Killing Floor 3 Closed Beta - First Impressions
To say that I was disappointed with Killing Floor 3 would be an understatement. The Killing Floor franchise has gained such a following with such a simple premise. Survive waves of ZEDs (zombies) until you kill a boss and win, all while earning money between rounds to buy more efficient ways to kill. Killing Floor 3 needlessly complicates this formula, none of the changes being made for the better. The changes made makes the game feel like a lackluster impression of what came before it. Killing Floor 3 manages to encapsulate everything that could go wrong with a sequel, but even Payday 3 had potential despite its rocky launch. I don’t see any long-lasting potential here unless Tripwire changes the very foundation of the game.
To put things in perspective, I have maxed out every single class on Killing Floor 2 with Demolitionist/Support being my favorite. I’ve sunk countless hours on Peach’s Castle (a modded map) trying to survive Hell on Earth. I love the franchise because it was nothing more than it needed to be. It is very easy to just select any map, class, and just go. No story, no objectives, just non-stop killing. Killing Floor 3 basically tries to throw everything at the wall, hoping it all sticks.
For starters, there’s a hub area now instead of a main menu featuring all these different characters and stations for the game’s various systems. However, you’ll notice right off the bat that classes are now restricted to specific characters. Yup, Killing Floor 3 takes the same system straight out of Battlefield 2042. I mention BF2042, because this is the exact same change they made to the classes system which destroyed the very foundation of what made Battlefield special. It’s the exact same concept here, except none of the classes are explained. But the characters are only the tip of the iceberg, more that later.
Selecting a mission is also different, it’s a map with missions to select from various places. However, this menu looks like a mobile game I used to play on my old iPod touch called Dead Trigger. Instead of feeling nostalgic, it brought on a feeling of dread wondering what other sort of “mobile game type” of implementations I would be face to face with. I was not ready for what came next.
Once deployed in a mission, initially I can tell you just how flat and lifeless the game looks. I understand the need to lower graphical fidelity for the beta, but this almost feels like a prototype. Enemies, while they can be gibbed and explode with a burst of blood, all look way too clean and well put together. The guns don’t carry the same punch they once did, both in terms of visuals and sound. The reload animations in KF2 were very expressive, featuring more unique animations if you press the reload button with a full magazine, all of that is now just gone.
There are also objectives that must be completed when deployed. Objectives aren’t new to Killing Floor, but in the past they were optional objectives in order to net some extra dosh. This is more akin to a Call of Duty campaign, where instructions are shouted at you and you have a marker on your screen that won’t go away unless you go where you’re supposed to. I don’t understand the need to try fleshing out this world and try to get us to enjoy these witty MCU-esque characters. They spout exposition about the objective you’re trying to complete, in the middle of a firefight with multiple ZEDs. Once the objectives are complete it’s just a matter of surviving the remaining waves. They can be completed so quickly, that it makes me wonder why they even bothered trying to put them in here at all.
Previously, I had mentioned that the guns lack serious impact and that extends to just combat as a whole. Enemies are much slower than they’ve ever been and the guns have very little recoil to worry about unlike KF2. I mean don’t get me wrong, it isn’t the worst shooter I’ve ever played or anything like that. I enjoy that they added hitmarkers, making it much clearer if you got the kill or not, but hitmarkers aren’t enough to save just how shallow it feels to fight. None of the enemies have a distinct identity since they all just kind of blend into each other. The dull environments don’t help either, making wherever you fight feel so barren. Sure, that’s the point since ZEDs have taken over the world, but it’s barren in terms of environmental detail to make your deployment feel as soulless as the ZED themselves.
Arguably the worst change, Killing Floor 3 completely reworks how weapons work and can be progressed. For starters, every character has 4, and only 4 primary weapons. Those 4 weapons are in a tier similar to any looter shooter over the past 15 years with grey, green, blue and then purple. However, every weapon in every tier can be customized. How you customize them is a doozy. As you complete those aforementioned objectives, you earn materials that are used for crafting. However, when you receive an attachment it is not the attachment itself but a schematic for you to craft the attachment. This applies to every single attachment in the game, and all of those attachments offer stat bonuses. What that means is you are forced to engage with this system in order to contend with higher difficulties. I don’t think I need to mention just how asinine this entire process is. The guns already don’t feel great to use, and I don’t see myself sinking hours of time into this game just to unlock a red dot that may give me an extra 15% damage boost on headshots.
If you want my honest advice, stay away from Killing Floor 3 and just pick up Killing Floor 2 instead. It’s much cheaper, filled to the brim with all the maps you could possibly think of playing on thanks to the community, and no ridiculous attachment system. I try to find the enjoyment in every game I play, even objectively bad ones, but this was just another victim of trying to appeal to the GAAS market. I wanted to love Killing Floor 3, but as it turns out the only thing getting killed on the floor is its legacy.
