Killing Floor 3 by developer Tripwire Interactive has finally arrived in all its gory glory. Another FPS shooter and live-service game has entered the fray. How does the game play and does it do enough to stand out amongst the many other live-service multiplayer games out there? Keep reading to find out.
Killing Zeds Is Fun
The main objective of Killing Floor 3 is simple: jump in and kill the Zeds, the main enemies of Killing Floor 3. They are zombie like monsters that come in waves at players. There are many different types of Zeds from the weak Cysts to the massive Fleshpounds that deal serious damage to anybody in their way. Each Zed has their own strength and weaknesses and each type need to be tackled in different ways. Cysts are pretty much normal zombie types that don’t require too much to kill. Just shoot them and they do down. Simple. In groups they are more dangerous. If they trap you it is all over so keep your distance and make note of your surroundings.
Fleshpounds are extremely difficult to take down. They take a lot of damage and charge players down their robotic type hands that can be launched at players for maximum damage. Best thing to do is keep your distance and aim for the head to quickly take them down.
There are more enemy types like Bloaters and Crawlers but the main thing to take away from the combat in Killing Floor 3 is that it is just fun to kill Zeds. Jumping in and surviving waves of them is just simply fun. Mowing them down with the many weapons on offer, from assault rifles to katanas. Splattering their guts and blood all over the floors can be addicting. Just turn off your brain and enjoy surviving the waves that come at you. The movement is also very good in the game. You can slide and dash around enemies, sprint and slide to keep your distance while shooting at Zeds. It’s a polished mechanic and is very satisfying to use.
Another fun part of Killing Floor 3 is the weekly mutation. It’s basically a weekly mission that strengthens Zeds and makes them more difficult to fight. A fun challenge for players who want to prove their skill. I still haven’t passed one yet. They are relentless. Zed Time is also another fun mechanic in the game. Kill enough Zeds by headshots or shooting them in glowing areas on their bodies and Zed Time activates. This slows time down and players can take advantage and kill other Zeds in slow motion for the next few seconds.
Boss Fights
Not only do players need survive waves of Zed coming at them but there are also optional mission objectives scattered throughout the levels. Searching corpses, scanning bio material or finding audio tapes, there are multiple mission objectives that can also be completed for more XP. The game has three difficulty types: normal, hard and hell on earth. Hard difficulty is probably the best for those hardcore FPS zombie shooters and offers the most fun because of its challenge. Hell on earth is for the best and is incredibly challenging and punishing so level up before tackling it. The final wave is a boss fight and while fun and challenging, there are only 3 boss types: Chimera, Impaler and Queen Crawler.
Each have their own abilities. The Impaler tries to impale you and shoots missiles as well. The Chimera spawns in Zeds and can suck your soul out and uses portals to teleport. And the Queen Crawler lays eggs of little spider type Zeds to chase you down. They are fun to go against but after a while they can get boring. Three boss types just isn’t a lot and can become repetitive as time goes on.
Operators
There are six operator, or as they are called in-game, Perks, available in Killing Floor 3. Commando, Firebug, Engineer, Medic, Sharpshooter and Ninja. Each has their own abilities and start off with their own gadget. The Engineer starts off with a multi-tool. This gadget opens up ziplines, armor boxes and turrets scattered around the map. Very handy and makes traversal easier. Turrets also help a lot with killing hordes of Zeds. His ultimate is two cannons that turn Zeds into mush.
The Commando starts with an ammo bag and his ultimate is a drone that kills nearby enemies. Each brings something unique with their ultimate’s so choosing the best one for a mission is important. They have their own skill trees that improve their abilities and while they have certain guns tied to their class, other classes can still buy and upgrade those weapons at the store when they have finished a wave.
Little Here To Play
There’s not much to Killing Floor 3. It’s a simple horde shooter. Kill Zeds, survive rounds and complete the level. It’s a fun, solid game. Playing with friends and even randoms is fun. The gunplay is solid and I love that weapons aren’t tied to operators and you can use any ones you want. But the content is lacking. There’s 30 guns available and most of them are upgrades of the same one. Six Perks to choose from isn’t a lot and you can get bored of them after a few hours of playing.
There are only 8 levels available at launch and you can get through them rather quickly. After a few hours, I felt like I did nearly everything. Killing Floor 3 feels like its still in early access. Overall, Killing Floor 3 is a solid, fun zombie shooter but like most live-service games it needs more and it needs it now.
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