The newest trailer for upcoming zombie survival shooter Back 4 Blood has officially dropped at this year's E3 ahead of the game's open beta. The trailer expands on the teaser released a few days ago at this year's Summer Games Fest, and offers up a real first look at Back 4 Blood's Swarm Mode and PvP.

The trailer is the most reminiscent thus far of Left 4 Dead trailers of yesteryear, and that's hardly surprising given the complex origin story of Back 4 Blood as a whole. Developer Turtle Rock Studios, then operating as Valve South when it built and released the groundbreaking Left 4 Dead series, knew it had created the golden goose when their zombie-centric FPS games skyrocketed into success. But this apparently wasn't a view shared by parent company Valve, which led to the splintering of the two factions back in 2011. Ten years and a few fresh titles later, Turtle Rock Studios resurrected their successful zombie formula as the basis for Back 4 Blood, a game that is and isn't Left 4 Dead.

Related: Left 4 Dead Spiritual Sequel Back 4 Blood Gives First Gameplay Look

Back 4 Blood's reveal led to a significant level of hype for players who fondly remember L4D and felt summarily disappointed by Valve's decision not to continue the series. A gameplay trailer released earlier this year demonstrated the familiar 4-person co-op versus swarms of zombies (known as Ridden) along with mutated variants that exhibit extraordinary skills and talent for carnage. While the game was originally slated for a June 22 release, Turtle Rock opted to push it back to October 12 in order to take more time to polish the game. The latest trailer, which officially released today at E3, offers up a better look at Back 4 Blood's recently announced PvP mode, which is exactly as similar to Left 4 Dead's Versus mode as veterans of the series would expect. PvP pits a team of human characters versus a team of special-class Ridden backed by swarms of common zombies battling it out for dominance, which you can check out below:

Turtle Rock has promised that Back 4 Blood will be more than just Left 4 Dead with a clever turn of phrase, and it should be, with its more diverse cast of characters, each with individual skills and strengths/weaknesses, versus the four in L4D that a player would pick just for aesthetic purposes. The game's new card system will also undoubtedly help smooth out the predictability issues that plagued L4D and keep replayability value in Back 4 Blood high. But at its core, the real goal of Back 4 Blood is to pay homage to its forebears, and the latest trailer certainly helps remind players that even though it's been ten years since Left 4 Dead 2, that series isn't dead — it's just mutated.

Back 4 Blood won't be out until this fall, but sometime this summer, Turtle Rock will be opening beta, although details on that are still scarce. In the meantime, Left 4 Dead players eagerly awaiting the not-quite-sequel can at least revisit some of the best levels in the original games, and reacquaint themselves with a zombie FPS series done right.

Next: Back 4 Blood Could Come To Xbox Game Pass At Launch

Back 4 Blood will be released on October 12, 2021 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

Source: Xbox and Bethesda Games E3 Showcase

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Michelle Ballestrasse

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Michelle Ballestrasse is a freelance writer, editor, blogger, and baker born and bred in the Bay Area. She starts every day with coffee and a keyboard, and winds down with wine and whatever's new on Steam. Also an avid admirer of alliteration.

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