Now that I have spent plenty of hours in to the horde mode shooter, Killing Floor 2, I was impressed with its initial presentation and refinements to the formula. The base game is fully functional and runs well. The core mechanic of the game still feels fun and exiting, tense at times. I spent more and more time in the game until the lack of content finally got to me. The game is good but at this point the lack of content fails to hold attention in the long run. As a fan of the original, I had high expectations from the sequel and I am happy to say that they were delivered aptly in the beta stage itself. There are a few minor annoyances but that arise more due to personal taste and not the game’s incompetence.
[alert variation=”alert-info”]Before I start this is impressions of an Early Access built and things can (will) change significantly. While I list my opinions and personal predictions they are based on the current state of the game.
Disclosure: I was given an early access key by the devs.[/alert]
Design
The biggest change is the graphics and visual style. Gone is the old grindhouse horror look of the game, replaced with a more modern shooter layout with some sci-fi elements and an extensive use of colour and saturation to intensify the gore. All of this is powered by a heavily modified Unreal Engine 3. The modifications include global lightning and a persistent gore system to name a few. So even after an enemy wave is over you have the satisfaction of seeing the blood bath you and your allies did. Depending on the map this effect can look like blood raining on white snow outposts to contaminating the interiors walls and floor. One thing to note is despite all the heavy customisation to the Unreal Engine the game runs very smooth even with a lot of zombies on screen. Not once did I see frame rate drop with extra mobs on screens. The build has also been a very stable one for me on both my office and home pc.
[pullquote]Despite all the heavy customisations to the Unreal Engine the game runs very smooth.[/pullquote]The Voice acting is much better and a little bit more serious than the last time around. The sharp tongued trader is also now replaced with a 3D printer which gives you rich details about the weapons you click on. While it is now easy to sort and look at the trader inventory while filling up on ammo and armour, the candy colour UI with its bright greens and blues would not be to everyones liking. The current UI feels something like a mix between the Borderlands colour choice and CS:GO transparency which, for a grindhouse fan feels just too bright and out of place.
Taking a step up from the original, Killing Floor 2 introduces character customisations. Although this is very basic and does not offer any gameplay changes as this is just cosmetic and superficial. So there you go, not really a step-up. You get to choose one out of the many pre-existing characters and can change around their dress colour, add hats and glasses. So while on the barebones at this point it does offer good potential for special rewards and unlocks. For example, the DJ Skully character is exclusive to the Collector’s Edition of the game which costs $10 above the normal $30 for the base game.
Developer Tripwire talked about how they have technology in place that allow for better headshot detection even when the enemy is performing acrobatic feats (typically handsprings and somersaults in the air). You will see the hidden stalkers performing cartwheel kicks and new types of zeds who hide their heads and bend a lot to make it harder to headshot a group of them. This adds challenge to the shooting. The same physics is also used when enemies are dismembered with body parts flying off in all directions either from a grenade, shotgun or melee weapon. Destruction physics of enemies makes the repetitive process of killing hundreds of zeds per level satisfying.
Also changed is the menu system of voice commands that worked so well in the original with a very limited system using a popup wheel. I suspect this is to satisfy console gamers. Only the most basic voice commands are there like heal and dosh (money) request, yes, no etc. Now this severally limits the in game commands. The game covers this up with the use of built in voice support with caps lock as the default push-to-speak key.
Gameplay
The zombie waves in Killing Floor 2 are much more customized with optional lengths and have a lot more types of creatures in them. Perharps I just fell that it has more because of all the bodies piling up across the map and that makes it hard to spot the alive ones, they can take damage and fall but not be killed. Smaller zeds will often stagger near more powerful blows and grenades.
