Review: Killing Floor

Alright first review here we go.  So lets get a few things out of the way first.  I am going to tell you about the game I'm reviewing, what I liked and what I didn't like.  I'm going to tell you features and anything interesting about the game.  At the end I'm going to give you a recommendation to the people who might find it enjoyable.  What I will NOT be doing is giving out a score.  I hate trying to score things mainly because I can never give a good rating for something.  That and the number system for game reviews nowadays is entirely broken.  Now on to the review.

Killing Floor is a first person co op zombie shooter.  How often have we heard that in the game industry right?  Anyway the setup is that this company Horzine did a bunch of genetic experiments and now those experiments have gotten loose and are overrunning London's streets and it is up to you and your friends to cleanse the streets of the monstrous outbreak. 

The zeds are hungry...

Killing floor is arena based.  You will be plopped in a map with either just your lonesome or 1-5 other people in your team.  You fight off waves of zeds surviving until the end of the game. But you will definitely be well equipped to do so.  At the beginning of the game you will choose a perk, or class if you like, for the game.  You can switch at any time if you like.  And each perk does not limit what kind of weapons you may use, although each will definitely support a certain playstyle.  As you kill zeds you'll accumulate money.  At the end of each wave a store will open up to buy new guns, ammo, and body armor.  That is basically how the game rolls.  Now on to the goods and bads.

The fleshpound.  Be afraid.

Killing Floor's HUD is impressively clean.  The ammo, health, and armor displays are very clean and minimalist.  There is no reticle for guns, which can be problematic for some people.  However this game definitely has a well done aim down sights system.  Gunplay is very smooth and feels very good.  Another thing to note is headshots are critical.  Headshots will either outright kill or severely damage an enemy.  If a headshot doesn't kill an enemy outright, it will prevent them from using their special ability and cause them to take damage over time.  And considering the sheer number of zeds coming at you at any one time, you need to be crackin headshots on as many zeds as possible.  As such, you are going to need to be a pretty good shot.   Now, the gameplay is great, but on to the bad things.

This is entirely normal

Now the problem with Killing Floor is the learning curve is rather steep.  Trying to jump into it is like trying to dive into a 2 foot deep pool.  It takes practice to get used to how things work.  You see, Killing Floor goes with a realistic approach to the gunplay.  If you try to line up a shot while moving you're going to have a bad time.  The guns sway quite a lot while moving and no reticles make shooting out of ironsights quite a trick.  On top of that getting used to the hordes of enemies slowly surrounding you is quite the trick.  This games is brutal and getting over the hump of beginners difficulty is tough.  In addition to that, each perk is leveled through different means.  And the game is very difficult at early levels in all the perks.  And leveling up each perk takes quite awhile. 

The horde is coming...are you ready?

Now, don't let me discourage you.  Killing Floor is greatly rewarding and incredibly satisfying and fun once you get used to it.  It is a bloody good time and has incredible replay value.  If you can get past the beginning difficulty hump you'll have an incredibly fun, satisfying, and rewarding game with nigh on infinite replay value.  Now for the recommendations.  I would recommend this game to people who can step to a challenge, like first person shooters, and love killin hordes of zeds at a time.

And that about wraps this review up.  If you have a game that you'd like me to review, post it in the comments.  I'll review it if I have it.  If I don't, and you reeeeaaaaally want me to review it, if you get it for me I will drop whatever I'm playing at the time and play your game for review.  And that's it.  Gamer out.