The reviews are in for Tripwire Interactive’s newly released zombie shooter sequel, Killing Floor 3, and they don’t appear to be too good so far. Released today, Killing Floor 3 is currently sitting at a 69 review score on Metacritic, an all-time series low. On Steam, the game currently has a 49% Mixed review rating, a far cry from the Very Positive rating the two earlier titles in the series have on the platform. Let’s find out why this latest entry in the co-op survival horror series is getting such a comparatively worse reception among both critics and fans.
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On Metacritic, the game currently has one “red” negative review from Diego Nicolás Argüello of Endless Mode. Argüello calls the game a “Shooter by the Numbers” and complains that the prevalence of microtransactions and the game’s loss of identity are minor gripes when faced with the ultimate lack of impression it leaves with players.
In the summer of 2023, fans were initially excited when the game was officially announced at Gamescom. The series holds a special place in the hearts of shooter fans and hasn’t had much movement since the release of Killing Floor 2 in 2016. However, fans noticed cracks already present in the initial impression, and some weren’t thrilled with the studio leaning into a more cartoonish and sanitized art direction.
“The original’s art style was definitely way better,” said Steam user Juicebox after the reveal in August 2023. “The darker, more industrial, dirty run down looks of both environments and the zeds looked a lot better than the clean, bright, vibrant sci-fi environments we see now in kf2 and now the beginning few pictures and video of kf3. They really need to go back to their roots and not double down on kf2’s artystyle, which a lot of people didn’t like.”
Fast forward to the closed beta held in January of this year, and negative fan feedback on many aspects of the game caused the release date of Killing Floor 3 to be pushed back to now.
“After taking the time to gather and discuss feedback from our recent closed beta, we’ve realized that we missed the mark,” said a Tripwire Interactive press release in March. “Our goal isn’t just to make Killing Floor 3 an ambitious step forward for the franchise, but also to maintain the core experience that you’ve come to know and love.”
Unfortunately, the extra development time appears to have been of little help, as the game has received middling scores from many critics and players. A common theme among the game’s critics is that Killing Floor 3 focused too much on style over substance, delivering an unworthy follow-up to the series.
“Still needs a lot of work done to feel even remotely close to Killing Floor,” wrote Steam user Nanophage in a review. “Has the aesthetic but nothing else that made it super fun. The optimization is still bad as well. 5/10.”
Other reviewers were harsher, calling the game “an empty shell disguised as Killing Floor,” and saying that it tried to cater too hard to modern sensibilities without excelling in any area to make it stand out. Still, positive reviews highlight that the potential is there for a great game if the developers are committed to improving it with future updates.
Reviews are still coming in for the title, and it’s possible that some of its faults can be addressed over time. What are your thoughts on Killing Floor 3? Is it a worthy successor to the franchise? Will you still pick it up despite the purported flaws?
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