By Alec Meer on May 19th, 2009 at 7:59 pm.
Tripwire Interactive, the good chaps behind the Red Orchestra series, offered up their brand new, standalone multiplayer shooter Killing Floor last week. Well, I say brand new, but it’s an embiggening of an old UT2004 mod. A storm of hype exploded around this co-op survival horror shooter in the run up to release, so now’s the time to judge if it deserved such loving treatment. Indie zombie face-splatting? Sounds about ideal. Or does it? Impressions below…
If I was 15 and asked to describe the videogame of my dreams, I would suggest these things:
- Zombies
- Zombies with boobs
- A constant, screechy metal soundtrack
- Slow-motion, like in the Matrix
- A lady who makes bad innuendo whenever she talks to you
- Blood! Loadsa blood! And knives for arms!
- Chainsaws and rocket launchers and flamethrowers and and and… machetes!
- A boss with like guns for arms and like spikes in his chest and like a really huge gun and he’s like invisible and stuff
Gentlemen, I give you Killing Floor.
But then, I was never a terribly cultured 15-year-old. I have no idea as to the age or attitude of developers Tripwire Interactive, and thus cannot judge whether they’ve really made the game of their own dreams, or simply hope to appeal to a certain audience, but certainly, this isn’t interested in subtlety in its tone and presentation. It has a similarly brash, noisy attitude to many of those Doom 3 mods I looked at yesterday, but at the same time it’s a whole lot more complete – and a whole lot more fun too. This is monster mega-death, utterly geared towards instant, bloody thrills.
Its general air holds me back from entirely tapping into the raw joy beneath, annoyingly. It may, after all, only be my own tastes that precludes me from finding stuff like saying quitting players have suffered an aneurysm hilarious. Perhaps somewhere there’s an alterna-me that thinks medics repeatedly shouting “I’m trying to heal you, not to shag you” is something I would want to quote in my forum sig, or that Johnny Gun-For-An-Arm-And-Mouth-For-A-Chest in the screenshot above would make a nice desktop wallpaper. As it is though, I crave a little more finesse. Or, at least, something that really, properly goes for over-the-top offensiveness and excess – but this aims for somewhere in the middle.
But allow me to revert back to raw facts before I stumble off on a one-way trip into opinonland. Killing Floor is a co-operative survival-horror FPS, pitting a team of cockney, military human survivors against lurching hordes of zombies and other assorted beasties. The obvious Left 4 Dead comparisons are not unjustified, though it’s worth pointing out KF derives from a mod that predated Valve’s magnum brain-chomp opus. There’s much to separate the two games in their play styles, too – while L4D is about progress to an eventual escape, KF is about gunning down a fixed number of zombies in a fixed number of waves. In L4D, you’re the hunted, in KF you’re more like the hunter. A hunter in constant mortal danger, yes, but success absolutely positively depends on killing every last brain-chomperon the map.
It’s more akin, too, to a conventional singleplayer FPS, in that each zombie (especially the blade-armed, jumpy, invisible or sonic-screechy ones) is a pretty serious menace if it gets close enough, whereas L4D is more about managing the endless horde. There’s a spot of Counter-Strike in there too – your kills rack up cash, which you then get to spend on weapons and ammo, so long as you can stand to visit the trader after she’s made yet another schoolboy pun about liking ‘big ones.’
Ah, the trader – a curiously omnipotent and omniscient figure around whom the game’s entire structure hangs. She knows when the zombies are coming down to the second, and can shut up her shop and magically teleport to the other side of the level when they do. Her new location is your goal at the end of every wave – at least it is if you want a bigger gun or to restock your ammo. It’s a neat idea in terms of both how to get new guns into your hands and how to introduce down-time between the waves, but it’s so absolutely artificial. This is true of the game as a whole, really – whereas something like L4D offers something fluid, (relatively) logical and narrative-led, this wears its rules and numbers on its sleeve. For all the survival element, it’s really an arena game.
Which, that illogical trader aside, suits it just fine, really. It’s about bettering yourself, taking down those fixed-number waves ever-quicker and, over time, increasing your permanent rank in a variety of roles – e.g. shotgun guy, medic, machinegun guy… You select one of these roles – Perks, officially – which you either stick with semi-permanently or switch to another whenever you like, and it’ll grant you bonuses to stuff like damage and speed, depending on its rank. As with something like Call of Duty 4 or Battlefield 2, this becomes almost more of a reason to keep playing than the game itself – the endless pursuit of the bigger number. Given Killing Floor’s crudity and repetition in other respects, I’m going to cruelly predict that this oh-so-moreish upgrade chase may be all that really keeps some of the game’s currently large crowd playing for long.
It’s fun, it really is. That essential bullet/monster-skull interface is appropriately splattersome and adrenal. But it’s so clumsily presented – the voice-acting grates, the run animation seems straight out of the original Counter-Strike, and the empty noise of the soundtrack is the kind of thing grandmothers probably think videogamers listen to 24/7 – and it’s drowning in this sad excess of juvenilia. Most especially, the slow-motion, triggered at random by a particularly epic shot, which is simultaneously applied for a few seconds to everyone playing, is an abomination. Sure, one guy gets to let loose a couple of cool headshots in Matrix-o-vision, but someone else will find their already agonisingly slow weapon reload takes twice as long, or they suffer a screen full of spinning mess as some zombie hits them around the back of the head in treacle-time. I didn’t find it lent anything to the game except outdated posturing, but it detracts badly from the flow and adrenaline of the experience. It’s like someone intermittently knocking the mouse out of your hand.
As a co-op game generally, it’s a little lacking in strategy – at least as far as my puny awareness of how to be hardcore suggests – which makes it at least very accessible. There doesn’t seem to be all that much need to work together beyond staying bunched fairly close, lobbing occasional heals and killing everything as it appears, so there’s less of the blame and recrimination inherent in an L4D session when someone tries to do their own thing. The more expert-level chaps will doubtless come up with some incredibly, fiendishly elaborate weapon combos and defensive placements, but reflex and accuracy seem far more important than forming a plan. Again, fine, and in some ways a blessed relief from teamgames’ usual emphasis on strategising just so. Sometimes, you just want to shoot a lot of stuff in the face, and this is most definitely the game to offer that. There is heartpounding excitement to be had from making a last stand against impossible odds, and the cheers of your team-mates when you do are a fine reward. Just as well, as the only other reward is another cocking slow-motion effect as the boss falls over.
Still, for all the wanton carnage it tries to stretch itself a little. For instance, there’s a curious welding system with which you can temporarily lock some doors to delay the onset of the horde from a given direction. Unfortunately, the speed with which the array of increasingly tough (and increasingly ridiculous, culminating in an outright stupid-looking boss) zombies can kick ‘em down again come the bigger waves means everyone firing wildly rather than fannying about with a welding torch for too long seems to be the better approach. Of course, at the Hard difficulty setting it’s monstrously tough, so artful welding becomes that much more crucial to keep some of the wolves from your door. On a hard server, it’s also vital to spend every last bullet incredibly carefully, else you’ll be reduced to desperately flailing melee.
It’s a challenge that’ll feel super-good to conquer (and right now I can’t even imagine besting the Suicidal setting), but the fairly pre-set nature of the waves and the ugly-gloomy look of the thing doesn’t have me convinced it’s something a majority of players will want to tackle again and again after the first few highs. I’m quite sure there’s much I’ve overlooked or am yet to learn in terms of how to truly master the thing – but the bottom line is it simply hasn’t entertained me quite enough to want to doggedly pursue such skills over hundreds of repeats of the same levels and the same jittery combat. It’s not a game-world I want to spend much more time in. That boiling, bloody broth of intense assault and and hardcore gunplay will unquestionably draw a passionate crowd from elsewhere, however.
Do Tripwire deserve more pats on the back because they’re an independent studio making and publishing populist videogames off their own back, and lack the resources necessary to make a game as polished as a more veteran studio? Well, good on ‘em and well done for getting this made, but such pluckiness doesn’t change that this is a game with a pricetag (albeit a semi-budget one), and that it’s enjoyed the kind of startlingly heavy promotion on Steam lately that far more underdog indies have not. Frankly, I’m not convinced it deserved quite so high a profile, at least not in its crude current state.
