The original cooperative shooter Killing Floor was released as a mod to Unreal Tournament 2004 as early as 2005. The independent version of the game appeared on Steam four years later. For another five years, Tripwire Interactive regularly updated Killing Floor, which sold more than 3 million copies, releasing paid and free add-ons, new characters, weapons, maps and special events for Christmas and Halloween. In May 2014, Tripwire Interactive announced the sequel to the game and in April 2015 the project appeared on Steam Early Access. But only now, a year and a half later, Killing Floor 2 reached the players. Did the project burn out during this time?
If you suddenly missed the first part of Killing Floor, briefly recall what is at stake. Killing Floor is a cooperative shooter in which you, in a team of up to six people, must survive the attacks of several waves of zombies and eventually destroy the boss - the Patriarch. The game is imprisoned for teamwork and pumping character classes. The purchase of weapons between rounds Killing Floor is similar to the similar process in Counter-Strike. The chip of the project is a meta-game with pumping classes, allowing you to strengthen the characters and play at high levels of difficulty. Killing Floor has always been very rich gameplay, not allowing you to relax for a second.
Thank God, the developers decided not to repair what is not broken, and moved the main gameplay Killing Floor in the sequel. You just like before, shoot zombies, buy new weapons, fight the Patriarch and earn experience. Here there are absolutely the same opponents, the same, with some differences, weapons and familiar levels that have undergone cosmetic improvements. Differences will be noticed only by those who played decent time in the first part of the game.
The first thing that catches your eye is graphics. The original Killing Floor used Unreal Engine 2, the sequel - a heavily modified Unreal Engine 3. It was supposed to even take the fourth version of the engine, but then decided to abandon this idea. But it's not even in the engine, but in style. If the first part looked very discreet, using a limited muted color palette, then the sequel shines with all the colors. The environment, especially the maps of Paris and the localization station, zombies, primarily large ones, the characters themselves. Especially unlucky Fucker and Patriarchs, by the way, they are now two, differing not only in appearance but also in abilities. On some maps, the visual style of the game gravitates toward kitsch, which is not something everyone will like.
But the authors paid special attention to the system of dismemberment of monsters. And in the original Killing Floor a zombie could shoot his head or tear it to pieces with an explosion, in the sequel the game turns into a real blood bath. Torn hands and feet, pieces of bodies, guts and blood cover to the fifth-sixth wave the entire level from top to bottom. If the fight goes on in the premises, for example, in the Biotic laboratory, the guts hang even from the ceiling. It looks, of course, a bit defiant. All would be nothing, but to the final battle the entire level becomes uniform red, as if flooded with thick cherry syrup. Considering opponents against this background is very difficult.
To the basic seven classes of Killing Floor in the second part were added three new ones. This is a Gunner specializing in pistols and capable of using them in a pair configuration. Spetsnazovets very close in arming to Commandos, but not able to identify invisible monsters. And the Survivor who can buy weapons of any class. Fighters still gain experience for inflicting damage on the enemy with a certain type of weapon plus special actions. Medic - for treatment of comrades, Support fighter - for brewing doors, Pyro - for killing Polzunov, Sniper - for hitting the head, etc. In addition, now you can customize each class for your style of play, choosing the abilities that are opened on levels that are multiples of five. Rapid reloading or increased damage, more cartridges or immunity to grenades to the Sirens, etc. Plus each level of the character gives a passive bonus to his class weapons.
In addition to the traditional Survival mode, Killing Floor 2 appeared Survival VS, in which you fight against the second team, whose players take on the role of some zombies. After winning or losing in a chain of rounds, teams change places. This mode is interesting in its own way, but only play it much less than in the classic Survival. An order of magnitude smaller.
In the new version there is also a built-in shop and a system of crafting. From time to time during the game you find cosmetic items - new clothes for the character, skins for weapons, closed boxes and encrypted flash drives. As in Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike GO, you can sell these items through the Steam store or dismantle them and create new, rarer things. To open boxes and decrypt flash drives you need keys that are offered to buy for real money. Plus developers have included support for the Steam Workshop and call the mod
In the new version there is also a built-in shop and a system of crafting. From time to time during the game you find cosmetic items - new clothes for the character, skins for weapons, closed boxes and encrypted flash drives. As in Team Fortress 2 or Counter-Strike GO, you can sell these items through the Steam store or dismantle them and create new, rarer things. To open boxes and decrypt flash drives you need keys that are offered to buy for real money. Plus, developers have included support for the Steam Workshop and are calling on the modern community, always favorably related to Killing Floor, to sell their work.
All this is wonderful, but only this economy works well with a large number of players, and Killing Floor 2 can not yet boast of records - gamers on the web a little. Killing Floor 2 attracts now only four times more players than the original Killing Floor, which, I recall, is already seven years old! Perhaps that's why the built-in match search system works badly; However, using the server browser, you can always find a company for the game. By the way, the developers have so licked the game code during the Early Access, that you are amazed. Now this rarely happens.
In Tripwire Interactive, as in the case with the first part of the game, they are set up for a marathon and plan to support Killing Floor 2 for several years, releasing patches, paid and free additions, new items. Certainly will be held and Christmas tournaments. But how long will the developers have enough strength and desire to update the game, if the number of gamers on the Net continues to decline - no one knows.
Killing Floor 2 is actually very unpretentious gameplay. Despite the large and intricate levels, players tend to choose the same points for defense. Given that the levels are now not so much compared to Killing Floor and all the add-ons available to it, very soon they will become boring. Especially since the basic gameplay has not changed at all since the original: we aim at the head, we cover our backs to the comrade, we protect the cartridges. Yes, it is still very good, but I would like something new.
Of course, after returning from a hard day of work, you want to relax, and 30-40 minutes of dismemberment of monsters in Killing Floor 2 is a good way to relieve stress, but the problem is that such games are enough now. For a similar pastime any multiplayer shooter, not necessarily cooperative, will be suitable, especially since some of them already contain a survival mode, as, for example, the same Zombie mode in the Call of Duty series. Plus, such network shooters as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Team Fortress 2, which, by the way, also have a mode against NPC, Warframe, Paladins, which have much more players than Killing Floor 2, are still very popular. Of course, no one writes off the accounts of Overwatch, Blizzard just introduced a new character and game mode. Whether Killing Floor 2 will survive in a new era, time will tell, but it seems that the project still burned a little during its development.