Killing Floor 2, the next great zombie bashing thriller, set for November release

After being available on Steam’s early access for more than a year, Killing Floor 2, the zombie slaughtering first person co-op shooter, is finally set for full release on November 18, for both PC and PS4.

Killing Floor, which started out as a mod for popular first-person shooter Unreal Tournament 2004, was released on Steam in 2009 as a standalone game and became one of the top selling titles for that year.

Game publisher Deep Silver has a fairly strong history of development, with titles including Dead Island, the Metro series, and Saints Row. But of course, no company can claim perfection: Deep Silver also released Homefront: The Revolution earlier this year. That game, in my opinion, was basically just one badly rendered bug. The controls were so stiff it felt like I was playing as a senior citizen, and at times the FPS was so low it almost felt like I was playing everything in slow motion. But I digress.

“In KILLING FLOOR 2, players descend into continental Europe where the outbreak caused by Horzine Biotech’s failed experiment has quickly spread and gained unstoppable momentum, essentially paralyzing the European Union,” says the game’s promo material. And who doesn’t love a little failed human experimentation that could possibly lead to the end of civilization as we know it? But don’t worry, because, as you might have predicted, all hope is not yet lost. You the player have the opportunity to save the day by taking control of a civilian/mercenary tasked with the duty of dispatching these failed experiments.

Killing Floor 2 is set to feature up to six-player co-op, in which players face off against progressively larger and larger hordes of zombies. The game is also to include a 12 player PvP survival game mode where you can take turns playing short matches of Humans Vs Zeds. Deep Silver promises even more gore than ever before with guts, limbs, and lord knows what else painting the floor of this beautiful zombie slaying FPS.

Killing Floor 2 also features a “unique blend of weaponry from modern militaristic assault rifles, brutal improvised makeshift weapons, classic historical guns, and off the wall “Mad Scientist” weapons”. What would a game be without also being able to bash in some zombie skulls? You get that timeless pleasure covered with a new melee combat system that allows the player to unleash devastating close range attacks. Of course, the game also features new, more horrifying than ever before. Zeds and those returning fan favourites from the previous game.

I think Killing Floor 2 will appeal to anyone from the most casual zombie slayer to the more hardcore. I think fans of Dead Island, Dead Rising, or even the zombie mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 will like this one. The difficulty ranges from moderately easy to extremely hard and is extremely teamwork oriented, if you don’t cooperate with those around you you’re not going to progress very far through the hordes of Zeds.

In early access gameplay of Killing Floor, the reviewers at Let’s Play (see below) liked the apparent variety of zombies, the large amount of blood, and the increasing difficulty as the game progresses. I think the maps are nice and seem easy to navigate but it could definitely use a bit more variety, the gun animations are very nice and the guns actually shake and rock when you shoot them. The perk system seems fairly underwhelming at the moment but I’m hoping that will change with full release.

All in all, I can say I’m actually looking forward to the full release of Killing Floor 2. For just $30 you, yourself can get your hands on Killing Floor 2 early access on Steam. Or if you’re like me and plan to wait for the full version of release on November 18th you can pick up the “Digital Deluxe” version for $40 on PC and PS4.

Below: A review of Killing Floor 2 from Let’s Play…