Killing Floor Review

By Stephen Heller

It seems Zombie Shooters are back in fashion this season, going hand in hand with tight situations, big guns and tension at an elite level. We’ve already seen what kind of tension can be brought out of this situation with Vavle’s smash hit Left 4 Dead, but Tripwire Interactive has tossed their hat into the ring with their latest FPS Horror title Killing Floor.

Killing Floor is set in London where the city is overrun by flesh consuming “specimens” courtesy of a biotech firms experiments. These frightening creatures have decimated the city and have killed a majority of the public. You will be filling the shoes of one of six survivors, either a soldier or police officer, as you fight for your lives and try to clean the streets of this evil one at a time. Each of the characters has a short profile trying to explain their story, but it feels forced and doesn’t contribute to the gameplay whatsoever.

Once you select your character you are then asked to select one of the six specific character perks, which will have an effect on how you play the game. Field Medics are better at healing characters and themselves, while a Sharpshooter will get 5% off the Bullpup at the Trader and have less recoil. When playing the game initially, all six perks will be at level 0, and by completing specific challenges for each category you can level them up and reap the rewards. It’s a good system, and it’s going to take you many rounds and many bullets to get all six fully leveled up.

The great thing with the leveling system is it’s not perk specific. For instance being a sharpshooter you can be getting headshots and closing the gap on leveling up, yet if you pull out your knife and start slashing zombies, you will gain EXP for the Berserker perk. It’s a great feature that eliminates the need to constantly change which perk you want to use between rounds.

Okay so we’ve selected a character? Check. Selected one of the six perks on offer? Check. Now you are dropped into the middle of one of the 5 maps with nothing more than your knife, a 9mm pistol and three grenades to withstand the first wave of specimens. You’ll have some equipment with you too, a trusty flashlight which will be used in the darker areas, a welding torch to block off doors and the like (more on that later) and your new best friend, a hypodermic syringe system that is your health. You will need to become better acquainted with this lifesaving tool, as it’s the only way you have to heal yourself as you fight the waves upon waves of specimens wanting to devour you.

The welding tool can be a make it or break it tool that can change the dynamic of a game entirely. Lock yourselves in the church and weld the two entrances off and pray that the specimens won’t break through. It’s a great idea, and by opening one of those doors you are effectively controlling the flow and position of your enemy. It can offer a lot of strategic support to your team.

I'm glad Project Origin didn't adopt the now classic regenerating health mechanic. Here it's good old fashioned stock up on medkits and hope you've got enough to pull through these epic battles. On harder modes this really makes for some intense and memorable gunfights when the smoke clears and you manage to walk out still in once piece.

So you and your team are facing off a wave of specimen coming towards you from all angles of the map. The number of enemies is listed in the screen along with which wave you are currently on. The basic idea is to take out all the enemies in the wave, survive and make your way to the trader and face it all again. It’s simple, but damn is it fun! With each wave you’ll be facing off against a number of deadly, and extremely original and scary enemies, all capable of different attacks and all wanting to rip your head off! The basic enemies simply try to bite you to death, but you’ll be facing off against mutant spider like creatures, zombies with chainsaws on their arms, invisible women and all sorts of things. All the enemies are varied and original, and there are about twice as many “classes” of enemies on offer as there were in Left 4 Dead.

For each enemy you kill you receive some cash, and if you make it to the end of the round an arrow will be pointing you in the direction of the Trader. Here you can buy and sell weapons, ammunition and equipment, but the trader is only open for short amount of time before the next wave begins. Team members can drop cash for those who don’t have enough, and each wave the trader will be in a different location. This is supposed to keep the gameplay varied and interesting, but typically on each map there are only a set few locations the trader will appear.

Repeat process until you reach the final wave and face off against The Patriarch, one bad-ass mofo with a desire to dominate your team. Packing a mini-gun, a rocket launcher, a tentacle attack from his chest, cloaking and a mean punch, the Patriarch will require you to work as a team to take him down, strategic planning is the order of the day. Let’s not forget that he can summon other monsters to the fight also. This is the toughest bas-ass around, and he has the power to totally obliterate your team in a matter of seconds. It’s always a good feeling when you have worked together and taken him down, a real sense of accomplishment that is rarely felt in online shooters.