Killing Floor is entertaining enough as mass zombiecide goes, but it’s little more than a grab-bag of fun features from other games, squeezed awkwardly together without anywhere near enough cement between the gaps. True, FPS is hardly a genre known for its invention, but those that do simply tow the line require a crapload of polish to get away with it. Sadly, this feels like little more than a mod in everything from the spartan, ugly menu onwards, and while the price is low, when you can pick up Left 4 Dead for similar spondoolies or grab any number of free zombie mods for other games, it’s a little hard to justify. If it were still a mod, it would be a cast-iron winner: but those noble origins don’t change what it is now.
One thing’s certainly right – the name. It doesn’t imply the game is anything more than the shallow, happily stupid thing it is. It just isn’t for me in the long-term: I want more. I don’t have the slightest doubt that it will attract a furiously passionate audience, however, and am already braced for the comments to come… My early thoughts here are, of course, all based on just a few days of the games’ existence – so while I’m done with it for now, if I hear exciting things in the weeks and months to come, I’ll gladly check in to see how it and its scene are developing.
19/05/2009 at 20:10 Petethegoat says:
That’s a shame, I was considering getting this, as I loved the UT2004 mod, but oh well.
Perhaps you could do a Damnation Wot I Think?
19/05/2009 at 20:12 Nick says:
If you loved the mod you’ll love this…
19/05/2009 at 20:16 Kastanok says:
This seems to confirm my suspicions of this as something rather mindless and flatly-paced. Everything about it screams jeuvanile – in a Bad Way.
Also, it’s brown. I would have thought brown games were outlawed by now.
EDIT: @bloodypalace – I believe you just answered your own question regarding difficulty. And screaming outrage and obsceneties is hardly the mature response to an appraisal you don’t agree with. Make of that what you will.
EDITEDIT: Ninja-d by post deletion.
19/05/2009 at 20:18 bloodypalace says:
Alec Meer has no idea what hes talking about! Killing floor is a great game and very similar to old school horror games…
Edit:
Wow! delete my comment! I’m sorry that i don’t agree with your crappy review!
19/05/2009 at 20:21 Stupoider says:
I’m not a fan of insane gore.
Or guns for arms. :(
19/05/2009 at 20:21 Alec Meer says:
Bloodypalace, and those who feel similarly – you’re very welcome to disagree (it’s called ‘wot I think’ for a reason) but do it like a nice, sensible man and not like a shouting weirdo, please.
19/05/2009 at 20:21 Torgen says:
bloodypalace = Alec at 15 years old. ;)
19/05/2009 at 20:22 Dominic White says:
This review baffles me. It’s like the exact opposite of what I think.
No strategy? Bullet-time useless? Y’wha? On Normal/Long or higher, a battle-plan and a well coordinated team are the ONLY way to survive, and welding is an essential unless you want to have your flanks eaten off. Anything less, and you die horribly.
And the slowmo has saved my neck more times than I can count. It’ll give me five garunteed headshots and the chance to back away from a Gorefast. The fact that two of the classes get bullet-time extensions at higher levels highlights this fact further.
Even on the highest difficulty, most of my Left 4 Dead experiences involve running as quickly as I can through the level and twitch-firing at anything in the way. L4D is far, far faster-paced and more arcadey. The players run faster, the guns shoot faster, the zombies die faster. How anyone could say otherwise is beyond me.
While the production values clearly aren’t up to Valve standards, this is a budget-priced update of a mod by an indie studio, and the core gameplay is entertaining me FAR more than Left 4 Dead ever did. There’s already many variations on the core gameplay popping up, as well as some excellent new maps.
16 players on the Farm map with partial friendly fire and huge hordes of enemies means that players will often split up into small groups, holed up in the various buildings scattered around the region. It becomes a full-on Night of the Living Dead scenario.
And as for ‘nobody will want to play this’? Come on. There are over 1000 dedicated servers running for this at the moment, the vast majority of them (almost 900 right now) populated – most of them full.
It’s hugely popular right now, and there are more official maps and mutators and features on the way.
Also, I’m a grizzled nerd of 25 years of age – been shooting pixellated nasties since the days of CGA displays and eardrum-rupturing PC speaker audio.
19/05/2009 at 20:22 Linfosoma says:
Well, I love the game. I’ve been playing all weekend long.
Then again, I like old school games like Doom and the first few Resident Evil titles.
The game is not as refined as L4D true, actually, it’s not refined at all (it has the most ugly menu I’ve ever seen in a game, ever, but at least it works).
Weapons are strong and satisfying, teamwork is only needed in harder difficulties.
You are more free to move on your own though, some may like this freedom, some may not.
All and all, Im liking this game a lot.
19/05/2009 at 20:23 bloodypalace says:
@Alec Meer
Your review is SO off that i can’t react any other way…
@torgen
I’m 20 years old! :)
@Dominic White
Finally, someone who know what hes talking about!
19/05/2009 at 20:24 Jim Rossignol says:
Damnation review is a couple of days off.
19/05/2009 at 20:29 Mman says:
Admitedly I’ve only really played much on the Farm level so far, and that level might just not fit the overall gameplay so well, but one thing I’ve noticed is that the difficulty seems a bit biased towards the Patriarch so far; I could solo the vast majority of the horde before then, but then once you reach the boss it’s suddenly pure work together or get slaughtered; at least on normal it seems like they either need to lower the difficulty of the boss slightly to fit more with the rest, or (far preferable) make the normal hordes much harder to fit with the how the boss is. As I said this might just be a Farm thing though since it’s quite a departure from the other maps.
19/05/2009 at 20:30 suibhne says:
I’ve been generally quite pleased with KF, and I think you sell it a bit short in places. For example, you clearly don’t get this point, but welding plays a really key strategic role (and is sometimes downright necessary) at any difficulty level above Beginner: welding doors obviously gives you some breathing room as you retreat, but it more significantly creates bottlenecks where 20-30 zombies bunch up. This is vital for crowd control in waves with 180 specimens; you really, really need your grenade to be taking out 10 zombies at once rather than 1 or 2. To accomplish this kind of bottleneck, you obviously need to keep repairing a door after the zombies start attacking it – until an adequate number of enemies has accumulated and your team is ready for the onslaught. Welding isn’t a one-time deal, unless you’re just trying to block your back while retreating; you need to actively repair your welds and keep them up until you’re ready for action.
It’s also worth pointing out that the slo-mo benefits the entire team. It doesn’t hurt any player, even tho it can be irritating if you’re in the middle of a reload, and it’s beneficial to most of the team when you have 5 or 6 guys playing together; at any given moment, the majority are shooting rather than reloading.
I’m not saying the game doesn’t have issues, and I agree with some of your criticism – especially of the interface, which really looks like a sophomoric UT2k4 mod. But KF does seem to be pretty well priced at $15 or $20, and I’d say it’s definitely worth that as long as you have some friends to team up with. Your “Wot I Think” feels like it’s based on very cursory first impressions, not on 10 or 15 hours with the game.
I’m also grateful to Tripwire for bringing market pressure to bear on Valve. It’s hard to miss the fact that KF shipped with its SDK and map editor, and Valve finally, magically released a “beta” version of the same for L4D – the day after KF hit Steam, and many, many months after the user community originally expected it. Never mind Tripwire’s truly excellent record of support and free add-on content for Red Orchestra; if Tripwire hadn’t been so open with KF, who knows how much longer we’d be waiting on Valve?
19/05/2009 at 20:31 bloodypalace says:
“It isn’t for me: I want more” The sdk has been released and there are already some custom maps out there! You can also use red orchestra maps as customs. Also Tripwire will be adding new content to it soon.
ANYONE EVEN SLIGHTLY INTERESTED IN ZOMBIE GAMES MUST BUT KILLING FLOOR AND [take this review as just one opinion about the game]
19/05/2009 at 20:32 Serondal says:
When is Natural Selection coming out ?!!!?!?!??!?! Is it in the same area is DNF ? I want to see more mods made into real games like this. It is the best idea ever. you take a bunch of people who love to play something to free, get them addicted, then release a more polished version for a smaller than normal price and instant profit!
19/05/2009 at 20:33 Nick says:
Harder difficulties being normal and higher.. I enjoy the game a lot, though it is certainly full of flaws (“zed time”, annoying mervhant dialogue that can’t be turned off, fairly unappealing animations for the undead). The Patriarch is indeed too poorly balanced against the others, given insta kill weaponry rather than interesting tactics.
It could do with being more over the top as well, but largely I don’t think the sneering is justified (again, apart from the utterly terrible trader dialogue).
19/05/2009 at 20:34 Nafe says:
Odd, I didn’t think looney fanboys visited this site.
