Killing Floor 3 can be a different take on video games. It has difficult stuff to wrap your head around. The premise is fairly straightforward, featuring a rogue group battling a corporation that produces zombies and other genetically enhanced horrors. The gameplay loop is simple: kill Zeds, earn loot, upgrade, and get into the battle again to kill more, then repeat. The gore of the game, with limbs flying around, can enhance the core loop.
The thing that really matters is the loop, because you have to play it over and over, but it becomes tedious the more you play it. This might be evident for a lot of players who played the beta. It was delayed, and it is clear that the delay helps and makes things better. Many might compare it to Payday 3, but there is a difference: Killing Floor 3 can be completed offline from start to finish. It makes you wonder, is Killing Floor 3 worth it? Let’s find out.
Nerrative
Killing Floor 3 takes place in the year 2091. Horzine Corporation has unleashed Zeds for an evil agenda. As part of a special unit, it is up to you to take down the Zeds and clear the way forward. The Zeds are being produced at a really high rate. The premise is designed that way to show the hopeless surroundings of the players. There are a lot of Zeds, which justifies the wording of the premise.
However, the overall plot that propels the game forward is so shallow that it makes me skeptical of the developers. I mean, it’s the type of plot that made me say, Why bother?. There are different main mission objectives that involve visits to different maps and the collection of samples, interaction with switches, backtracking, and performing virus analysis. The next step requires you to survive or win the match, and that’s the end.
Lack of Interactivity
In Killing Floor 3, there is a voice on the radio, but you never actually meet the person behind that voice. Just going near a thing, pressing an interact button, is all that the narrative offers. If you are thinking that there are limited words being said about it, then you are right, because there are not many words to say about it.
It seems like the developer Tripwire Interactive wanted some sort of story for seasonal stuff while at the same time, giving players the freedom to approach the matches the way they see fit. Cinematics, some cutscenes, and the introduction of completing a certain number of matches would have done the job.
Maps
Killing Floor 3 has eight different maps that are spread across different environments. There are sewers, cities with high skyscrapers, a military base, the roof of a tall skyscraper, and a radar station, among others. Some of these maps are memorable. The layout of the maps is also not that rich. Some of them are long corridors that can be too straight for their own good. Such places have different open spaces that your team can control the crowd from.
Inactive turrets, armor caches, and environmental traps give you reason to go back and forth between different spots. Most of the time, you will end up with a boss in a room with little space.
The Feel of it
Overall environment feels devoid of life; bad narrative could be the reason for that. Consider it more of an arcade shooter than a game with emphasis on survival. That’s not an issue, but the issue is that Killing Floor 3 does not provide enough incentive to make you feel like you’re holding on to dear life. The stronghold seems unnecessary the moment you land on a map. Assigning different aspects, like mod crafting and skill unlocking, to generic menus would have been better.
There is a firing range, but it is impossible to test different damage types of weapons on different Zeds in there. Just forget about testing the melee weapon because that’s not even an option. It could have been a hub for you and your friends, which could have been the case if there was anything noteworthy. Changing a specialist can take you back to the beginning of Stronghold, which can get annoying.
Combat
The base gameplay is not bad, even if you can’t change specialists on the fly just because you need a specific role. If you get an increase in specialist heat damage, then all you can do is pray to have more incendiary rounds. This is the case with many other buffs that you get for different specializations.
Fighting against a row of Zeds isn’t as bad as you shred through them. A lot of it has to do with the MEAT system, which controls the gore. It is understandable, given the number of chunks being thrown.
Weapons are good enough, but they are not amazing, which can feel odd at times. Weapons that are supposed to hit like a truck feel serviceable at best. Shotguns don’t have the punch like they had in the previous entry. Assault rifles fare better, and some of the LMGs don’t feel like an LMG should. Melee weapons like a Katana feel like you are slicing through thin air.
Killing Floor 3 sometimes struggles to keep up with hordes, especially at higher difficulty. The intense hordes can get on your nerves, big enemies breaking through doors, and limbless enemies crawling towards you; all have an impact.
Specialists
Specialists are not as refined since they have one-liners they will keep repeating. The Fire specialist is especially annoying in this regard. If these random talks were to be included, the least they can do is make them more interesting.
Specialists have an ability that has a cooldown and a special weapon that aligns with their skills. Earning proficiency points will let you unlock more skills and upgrades. In Killing Floor 3, there are some good options when it comes to the upgrades. It would have been better if all the perks were in the same pool because it would have unlocked loads of build options.
Sure, you can equip a flamethrower as a Healer or katanas as a Firebug. Things like burning enemies to increase damage or parrying to gain health would have been nice, which is only possible with open skills. Locking the tier behind a level or having the ability to choose one perk each tier would have a more meaningful impact on builds. In its current form, the specialist system is there to extend the playtime through individual grinding of characters.
Grind
There is grind in the game, and it is a major part of it. In the beginning, Killing Floor 3 will feel generous with levels and the amount of material it provides, but as you level, it starts to require more XP. It means that you have to turn to a higher difficulty to get more XP. The XP you get from it does not justify the amount of difficulty thrown at you.
High-tier material is far in between once you reach the higher-tier mod upgrades. Attachments have different pros and cons. It can change the feel of a weapon or add something new to it, like a shotgun or grenade launcher. Unlocking the passive bonuses of attachments, especially the powerful ones, requires a lot of grinding. You can always recycle the material if you don’t like the performance of an attachment, but don’t expect any proficiency points for build respecs.
Verdict (Is Killing Floor 3 Worth It?)
Despite not having an extraordinary art design, the game offers some good visuals, especially with lighting and reflective surfaces. Killing Floor 3 does have some framerate drop issues, but they can be fixed over time. There are some bugs as well, but like I said, it can be improved. What is hard to improve are the problems that impact the progression system of the game. It has decent music, but what good is that if the rest of it can’t keep up?
There is a lack of polish to the game. However, if you want to see exploding limbs and heads flying around as you mow through Zeds, then the game can be a good one. You can get some straightforward and mindless fun from it. As different improvements are added to the game, it will become better with time. At this point, I am not sure, after what happened to Anthem. At its current state, it feels like a step down from the previous Killing Floor.
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