Back 4 Blood - Expansion 2: Children of the Worm Review Summary

While new enemies, varied maps, and a better campaign shine, the grindy duffel bag system and overpriced short campaign disappoint.

New enemies add challenge: Players appreciate the addition of new enemy types like cultists with guns, traps, and chemical attacks, which increase the game's difficulty and variety.

New maps are large and varied: The 6 new maps in Act 5 are noted for their size, variety, and surprises, contributing to a fresh experience.

New weapons and cards: The new weapons, accessories, and cards are well-received, with players finding them solid and enjoyable to use.

Levels are fun and exciting: The levels, especially the first three, are described as fun, exciting, and well-designed, with nice variety.

DLC is an improvement: This DLC is considered better than the first one, with longer missions and a lower price, offering good value.

Grindy duffel bag system: The duffel bag mechanic forces random, tedious unlocks, requiring online play for new cards and often rewarding duplicates or unwanted items. Clusters describe this as worse than previous grind systems.

Overpriced for little content: Players consistently complain that the DLC costs $15, offering too little content for the price, and should be $5–10. Clusters highlight this as a major issue across many reviews.

Too short campaign: The campaign is repeatedly described as short, with only 6 missions taking around 1.5–2 hours. Clusters note the abrupt ending and lack of checkpoints.

Ending is unsatisfying: The story ends abruptly and lacks a climactic finale, with many calling it anticlimactic or disappointing. Clusters highlight the weak conclusion and confused narrative.

Prophet Dan is poorly designed: The new character Prophet Dan is criticized as useless on higher difficulties, encourages dying, and has minimal customization. Clusters point out his contrived personality and gameplay flaws.

Act 5 campaign with 6 missions: The DLC adds a new Act 5 campaign consisting of 6 missions, set in a prison and other oppressive, linear environments. The campaign is shorter than base game acts 3 and 4, and includes a dark storyline about a cult worshiping worm parasites.

New enemy types introduced: The DLC introduces various new enemy types including cultists with guns, traps, and chemical attacks, as well as specials like Crones, Pusflingers, Slashers, Snipers, and juggernaut-like enemies. These enemies have unique abilities such as ranged attacks, DoT, and crowd control.

New weapons and items: The DLC adds a variety of new weapons, including Lockjaw sniper rifle, melee claws, smoke bombs, bear traps, bow, and iron claws. These items provide new tactical options for players.

New playable character Prophet Dan: Prophet Dan is a new cleaner with abilities focused on resurrection and luck, such as Divine Intervention that causes random effects on revive. His skills do not persist beyond the level, and he has unique dialogue and a stereotypical Irish personality.

Pros: Content variety and quality: Players appreciate the new content, including varied levels, new specials, and team synergy mechanics. The new character is considered funny, and the new weapons like claws make players feel powerful. The DLC adds new mission objectives and a compelling storyline.

Low system requirements: The game runs well on low-end hardware, often described as 'potato PC' friendly. This makes it accessible to a wider audience.

Buy season pass on sale: Multiple clusters strongly recommend purchasing the season pass or annual pass on sale rather than buying individual DLCs, as the pass provides better value at a slightly higher cost but includes all content.

Not worth full price: Many reviews indicate the DLC is overpriced and not worth its full price, with suggestions that it should cost $5–$10 or be heavily discounted to be worthwhile.

Avoid single DLC purchase: Several reviews explicitly advise against buying this DLC individually, stating it is better to get it as part of a bundle or pass to maximize value.

Buy only on discount: A large number of clusters consistently advise waiting for a sale or deep discount before purchasing this DLC, emphasizing that it is not worth the full price.

Ideal for franchise fans: The DLC is recommended for fans of Back 4 Blood or cooperative zombie shooters, and for players who enjoy tactical depth in co-op, but not for those expecting pure zombie slaughter.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $30.00.

Game completion: 2.0h.

Story completion: 2.0h.

Players initially find the DLC fresh and exciting, especially in co-op, but soon encounter tedious grinding, repetitive cart-pushing missions, and a difficulty spike on veteran that turns fun into boredom.

Friction: tedious grinding for supplies and skulls; boring cart-pushing mission design; difficulty spike on veteran causing long, unfun levels; worse grind system compared to previous content; tedious weapon attachment management.

Unlock drivers: playing with friends or joining online players; appreciating co-op tactical depth; expecting story progression rather than pure zombie massacre.

Grind-Hating Progression Seeker: Prefers direct, deterministic progression; avoids randomness and wants to experiment with new cards without grinding missions they dislike. Motivation: Completing unlocks efficiently, but the grind frustrates them into criticizing the design. Stance: no buy.

Difficulty-Focused Veteran: Plays on hardest difficulties, coordinates with team, avoids damage at all costs, and expects every tool (characters, weapons) to be viable. Motivation: Seeking tight, fair co‑op challenge and mastery of high‑difficulty content. Stance: deep sale.

Value-Conscious Buyer: Plays casually with friends, may only play a few times; not deeply invested in endgame grind. Motivation: Getting enjoyable co‑op content at a fair price; willing to wait for discounts. Stance: sale.

Monetization: The reviews focus entirely on DLC pricing, content value, and the annoyance of having to grind to unlock purchased content. No evidence of in-game microtransactions, pay-to-win mechanics, loot boxes, or currency obfuscation exists. The game offers traditional paid expansions, and complaints are about value for money rather than predatory monetization.