Anyway, on the whole a pretty accurate review. That said, I’m enjoying it more than you seemed to, Alec. I think that’s because I only eve play it with my net-buddys. I’ve tried it twice on random servers and thought it was a big bag of lame.
In short, random games = weak, games with mates with teamspeak on in the background = quite a good laugh. Even the slow mo is great fun like that.
19/05/2009 at 20:37 Alec Meer says:
I do enjoy it, lest that’s not clear – it’s just not something I can see myself playing for long.
19/05/2009 at 20:38 Kastanok says:
I am actually being even further put off paying this game any interest by the more rabid comments on this article. No-one does any piece of work justice by being so militant and aggressive in their opinions or by assaulting other peoples’ opinions.
19/05/2009 at 20:39 Serondal says:
Everything is more fun with mates, teamspeak, and maybe some beer. I only ever enjoyed playing World of Warcraft over teamspeka with my best friend and some austrilian guy and some Canadian dude over team speak whilst we were all drunk and my friend’s child kept demanding he let him smoke a cig to which he replyed” No, you’re six !” to which his child replys “SO ?!”
19/05/2009 at 20:41 TCM says:
@bloodypalace
Most vocal supporter reminds me of 13 year olds screaming into mics on TF2/Counter Strike/L4D = Will not buy.
(That said, I’m 19. When I’m younger than you, and calling you childish, something’s seriously wrong.)
19/05/2009 at 20:42 Alec Meer says:
Let’s leave bloodypalace alone now, folks. Rest assured further crazed shouting will be deleted, but sober discussion is welcome.
19/05/2009 at 20:45 diebroken says:
All you need to know is that you can use a chainsaw on the living dead, and also throw money at people whilst shouting “Money, money, monnaaaayy!” :D
P.S. Any game that features a double-barreled shotgun is a plus in my book – *hugs* You Are Empty (yes, it’s a guilty pleasure of a game…)
19/05/2009 at 20:45 bloodypalace says:
Dude stop deleting/editing my posts! not cool…
@TCM
I love this game with a passion! I’m a killing floor veteran (ie Ive been playing the game since its first version) and this review just aggravates me! Sorry i can’t really react to a review that murders one of my favorite games in a civil manner…
19/05/2009 at 20:46 Mr Pink says:
@Dominic White
“Even on the highest difficulty, most of my Left 4 Dead experiences involve running as quickly as I can through the level and twitch-firing at anything in the way.”
This does not sound like L4D expert to me. If you did this you would be annihilated.
19/05/2009 at 20:49 Torgen says:
@ Serondal
I would SO love to see Natural Selection arrive as a retail game, all spiffied up! Hell, I had tremendous fun just watching as a spectator. I’d actually buy the game just to be an “audience” participant and watch!
19/05/2009 at 20:53 Dominic White says:
Granted, in L4D on expert you *have* to stick with your team very closely and cover them at all times, but it’s still a lot of very fast movement and very twitchy shooting.
There’s nothing like waiting patiently for a horde of zombies to get within range for the optimum multi-shotgun salvo before pulling back another 30 feet to prepare a new firing line.
As for any questions of me being a die-hard KF fanboy or something, I actually didn’t even know the game (or mod for that matter) existed until about two weeks before it was released. A friend who really liked the mod reccomended I get it at the preorder discount price, and I was very pleasantly surprised by it.
So, yeah. I reccomend it because it’s a great little zombie game out of nowhere, already with an active modding/mapping community, and available at a tasty budget price. Also, Tripwire are known for their excellent post-release support (look at Red Orchestra for an example there) so expect it to grow.
Also, while the Tank in L4D is scary, there’s something even more viscerally terrifying about scoring a perfect point-blank headshot on a Fleshpound, watching its head violently explode, only for it to STILL switch into berserker mode. Those guys can survive worryingly long without their heads.
19/05/2009 at 20:53 Damaestrio says:
FYI – the “somebody had an aneurysm” message when quitting is actually an artifact from UT2004 (it’s the default suicide message). So in that single case, the juvenile humor is a carry over from the previous engine (although it adds credence to your “clearly a mod” line of thought)
19/05/2009 at 20:55 The_B says:
I really like the game at the moment, but can understand Alec’s criticism – some people (like myself for instance) are fine with the more instant graitifcation that KF provides than say, L4D. However, trying to justify that one is better than the other is about as futile as finding a zombie a date on Valentines day.
There’s more than enough room for both games, certainly – and I would say it’s definitely worth a punt – moreso if Tripwire can keep it as updated as they do RO. But I would be the first to say it’s not going to be for everyone’s tastes.
19/05/2009 at 20:59 Jim Rossignol says:
Natural Selection 2 is still in the works, so we’re told. We occasionally get blips from Unknown Worlds. I’ve been meaning to ping them and get some more info.
19/05/2009 at 21:06 suibhne says:
To be honest, I’m not seeing either KF or L4D as a long-term game; they both get really samey after you get to know all the maps, even taking into account L4D’s Director. There’s no endgame to either one. If anything, KF is just more obvious and honest about its nature as an arena game.
I know there are folks who continue to be enthralled by L4D even after 6 months, and good on you. From a standpoint of strict game mechanics, tho, L4D is no less artificial than KF, even if it is a lot more polished.
I’m also enjoying (somewhat snarkily) the claim all over the internets that in L4D you’re the hunted, while in KF you’re the hunter. It feels rather opposite to me, as the KF zeds actively search for you and zero in on your position as unerringly as the alien invaders in Defender. (The two games aren’t that dissimilar, really. :D) In L4D, by contrast, I can often stand around and do nothing for 10 minutes, and pretty much nothing happens (depending on where you are in each map). L4D feels very much like a player-driven gameworld; everything reacts to you, which really undermines the feeling of being “the hunted” even while you’re facing overwhelming odds. In KF, by contrast, you’re up against what feels like a force of nature, or at least an implacable game design that would happily go on without you to witness it. That’s where the “hunted/hunter” motif entirely breaks down for me, and I tend to think people keep tossing that out there only because they’re misguidedly scrambling for an overly simplistic way to characterize the differences between the two games. No offense, Alec. ;)
19/05/2009 at 21:07 diebroken says:
Last I ever heard about Natural Selection 2 was that they dropped the Source engine for their own inhouse one. Hope it does finally get done and released; I’d gladly pay for it via Steam, after having so many looong rounds with the original… ah, the memories.
19/05/2009 at 21:09 Dead Fish says:
I played Killing Floor for about 10 hours so far and am enjoying it immensly. It’s a welcome change from Left 4 Dead.
Like others mentioned, welding is a meaningful feature and absolutely necessary for normal/hard or above. And I actually quite like “zed-time”. It helps with the headshots. Tripwire’s viewmodel animations are so good that I can’t help but admire them every time. Shooting that Winchester in slow-motion looks incredible.
Very fun game overall, and the British accent’s make even the dumbest (yet awesome ;) ) dialogue good.
19/05/2009 at 21:09 graham says:
As I am 31 I will give this a miss, the statement “it’s drowning in this sad excess of juvenilia” is not only a truely classic line but also a deal braker.
19/05/2009 at 21:10 TCM says:
(By the way, I was semi-joking before. I might end up checking this out. And I might not. In fact, I probably won’t, since I’m blowing all my money on console games. Boo me. >_>)
19/05/2009 at 21:10 Jim Rossignol says:
suibhne: Isn’t the versus mode one of the main motivators for people continuing to play L4D? Most of my online chums that play regularly do so semi-competitively in that way.
19/05/2009 at 21:13 Vandelay says:
I don’t really have anything to say on this game as I have not tried it yet, but it is very possible just to charge forward on expert L4D. If the whole team runs forward together, meleeing any zombies in the way (as shooting alerts all zombies near to charge you) you will be able to complete any level simply. The only time the team dies when charging for it is if you get split and usually the person charging will still make it, as the zombies will go for those behind him. In fact the only difficulty comes from the finale, which is usually complicated by one person on your team not being as good as everyone else. Crescendos can be dealt with in the old fashioned way of melee spamming, even with melee fatigue.
Tanks maybe more of an issue, but setting him on fire and running away (no need to shoot, just let him burn) deals with him no problem.
19/05/2009 at 21:14 Nick says:
I do feel its something a shame when “grown-ups” can’t enjoy a mindless bit of fun because its too childish for them.
