rumored Back 4 Blood 2 Has a Bigger Mountain to Climb Than the First

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 29, 2024 17 Views 7 Min Read
Why a Rumored Back 4 Blood 2 Has a Bigger Mountain to Climb Than the First



Released in October 2021, Back 4 Blood was a fairly solid zombie shooter. Though it may not have been able to fill Left 4 Dead‘s bloody shoes, Back 4 Blood did still offer some co-op fun for those willing to overlook some technical hiccups and some repetitive combat encounters, and it’s clear that its developers had a deep passion for the zombie genre.




Now, three years after launch, a rumor has surfaced that Back 4 Blood might be getting a sequel. As initially reported by MP1st, stuntman Jesse Hutch recently updated his iStunt resume to include a game called “Gobi 2,” which was listed as a Turtle Rock Studios project. With “Gobi” being the codename for Back 4 Blood, fans have theorized this resume listing all but confirms that a Back 4 Blood sequel is on its way. Though this listing has since been removed from Hutch’s resume, a Back 4 Blood sequel still seems likely to happen at some point, though it could have a few more obstacles in its way than its predecessor.

back 4 blood 2 can right one wrong

Related
The Rumored Back 4 Blood 2 Can Right One of the Original’s Major Wrongs

Now that rumors of a Back 4 Blood sequel are circulating, a potential follow-up has the chance to fix a major gameplay issue.

The Rumored Back 4 Blood Sequel Might Have Some Challenges Ahead of It


The First Back 4 Blood Released In a Different Gaming Landscape

The zombie genre has maintained its popularity pretty consistently over the last three decades, with a handful of well-regarded games landing every year. 2021 was no exception. Back 4 Blood released right alongside fellow zombie-centric titles like Resident Evil Village, Days Gone, After the Fall, and World War Z: Aftermath.

But while all of these solid zombie titles were released within the same year, each one offered a very different gameplay experience. RE Village was a survival horror game, Days Gone was an open-world action-adventure title, After the Fall was made for VR, and World War Z: Aftermath was a third-person shooter. Even against all that, Back 4 Blood still stood out with its Left 4 Dead-like co-op FPS formula.

But if a Back 4 Blood sequel was released today, the same wouldn’t necessarily be true. Dying Light 2 and Dead Island 2 have become flagship entries in the zombie genre, setting a new bar for first-person zombie-slaying action. And more recently, No More Room in Hell 2 has entered Steam Early Access, offering an experience that plays very similarly to Left 4 Dead while pushing the formula forward with 8 player co-op and permadeath mechanics.


Back 4 Blood Doesn’t Have The Strongest Legacy

A hypothetical Back 4 Blood sequel wouldn’t be able to rest on its laurels, not just because of the increased competition in the modern zombie market, but because of the first game’s mixed legacy. While the first Back 4 Blood certainly had its fans, it was never a major hit with critics, and though updates were released that fixed technical issues and added content, it was never quite enough to give the game a second wind.

As such, a Back 4 Blood sequel wouldn’t be able to survive on brand recognition alone. Instead, a Back 4 Blood sequel would need to make some significant improvements to its predecessor’s formula, and go out of its way to try and get fans excited about a new entry. Simply being a Left 4 Dead spiritual successor probably wouldn’t be enough to pique players’ interest anymore.

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