There is a complete overhaul of the perk (class) system. You now can gain upto 25 levels with the passive bonus increasing slightly with each level. You also gain a passive ability every 5 levels. This new system allows you to level evenly and frequently throughout the game. At this point only 4 of the perks are implemented. You also now spawn with your class weapon and this is the best addition to the class system as you can now start instantly scoring points towards your class and not fight a wave to get your weapon of choice. Also the XP mechanic for perks has been changed to basically killing zeds with your class weapons. There is little incentive to use other class weapons at this moment when everyone is trying to gather more XP to level their perks up. As more classes start coming around and people start to reach the level caps I can see alternate weapons being used more often. Even right now the AA12 Automatic shotgun (Support class weapon) is the preferred choice to take down the final boss.
[pullquote]The current state of early access has a limited amount of classes, weapons, maps with a lot more promised in the final build. [/pullquote]The current state of early access has a limited amount of classes, weapons, maps with a lot more promised in the final build. While it does offer a look at the game to allow you to see the direction it is going in but is far from a finished product.as you would expect from an Early Access game. I recommend those who are new to the series to be patient and let the game get a few more content patches before trying it as otherwise looking at an unfinished game might not keep you interested for long. With long-time favourite classes like Firebug and Sharp Shooters and only 3 maps the game gets a little dull.
[pullquote]The game now adds complete controller functionality. [/pullquote]The game now adds complete controller functionality. I played a few matches on the easy level with the Xbox 360 controller and it was very functional once I had gotten used to it. It does offer aim assist so once I zoom-in, the gun it will auto align with the head of a close-by enemy. I found myself exploiting this mechanic to make best use of the aim assist. Aiming down the scope taking two shots, quickly leaving and re-entering the scope to take another two shots. While I do prefer the free 360 look a mouse can provide, the controller is also a viable alternative.
Combat
[pullquote]The added zed animations and physics engine makes the combat more fun.[/pullquote]With improvement visuals and animation, combat is more fun. The added zed animations and improved headshot and physics engine and not just the fancy lighting, shadows and high quality textures, make the gameplay satisfying. The quality of animation on both character and gun models is very apparent. The developers claim that they have made the reload animation at a much higher frame rate (200FPS) than normal, which would mean a super smooth reload animation even in the game goes into slow motion (zed mode).
The game has about 20 guns at the moment and each one feels great to use with apt recoil and sound effects that add to their authenticity. The weapons have high detail models, with the more powerful weapons instantly differentiated from the starting models with the use of different scopes on each one of them. Once you familiarize yourself with the scopes, in game you instantly recognise the gun you are using. Melee combat has been improved much also as now you can block and chop much faster with most melee weapons working in combos of three with the basic attack. There are some unique weapons as well like a sludge hammer which fires bullets on impact.
There are new enemies as well but they come generally in three varieties: small, which take a single or two head shots to kill and deal minuscule damage, medium, which take a few hits and deal average damage, and large, the ones which can kill you in a couple of hits. The only issue is that while the small and medium zeds stagger and show impact when damaged the big enemies don’t really react at all to being hit. In Killing Floor 1 even the largest of non-boss zeds like the Scrake would stop and take a half step for a second when hit with a shotgun to the face but the big zeds in KF2 are just bullet sponges and you don’t really get any reaction from them.
As far as level balancing is concerned it is too early to tell, especially since most of the players are new even in the harder difficulty. On the normal level there are much trash mobs and the only real danger comes if you find yourself cornered or when the larger mobs (Scrake and Fleshpound) comes out in the final few waves.
A big issue in the combat is the reload animations. As if these are interrupted for any reason before they are completed would mean that the animation will restart completely. Often I found that once I reload and when I see that the new clip is fully loaded an cocked, I press ‘Q’ for selfheal only to switch back to an empty gun. The rule of the thumb is that if the number of bullets does not change in the UI at the bottom left the animation is not complete. This is annoying as this could potentially mean death in higher difficulties, as you will often change guns after reloading, self-heal, welding doors or throwing a grenade.
Conclusion
Most of the issues I have reported above will be resolved or worked around with future updates as there is still much of the game that is unseen, hopefully. The best place to stay updated would be both Tripwire’s forums and Steam discussions. At this current state of the game I am happy to say that the $30 price tag offers a lot of game for your buck yet you should hold off for more content.