Jim – didn’t the popularity of versus mode take Valve somewhat by surprise? It is certainly the only way the game is worth playing after three or four runs through the campaigns as they get stale extremely fast. The only challenge is running away from a tank whilst its on fire and the finales.
19/05/2009 at 21:15 Nayon says:
I believe this review (or whatever you want to call it) was unjust.
I enjoyed playing this game much, much more than L4D. First of all, the perk system gives players the ability to be different from each other and fill certain roles, something I seriously crave in L4D. The gameplay is much more fun, because every kill counts, you’re not just randomly shooting around and hoping it hits something. The welding opens up lots of tactical opportunities. The different kinds of zombies enforce the players to work together, because certain classes fare better/worse against certain types of zombies. Also, the single player is immensely stressful and fun, a la Crimsonland style. It is a great challenge, and I look forward to being able to survive past wave 3 (long mode) on hard. ( I tried to structure the sentence so that “long” and “hard” do not appear consecutively)
The dialogue is funny filler, no less, no more, it’s alright and it’s no cheesier than L4D, imo.
The welding part is really important to the game, I wish more survival games had barricading options like this (Call of Cthulhu had it but it was underused)
The trader is illogical, yes, then again, if we wanted everything oh so realistic would we be playing games? Are the plasmids in Bioshock really logical? If so, is not being able to wield a weapon and a plasmid (yes I know it’s fixed in the sequel) really logical? I see a bunch of developers trying to make a game fun without coming up with contrived explanations to justify game mechanics. Just like in the “golden age of gaming”, as some call it. One last argument is of course the “Aeris/Phoenix Down” argument, so yeah, games don’t have to make sense.
Picking on the walking animation is really pushing it, in my opinion. I bought this game for like 12 dollars or so, I think I can deal with the walking animations (which never bothered me).
As others mentioned, the slow-motion is a huge life saver and I always hope for people triggering it as frequently as possible, it’s an integral game mechanic.
Also, the weapons feel incredibly satisfying. Their sounds and visual feedback is really powerful.
Finally, I enjoy the music. When I first heard it, I went “Why is the music volume so low?” and just increased it. I enjoy this kind of music and it suits the game just fine, in my opinion.
I believe there was some missing information and heavy opinionation in this “Wot I Think” and I believe it doesn’t do the game justice. Of course it isn’t an AAA title with 20 shades of brown and whack-a-mole cover mechanics, but it is damn fun and it’s cheaper than pirated games over here, so it’s worth a buy for people who enjoy oldschool games.
@Nick
Exactly what I’m thinking! Mindless fun can be good. And yes, Left 4 Dead got extremely stale and boring for me after a while. I didn’t even finish 2 of the campaigns! This one, however, seems to have much more replay value and varied combat.
19/05/2009 at 21:16 Vinraith says:
One of the reasons I enjoy this site so much is that a genuinely mature perspective on gaming is comparatively hard to find. That you’re so good at pointing out obscure games I end up genuinely enjoying is, I think, a natural consequence. Keep up the good work, and thanks for the review.
19/05/2009 at 21:17 Nick says:
Heavy opinionation in an article titled “Wot I think”? Who’d have thought?
19/05/2009 at 21:19 Jim Rossignol says:
“didn’t the popularity of versus mode take Valve somewhat by surprise?”
I doubt it – they’d been playing Versus among themselves for a year or more in the office. Why? Do you feel it’s undersold?
19/05/2009 at 21:21 MrBejeebus says:
I have to say I agree with Mr Meer in places here, KF is quite (ok very) unpolished, its menu is clunky, its mechanics are a bit off and soooooo on.
However I think its great fun at 2 in the morning with mates, the scramble to get to the trader, and the different classes are all very fun, my fav is the support class because IMO the shotgun is awesome, 1 of my friends tho just prefers to hack it out. I liked this game so much I bought a Multiplay server for me and my friends…
19/05/2009 at 21:22 Dominic White says:
@Nick – Amen. The day I feel compelled to turn my nose up at a game with a grungy metal soundtrack and copious headplosions, I’ll be turning in my nerd card. I’ll also probably stop reading comics that day. It will be a sad day.
Oh, an a little further note on the Perk system. At Level 0, they barely affect anything, but at level 5, they VASTLY specialize your character. At L5, a Berserker STARTS with a chainsaw, and has something like double damage output, 25% damage reduction and 50% faster movement when wielding it.
Starting out, you’re a guy who knows how to use a chainsaw. By the end? You’re Leatherface on amphetamines.
Those high-level perks are pretty much required if you want to survive a Hard/Long game, or even (god forbid) the very truthfully named Suicidal mode, which starts you out against armies of the undead, and only scales up from there.
And as mentioned, servers can customize the gameplay a huge amount. Just click that ‘sandbox’ option in Solo mode and see how many options menus open up. You can set exactly what spawns on each wave, their relative toughness, how many, when, how often and more.
19/05/2009 at 21:28 Nick says:
Jim – I thought I remembered hearing something about it – but yes I think it was undersold as they spent most of their time talking about how replayable the campaigns would be (I didn’t find that the case at all really) and seemingly putting more focus on them and co op-ness in general. The lack of finished maps was a bit of a blow in that reguard too and also seemed to indicate they were expecting the campaigns to take a greater hold.
19/05/2009 at 21:29 pkt-zer0 says:
Seems to be a bit uninformed for a “review”. “Puny awareness”? Possibly. Maybe you should invest a bit more time into it, then? It really doesn’t seem to me that the run-and-gun approach would be very viable on anything but the lowest difficulties. Unlike L4D, which isn’t remotely challenging on anything but the highest difficulty (from what I’ve played of it when it was free).
19/05/2009 at 21:29 Hypocee says:
Slight rhetorical slip, there, as it appears to be a B title with 128 shades of brown…
19/05/2009 at 21:30 Jim Rossignol says:
Nick: Yes, you may be right. I was surprised that the entire game wasn’t versus from the outset.
19/05/2009 at 21:33 suibhne says:
True, Jim – I wasn’t thinking of Versus, a perfectly defensible reason for any gamer to remain interested in L4D. :D
What it comes down to for me is that L4D has the polish and personality of a $50 game, and KF has the polish and personality of a $20 game. Both play well.
I have to admit, tho, one of my disappointments with KF is the shoddy grammar and spelling. How hard can it be, really, to fix junk like that in a release title? Sheesh, I’d've proofread their game for a tenspot.
19/05/2009 at 21:34 Serondal says:
Ns is one of the few Online games that literlaly had me screaming “RUN RUN F@#$@# RUN!!”
19/05/2009 at 21:34 cullnean says:
i got welded out of a room by some lunatics and fought my way through a whole wave of zombies with my trusty double barrel shotty and a fire axe, then got called a swine for raking in all the money.
good times.
promptly blew my self up at the start of the next round with the LAW and lost all my cash.
Bad times.
19/05/2009 at 21:35 abhishek says:
I agree with this review for the most part. I’m among the only people in my set of friends who pre-ordered the game. When my buddies ask me about it, I can go on and on about every single detail (good or bad) but I can never honestly tell them to go ahead and buy it. I tell everyone to wait for the free weekend and decide for themselves. The game is just like that… barely more than a mod all things considered.
It’s still fun to play though and I would really like a few things to be fixed. For one, the corny one liners need to go. At least give us the option to disable them, it’s immensely irritating. The stun/blur which occurs when you get hit needs to be toned down a lot (Tripwire is apparently working on this).
Reload animations cannot be interrupted… this should be reconsidered. There’s nothing more annoying than reloading 2 pistols when bullet time kicks in. If you’re getting hit while reloading, at least allow the option to swap to another weapon instead of just having to take it while the ridiculously slow animation completes.
And finally, I do believe the money system needs a tweak or possibly a mutator. If a player dies in the later rounds, he will respawn with nothing but a pistol and a little cash. Unless his team mates give him almost all their spare money, he will not be able to buy the good weapons/equipment required to be a useful asset for the team in the next round. Team mates giving others money is something that might not necessarily happen, especially in a public game. And if the person who died doesn’t get money, the entire team is weakened for the subsequent round which can result in more deaths and a cyclic situation. While it’s not a problem if your team mates give you money, I guess I just don’t understand why the game itself cannot have some formula for an equitable distribution of money which rewards people who survive but doesn’t severely punish those who happened to die. The reason this is a problem in my mind is because I have been in public games where someone (including myself sometimes) dies in the 6th round onwards and was never able to load up on the required weaponry and eventually the team suffered and could not clear a later wave.
