REVIEW – Killing Floor has come a long way since it originated as an Unreal Tournament 2004 mod in 2005. It became a standalone game in 2009, and seven years later, its sequel is now available for the PlayStation 4. The tendency is good, and I have similar thoughts about the game, too…

 

The first game, which I have owned on Steam for god knows how long, wasn’t available on consoles, despite being a fun experience with friends. This opinion applies to Killing Floor 2 as well, and it’s available on PlayStation 4. You can play alone to practice, but it’s not as fun as if you played with a group of friends. (This game is not for the anti-social!)

Horzine

The story is as basic as a 4-piece puzzle: Horzine has created a ton of monsters, and we have to kill all of them, as well as their bosses. You can play with up to five friends to make your job easier (and more fun). The gameplay has these monsters – called Zeds – attack you in waves, and you kill them all. In the upper left corner, you can see how many of them are remaining, and when it drops to zero, you can go to a pod to prepare for the next wave.

You can get armor, new weapons, ammo, and also sell your current weapons to get a bit more cash. You have less than two minutes to pull it off, so you have to be quick. Assisting your partners also net you money!

You can see what the game offers in Gamespot’s video, but changing the amount of waves and the difficulty level is up to you – brave players can reap more rewards and have more challenges.

As you go through the waves, stronger Zeds appear (11 types total), and the final wave has the boss, which is usually a hilarious enemy due to its appearance or accent. (My favorite was Hans Volter!)

One more. One more!

The game, which is effectively a horde mode in its core, will not appeal to those who are looking for more game modes. This is why the rating doesn’t start with a number 9… but Killing Floor 2 is still an addictive game. It can be quite fun, and if you have a full team of six, you might end up playing for multiple hours without even noticing the time flying by! The more players you get, the more it is recommended to choose different perks (classes), as there are ten in total.

They are called Berserker, Commando, Demolitionist, Field Medic, Firebug, Gunslinger, Sharpshooter, Support, Survivalist, S.W.A.T., and you can also gain levels with them, which will be a godsend on higher difficulties. (With this decision, Tripwire makes players enjoy their game more – bravo…)

Hell on Earth

…is the name of the hardest difficulty. If you play solo, it’s effectively Misson Impossible. Tripwire suggests you kill the Zeds with others, and it’s a good idea: the time flies by faster with friends, making reaching level 25 anything but a chore. Until then, most of the 35-40 types of weapons will be in your hands (all hail the double Magnums point blank!).

There’s also another game mode, called Versus Survival. For Left 4 Dead players, it’s going to be familiar – it’s like “Versus” there. Too bad that there weren’t many players there despite trying all twelve maps…

Do you look nice?

The game supports the PlayStation 4 Pro – I wasn’t able to try the game on that console, but thankfully, I found a comparison video to see the 1080p Ultra PC next to the basic and the Pro PlayStation 4 models. The visuals are okay even on the old model, but the frame rate isn’t as good as I hoped it would be. It can drop to thirty frames per second or even lower from sixty.

Being in blood knee deep (literally) kills the frame rate, and if you have a full team, it might be an issue. The audio is alright. Both the soundtrack and the voice acting is good, but I think the characters’ voices repeated way too fast… especially if you get hit.

Play it with friends

The PlayStation 4 version is available for forty bucks, and it came out on Friday (the same day when it quit Early Access on PC). I believe Killing Floor 2 is worth forty bucks if you have friends who also pick up the game. Playing solo, it lacks ambiance. I hope the frame rate will be addressed on the base PlayStation 4 – if it gets improved, then Killing Floor 2 could be one of the best party games of 2016. Mr. Foster out!

-V-

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Publisher: Deep Silver

Developer: Tripwire Interactive

Genre: cooperative survival FPS, horde

Release date: November 18, 2016 (PS4, it also quit Early Access on this day on PC)