Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive / Deep Silver
Platform: PS4, PS VR
Tested on: PS4, PS VR
Killing Floor: Double Feature – Review
Everybody likes to have a complete package. Every game wants to have the best story, the best graphics, the best multiplayer they can have. Sometimes you got to realize that it might be better to split that in two and have a great single player game and a great multiplayer game side by side. Killing Floor: Double Feature does just that by containing both Killing Floor 2 and the haunting VR survival horror shooter Killing Floor: Incursion.
To provide a little background story to the franchise, Killing Floor started out as an Unreal Tournament 2004 mod in 2005 and got its own release in mid-2009. At some point in the near future, a biological outbreak decimates London, the first responders from both the local police and later the army are not prepared to deal with this kind of crisis and are overwhelmed. The few survivors band together to fight for their lives. The goal of the game is simple, you face increasingly more difficult waves of zombie-like monsters until you either reach the end boss and defeat him or you bite the dust yourself in the process. As you can probably imagine this kind of gameplay is ideal for cooperative play. If one player is left standing at the end of a wave, the group can continue minus some penalty for the dead players.
Killing Floor 2 can be played in a single player mode but most of its value comes from the extensive multiplayer options. Up to six people can join the fun/horror of fighting waves of zombie monsters. Setting up a game can be as easy as choosing a difficulty, choosing a map and a number of waves. There is a large variety of maps ranging from more classical themed maps such as a subway and some streets to Santa’s house with Christmas themed enemies. Like in most cooperative shooters, Killing Floor 2 lets you choose a class to before the game starts, such as field medic, commando, or support. Your chosen role will bring perks like doing more damage with a certain type of weapon. It might take some time to figure out what class you prefer as the arsenal of weapons and play-styles is massive. No matter which role you choose you will always gather experience in every perk. For example, if you are a medic and you score a headshot, that skill counts towards marksmanship and vice versa a sniper can still provide healing to teammates and gain experience for it.
Talking about weapons, killing monsters will earn you cold hard cash and in-between waves you can visit the trader to buy new weapons, upgrades and restock ammo. The trader always moves to a new location to discourage people to camp in a certain area. Be mindful as you can only carry a certain number of items. If you can’t buy weapons you can always rely on your trusty melee weapon for the first few rounds. Random weapons will also spawn, and friendly players might also share their hard-earned cash with you if you ask nicely with the built-in emote system. The chat system is kept clean with only a handful of emotes as to not overcomplicate things in the heat of the battle. You can tell that cooperation is encouraged. Healing others is more powerful than healing yourself. It is also possible to weld doors shut, this can provide your team a huge advantage as it will slow down enemies a lot, but it also requires a bit of coordination as to not lock anyone out by accident.
Killing Floor 2 has a nice variety of enemies. You have your regular zombies, fire shooting monsters, chainsaw-wielding butchers, exploding acid breathing fat guys and many more. The final wave will always be a boss fight, which boss you’ll be facing is randomly chosen at the start of that level. This so-called patriarch monster will require teamwork and dedication to kill. Not only does it have a huge health pool, but some can also self-heal or spawn additional enemies.
Killing Floor: Incursion is a VR shooter in the same universe. As for all VR games keep in mind that some people respond badly to the VR experience in general. Important to know that besides the VR goggles you’ll also need the motion controllers. The game is on par with another popular VR shooter, Arizona Sunshine, as it is also very similar in many regards. The game features a story mode and an endless mode much like Killing Floor 2. In this game, you’ll investigate who… or what is behind the zombie menace. The motion controllers are what make the game fun, they will move your in-game hands. You can use them to manipulate objects in your inventory, wield guns and throw grenades. Plenty of elements in the environment can be interacted with as well to a surprisingly useful extend, including using a dismembered arm as a weapon. This all works very well and is highly rewarding. One thing all games in the genre struggle with is actual movement. Moving the character happens through teleportation or a free roam mode but the best results still come from teleportation. Since it is possible for two players with VR headsets to play together, a decent size open space is recommended. This is not a deal-breaker but is one of the reasons why people can potentially feel nausea as the world moves while you remain stationary.
In general, both games score well on the graphical side of things. There is also a good consistency between the two games as they share the same universe. It looks like plenty of work went into creating a wide range of enemies as they are very different in terms of gameplay and are visually very distinct. You can easily distinguish different types of enemies, which is necessary as most of them move at a decent speed towards you in a straight line, the A.I. pathfinding isn’t very interesting. There is also a nice variety of maps while there are several more classical maps that include streets, subways and metro stations but many are more creative such as Santa’s house and an airship. Of course, an underground secret lab is also included.
The same goes for the sound as both games feature an upbeat electronic sound pallet that gets the heart pumping. It does a great job to support the game and pull players in to game, be it in VR or otherwise. The haunting noises of the different monsters will give you the chills when you hear them running towards you, this is especially true in VR of course.
Conclusion
With the hot long summer ahead of us, it might be a good time to invest in a game or two that can keep you entertained for a while. Killing Floor 2 is a decent shooter with many maps and weapons to keep you busy for a while. As for Killing Floor: Incursion and all other VR games, it is advised to give it a go before purchasing the necessary equipment, while the prices are on its way down it still is a decent investment.
Killing Floor: Double Feature - Review,
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