19/05/2009 at 21:35 Nayon says:
@Nick
Some might consider this a pseudo-review. It’s fair to play the game more than a bit, explore how it is to really play it, and understand the mechanics before writing on a major site that lots of people read.
@Jim R
I believe Versus wasn’t a priority for Valve at release, because it only had 2 campaigns and it was unbalanced.
19/05/2009 at 21:35 Dead Fish says:
@Jim: Left 4 Dead actually started out as a much smaller game (developed by Turtle Rock Studios, before Valve bought them) and had only one mode. That mode resembled campaign mode with playable Bosses, but it didn’t work out being asymmetrical, so they split it up. So, the VS mode of the final version was added rather late in development, true.
19/05/2009 at 21:36 Nimic says:
I haven’t touched the Campaigns since about the first day I got the game and went through them with my cousin. It’s been all about Versus from then, and it’s a blast (though I’m having a little L4D break. Coincidentally I’m also having a TF2 break. And a FM09 break. Unfortunately not an exam break >.<).
As for Killing Floor…. I was considering it, but to be honest this review has made me much less likely to buy it. It just doesn’t sound like anything I’d spend more than a bit of time on.
19/05/2009 at 21:42 A:\Big.bat says:
I agree with everything Alec said. It’s a pretty fun game, but it still feels like a mod.
19/05/2009 at 21:46 Flappybat says:
Lots more balance needed is my main complaint. It’s very obvious how refined L4D is in comparison.
You can run away forever from anything but the high level zombies, the shotguns are generally superior to most weapons, some perks are far better than others and the boss has too many BS tricks that make him much harder than the earlier waves.
Rebalance, add a few more maps, fix those bugs and add a random boss character and it would be gold.
19/05/2009 at 21:48 nakke says:
Clearly most people have finally understood that Wot I Thinks are indeed unopinionated game-purchasing guides for the whole populus, with the primary goal of either having a game make it BIG TIME or make it fail.
19/05/2009 at 21:50 Nick says:
Nayon – They might, yes, but it’s also clearly an opinion piece not only by its title but by the total lack of the word review anywhere near it and by the lack of a score. That and they have been using the ‘Wot I Think’ format for a while now.
I’m guessing its the reason they went for the title in the hopes people wouldn’t take it as a buyers guide review but as an opinion. I could easily be wrong though.
(I miss Optimus)
19/05/2009 at 21:53 Jim Rossignol says:
Optimus still puts in an appearance when we all have time to play the same game – see Zeno Clash.
19/05/2009 at 21:55 Alec Meer says:
You’re dead right about the title/score stuff, Nick. Sadly, pretty much every post we make here gets called a review by someone. It’s a word everyone has their own interpretation of, it seems.
19/05/2009 at 21:55 Stijn says:
man this review sucks it doesnt even have a score
19/05/2009 at 21:59 hyperion2010 says:
The reason why aneurysms are funny is because people often leave the game when you are healing them (since they are hurt and not moving) and thus it always ends up looking like you ODed them on the meds :D, completely unintentional, but hilarious nonetheless.
19/05/2009 at 22:00 Alec Meer says:
I can only hope Stijn is being ironic.
19/05/2009 at 22:02 Damaestrio says:
@hyperion2010 I’ve never seen it happen before, but that’s damn hilarious. There needs to be an achievement for that (The Dr. Kevorkian? The Gregory House? maybe a little Starcraft reference – ‘Ahh, that’s the stuff’)
19/05/2009 at 22:04 Nayon says:
@ Alec & Nick
I know it’s not a review, but casual readers might not. Just sayin’. Carry on, you’re the one with the cool successful site and I’m just a guy commenting here, so you probably know better than me :D (no sarcasm)
19/05/2009 at 22:06 psyk says:
Since when have “wot I thinks” been a review.
Well the fact its called “wot I think” is a good clue no?
hell arent reviews what the reviewer thinks of the game anyway so it could be classed as a review i suppose.
19/05/2009 at 22:09 Serondal says:
agreed with Psyk he’s just saying what he thinks not giving a total review. You can disagree with him but you can’t say he didn’t tell you Wot he thunk ;P
Reviews aren’t so much what the reviewer thinks but more or a reporting from a netural stand point (Or at least they should be) A wot I think is more from his personal view point what he thinks about the game after playing it as long as he feels like he wants to. Where as a real review would have someone playing it for a long while getting to know as much about it as possible, I supose.
In that regard I supose it could still be considered a review but more like an amazon customer review.
19/05/2009 at 22:09 Mejwell says:
I’d like to start by qualifying with I like this in it’s own way, although that’s pretty indicative of the words to come.
Killing Floor seems to be like someone took the “Nazi Zombies” game mode from Call of Duty: World at War and tried to make a full game out of it. The chief failing, which Alec “No Score” Meer accurately points out is that shortly, everything will be rote. The best combinations will be known, the levels will all be planned out, and it will just be a matter of going through the accurately determined motions.
The crucial difference with Left 4 Dead is small, but noticeable: the random sequence of events, aside from those predictable panic deals. Sure, you know HOW to deal with a 3 hunter pounce, a tank, a witch, but you don’t know WHEN that’s going to occur, or, what equipment you’ll have available. Do you have bombs? Second level weapons? Are you near cars? While plans for general situations have become consistent, they never apply EXACTLY the same way twice, which seems like something that will eventually (perhaps even quickly) happen with Killing Floor, and which dampens its overall effect.
That said, even Left 4 Dead wore out it’s welcome with me faster than I expected, but it made up for it recently with the addition of Survival mode and new maps. If the devs for Killing Floor stick with it, they could give it a similar shot at longevity.
19/05/2009 at 22:10 Nimic says:
Every review is basically an opinion piece, isn’t it? Really, for me it’s as simple as me valuing the RPS crew’s gaming opinions rather highly. It won’t completely turn me on any game, but if I was rather skeptical about a game already, and a “Wot I think” piece slates it, it’ll that little bit further off my radar.
19/05/2009 at 22:10 dartt says:
Alec, this captured exactly how I feel about the game so I know just what you mean :)
Great for a few laughs with your mates but by no means a classic.
19/05/2009 at 22:12 Alec Meer says:
They’re not entirely not reviews, granted, but we let an awful lot more of ourselves into them than if we were writing for, say, a magazine, so we’re a little uncomfortable about outright calling them the r-word.
19/05/2009 at 22:18 Serondal says:
Sims VS KF , Debate!
19/05/2009 at 22:21 hyperion2010 says:
Oh, also, the continual hegemonic control that valve exerts over what gamers are “allowed” to do in their games really pisses me off “no you cant quick switch melee, sorry, thats just not cool even though everyone can do it,” comes to mind. In KF I can turn my FOV up to 180 if I want (I play at 130, like its quake). A game is an experience and I want to have some control over how I experience that experience, it makes the game MUCH more fun and a whole lot less annoying, it is a mentality that actually shows respect for the player.
19/05/2009 at 22:23 Stijn says:
Alec: I am, of course ;)
19/05/2009 at 22:32 Fumarole says:
I’m still amazed at people who say Left 4 Dead is/was unbalanced. It’s not an RTS game people. Asymmetrical gaming is a Good Thing.
19/05/2009 at 22:38 Mkilbride says:
“I’m also grateful to Tripwire for bringing market pressure to bear on Valve. It’s hard to miss the fact that KF shipped with its SDK and map editor, and Valve finally, magically released a “beta” version of the same for L4D – the day after KF hit Steam, and many, many months after the user community originally expected it. Never mind Tripwire’s truly excellent record of support and free add-on content for Red Orchestra; if Tripwire hadn’t been so open with KF, who knows how much longer we’d be waiting on Valve?”
Valve helped TWI release the game, without Valve, I seriously doubt KF would of seen the light of day as a Retail game. Probably Red Orchestra also, wouldn’t have enjoyed such an extended shelf-life. Also, people like this should read the text documents in the games folder, many thanks to Valve are placed there by the team.
Valve also makes money if KF makes money. So I don’t see how releasing the L4D SDK a fay after KF means much of anything, as it was planned to be released soon anyways.
Great non-review man. I’m glad to see an honest review. I play the game alot and it’s tons of fun, but it’s fans are trying to turn it into something it isn’t. I played the mod for a few months also, it’s great. I just can’t stand all this crap about how it’s the second coming of Christ from it’s fans.
