Buried in Backlog
Buried in Backlog
Killing Floor 3 is the latest instalment of the Killing Floor series. This third entry maintains the core of the game. You pick a perk and jump into a match, fighting various zeds and earning dosh to get better weapons and armor, and leveling up that perk to get new abilities to make you even stronger. There are also enough new features to make the game stand out from its predecessor. With expanded skill trees for each perk, new weapon attachments, and crafting system, each perk gets its own unique ability and missions to complete while in a match. There is also a Helldivers-esque battle pass system.
Image Source: Steam Store page
As we mentioned earlier, the core loop of the game remains the same as before and feels great, but there are a few minor complaints. Some of the weapons don’t feel quite as good as others. For instance, the shotguns feel great, with a fair amount of recoil, sending enemies flying at times, but some of the ARs just don’t feel like they pack enough punch. What I mean by that is the recoil and weapon response to shooting just feels off, even though I’m slaughtering the zeds.
Speaking of Zeds, they have an overall new appearance, some with fantastic new abilities. Scrake’s now have a grappling hook that they can use to pull you in. The Flesh pounds can have what look to be either heavy chains or whips for an AOE attack. There are also multiple variations of the Clots and Cysts. The Crawler has a more pink and fleshy look. There are three new bosses: The Impaler witch is a group of raging biotech beasts; you can have up to 3 of these guys at once, based on the number of players in your match. There is the Queen Crawler, which has the abilities of the crawler as well as spawning baby crawlers and burrowing into the ground. Finally, we have the Chimera, a two-stage boss, where in stage one, it throws out spikes and organic pillars, as well as spawns unique versions of the clots and cysts. In the second stage, it changes tactics and teleports around to players, either alone or in the back line, to employ hit-and-run tactics, all while still spawning clots and cysts. Overall, the new and improved zeds are fantastic and are a significant change from Killing Floor 2.
Image Source: Steam Store page
For the perks and player customization, there have been some significant changes we have only six perks as of release: bring back the Commando, Firebug, Medic, Engineer, and Sharpshooter. Then, there is a new class, Ninja—each perk has a unique ability, a unique throwable, and four unique weapons. This is less content-wise than Killing Floor 2, which had ten perks and well over 30 weapons. This lack of content is made up for with the expanded skill trees that give you a new ability every two levels and can be upgraded as you play more matches. Each weapon can be customized to your heart's content with craftable weapon attachments. Cosmetic Items are now in a Helldivers-style battle pass, and currently, each character is stuck to their perk. For example, if you want to play Frost, you have to play Commando. Although this will be changed, it remains the current status quo as of the release.
The Maps all feel unique, with a wide range of locations, ranging from underground labs and military depots to city streets. Each map has unique features, like the labs have verticality with ziplines to get you out of danger quickly, and the depot has turret placements all over the map. All the maps also have armor, ammo caches, and doors that can be unlocked with the multitool.
Image Source: Steam Store page
Performance-wise, for us, the game has been running well, but there are some crashing issues. I’ve personally had about 6-8 crashes in the 10 hours I’ve played. Matchmaking is quick and easy, and you can turn off crossplay if that's something you want to avoid. There is some server lag at times, but it's not game-breaking, and it usually lasts only 2-3 seconds at most.
Overall, Killing Floor 3 is an excellent addition to the series that will only improve as Tripwire continues to update and add content to the game. I don’t see this being something I’d play for a long time without a friend or two. While it has some performance issues, The game is an improvement on the series, but some of the weapons just don’t pack the right punch. With all of that to consider, I’m giving Killing Floor 3 a three out of five.