| Killing Floor | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Tripwire Interactive |
| Publisher(s) | Tripwire Interactive |
| Distributor(s) | Steam (online) Tripwire Interactive (NA) Iceberg Interactive (EU) |
| Engine | Heavily modified Unreal Engine 2.5 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows Mac OS X[1] |
| Release date(s) | 14 May 2009 |
| Genre(s) | First-person shooter |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Multi player |
| Rating(s) | |
| Media/distribution | Steam |
| System requirements | |
Killing Floor is a cooperative first-person shooter video game developed and published by Tripwire Interactive. It was first released on May 14, 2009, for Microsoft Windows,[3] and for Mac OS X on May 5, 2010.[4]
Contents |
Killing Floor is a first person shooter, allowing each player to move through a 3D environment. Gameplay consists of a single game type, single- or multi-player, in which the player fights waves of zombie-like specimens, with each wave becoming successively more difficult, moving through each area of the level, until it concludes with a battle with a "boss" specimen, called the Patriarch.[5] Players earn in-game money for each kill, as well as for surviving to the end of a wave. In the time between each waves, players can visit the Trader to buy and sell ammo, armor, and additional weapons; the Trader's location on the level varies at the end of each wave, discouraging players from camping in one location. The items may also be found randomly across the level. Players are encouraged to work together; players can trade items and drop money, healing is more effective on other players than themselves, and the team can strategically weld doors shut to provide a temporary barrier from the oncoming horde while funneling the other creatures to specific areas.
Further emphasizing the need for teamwork, the game lets players select one of seven perks at the start of a match and between rounds. The perk, similar to the idea of a class, provides bonuses towards certain weapon types, armor, movement, and other factors. Players can raise the effectiveness of these perks across numerous games by meeting the leveling requirements for that specific perk. For example, the "Sharpshooter" perk, which provides accuracy benefits when using scoped rifles, can be raised in level by completing a number of headshots with specific weapons. The player need not play with that perk to raise its level; for example, the Field Medic perk requires the player to heal a number of points to level, but this can be done playing using any of the other perks. Players are encouraged to diversify these perks for their team to assure success. Players that die during a wave will re-enter the game at the start of the next wave, as long as at least one squad member survives. If the entire squad is wiped out, they will have to restart the game.
Each game can be configured to alter the length and difficulty of the various waves. The number of creatures in the enemy waves are based on the number of players in the game, increasing in numbers if more players join the game in progress. All but the weakest enemies have some special attack that can inflict significant damage on a player. However, by achieving a headshot, the creature may continue to approach, but loses the ability to engage that attack. A feature called "zed time" allows the player to see particularly gory kills, such as headshots, in slow-motion, even in multiplayer mode. The players can use their brief period to adjust their aim, check their surrounds, or begin to move to a new location.
Alex Quick, the level designer and texture artist, stated that "there are a whole bunch of ideas on the drawing board that we can add in after launch, including the 'Story' mode from the mod, for instance."[6] A software development kit (SDK) and level editor are included to aid in the creation of modifications and levels.
The game takes place in London, England. Horzine Biotech, a biotechnology company, is contracted to conduct experiments of a military nature involving mass cloning and genetic manipulation. Something goes horribly wrong during the process of the experimentations, and human subjects begin to exhibit grotesque mutations and disfigurement. They become increasingly hostile, and eventually overrun the internal security forces of the corporation.
Hours later, the first waves of the specimens break out onto the surface, disrupting a peace protest outside the well-known military contractor. Despite the best efforts of local police, the civilians are quickly overwhelmed and consumed by the seemingly endless supply of clones now streaming from the gaping maw of Horzine Biotech's headquarter. Having escaped their sterile prison, the creatures began to fan out to neighboring areas, devouring the helpless citizens of London while the Metropolitan Police bravely but fruitlessly attempt to stem the tide of mutated flesh now spreading across their city.
Desperate to contain the outbreak, the British government quickly begins to organize ragtag teams of surviving British Army soldiers and Special Branch police officers to fight back against the hordes of mutated "specimens" now running amok throughout the capital and its outskirts. The player takes the role of an anonymous member of one of these teams as they partake in a variety of missions in and around the city of London.
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Killing Floor was originally a total conversion mod for the game Unreal Tournament 2004, first released in 2005. The lead developer Alex Quick was first approached by Tripwire Interactive about porting Killing Floor to their game Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, but Quick did not follow through. A few years later, when their user base started to dwindle, Quick contacted Tripwire again to negotiate the port to Red Orchestra, and its distribution via Steam—similar to what Tripwire had already done with another Red Orchestra mod Mare Nostrum—and then later, the retail game.[6] The mod version had its fifth and final official update in July 2008.
The full retail version was announced in March 2009. With the assistance of the original mod team, Tripwire would be the new developer.[7]
Killing Floor was released on 14 May 2009 after about three months of work by a crew of around ten developers[8].
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 72.35% PC[9] |
| Metacritic | 72%[10] |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| Eurogamer | 7 of 10[11] |
| GameSpot | 7.5 of 10 [12] |
| IGN | 7.5 of 10[13] |
Killing Floor was the top-selling game on Steam shortly after it was released (as of May 19, 2009).[14]
Killing Floor has won a number of awards including Overall Best PC Game of 2009 in Voodoo Extreme's Reader Choice Awards. It also won 2 other categories in Voodoo Extreme's Reader's Choice Awards: Best PC Shooter of 2009 and Best PC Game Expansion or DLC of 2009.[15]
EuroGamer commented that "though not perfect", it was "clever and relatively cheap".[11] GameSpot commented that the game graphics compared poorly with contemporary shooters, and that the voice acting was bad, but considered that the sound effects were very good, and that despite its flaws, "you can't help but enjoy it."[12] Some reviewers also considered that the lack of any real plot or aim for the players other than killing specimens, the small number of existing maps, and the repetitiveness of the gameplay reduced its replay value.[16][17][18] Killing Floor has a Metacritic score of 72% from critics and 8.9/10 from users.[19]