This game doesn’t respect you. TO use custom content, soundpacks, models, re-skins, ectera, you need to make a mutator, and the server you want to use it on needs the mutator also. If you want to host yer server with it, people who join need to download the mutator and are forced to use the Sounds you want. TWI said this is to prevent hacking…in a game versus only the CPU. I know you could probably make some invisible guys visible, but beyond that…
I find it funny that a Mod gone Retail shuns custom content. It’s like the ultimate kick in the face.
“And a huge thanks to everyone at Valve who helped us. Once again, we couldn’t have done this without
Valve’s support and encouragement. It is always a pleasure working with them. Always a pleasure
partying with them too! Our heartfelt thanks from all at Tripwire Interactive.” – Killing Floor Game Manual
19/05/2009 at 22:41 invisiblejesus says:
I like the game, but I don’t really see anything wrong with the article or any reason not to consider it a “review”. *shrugs* The only thing I’d really quibble with is the implication that the game might actually be intended to be taken seriously; there’s quite a bit of ironic humor in this game, in the same way as the Return of the Living Dead movies or the Dethklok cartoons. I doubt many fans of this game are looking at the patriarch and thinking it’s a “good” character design, we’re looking at it and having a good laugh at how awesomely absurd a zombie with a chain gun, missiles, ’70s rock singer haircut and some unidentifiable thing coming out of his chest is.
19/05/2009 at 22:42 Bas says:
I’d still like to see a score, or my life won’t have meaning.
And yes, the trader lady is extremely annoying. Lets hope the modding community releases different pics/soundpacks to replace her.
19/05/2009 at 22:44 Gorgeras says:
Yes, versus mode is undersold in Left4Dead. They essentially made it almost identical to the campaign, but with another team controlling the special zombies. That was destined for disaster. Killing Floor allows a drop-in/drop-out style of play that L4D doesn’t, but should have, especially for versus. Instead, you can’t leave or it’s a ‘rage-quit’; it has too much of an impact on the other players.
If they had stuck with the idea of 20 or so people on a server, 4 as humans and 16 as random zombies and when a human dies the highest scoring zombie players spawns in a closet to be rescued and takes their place, that would have been a fantastic competitive game. It was the initial impression of the game I had when I first read about versus and I don’t know if Valve ever considered it or it was just a misunderstanding. Removing the story was also a disastrous turn-off and I haven’t bothered with the game since survival mode was released.
I’ll disagree with Alec’s forecast: the SDK for KF has already been released and I think it will get a long life because of it. People have been demanding the SDK for L4D since December and unbelievably it still isn’t here. If KF outlasts L4D, it won’t just be predictable; for me it will be gratifying.
19/05/2009 at 22:53 Serondal says:
I remember reading about the respawn system you speak of. I was really excited about it. That was so long ago I totally forgot about it and didn’t notice it wasn’t in the game :( That’s to bad it was a really cool idea. I’ve only ever played L4D single player as I’ve never really gotten good enough to play online, I feel like the game is so serious I don’t want to ruin someone elses chances of winning because I suck so bad :P
19/05/2009 at 22:54 Anon says:
I don’t like how the fanbase of Killing Floor is being generalised as being full of an immature audience. Sure you meet a few kids but generally they are not a problem and the younger people I have met in the game have generally been mature except for a few exceptions.
I’ve played the original mod for years and absolutely loved it, I purchased Killing Floor as quick as I could and do not regret it in the slightest and I know it won’t get repetitive for me because I’ve already been playing it for years and the larger userbase Steam has brought to the game only adds to the experience.
All I ask is that you do not generalise the fans of Killing Floor as being immature and childish.
You can have an opinion but the game must obviously be doing something right if it has attracted this large of an audience who are so passionate about it.
Although comparisons to Left 4 Dead make little sense anyway because while both feature zombies (Well, Infected and Specimens!) they both play very differently.
*Edit*
Just to clear up any confusion.
Referring to comments made and not Alec’s views.
19/05/2009 at 23:01 invisiblejesus says:
@Anon: I agree about the fan base, I haven’t spent a ton of time playing with random pubbers but those I have played with have been pretty mature and agreeable. My friends and I went ahead anyway and rented a private server, but that’s more to ensure we can get a server set up the way we want it and can get our friends on without the server filling up on us. I haven’t had any of the unpleasant experiences with pub players that I’ve had from time to time in L4D.
19/05/2009 at 23:02 Alec Meer says:
Appreciate your concern Anon, but honestly I’m not making that kind of assertion about the audience – only about the game’s presentation. Certainly, everyone I’ve played KF with has seemed fine.
19/05/2009 at 23:03 Anon says:
Oh sorry Alec I wasn’t talking about you and didn’t mean to make it sound like I was, I was referring to the comments so far.
Sorry for any confusion there.
19/05/2009 at 23:23 killz2much says:
You obviously have a crappy taste in games if you think this game sucks, Alec. :]
19/05/2009 at 23:34 Serondal says:
I think somehing Alec may be missing is that yah, is the kind of game a 15 year old would enjoy, but not the 15 year olds of today, the 15 year olds 15 years ago :P We’re adults now and playing a game like this can kind of give you that old-skool feeling of being back in a game that didn’t have to make sense, it was just fun. Like Quake, I had no idea WTF was going on , there was no story, it was just fun and disgusting. There may be kids that play THIS game but when I was 15 there we kids my age that liked old timey music and dressed like it was the 40s so there is always going to be children with more mature tastes. Most of the 15 year olds I know (and I know quite a few, have a large family) probably wouldn’t be into this kind of thing and more into GTA or anything X-Box 360 related. PC in and of itself is old-skool now.
Case in point, I tried to explain to my 15 year old nephew and his friend that I also played Call of Duty 4 but on my computer, they didn’t understand how I was able to do this without x-box live and asked me what website I had to go to. I told them I baught the game and installed it on my computer and just played from inside the game and they looked at me like ?!@!?#!@? WTFORZ
19/05/2009 at 23:36 x25killa says:
Killing Floor. Blood and gore. Just the type of shooter I was looking for. KILL KILL KILL KILL.
19/05/2009 at 23:40 Mkilbride says:
killz2much, you obviously didn’t read what he posted. He said he likes it and it’s fun. :P
19/05/2009 at 23:53 MA6200 says:
I’m enjoying KF quite a bit – well worth $15. I’m hopeful this won’t get as stale as L4D did because they had the sense to release the SDK immediately and we’re already seeing custom maps in many servers. Won’t be long until there are full out KF mods I’m sure.
Edit: Oh yeah, forgot to mention that the doom style chainsawing action (and I can swing it now, too!) is just awesome.
19/05/2009 at 23:55 Andrew Dunn says:
I often disagree with you Alec but I think you’re mostly on the money with this. Killing Floor is a very fun time and I don’t regret buying it but the enemy design in particular feels so terrible and juvenile. Also, the RAWK METAL soundtrack.
20/05/2009 at 00:30 Ben says:
I had my doubts about this game all the way, but I went ahead and pre-ordered anyway. I wasn’t disappointed, but my expectations weren’t very high. I see this game as a sort of, arcadey-l4d-survival mode. It’s got humour, but only due to poor voice acting and such. It’s like a bad film that you like even though it is kind of bad. It’s sort of endearing. Obviously that wont cut it with the more critical game purchasers among you, but bear in mind any game is made better when you’re playing with your friends.
EDIT: Oh, and uh- Stay still, I’m trying to heal you, not shag you. That’s shot right up there near the top on my list of gaming quotes. Fantastic.
20/05/2009 at 00:35 Gorgeras says:
Killing Floor’s presentation strikes me as tongue-in-cheek; almost like a deliberate send-up of far worse games.
It’s keeping my need for wanton violence in check until Prototype arrives next month, if they don’t do that thing they do with an awful lot of multi-platform releases and delay the PC version by 8 months.
20/05/2009 at 00:41 psyk says:
“then again, if we wanted everything oh so realistic would we be playing games?”
Realistic games are good and all over the place so yes if we want everything oh so realistic we would still be playing games.
“Case in point, I tried to explain to my 15 year old nephew and his friend that I also played Call of Duty 4 but on my computer, they didn’t understand how I was able to do this without x-box live”
Do they happen to be chavs? if not what the hell has happend in the last 7 years.
20/05/2009 at 01:08 Neut says:
“Case in point, I tried to explain to my 15 year old nephew and his friend that I also played Call of Duty 4 but on my computer, they didn’t understand how I was able to do this without x-box live”
I for one welcome the zombie apocalypse.
