Killing Floor Series Review (Xbox, PlayStation & PC)

Killing Floor feels like a bloodbath with one too many limb-encrusted bubbles, with its gizzard-soaked salts and gore-addled suds providing a meaty tub with oh-so-many frothy liquids and bone fragments. To call it a chaotic horde-based first-person shooter wouldn’t be doing it justice, for it is, in fact, a ravenous affair that doesn’t shy away from the throttle. It isn’t a calm and soothing walk in the park; it’s a bullet-brazen wave machine designed to put you in a chokehold and keep you longing for a breath of fresh air. And, you know, while most zombie shooters aren’t able to find a good balance between all of these bloody facets, Killing Floor is one of a special few that knows how to mesh it all together and incubate something truly spectacular and immersive, even at the expense of its rather shallow plot structure and lack of world variety.

Killing Floor is anything but thought provoking. The fact is, you don’t need a lecture in post-apocalyptic survival to wrangle a few ZEDs, nor do you need an in-depth tutorial to know that bullets kill zombies, and barriers prevent the worst possible scenarios. If you can wrap your head around the basics, then you can, rather simply, carve through all chapters in the Killing Floor series and establish a strong foothold. It isn’t a complicated ordeal; it’s a straightforward, no-nonsense excursion that requires little more than a handful of ammunition and a lot of teamwork. In other words, if it’s a gritty story-driven experience that you fancy, then frankly, you won’t find that here.

To put you in the picture, Killing Floor is a solo and multiplayer wave-based first-person shooter in which players fend off ravenous hordes of zombies (or ZEDs, as they’re commonly known as) between rounds. In each round, players can earn cash from their enemies, as well as unlock perks to either fortify their defences or gain additional weapons, ammo, or barriers. Think Call of Duty’s Zombies, but with an in-game trader who passes through to provide you with a conveyor belt of upgrades and defensive options to keep you plowing forward. That, in short, is all that Killing Floor is: a wave-centric shooter that culminates in a boss battle, also known as a “Patriarch” encounter. As I said, it isn’t a particularly difficult field of work, though it is one that is surprisingly tough to master. But, more on that later.

Beneath all of Killing Floor’s mindless gore and mid-wave spoils lies a simple yet satisfying formula that feels both engaging and entertaining. The process, although without the full weight of a compelling plot, boasts a tremendous amount of replay value, progression-based milestones, and even a handful of optional objectives to keep the waves feeling fresh and far less predictable. It’s still an elementary experience that doesn’t go all out on any form of cinematic goodness, but then, that isn’t what Killing Floor is. On the contrary, Killing Floor is about quick thrills, tactical combat, and high-octane gunplay. Frankly, it doesn’t need to be anything more than that.

A multiplayer saga at heart, Killing Floor puts all of its heart into delivering an experience where swift tactics and collaboration go hand in hand. The only downside to this is that, if you are with the intent of sinking your teeth into its world as a lone wolf, then you will, unfortunately, encounter a journey that isn’t quite as compelling or as fulfilling. See, where most of the fun emits from the act of working as a team and making all of the necessary adjustments to fortify your skills and hub, the solo mode comes across as more of an uncoordinated, almost watered down version that has half the impact and entertainment value. It isn’t that it’s an unplayable experience; it’s that it feels like less of a challenge and more of a burden. Heck, have you ever played Moving Out in single-player mode? It doesn’t hit the same; it feels empty and almost boring.

With all of the above said, I will say that there are two incredibly different experiences here. On the one hand you have a quick and provoking first-person shooter that features a great deal of tactical choices and teamwork, smooth gunplay and chilling action, whereas on the other hand you have a simple, by-the-numbers zombie shooter that doesn’t require much of you other than a knack for severing heads from shoulders and spraying bullets. The question is, how should you go about playing Killing Floor?

While there’s no denying the fact that Killing Floor is a series best suited for several players, it does feel awfully difficult to sideline it as just a co-op saga with no real single-player qualities. To tell you the truth, it does make for a great solo endeavor, even though it does lose its heartbeat and the highs and lows that come with its primary team-oriented mode. When all’s said and done, though, Killing Floor does offer a great experience with a huge variety of elements, all of which accommodate lone wolves and teams alike. With handfuls of maps, weapons, classes, and perks to unlock and experiment with, you won’t find a shortage of content to work through. Granted, you won’t find a great storyline, but for a few quick thrills and a chance to slaughter till your heart’s content, Killing Floor has you covered — and then some.

Verdict

Killing Floor might not deliver on its intentions to bring a compelling story-driven first-person shooter series to the mainstream, but for where it lacks in depth and rich character intervention it makes up for in classically challenging gunplay and swift execution, satisfying progression and blood-addled tactical combat. It’s an easy burner, if anything—a simple yet oh-so-more-ish experience that you can’t help but love to sink your teeth into for an hour or two between larger expeditions. It might not be the perfect FPS series on the chopping block, but it is an incredibly entertaining one that carries a lot of replay value, nonetheless.

Of course, if you’re looking for a series that balances the best of both worlds with an equal amount of depth and spoils across multiple modes, then you might be disappointed with just how lopsided Killing Floor often feels as a lone slayer. That being said, if you’re easily pleased with engaging combat and endless massacres, then Killing Floor ought to be able to scratch that itch of yours.