Meet the ‘Cleaners’ of upcoming Left 4 Dead-alike Back 4 Blood

And boy howdy, are they quippin’

For those of you eager to start mashing monsters in that unmistakable Left 4 Dead-style once again, the Turtle Rock Studios incoming Back 4 Blood will definitely scratch that gross, oozing itch. Publisher Warner Bros. Interactive has released a new trailer, spotlighting the eight heroes getting set to take lead to head come October.

Narrated by Spunky & Sarcastic ™ gal Holly, the trailer introduces us to Back 4 Blood’s rag-tag gang of zombie slayers — or “Cleaners” — getting set to wade their way through armies of the undead. These include medical expert Doc, marksman Jim, explosives nerd Hoffman, obligatory alterna-girl Karlee, and a more matured, tough-as-old-leather lady known as “Mom”. Each of Back for Blood’s eight Cleaners comes loaded for bear with unique skills, allowing for smart synergy between well-scouted teams.

We also get to see a selection of elite enemies taken from Back 4 Blood‘s horde, who are known in-universe as “The Ridden”. Many of these enemies’ behaviors and attack patterns will seem very familiar to Left 4 Dead veterans, with the screaming “Snitch”, performing the functions of L4D‘s notorious Witch; the “Breaker”, who is a variant on L4D‘s mighty Tank; and a glimpse of an unnamed take on L4D‘s Charger.

I won’t deny I found a lot of the trailer’s style, dialogue, and humor horribly “Focus Group Cool” to the point that it legitimately made me cringe a little, but the gameplay itself is looking solid, and the eight-strong cast adds a welcome level of depth to the team-building meta. Back 4 Blood is not even remotely shy in its intention to be the Left 4 Dead sequel that may never actually arrive, and it looks well on the road to achieving that goal.

Thanks to an unwelcome delay, there are still many months to go before The Cleaners finally hit the streets, but Back 4 Blood looks like it will certainly deliver the requisite bout of chaotic, blood ‘n’ guts action when it launches, October 12, on PlayStation, PC, and Xbox platforms.