20/05/2009 at 02:04 DK says:
I hope you remember your “oh they’re not really Indie anymore….” rant when Zeno Clash 2 comes around, because that is the lamest excuse for denying the indie-bonus that’s applied to the other identically priced games I’ve ever heard.
20/05/2009 at 02:08 Alec Meer says:
I didn’t say anything of the sort, plus we don’t give anything an “indie-bonus”, you big silly.
20/05/2009 at 03:50 Swainy says:
Dang Alec. You hit the nail on the head for me. My views on Killing Floor almost match your own.
Welding a door in slow motion makes me feel cool..
I’m not particularly enjoying the game a great deal (i kinda feel ripped off in fact), yet i find myself needing my daily fix to try level a perk. I’m a sucker for character progression.
Also the word shag has lost all meaning to me now. And i was starting to think Left 4 Dead’s dialogue was getting repetitive!
It’s a shame really. There’s potential for KF to be a good game but it still needs a lot of work. So many little bugs and glitches.
One in particular being the gate glitch on WestLondon. Everyone sat on their practically safe spot from the specimens. I tried it myself but it made the game even more boring.
P.S. I hate Fleshpounders, they always seem to go for me after some twat attempts to knife one.
20/05/2009 at 05:12 MultiVaC says:
I have to agree with this “not-review” on all counts. But for some reason I keep going back to the game despite all the things that annoy the living crap out of me (mostly involving the horrible trader and her horrible lines and acting). And that tells me that it is a really good game underneath all of the incredibly irritating problems. Obviously people will compare it to Left 4 Dead because of co-op+zombies, but it’s actually much more comparable to Painkiller. “Co-op survival horror” is a really misleading tagline, but I guess it has a bit more marketing appeal than “Co-op oldschool FPS”. It does unfortunately feel very mod-ish, though, especially compared the identically priced but massively more accomplished Zeno Clash. I’d still recommend the game to anyone who still has some love for our blood splattered, thrash metal FPS heritage.
20/05/2009 at 08:53 Dominic White says:
For anyone offended by the music in the game, it’s very easy to replace it – it’s out and uncompressed in .OGG format in the KillingFloorMusic directory.
My gripe? It’s not nearly metal enough. It’s chuggy guitar riffs, yes, but there’s no gravitas to it. Sometime this week, I plan on replacing the ‘tension’ music some moodier pieces from the Resident Evil series, and the combat themes with a little Onslaught – proper British thrash metal. What could be more appropriate?
I’ve not poked around with the Unreal tools yet, but it looks like the audio files can be replaced as well. the Trader sounds would probably be best switched out with the Merchant from Resident Evil 4.
He’ll buy it for a HIGH price, Strangah.
20/05/2009 at 09:02 MultiVaC says:
I would kill for a RE4 trader mod.
20/05/2009 at 09:43 fuggles says:
100% agree. To me this game is purely 6 people grinding separately who are only co-operating by a mutual selfish desire to further a perk which fortunately derives from surviving.
Idiocy like having a knife to run faster, which causes the whole team to flick to a knife purely to run to a shop is as welcome here as it would be in real life when I needed some bread near closing time.
Furthermore, should you join a game midway through, which is 90%+ of the time you don’t get enough money to buy guns to earn money, leading you to a deathly spiral.
Bullet time sucks, forced reloading sucks and not being able to see when hit sucks and leads to death. What else sucks? Being one-shotted by an invisible boss. I’ve only ever beaten the git once, but unlike L4D there was no feeling of satisfaction, no feeling I had beaten somebody, just that I had shot a large sprite that has no turning animation.
I really wish Steam had a refund policy, I genuinely rue this purchase and it angers me to see the icon now.
20/05/2009 at 10:46 Fringe says:
@Jim – you can follow Natural Selection on Twitter @NS2. They have lots going on.
Back on topic, I do plan to buy Killing Floor but I too figured it wouldn’t last that long so I’m holding out for a real budget price promo. Recession and all that :o)
20/05/2009 at 11:02 Lorc says:
Thanks for this overview. Killing floor caught my eye as being potentially interesting, but there was a distressing lack of any useful information about.
It sounds like it might be fun, but perhaps a bit too pricey for me to try right now. It doesn’t help that my usual online gaming circle feel so badly burned by LFD’s lack of content that they’ll automatically pass on anything that includes the words “online” and “zombie”.
I’d still nose about any kind of demo they put out though *hinthint*.
Still, TF2 abides.
20/05/2009 at 11:24 cullnean says:
They have said free weekends would be done ill dig out the source
20/05/2009 at 12:03 teo says:
fuggles, I feel you =/ not regarding this game but some others
nothing worse than forking out money for a game and then not even getting a disc to break
20/05/2009 at 12:27 Dr Gonzo says:
I’m absolutely loving this game. If anything it is Left 4 Dead father. The boomer is clearly based on that big guy who pops in this.
I love Left 4 Dead and I love Killing Floor, and I don’t really see how it’s fair to compare them all that much. Different price, different play style and a very different vibe.
I pirated this game as there was no demo and it was less than 500 megs, I then bought it on Steam almost immediately after trying it because I enjoyed it so much.
IMO it feels the most like co-op Doom but not in a bad way.
20/05/2009 at 12:51 Echo says:
I’ve been playing this for a few days now with fellow Penny Arcade forumers, and we’re having a blast.
Sure, KF is a bit rough around the edges. The trader is annoying and the footsteps sound like minor explosions. But still, I’m having plenty of fun with it.
I predict KF to become a big hit on the next buddy-LAN. We played a bunch of L4D the last time, but it’s hard when you need either 4 or 8 players for optimal enjoyment. KF has the advantage of drop-in gameplay with the number of enemies scaling depending on the current number of players – and apparently the hitpoints of Scrakes and Flesh Pounds do as well.
KF is officially made for 6 players, but apparently there are 40+ player servers around. That sounds a bit silly when it’s time for the inter-wave shopping…
edit: Yeah, they said they have no plans for a demo, but they want free weekends.
20/05/2009 at 13:06 Dominic White says:
Damn, this game really seems to be splitting opinions. Seems a lot of folks love it, but some are upset to the point of wanting refunds, or even wishing for a disc to snap?
Anyone get the feeling that games in general have become much more divisive in the past few years? Opinions seem to be getting more and more polarized.
@Echo: 40 player servers are naff (although the game DOES scale up to the player count), but 10-16 is a good number if you bump up maximum enemy presence and spawn rates. There’s just about enough room to get in and buy stuff with that many, and it feels like putting up a proper military resistance against a full-on undead horde.
More than six players and the Patriarch becomes a living nightmare though. Only hope of winning is to force him to use all three of his regenerations (notice that he has three glowing syringes strapped to his thigh? He can use those for health recovery) before going in for a huge guns-blazing charge.
20/05/2009 at 13:21 Frank Snow says:
Jim- The NS2 guys are planning some sort of big promo thing for next week. I’m not entirely certain what it’s going to be, but they seem pretty enthusiastic about it.
20/05/2009 at 13:49 Rhynri says:
I have not been interested in playing L4D since Valve completely neutered the gameplay. They removed all semblance of horror from it and replaced it with zombies that just drop into the level in front of you. Instead of being mortifying, they have become annoying. One of the best games I have played in a long time, reduced to arcadey, boring crud that I have not touched since. It amazes me that there has not been more of an outcry against these changes and tweaks. In the space of a patch (one you can not undo) the zombies lost their realism, instead of shuffling towards you in a proper manner, they now move in rush reminicent of a cheap arcade machine box, as if they have more interest in denuding you of your coinage than providing a proper gaming experiance. Your character of choice can now fire absurdly fast, and you even run faster. It completely removes the forboding feel that made the “original” L4D such a wonderful game. I would pay 5$ just to get that back. KF may not have any of these technological wonders (or have lost them), but it is true to itself, and fun to play while being entertaining. It has replaced the void Valve created when they completely ruined L4D.
20/05/2009 at 13:57 Bobsy says:
How can anyone in good conscience declare a piece titled “Wot I Think” to be wrong? Especially given Mr Meer’s weighty credentials as a games critic.
Oh, I know. This has been linked to on a forum or community site and the soft, squishy proto-Daily-Mail letter-writers are keen to give their moral outrage a good airing.
20/05/2009 at 14:01 AbyssUK says:
This isn’t “Wot I Think” so it is wrong. Look my conscience is still intact.
