Killing Floor

Co-Op Survival Horror

If you are a PC gamer, you most likely know what Killing Floor is, especially if you play games from Steam. However, I do understand that not everyone plays computer games and not everyone uses Steam. This review is mainly for this second group of people.

Killing Floor is set in a post-apocalyptic London (one map was set in the US). Why is it post-apocalyptic? Because a failed set of experiments ended up creating a near unlimited number of very ugly, very deadly, specimens that ended up destroying much of London. While they are referred to as zombies in some of the dialogue in the game, they are not actually zombies. They are specimens.

One of the menu views of the Patriarch

Your goal is to kill wave upon wave of these dangerous specimens, before they kill you; either on your own or with up to 5 other teammates. After you get to the end of the main set of waves, you will then face the Patriarch, a hugely dangerous specimen. Not only can he heal himself up to three times, but he also has a chaingun/rocket launcher combo attached to his arm and the ability to call upon many of the lesser specimens to help him out when he is in danger. He is called the Patriarch because he considers himself the 'father' of the other specimens due to them being clones of various members of his family.

Are you confused yet? Well, the Patriarch was originally the CEO of Horzine Biotech, the company behind the failed experiments. When I say experiments, I am referring to the 9 other specimens that you must fight throughout the course of your game. I won't go into explaining all of of them (that would end up taking too long and be pretty boring), but I will leave a picture of each so you can get an idea of what you may face.

The Clot

The Bloat

The Gorefast

The Crawler

The Stalker

The Siren

The Husk

The Skrake

The Fleshpound

As you can see, some of these can get pretty difficult to kill, especially if you are playing a solo game or on some of the harder difficulties. Before I gave you all those lovely pictures above, I started to delve a bit into the backstory of the game. While I didn't give you a whole lot to go off of, all you really need to know is that it is your job to survive and kill as many of the specimens as possible. There is no real story aside from the origins of the specimens, and this game can get away with it.

Killing Floor is one of the few games that I have played that doesn't need a story mode at all to be fun to play. From the get go, you know that you need to survive long enough to get to the trader (insert 'Get to da Choppa' joke here) to buy big enough weapons to face the ever-increasing numbers of baddies headed your way. On more than one occasion, I have lost many an hour because it is so much fun to watch the 'zeds' explode in a slow motion shower of blood, guts and brains when you and your friends kill them.

The music isn't bad either. Think hard rock and metal combined with no lyrics and you about have the KF soundtrack. What makes it even better is that it was done by one guy. That's right, just one person made all of the epic music you get the opportunity to hear in-game. Plus, if you get a chance to play with the composer (he plays regularly on Steam, just recently in a game with me), that makes it even cooler. For a taste, check out zYnthetic's web site for some samples. I suggest track 21, which is the Patriarch's theme song.

It is because of this amazing fun factor and the music that you can forget that the gameplay gets repetitive at times. You can even forget that the graphics aren't the greatest in the world. After all, it was based off of a mod for Unreal Tournament 2004. Not only that, but the graphics are meant to look a bit gritty. And after all that long-windedness, it is time for me to give you my rating.

Killing Floor gets 8.5 Stars from The Review

After much deliberation and play-testing, I decided to give Killing Floor an 8.5/10 rating. While the game has virtually no story and (comparatively) poor graphicsφ, it makes up for it with fun, sheer replayability and its low price (don't forget about the music either). It may be repetitive, but it is loads of fun. And the fun only multiplies when you can play with friends, which is how I recommend you play. And the $19.99 price from Steam doesn't hurt either. If you are a PC gamer, or any gamer really, I highly recommend getting this game.

φYes, I know that there isn't supposed to be a story or  high end graphics.

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