Killing Floor 3 Preview: A gruesome, gut-wrenching, and gripping threequel

Killing Floor as a series has always been very good at specifically one thing. There are only a handful of action titles that offer a horde-mode round-based survival experience like what the folk at Tripwire Interactive has provided with this series, so you'll be glad, and perhaps unsurprised to hear that Killing Floor 3 is set to provide more of what fans know and love.

It was recently confirmed that Killing Floor 3 will be making its grand debut on PC and consoles on March 25, but ahead of that reveal I had the chance to delve into a bunch of the game as part of a multiplayer preview where I even teamed up and fought hordes of Zeds alongside creative director Bryan Wynia. From minute one, two things stood out to me. First of all was the focus and how Tripwire wastes no time in getting the player into the action. Within seconds of arriving in a level, violent and terrifying creatures began to swarm me and my allies, asking us to band together and cooperate to survive without even needing us to speak a single word. The second thing that stood out was the tone and theme. Killing Floor's signature twisted roots take centre stage, with crammed and tight levels populated by creatures defined by body horror that leave pools of blood and gore in their wake. Killing Floor 3 is absolutely not the kind of game you'd play on the television around your grandma's house, but for evenings with friends, it's immediately clear you won't find many better horde-like alternatives.

This preview session was mostly focussed on multiplayer gameplay and getting a good and ample taste of the action. Tripwire explained to begin with that the game will support an evolving story and that there are many elements and design choices in place that allow players to experience a form of narrative that further unpacks the atrocities from former instalments in the series. Yet, for the sake of this preview that wasn't the main point of interest, so I'll move on from it for the time being.

What was at my fingertips was access to six playable characters that each were vastly different. Foster, for example, is the more traditional run-and-gun type that likes assault rifles and exceeds at just shooting things and causing havoc, whereas Luna is described as a sharpshooter, and yes, that does mean she is ideal for those who strive for precision and enjoy using marksman weapons and snipers. Four of the characters were more traditional Killing Floor archetypes, but the latter two are more modern inclusions, be it Nakata the Ninja, who excels with swords and kunai and other shinobi-like tools, or Obi the Medic, a versatile character that can make or break a mission by providing hugely impactful healing that could save your life when getting overwhelmed by hordes of Zeds. The main thing to note is that while each character has their own damage, survivability, and support ratings, as well as unique abilities and passives that make them excel in a specific combat style, Tripwire doesn't limit their weapons to just one class. You can play as Foster and wield a katana or suit up as the incendiary Firebug and equip her with a sniper rifle. The choice of how you play is in your hands.

After mucking around and fiddling with the many systems in the hub area, we finally dropped into a level where the point of the gameplay quickly took centre-stage. Killing Floor 3 is a very traditional round-based horde game in that there's not really much else to focus on beyond simply surviving. Yes, there are additional side challenges and tasks to complete, some of which tie to the wider narrative elements, but the majority of the action is simply about fighting off waves of Zeds and gathering points to be able to buy new weapons, improve your existing ones, enhance your armour, grab ammunition, and try out new gadgets. While I can understand that some might have fears for the longevity of a game that has such a loose progressive structure in place, I can also say that Killing Floor 3's action is very immediate, often challenging, and highly immersive, to the point that you don't get much time to think about anything beyond survival.

The first wave of Zeds includes mostly regular rank-and-file Clots, albeit with a few more unique and dangerous foes dotted in. The idea here is to simply defeat all the Zeds without dying to be able to complete the round, and for the first wave that's hardly a challenge at all. But as each wave passes and the number of Zeds increase and the diversity of Zeds increase too, the challenge ramps up significantly, all to the point that after a few rounds you might be finding yourself much, much worse for wear. After you've defeated your third ruthless Fleshpound of the round, on top of nine Bloats, an army of Clots, and a bunch of Crawlers, you'll be far more aware of what kind of experience Killing Floor 3 has in store. And it is worth saying at this point that the game even has multiple difficulty options, meaning you can hop into a normal-difficulty or below mission, or instead look to experience fear-incarnate by cranking up the challenge a few notches.

The Zeds feel great to fight as they burst into blood and gore as you rip apart their anatomy with buckshot or surgically remove their limbs with blades. The gunplay is also excellent and feels responsive and tight, with thumping and hard-hitting weapons and tools that make the action feel all the more raw and thrilling. While I will say that the variety of weaponry is promising and shows that Tripwire has plenty of ideas to explore, I did find that the upgrading elements and the in-mission store was a bit lacklustre, as it asks you to become excited about purchasing an "upgraded" weapon that is only different because it has a slightly better accuracy or comes with a muzzle break to make it "modded". In my experience in Killing Floor 3, guns are guns and there isn't really a huge difference between the various versions of each weapon type as they're all pretty effective at cutting down Zeds.

As a final couple of points about the action, it's worth mentioning the modifiers and the Zed Time. Each round in a mission differs from the former because a randomly-generated Mutation is applied. So, while you can already expect additional Zeds of an increased variety per round, you might also have to deal with a round where significantly more Crawlers spawn and where heat damage becomes more effective. This changes each round and just keeps players on their toes along the way. Fortunately, to help with the overwhelming odds and the increasing challenge, the Zed Time mechanic is returning, with this being a handy effect where essentially the entire game slows down for everything except the players. You can quickly chew through an entire horde of Zeds during this phase while they struggle to do anything to fight back, and it's hugely entertaining to see this effect pop up, even though it's seemingly impossible to strategically time its activation.

After just a short while with Killing Floor 3, it's clear to me that this game will be an entertaining effort for those looking for a more vicious and demanding horde activity. It's twisted and brutal, tactile and thrilling, and looks and sounds great with horrifying visuals that will make your stomach churn. There are questions to be answered in regard to how Tripwire will keep one-upping itself to allow the action to retain its excitement, but with tens of different Zeds and a post-launch support that Wynia promised would rival that of Killing Floor 2, it's evident that this next chapter will have something for fans of the series, new and old, to look ahead toward.