Back 4 Blood's zombie-slaying crew look cool as hell

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Choose from eight brain-bashing heroes, each with unique perks.

VIDEO: The new Back 4 Blood trailer. Also on YouTube.

Turtle Rock Studios has unveiled the ragtag group of zombie slayers coming to Back 4 Blood.

Dubbed the Cleaners, there'll be a total of eight playable characters—each with their own specialities and abilities to take down the cheeky brain chompers. The latest trailer dives into each character, giving us a rough idea of their personality and role within the group.

Walker seems to be your bog-standard FPS dudebro, a war veteran and "the guy everybody can depend on." Walker will gain buffs to his accuracy for precision kills, and has advantages in extra damage and team health. The support role goes to the aptly named Doc, a woman whose latex gloves are somehow standing strong in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. Doc has a low health heal bonus, with increased healing efficiency and team trauma resistance.

No ensemble is complete without The Edgy One, and Karlee fills that role. She "senses hazards," presumably traps and other environmental omens, with her buffs going towards the speed of item usage for the whole team. Sniper Jim has better ADS speed, increased weak spot damage for the whole team and buffed damage from precision kills. 

Back 4 Blood

(Image credit: Turtle Rock Studios)

There's also the ultra-prepared Hoffman—someone who's a little too happy to be caught up in a zombie outbreak. Hoffman increases the team's ammo capacity, has an extra offensive item slot and can spawn ammo through kills. Cleaner newbie Evangelio can break out of grabs, with specs in stamina regen and team movement speed. 

And then there's Mom, the group's maternal figure. She gives the team an extra life, has an extra support slot in her inventory and an incredibly handy instant revive ability. Wrapping up the group is the trailer's narrator and " the glue that holds the whole team together" Holly. Killing zombies will recover her stamina, with her buffs going into damage resistance and extra stamina for the team. The trailer also gives a glimpse at some of the big bad zombies encountered in the game—like the terrifyingly hench Breaker or the fast-as-lightning Snitcher.

It's a pretty robust-looking crew, with a nice pick-and-mix of different abilities and buffs. It'll be interesting to see how different character synergies work, especially when you throw the deckbuilding mechanic into the mix.

Back 4 Blood releases on October 12, with an open beta arriving this summer.

Mollie Taylor
Mollie Taylor
Features Producer

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.  

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