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After years of wishing, pleading, and hoping for a new Left 4 Dead game, Turtle Rock Studios has finally granted us the spiritual successor to Valve's long-dormant zombie-slaying franchise. Back 4 Blood is essentially Left 4 Dead 3 in everything but name and it has brought back the old school, cooperative, horde-shooting fun that we've been deprived of for over a decade.
Turtle Rock is doing everything they can to try to top their old series and that includes increasing the number of weapons available to lay waste to packs of Ridden. There's quite a collection of guns and other instruments of destruction for you to pick up, so let's go through the various weapon types so you're prepared as possible for this zombie apocalypse.
Assault Rifles
Assault rifles are a good all-around weapon type to start with. They tend tꦗo have large magazines, decent damage and are good at medium to long-range depending on the gun.
The assault rifle category is quite possibly the most varied of the primary gun types. Most of these weapons are fully automatic, although the AK47 and th🌸e Scar have smaller magazines and are less accurate than the M4 Carbin⭕e. The trade-off is that the AK47 and Scar offer up a bit more damage output than the M4, so it depends on whether you want your gun to hit harder or shoot straighter. Meanwhile, the M16 is a three-round burst rifle and the Ranch Rifle is semi-automatic which almost makes it feel like a sniper rifle. So you have a few different options depending on your assault rifle preference.
Shotguns
The good old-fashioned shotgun is a reliable weapon that's capable of dealing high damage at close range. Aiming one of these at a Ridden's weak point is usually enough to put it down in just a few shots. A shotgun's damage is much lower at medium range and almost negligible at long range, which makes it a poor weapon to take out enemies from afar.
Most shotguns take longer to reload as your character has to manually load each bullet. The only exception to this is the AA12💖, which is an automatic shotgun that can be reloaded with a magazine. The AA12 is the only fully automatic shotgun, while the Super 90 is semi-automatic. These shotguns are deadly, although they do tܫrade a bit of damage in exchange for their faster fire rate.
In comparison, the 870 Express and the TAC14 are very powerful at close range, but they're both pump-action shotguns which means you have to make each shot count. Otherwise, you risk getting caught in a horde of Ridden with no bullets and a long reload animation.
Sniper Rifles
A sniper rifle is a good option if you're trying to avoid getting up close and personal with the Ridden. They're great for medium to long-range encounters, and they can make short work of Special Ridden like Tallboys or Reekers. These guns may be awkward to use at close range as they tend to have very low fire rates in exchange for their high damage output and accuracy. Attaching a laser sight may make it slightly easier to free-aim a sniper rifle and shoot at incoming enemies. If you increase your bullet penetration stat, then one bullet may be enough to take out a few Ridden at once.
The sniper rifle with the best fire rate is the M1A, which is semi-automatic. The other two rifles - the Phoenix 350L and the Barret M95 - are bolt-ꦓaction, which means they need to be reloaded after each shot. Each of these guns is effective from afar, with the M1A being the fastest to fire, the Phoenix 350L being right in the middle in terms of damage, handling, and mobility, and the Barret M95 being one of the most powerful guns in the game but also has one of the slowest reload animations and fire rates.
Light Machine Guns
If you want to fire a lot of bullets fast, then you'll probably enjoy using a light machine gun. These weapons have large magazines and a fast rate of fire, although they tend to be harder to control, take longer to reload and do less damage per bullet. This makes them ideal for close and medium-range encounters, and less effective for long-range due to their poor accuracy. That being said, if you can adjust your accuracy and damage stats with cards and attachments, then an LMG can be a fine way to mow down swarms of Ridden.
There are only two LMGs in the game right now. The M2🍌49 has a speedy fire rate and large magazine, while the RPK fires slightly slower but is far more accurate and has less recoil. Eit꧂her way, if you want a gun that will let you spray bullets like a fire hose, light machine guns will do the trick.
Submachine Guns
Submachine guns are similar to LMGs in the sense that they let you fire a bunch of bullets quickly. They're all fully automatic, but their damage output may seem a bit middling in comparison to other gun types. These weapons tend to have fast reload times, great accuracy, and unbelievably quick fire rates.
The Vector has a lightning-fast rate of fire but won't do a whole lot of damage. The Uzi is slightly slower than the Vector, but has a larger magazine and deals a bit more damage. The MP5 and the UMP45 are similar in how they handle, although the MP5 is more accurate and the UMP45 is more powerful.
Sidearms
Your secondary weapon slot is reserved for two types of weapons. The first type is sidearms, which encompass a varie๊ty of different types of pistols as well as the odd shotgun or machine pistol. All these weapons are back-ups to your main primary weapon, although in a pinch they can ♛still inflict a good amount of damage.
There are semi-automatic pistols like the Beretta M9, the Glock 23, the M1911, and the most powerful of the bunch, the Desert Eagle. There's also the Beretta M9 Burst, which is a three-round burst variant of the Beretta M9. For fully automatic pistols, you have the Glock 23 Auto and the quick-firing machine pistol, the TEC 9.
In terms of sidearms that deal the most damage, there's the aforementioned Desert Eagle or the double-action pistol, the Magnum .357 (which is so strong it takes rifle rounds and can practically be a sniper rifle with the right sight.) But the most powerful sidearm is arguably The Belgium, which is a sawed-off double-barrel shotgun that hits like a truck in exchange for a terrible fire rate and slow reload animation.
Melee Weapons
Finally, there are melee weapons, which is the other type of secondary weapon. Let's face it, there's nothing worse than being surrounded by the undead with absolutely no ammo. Melee Weapons don't require ammo, so you can plant them into the skulls of nearby Ridden without fear of depleting your bullet supply.
The downside is that they only work at close range and drain your stamina bar with each swing. However, you can make up for that negative by equipping cards that boost your stamina and stamina regeneration. There's even a card that lets you recover health for each melee kill, which can make using melee weapons a very viable option.
The biggest difference between these weapons is the way they're swung. The Baseball Bat and Machete are swung horizontally, which makes them useful in taking out several Ridden at once. The Hatchet and Fire Axe are less effective at taking out hordes as they're swung vertically, but they do more damage. No matter what you choose, you'll definitely take some heads off with one of these.