Killing Floor 3 Review – A classic series near its peak
Killing Floor 3 brings a lot to the table, trying (and often succeeding) to surpass its stellar predecessor. With visceral gunplay, lots of gore and carnage, and a fun loop, KF3 is all sorts of awesome. However, underlying issues prevent it from being the perfect game, but it's by no means a bad one.
An all too recognizable loop
https://youtu.be/fISSFiMPjfo?si=e1LKjgR8pWeTF4HU
Killing Floor 3 essentially follows the same gameplay loop we've gotten used to with Killing Floor 2 . You spawn in, fight waves of enemies, run around the map to purchase new gear, fight a boss at the end, and repeat. It is simple and effective, and with so many maps (even if they could use some thematic variance), things stay fresh throughout.
On top of that, the game sports several difficulty levels, adding an extra layer of freshness to each individual run.
You pick one of six Perks (currently tied to characters), each with its own set of weapons, abilities, gadgets, and throwables. These are Commando, Firebug, Engineer, Sharpshooter, Ninja, and Medic, all of which featured in previous Killing Floor titles. Gameplay varies significantly between each of the Perks, who are highly specialized, although you can mix and match their weapons.
All Perks in Killing Floor 3 have their own sets of abilities, passives, guns, etc. Screenshot by Destructoid
As of this review, Killing Floor 3 's Perks and characters are bound, meaning that you cannot currently play as any character and choose any Perk (class) you want, much to my dismay and of many players. From the game's roadmap, however, this is planned to change post-launch, which would be fantastic given how good the characters are.
They throw quips, one-liners, have incredible voice acting, and check just about every box of what constitutes a good video game character. It would then be a damned shame to be locked out of playing your favorite one because their particular strengths do not align with your preferred build.
Additionally, some Perks are just not strong enough to deal with the game's overall inconsistent enemy spawns, particularly on higher difficulties. Balance patches are bound to fix this, though, as KF3 will be a live-service title much like the older ones.
Even so, if you've ever played any KF title, then Killing Floor 3 will feel right at home, providing you with that same loop with numerous improvements (and some drawbacks).
Gunplay so good it'd make a grown man cry
Blood, guts, fire, chaos. Video by Destructoid
Where Killing Floor 3 really shines above its predecessors is the gunplay. And here I don't just mean weapon feedback, but the new and improved gore system as well.
Speaking of weapons, they're some of the best-feeling guns I've ever used in a video game. Each bullet feels like it's actually being fired, the weapons kicking back, swaying, and responding as realistically as possible (and just as fun). When they land on an enemy, they are immensely satisfying, especially if you use higher caliber weapons and see limbs flying all over the place.
Killing Floor 3 features an extensive and intuitive weapon system, allowing you to customize just about any part of any gun. Screenshot by Destructoid
The gunplay alone is more than enough to make you consider getting this game. While its maps, without a decade's worth of additions, could be better and their loop improved (made more linear, more story-oriented, etc., much like KF2 's later maps were), the gunplay is incomparably better, as is combat overall. No matter what you're holding in your hand, it will feel like a proper, deadly weapon, especially heavier ones (shotguns, sniper rifles, etc).
Zed Mode, that recognizable slo-mo mechanic, also looks very cool, with monochromatic coloring (except for the reds) adding a layer of cinematography to the game. What I didn't find interesting is how it's activated, with just a bar filling up and popping at any moment for the entire lobby.
This led to many situations where Zed Mode would just be wasted, which is a shame since there are more than a few weapons and attachments specifically made to fill it up faster. This more or less makes those useless, as Zed Mode tends to fire pretty quickly anyway, and not always as effectively.
Technicalities a potential barrier for many players
Though demanding, graphics like these are almost worth the performance cost. Video by Desturctoid
And now for the usual. Killing Floor 3 is built on Unreal Engine 5, the most advanced one there is. Because of that, it's one of the prettier games out there, and in turn, one of the more demanding. While knocking down settings can and will improve overall performance, it is inevitable that technical issues will arise, especially since Unreal Engine is known for prioritizing looks over stability.
I played through the game with an AMD RX 9070XT, a Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and 32GB of DDR4 memory and still had to keep the settings at High preset to achieve solid stability. Settings like Global Illumination and Texture Quality, too, had to stay at High, and increasing even a bit led to massive stability issues, stuttering, and FPS drops.
I also had countless freezes just by opening the Skills menu, forcing me to close the game via Task Manager.
Aside from that, the bigger the lobby, the worse the performance. This is a strong technical drawback of Killing Floor 3 , and one that the developers have already recognized. In a co-op title with a six-man lobby, the FPS can become horrendous, which isn't helped by the fact that the game scales enemy numbers up based on lobby size.
Boss scaling varies dramatically: from too easy to too hard, but never in the middle. Video by Destructoid
Speaking of scaling, it's by no means great. While some bosses have solid scaling with lobby size, the Impaler boss just spawns several versions of itself, making the boss wave chaotic and not fun, as making a single boss entity would have been the better solution.
Despite these performance issues, however, Killing Floor 3 is still among the better-performing Unreal Engine 5 games, so long as you have a capable machine.
Overall, Killing Floor 3 is a very good game. It uses technological novelties to enhance the recognizable gameplay loop of its predecessors, adding on top of that a new story, setting, and variance that is bound to draw in a lot of veterans as well as new players. However, its particularities need refining and optimization, which would ensure it lasts well into the following decade, much like Killing Floor 2 .
The post Killing Floor 3 Review – A classic series near its peak appeared first on Destructoid .
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