First Impressions - "Killing Floor 3" - A Great Co-op Shooter with an Identity Crisis

When Killing Floor dropped in 2009, it brought something fun and new to the co-op PVE shooter space. ZED Time, a cast of unique classed characters, a bantering equipment trader, and an entire arsenal of weapons to bring to bear against the ZED Infestation. This formula was evolved in Killing Floor 2 and introduced an aura of explosive ridiculousness that people came to love. The silliness became synonymous with Killing Floor's identity, and that identity seems to be missing in Tripwire's new sequel: Killing Floor 3.

Killing Floor 3 is now available on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S/X.

Killing Floor 3 - Gameplay and Graphics to Kill For!

I want to start by saying that this is a great game, but it doesn't quite capture the vibe and spirit that so many people came to love from Killing Floor 2. The gameplay feels gritty in the way that we want, gore flies and the guns have a satisfying recoil to them. The swarms of ZEDs can go from manageable to overwhelming quickly, forcing you to pick your pathing from room to room carefully and stay with your squad.

The Swarm is unending. Fight for your life!

The graphics are phenomenal, even if performance is somewhat bottlenecked at the moment. The environments and maps feel decently unique, the atmosphere is creepy and the darkness feels oppressive, allowing the enemies to hide in the shadows. The music is what we would expect from Killing Floor, delivering high octane explosive sound punctuated by the gunfire.

Performance in game tends to be great... until it isn't. I experienced a number of crashes during gameplay. That can sometimes be excused on release day, as servers and technology are taking a massive stress test dealing with the Day One crowds, but the crashes seemed to happen most commonly at the end of the match, at the victory/defeat screen, and would prevent awarding the mission rewards and EXP.

ZEDs come in all shapes and sizes, and it is your job to take them out and survive.

Boss Design is very unique, if not quite as memorable as the various bosses in previous games. That being said, the enemies feel very threatening. The increase in difficulty from Normal to Hard or even higher is no joke and you WILL have to manage your health, ammo, and positioning very carefully, or get caught out and end up bleeding out on the ground.

The Missing Ingredient

The character classes, referred to as Perks in the game, don't feel that unique. Like in previous games, it essentially determines your starting loadout and a strong cooldown ability, but you still have full ability to spend your hard-earned dosh on weapons from any other perk. The characters that represent the perks feel flat, even with returning characters that had personalities and quirks in the previous games feel one-note. The heart of the game is missing.

Never stop fighting, even when the ZEDs are in your face!

Can it Survive the Carnage? - Final Thoughts and Verdict

I loved that they attempted to introduce some narrative into Killing Floor, short and minor though it may have been. The gameplay is great, the visuals are exciting, the enemies are dangerous, strategy and risk are real. That being said, it feels like an amazing shooter game, but it doesn't quite feel like Killing Floor. The ridiculous and over the top silliness that kept the game fun to engage with, seems to have been replaced with something that feels like it takes itself too seriously. I am harsh out of love because I do love this series, and I want Killing Floor 3 to remember that it is its own game, it isn't Call of Duty Zombies and it shouldn't try to be.

Official Pixigonal Rating: B+

Once the early day crashing is resolved and some small quirks are worked out, this game will be a fun time for your whole ZED-Slaying team. I desperately want to give this game an A- or A score, but the lack of heart just leaves me feeling sometimes like I may sometimes choose to go back to Killing Floor 2 with my buddies over choosing the newest entry in the franchise. The incredible heights that the gameplay reaches manages to highlight the parts of the game that fall short. It is clear that the Tripwire team put a lot of love into making this game, and they made something awesome, but they forgot to have some fun with it. I truly believe that this can be fixed in patches, and I hope they put the time and effort into bringing it up to the heights that we know it can be.

Pixigonal was given a free copy of Killing Floor 3 in exchange for an honest review.