There may only be five maps but each one is crafted to perfection, offering just the right amount of space, tight corners and the perfect amount of hidey holes to make them balanced. Tripwire has a reputation for constant updates, so I’m sure we’ll see some new maps come in the near future. The game settings keeps the game alive, featuring game length settings, along with four difficulty levels that will keep the game fresh and challenging for gamers of all skill levels.

Killing Floor may be running on the Unreal 2004 engine but Tripwire has managed to stretch all they can out of it. Featuring resolution from 800x600 up to 1920x1200 and of course the standard AA and Dynamic Lighting options, you will be able to get this game looking and running well on most modern systems. Player models are sharp and the different specimens look downright terrifying. Environments are rendered well and really feel like a post zombie invasion UK. There are better looking games on the market but Killing Floor manages to stand on its own with its head held high.

The voice acting in Killing Floor is downright annoying. There are only so many times I can hear an English-man shout out “Cover me I’m reloading” and he says it EVERYTIME you reload! When you are playing with five other people you constantly hear it and it grates on your nerves. The trader comes across with these cheesy and annoying quips that become old even before you’ve finished your first map. There is a stock metal soundtrack that plays throughout the game, it’s actually pretty decent, but most gamers will be having their own playlist going anway.

Tripwire have provided an almost flawless experience minus two issues. One would be that sometimes characters get stuck in walls and such, but that will be fixed in an upcoming update. My biggest gripe would be the implementation of “Zed Time” which basically is slow-mo for everyone across the map for a few seconds. It’s a cool idea but there is no way to control it. It happens randomly when something gory happens, and can be downright annoying at times. If you have a pistol our and it goes to Zed Time you’ll have a blast pulling off slow-mo headshots and seeing the carnage, but if you are reloading, or trying to heal it’s downright annoying. The fact it cannot be controlled by a player is simply puzzling.

The Final Verdict

It may lack that style and flair that Valve’s Left 4 Dead had, but it makes up for it in content. Killing Floor is an excellent online experience, offering a co-op experience that is just as good, just as terrifying and with more classes of enemies than its competitor. If you are sick of Left 4 Dead this is the game for you, it has enough gameplay options to keep it fresh on your hard drive for years to come.

Gameplay

8.8/10

It’s varied, challenging, fun and terrifying all at the same time. The minor bugs aren’t going to ruin the experience for you, and if you can get over the Zed Time, you are going to have a blast

Graphics

8.0/10

It’s impressive that Tripwire have stretched the 2004 engine this far, the game still holds its own against newer titles, regardless of running on an old graphics engine. Turn the settings up high and enjoy.

Audio

3.0/10

The bad dialogue with phoned in voice acting is down-right appalling, annoying. Please do yourself a favour, turn on your Winamp playlist and forget it even exists.

Value

9.5/10

The game is hard, and once you master it there are another 4 difficulties to keep you busy. Game options allow you to tailor the experience to your needs in regards to length and zombie action, along with STEAM Achievements, this game will have a fan base for years to come.

Overall

9/10

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:
CPU: 1.2ghz or equivalent
GPU: 64mb Direct X 9.0 compliant
RAM: 512mb
Hard Drive: 2GB
OS: Windows Windows 2000/XP SP2/Vista SP1
DirectX: 9.0c
Sound: DX8.1 compliant
Internet: Broadband
Recommended System Requirements:
CPU: 2.4ghz or equivalent
GPU: 128mb with Pixel Shader 2.0 Support
Ram: 1gb RAM
Hard Drive: 2GB
OS: Windows 2000/Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1
DirectX: 9.0c
Sound: DX9.0c compliant
Internet: Broadband (768kbit/sec upstream required to host 16 players)

Review System

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+
RAM: 4gb
GPU: ATI HD4850 1gb
Perfromance: Highest Settings with No Lag