The Ridden invasion just got a lot worse.
With the release of Back 4 Blood’s first DLC, Tunnels of Terror comes a wave of new mutations, new characters, and new elements to liven up gameplay. Though the DLC is light on expanding the story or universe of Back 4 Blood’s campaign, it brings exciting new features. A new form of currency called Skull Totems, a new kind of mission in the Ridden Hives, and several new cards to fill out your deck await.
For players just starting Back 4 Blood’s gory campaign, the contents of the expansion may take a while to trickle down to you. The newest difficulty, No Hope, shouldn’t be considered unless you’ve beaten the game on Nightmare mode a few times. The Inner Hives of the Ridden Hives are similarly to be avoided unless you want extreme frustration and futile death. But for those who have braved at least a few forays into the Ridden infested streets of Evansburg, there are tons of new goodies to enjoy.
New characters
Say hello to Heng, one of the new characters in Tunnels of Terror. As a Cambodian refugee, Heng is no stranger to survival. He owned and operated one of the restaurants in Evansburg before the collapse. It’s one of the restaurants you visit in the second Act, actually.
Heng comes with some awesome perks that center around reusing accessories. He’s hard to get the hang of at first and requires a very specific deck to reach his full potential, but he’s a great addition to the team of Cleaners. He starts with a pipe bomb, his melee weapon is a chef’s knife, and he cusses just as much as Mom.
He’s awesome.
The other new character released with the Tunnels of Terror DLC is Sharice, the ex-firefighter. Sharice is a natural melee character, giving Holly Forrester a solid run for her money. Sharice comes with the ability to shoot off armor pieces from mutations and use them on herself, which is an absolute game-changer. She starts with a fireman’s axe, she comes with bolstered health, and she has +25% trauma resistance. Coupled with a few stamina and healing cards, Sharice is a tank and a half.
Ridden hives
The biggest part of Tunnels of Terror is the Ridden Hives. Located throughout the campaign in random places, Ridden Hives are extra levels within levels. As you traverse Evansburg, you’ll find glowing purple masses of flesh called Ridden Hives. Standing by them will let you enter them. Inside you’ll be tasked with finding three Skull Totems, weird effigies of death that you can use as melee weapons, along with the nearest exit. Within these levels within levels are more levels, the Inner Hives. Inner Hives are a gauntlet of corruption cards and special Ridden that acts as a finale level.
There are a total of seven Ridden Hives to discover and complete, each with its own unique hazards, enemies, and golden skulls. Entering a Ridden Hive can mess up your campaign run, so be careful when entering them. If you’re trying to get the achievement for beating each level on a certain difficulty, you cannot enter any Ridden Hives. Entering one will have you essentially forfeit the mission you’re currently on for a Hive mission instead.
New costumes
Turtle Rock Studios made it clear from the start that with each DLC release, they would also release new skins. But only for those who purchased the Ultimate or Deluxe Editions. They followed through with their promise by unveiling several new skins in Tunnels of Terror. Some of them are only obtainable through purchasing the Ultimate or Deluxe Editions, it’s true. But there are other skins available for purchase through the new supply line, both for characters and weapons. A new Hazmat skin for each Cleaner comes with the purchase of Tunnels of Terror.
New cards
As was mentioned, a new supply line is waiting for you on the deck screen that offers new cards for purchase. However, it doesn’t accept supply points like the other lines. It only accepts Skull Totems.
Meaning: for you to buy anything from this line, not only will you have to play a few Ridden Hives, you’ll have to complete them with as many Skull Totems as possible. Good luck.
Once you’ve collected a handful of skulls, you’ll be able to purchase several new cards with brand new mechanics. Pinata and Well Rested are two new cards that are currently meta and will most likely be nerfed in the next update. But players can look out for other additions to their deck if they want them.
Along with new cards for players to purchase through supply lines are new corruption cards to screw them over during their run. Cost of Avarice and Pure Chaos are two cards that will undoubtedly alter how you play the game. Cost of Avarice punishes you for each bit of copper you hold, and Pure Chaos litters the level with explosives but halves your healing efficiency.
Both cards will have you jumping for joy when you see them turn up.
Not.
Legendary weapons
Some of the Ridden Hives in Tunnels of Terror are hard, especially with more significant difficulties. But what’s even more challenging than Ridden hives? Inner hives. As if in response to this unfairly difficult situation, the developers have stocked each Inner Hive with legendary weapons. Seven legendary weapons exist, though you won’t find all or even multiples of them inside each Inner Hive.
From explosive hammers to guns that shoot electricity, the legendary weapons are fun and chaotic to use. However, not everyone will find them applicable. We only ever encountered three of the seven legendaries in all of our runs, and two of them were not to our liking. While they do pack a punch and come with wild abilities, sometimes a good old-fashioned machete will get the job done better.
Warped chests
Warped chests are both good and bad, a new kind of loot to be found inside Ridden Hives. They are good because the only way to find legendary weapons is to open warped chests. They are bad because you are inflicted with 20 trauma damage whenever you open one. Period. No way around that.
Warped chests do provide intel cards, several attachments, and several weapons apiece. But each one that you open will do 20 trauma damage.
You can tell a warped chest apart from normal chests by their color. Warped chests are white with strange red markings on them.
Open them at your own risk.
Warped ridden
Along with Tunnel of Terror’s warped chests and Ridden Hives are three new mutations, Warped Ridden. Warped Ridden are variations on mutations, reskinned and with new abilities.
There’s the Urchin, which belongs to the Hawker family. It spits a spikey trap on the ground that slows and damages players. Shooting the trap or the Urchin will free them up.
Next is the Ripper, which is just a Tallboy on steroids. When they slam the ground, they don’t just do AOE damage and send out three waves of spikes that travel several meters out. You’ll find yourself jumping and dodging like a madman when they appear.
Last is the Shredder, the Boomer variation of Warped Ridden. This mutation is just plain unfair. Instead of spitting bile on you or exploding when they get close, these guys draw you close to them. You’ll see them stand still and flex their arms like they’re showing off. Beware. They are about to use an ability that acts like a black hole and pulls everything towards it.
Warped Ridden, on top of already challenging ferocious and monstrous mutations, will keep you on your toes like never before.
Final thoughts on B4B’s Tunnels of Terror
Tunnels of Terror is a great first expansion for Back 4 Blood. It adds new features just about everywhere and enhances the already intense gameplay. Though it doesn’t offer much in the way of story, there was a little story in Back 4 Blood, to begin with. And though their new mutations are just reskinned versions of old ones, they look different enough that you’ll be able to tell them apart from a distance.
All in all, Tunnels of Terror delivers plenty of new content and is worth the purchase. Turtle Rock Studios is sure to take some time editing and revising their new mechanics and features, but Tunnels of Terror only makes us more excited for the next two DLCs down the road. Until then, we’ll be working our way through No Hope difficulty and trying to figure out why Sharice is so badass.
