Tripwire Interactive (the makers of Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45) has released a new survival-horror co-op shooter, Killing Floor. I was playing it tonight, and it's a lot of fun.
Since comparisons with Valve's Left 4 Dead are inevitable, I'll make them myself. Killing Floor is like a low-budget British grindhouse version of L4D. It has very little of L4D's polish: in fact, it has scratchy-film and staticky-video filters to give the graphics that low-budget feel--while doing something to hide their limitations.
In place of the four survivors from L4D, players will take the role of British soldiers trying to survive a zombie apocalypse in England's green and pleasant land. (Basically, it's Dawn of the Dead meets Dog Soldiers) Players choose one of several classes, and can improve their abilities with experience. Levels include an abandoned laboratory complex, a farm, a deserted manor, an office building, and the streets of west London--all suitably zombified.
There is a little more variety to the zombies--er, 'specimens' than there is in L4D--a few more classes of special zombies to make your life hell. There are is also a greater variety of weapons available. In what is perhaps the game's least convincing feature, when a level ends, you can purchase weapons and ammo from an itinerant weapon shop. This is done with a certain amount of humour, and is designed to keep players from simply camping in one spot, but it detracts a little from the atmosphere.
There is less play variety than in L4D--Killing Floor lacks that game's Versus and Survival modes. But the basic gameplay is more challenging than L4D's campaign mode. In fact, my first impression was: this game is tough. The specimens just keep on coming, and players have to fight hard to stay alive. Even pistol ammo is limited, so if you're not careful, you may wind up trying to fight off the specimens with your combat knife.
The game is made tougher by some basic design choices that really set Killing Floor apart from Left 4 Dead. There are no crosshairs, and no melee attacks (unless you deploy a melee weapon, like the above-mentioned combat knife). Right-clicking will bring up your gun's iron sights, allowing you to shoot more accurately, but also narrowing your field of view. All in all, I felt a lot more vulnerable playing Killing Floor than I ever have playing L4D.
Only time will tell if the game has enough variety to give it legs, but right now, I'm finding it quite enjoyable. And it's cheap--just 19.99 from Steam. If you like horror shooters, then I definitely recommend this.
Since comparisons with Valve's Left 4 Dead are inevitable, I'll make them myself. Killing Floor is like a low-budget British grindhouse version of L4D. It has very little of L4D's polish: in fact, it has scratchy-film and staticky-video filters to give the graphics that low-budget feel--while doing something to hide their limitations.
In place of the four survivors from L4D, players will take the role of British soldiers trying to survive a zombie apocalypse in England's green and pleasant land. (Basically, it's Dawn of the Dead meets Dog Soldiers) Players choose one of several classes, and can improve their abilities with experience. Levels include an abandoned laboratory complex, a farm, a deserted manor, an office building, and the streets of west London--all suitably zombified.
There is a little more variety to the zombies--er, 'specimens' than there is in L4D--a few more classes of special zombies to make your life hell. There are is also a greater variety of weapons available. In what is perhaps the game's least convincing feature, when a level ends, you can purchase weapons and ammo from an itinerant weapon shop. This is done with a certain amount of humour, and is designed to keep players from simply camping in one spot, but it detracts a little from the atmosphere.
There is less play variety than in L4D--Killing Floor lacks that game's Versus and Survival modes. But the basic gameplay is more challenging than L4D's campaign mode. In fact, my first impression was: this game is tough. The specimens just keep on coming, and players have to fight hard to stay alive. Even pistol ammo is limited, so if you're not careful, you may wind up trying to fight off the specimens with your combat knife.
The game is made tougher by some basic design choices that really set Killing Floor apart from Left 4 Dead. There are no crosshairs, and no melee attacks (unless you deploy a melee weapon, like the above-mentioned combat knife). Right-clicking will bring up your gun's iron sights, allowing you to shoot more accurately, but also narrowing your field of view. All in all, I felt a lot more vulnerable playing Killing Floor than I ever have playing L4D.
Only time will tell if the game has enough variety to give it legs, but right now, I'm finding it quite enjoyable. And it's cheap--just 19.99 from Steam. If you like horror shooters, then I definitely recommend this.
