Anyone going into Killing Floor 3 will likely have a good idea of what to expect, with its premise not exactly being a great stretch of the imagination. This is true not just for Killing Floor 2 veterans, but anyone who has dived into the world of co-op zombie slaying before.
Playing as a team of heavily armed and skilfully trained mercenaries, it’s a simple case of wiping out waves of cybernetically enhanced zombies (zeds), earning cash per kill to secure superior arsenal before taking on a random, rampaging, boss that needs hefty ammo reserves to tackle.
As concepts go, it’s traceable as far back as 2008’s Left 4 Dead. Where this long-time coming follow-up excels (Killing Floor 2 was released in 2016) is with its impressive amount of polish and refinement, showcasing what’s possible if developers aren’t bullied by their profit-hungry overlords into creating annual (or even bi-annual) instalments.
The idea is to work as a team, coming to the rescue of downed teammates, doling additional ammo packs, and making it rain with wedges of spare cash. Before leaping into the online mode though – which supports up to six players – there’s a short tutorial to playthrough to ensure no player goes in blind and clueless. This includes a jaunt around the Stronghold HQ – a solo hub with terminals to access perk skill trees, assignments (challenges) and customisable loadouts. The shooting range notwithstanding, it’s little more than fancy window dressing, as all of these menus can be accessed by a single button push, leaving just a sprint to the VTOL chopper to commence matchmaking.
While matches can be played solo, you’ll certainly need a lot of luck. With nobody to watch your back, it’s very easily to become surrounded by zeds, leading to a quick and messy demise. Now seems a good time to mention that Killing Floor 3 is rather gruesome, boasting full body dismemberment.
There’s a choice of character classes that includes a ‘firebug’ pyromaniac, an engineer favouring close range combat, a good-all-rounder commando, a female sniper, and a medic with homing healing darts. The ninja is the standout, armed with a sword that greatly shows off the new mutilation engine, along with retrievable shurikens. Each character has a cooldown skill, a unique gadget, and can carry a tool such as a shock trap. Most beneficial of all is the multi-tool, used to activate turrets and ziplines. Over time the starting cash tally is increased, allowing access to bigger weapons and more armour sooner. The crafting element meanwhile gives the chance to customise weapons fully, altering their stats in the process, with resources gained from killing zeds and occasionally by smashing equipment.
Customised weapons are expensive to purchase mid-match yet are essential for getting the upper hand, and it can take a while to fully upgrade every weapon component. There’s a need to invest in the skill tree too, and likewise this is a very time-consuming pursuit, with each perk only seeing a marginal improvement to stats. It seems reasonable to suggest that after trying out every character class, most players are going to stick with just one or two – to max out every character will require hundreds of hours. The ninja became our go-to, largely because a single sword swipe takes out multiple zeds. That, and the obvious fact that the sword doesn’t consume ammo, freeing up cash for body armour and shurikens. It’s also possible to purchase other classes’ sub-weapons, giving the chance to experiment.
A typical match lasts around twenty minutes, consisting of five waves and a boss fight. It’s possible to continue playing once a match is over, rather than returning to the HQ, and the next map can be voted on. Locations vary from a trashed research lab to torched city streets, and they’re all impeccably designed. Zeds don’t simply spawn before your eyes but come shambling out of dark corridors and tumbling out of air vents. They’re smart enough to use ladders and climb small structures, often catching players off guard. Although it’s possible to close doors behind you, they don’t hold for long – and then you’ll have a mob to deal with. Eventually you’ll even learn the best places to lure bosses into. And if in doubt, retreat to a turret.
Environments are detailed and well-lit, while ziplines help get around quickly. Rather than keep players in one location, there’s an emphasis on moving around the map, with the vendor pod changing location between waves. It’s here that weapons can be exchanged, stocks refilled, and extra cash requested – making it essential to visit. While it’s possible to vote to skip downtime by readying up, this lull between zed slaying does slow the pace a tad, and quite often you’ll see players running back to the location wherein they came. Bosses meanwhile can withstand a lot of damage, often spawning unique minions. One boss fight involves taking on three brutes at once, which can prove tricky if the squad becomes separated. If a boss targets you specifically, they can leave you vulnerable after a critical hit. Thankfully most will dole widespread damage rather than focusing on a single player.
I had no trouble getting into matches and didn’t notice any matchmaking quirks. Also noticeable is how well the game engine copes with the carnage, with very little in the way of performance issues, bugs and glitches. Indeed, it’s refreshing to see an online focused title arrive in such a sturdy state. The optional season passes and IAPs do however leave a slightly sour taste – especially if cosmetics are your weakness – and it seems fair to say that some players may expect more than eight maps; even though they are quite different from one another. I was quite surprised to find that I was ready to take on the harder difficulties after less than ten hours of playtime, finishing each map on ‘normal’ mode with relative ease. That said, it could simply be down to being paired with skilled players. Weekly challenges are promised too, and as the first is nothing short of brutal, it seems that they’re going to live up to their name.
To say anything more about Killing Zone 3 would be to merely reiterate. It doesn’t have much to offer in the way of originality outside of a few fun gadgets – and perhaps its cutting-edge ninja character class – instead excelling and impressing on a technical level, boasting numerous refinements to the co-op zombie slaying formula and more polish than we’ve come to expect. If you’re looking for an overhaul of the genre though, then you may be left wanting something bolder and more experimental. It definitely plays it quite safe.
If the idea of a no-nonsense co-op zombie horde battler with little bloat appeals, you might want to get in on the ground floor here, as there’s a steep climb ahead of any players aiming to reach the highest ranks. Hopefully future updates will make the journey towards achieving zombie slaying stardom slightly less arduous.
Tripwire’s Killing Floor 3 is out now on PS5, Xbox Series and PC.