Difficulty:

Hard

Time Spent:

40 to 100 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Killing Floor is a standalone mod that was originally for Unreal Tournament 2003, created by Tripwire, the creators of the highly-acclaimed Red Orchestra games and the unfortunately terrible Defense Alliance 2. KF has you assume the role of one of several mercenary/soldier/cop/Disc Jockey fellows who are tasked with reclaiming the United Kingdom from an outbreak of "Zeds"--a zombie-like biological disaster-turned-weaponized mutant series of horribly deformed creatures who's only desire is to see you splattered across the walls like some sort of new-age graffiti Picasso painting from Hell.

And that's where the story ends. There's a bit of back-story to each character that's usually pretty funny but that's really it. This game has no campaign and only one multiplayer mode but bear with me.

So you've joined your game on your old-ass computer and you've noticed that the game defaults you to the highest settings and you're like "Holycrap, I must be Jesus if I can make this game look this good on my old computer!" and you feel good about yourself until you read this review and I tell you that the engine is pretty old. You then argue with me, "Well, dubel_07, nothing this old can look this good! Surely you must be mistaken." and I tell you "Surely you recall Left 4 Dead 2? It uses the Source engine and Havok physics. Havok has been used in pretty much every game since 2003 (whenever Half-Life 2 was released, I don't recall in this fictitious hypothetical situation) including the absolutely gorgeous Resident Evil 5. The Source engine is what powers the old-but-still-beautiful Half-Life 2, often considered to be the best game ever made (and I agree)" And you're all, "dubel_07 you know so much about so much!" and I'm all like, "Nah, I just get bored and read Wikipedia for hours." and you're slightly less impressed.

So, yeah. Old engine doesn't mean the game looks bad. In fact, this game looks really good; maybe not Crysis good or even Left 4 Dead good but pretty damn good for an engine that pre-dates Half-Life 2.

**It should be noted that after almost every terrible thing that has happened to me in the last 18 months I have turned to this game to make things dead in slow-motion and extreme violence**

Here's the breakdown and, as always, the scores don't necessarily have to average to the final score:

Graphics: 8.5/10
It really looks good, even by today's standards. The artistic detail in the mutilation of the zeds is beautiful and, dare I say it, magical. There's something truly beautiful about a game when it lets you actually see the brains of the thing you just blew the face off of.

Sound: 7.5/10
The trader in this game is the character who stocks you up on weapons and ammo between waves and her dialog is so hypersexual in nature that it gets irritating and you want to shoot her but she's smart and lines her shop with bullet-proof glass you resort to talking crap behind her back since she's the only thing keeping you from being a meat pie in downtown London. What saves the sound score is the fact that the Skrake--a chainsaw-clad giant who doesn't like you very much, says "PANTS" when he's chasing you.

Control: It's a PC game, what do you think?

Replayability: 9.5/10
You'd imagine that a game with only one multiplayer mode, survival, would get boring. You, good sir or madam, would be thinking wrong. Treyarch, until lately, had given more new content in the short time that the game has been out (in comparison) than Valve has given attention to Team Fortress 2. New enemies, new classes, new weapons, new achievements, and new levels keep the game fresh. Plus, who doesn't like blowing up zombies? Not to mention the perks you unlock that make you more powerful than Stallone in The Expendables.

Overall: 8.5/10
The game can get a little tedious unless you've got experienced players in your game and the engine can be a little buggy from time to time but not usually anything game-breaking.

Well, there it is. Killing Floor is a quality game for anyone with a mouse and keyboard. Check it out, it goes on sale on Steam often and there are still loads of players who still frequent the game (including myself). Also, the game was released in stores in the last few months so check out this $20 gem.

Hit me up if you want more information and thanks for reading.