Oh I played the game too, it’s odd and disorientating but i kind of like it.
20/05/2009 at 14:19 Jim Rossignol says:
All good ammunition for the launch of “RPS Is Objectively Correct Week”, where we use graphs, science, and maths to demonstrate our working in the objective assessment of the quality of electronic entertainments.
20/05/2009 at 15:53 Alec Meer says:
It may not really for me, but I’m dead glad KF has clearly found an audience. Always nice when a new studio does well for themselves.
20/05/2009 at 16:19 roryok says:
sounds like any number of bad zombie films
20/05/2009 at 18:29 loldongs says:
all about the page hits eh alec ;)
20/05/2009 at 19:39 Swainy says:
@ Dominic White: Thanks for the info. Now i have the urge to put Doom music into the game and see how that goes.
[Insert NEDM joke here]
20/05/2009 at 20:50 Feanor says:
“I would kill for a RE4 trader mod.”
That would be perfect.
20/05/2009 at 22:53 Nick says:
I just like a mute trader option officially supported. I don’t mind the squaddie chat for now, getting a minor smirk out of ‘I’m trying to heal you not shag you!’ and some of the slightly more amusing lines, but the reloading ones are starting to grate.
20/05/2009 at 22:53 TotalBiscuit says:
Gotta disagree with this particular opinion piece. Sounds like exactly the same kind of complaints that could be levelled against excellent games like Painkiller. There is a place for purile, gory, mindless violence and Killing Floor does so very well. It’s visceral, satisfying and fun, whereas L4D ceases to be so after a sadly short time.
But I suppose if you want to act like grown-ups and as such, be the Enemies of Fun, then go ahead. Just don’t forget to weld the door behind you ;)
21/05/2009 at 06:57 HurricaneJesus says:
I am finding the game really enjoyable, and it is what I have been playing recently. Very intense game. Don’t let this guys opinion stop you from checking it out. If you are too cheap than wait for a free weekend, since there will likely not be a demo. It is worth more than the 15 bucks I got it for off Steam during the pre-order. I didn’t enjoy Left4Dead, but I am loving Killing Floor. I don’t think it is an ugly looking game by any means. With the settings maxed it looks as good as many next gen games.
This guy should play some more with a good team that communicates. I can’t believe he never mentioned how freaky the game is with all these mutant freaks coming after you. I play late at night with my headphones on and this games scares the shit out of me!
Highly recommended.
22/05/2009 at 10:55 Craymen Edge says:
So, which KF fan forum did this piece anger?
24/05/2009 at 00:28 HurricaneJesus says:
Actually reading this opinion piece again, it is clear that this guy didn’t give the game a fair chance, and any positive comment was just thrown in to make it seem like he actually did spend time with it. One paragraph even makes it sound like the game is easy, and I will assure it is not. If you go off on your own you will die. It seems like the opinion piece guy here only played single player on easy mode and wrote this crap. I still only play on normal mode on-line, and haven’t even beat the last boss that appears an the end of the final wave. I am still loving the game and never get pissed off when the Patriarch rapes me. By the time you are done catching your breath from the intense session, the next map is loaded and you start again. Fucking awesome game. For an actual complaint, from someone who has been enjoying the game, I would say that it could use more maps. The 5 included are awesome, and each can be played in different days. Do you hold up in a creepy barn, or a creepy old house? Maybe hold the bridge next to the burning horse corpse? That said, there are already more maps in the form of fan made remakes of maps from the mod, and others. I like official maps, so as long as some more are made ‘officially’ part of the game in the next few months, I will be satisfied.
This is coming from a life-long gamer. I decided to comment because I come to this site based on how high I held the writing. It seemed honest to me. This piece doesn’t.
Another part of the article states that you end up playing just to further your perks, and perhaps this is why he didn’t enjoy the game. I have been playing because the game is fun, and the perks are like a side effect of playing well. I have still only picked the medic perk, because it gives a slight speed boost, and lets you heal more health and reload your injector faster. Keeping the team alive is most important because I cannot defeat the hoard by myself. Only playing the game to get your perks maxed is idiotic at best. That about sums up my feelings on this trash. I can understand giving an honest opinion, but this doesn’t feel honest. It feels like a collaboration of forum posts about the game all mashed up into a pile of shit and labeled an opinion. And it might be, just not an honest one.
24/05/2009 at 05:17 Tarev says:
Wow, there is just a deluge of fanboys here. You would think (ok, this is the internet, you probably wouldn’t) that people could disagree without being so damn aggressive about it.
24/05/2009 at 15:02 DarkFenix says:
@HurricaneJesus: I’m sorry, but this game really doesn’t look good next to other modern games. It’s clearly dated and commits the sin of brown. That said, I don’t have a problem with the graphics, they are at least adequate, I certainly wouldn’t use the word ‘ugly’.
These comments do feel like they’re full of fanboys. I currently enjoy KF immensely, but what RPS say rings true in many areas. The game severely lacks polish, it reeks of missed potential and just hasn’t evolved far enough from being a mod. While comparing L4D and KF as games is rather unfair, it’s impossible to not notice the amount of extra polish that went into L4D.
All in all, they’re both good games, but L4D is the game I’ll still be playing in a year (only versus mode of course, campaign gets repetitive fast).
24/05/2009 at 21:05 Moo says:
Been playing KF since Mod 1.0 days, and I still love it. I feel like this whatever the hell you wanna call it is a bunch of garbage, though. The humour is funny, the graphics are much less cartoony than L4D, and it’s still fun unlike L4D, which I got old of before the free weekend (which I started late) ended.
You certainly can’t bash it for replayability, perks/achievements/custom content take care of that. The game isn’t easy unless you’re on Beginner, even on Normal you need to use tactics and the right combinations, etc. etc. to beat the game. The boss is crazy, a minigun/rocketlauncher for an arm? I wasn’t aware that badass = juvenile.
The soundtrack is amazing, and the slow-mo is helpful and one of the best things they’ve done from mod to game.
But the thing that rubbed me the wrong way most, is the fact that people are saying “Oh, it’s not as polished as L4D. Oh, the animations are bad. Oh, it’s ugly. Oh, it’s got bad spelling and grammar. Oh, oh, oh, I can’t find anything more to pick on. 0n0z.” The graphics are great, they may not be photo-realistic but at least anything but the greatest PCs ever can run it. You can’t expect the same amount of polish, animation quality, etc. from an independant game team that isn’t crazy rich than from a large company like Valve.
And, who can forget that this game is TWENTY DOLLARS, where as L4d is FIFTY. I love how people forget about this. If a $20 game lasts half the amount of time as a $50 dollar game, then that $20 dollar game is pretty damn good. I’d spend $20 dollars for this game any day compared to some of that Popcap/Reflexive/insert-random-company-here crap.
People predicted stuff like this would happen too, y’know. A game with a budget of $50 million (throwing out a number) will most always have more going for it than a $1 million game, even if the $1 mil game destroys the $50 mil game, cause the $50 mil one is polished. Gameplay > Polish. No I’m not a fanboy who blindly loves the game, theres a reason I like it, it’s much more replayable and much less arcadey than L4D.
24/05/2009 at 21:23 Nick says:
I love it, but in what way is it less arcadey than left4dead? It’s pure arcade style action, it has flipping waves and enemy counters.. it doesn’t get much more old school arcade than that.
24/05/2009 at 21:26 fuggles says:
See, that’s where you and I differ. I do not consider that grinding away to get perks or achievements constitutes replayability. Not like doing 10% more damage with a shotgun really changes the game that much.
24/05/2009 at 22:10 pkt-zer0 says:
“I love it, but in what way is it less arcadey than left4dead?”
Slower run speed, you have to use iron sights to aim which slows you down even further, you have to conserve your ammo due to the massive size of hordes, and zombies take a fair bit of punishment unless you aim for the head. Whereas L4D has you running and gunning, cutting through hordes, gives you infinite ammo deposits, and a sixth sense to locate faraway teammates.
01/06/2009 at 06:02 Kwiki says:
Looks nice, be sure to visit killingfloor411.com
02/07/2009 at 12:35 Jayteh says:
I hope the comments want arbitrary scores were jokes
10/12/2011 at 09:44 Larhf says:
This game is just dumb fun, which is awesome especially with friends. Though the traders’ dialogue could do with some maturity and a better server-list would be nice. Overall though, I think this “Wot I Think” didn’t do justice to the title. But hey, it’s “Wot I Think”.