Last week’s announcement about the collaboration between J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Games and Left 4 Dead designer Mike Booth was sparse on details. However, the first official look at 4: Loop debuted at The Game Awards. In the trailer below, this co-op game leaves players hopelessly outmatched against alien invaders. The one advantage that the humans have is that they can die over and over again like Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow, and awaken in 3D-printed bodies with the knowledge they need to succeed.
The trailer reveals that Earth was conquered in minutes, and most of the human population was frozen in place by some kind of crystalline structure. The scientist narrating the trailer takes the blame for what happened, and also the credit for the potential solution. By using the scientist’s 3D-flesh printer, players are effectively immune from permanent death. The game doesn’t appear to have an actual time loop when players die, but the knowledge players gain carries over to the next attempt.
In an interview with PlayStation Blog, Booth revealed that 4:Loop is a significant step forward from Left 4 Dead. Players can actually pick up their fallen comrades and carry them to safety. And the world itself is more ripe for exploration:
