Killing Floor 3 Review

Killing Floor 3 is set in 2091 where you join Nightfall; the last line of defense against megacorp Horzine’s inhuman army of monstrous zeds. The world’s future rests in your hands. Can you make sure you survive the night and see to the planet’s survival?

Killing Floor 3 is a balls to the walls first person shooter where players are required to survive a set number waves culminating to a boss fight. You can choose from a handful of character classes each with their own unique default loadout and perks. Killing Zeds reward players with Dosh, the game’s in-game currency.

In between waves, you’ll have access to a replenish pod where you’ll be able to refill your ammo, buy/sell weapons, change gadgets, grenades and upgrade your body armor. Each character class has a special skill that can get you out of a bind. As you kill Zeds, a meter will fill up and once full, pressing RB & LB will unleash a class specific attack. Also, you’ll notice that points of interests are yellow; but also you’ll find special doors and turrets that can be enable with a multi-tool you can acquire between waves.

Unlike KF2, where you could pick up ammo laying around, if you’re running out of ammo in the middle of a wave, holding the right direction on the d-pad will point you to a pod so you can spend some quick cash for emergency ammo. And trust me, the latter waves will require a bit of replenish due to the quantity of enemies and also tougher Zeds.

While the core aspect of the game is to survive, some areas will focus on the “story” (and I use that term loosely) where you’ll need to go specific maps and complete of objectives such as collecting samples of deceased Zeds or burn bodies for example. Once you’ve completed the main objectives, the last one is survival until the end. Some waves will have modifiers like either increased quantity of Bloats or increased syringe stock.

While the game has character classes with specific loadouts, when taking a quick pause at the pods, you can purchase any classes weapons; i.e. if you’re using the Firebug class, you can purchase guns from the Commando class giving players a bit of freedom to mix and match for a more custom loadout based on their playstyle. As you complete waves, you’ll also earn experience points (XP) which can be used in between sessions to unlock and equip character specific perks for additional power. For example, with the Firebug class, you can cause panic to enemies when throwing a molotov cocktail.

The game looks great; while it doesn’t push the hardware to the max, there’s definitely a visual upgrade from the previous entry. The areas are darker, some of them more claustrophobic, adding a layer of challenge. The enemies also got a facelift from KF2. The variety is decent, and there’s a few new/upgraded ones. Environments are detailed, but making most of them really dark is a great way to hide shortcomings and/or lack of details. Also means you need the flashlight on at all times. Lower rank enemies suspiciously look like Demon Spawn from Ash vs Evil Dead. Playable characters are a bit generic; feels like a step back from KF2. The soundtrack is a metal filled score that will get your blood pumping as you destroy Zeds.

Killing Floor 3 does have a few nuisance. The first one being the difficulty/balancing. This game is harder than Killing Floor 2 for solo play, due to questionable balancing, even on the lowest difficulty (Normal). While in KF2 I could manage to clear a round of seven waves unscathed, in KF3 it’s brutal to make it to wave five, or higher depending on the the map. Some are a bit bigger giving players more room to escape and dodge. Also, the central hub is unnecessary walk to a VTOL when everything could’ve been quicker and simpler with simple menus (akin to KF2). Some enemies feel absolutely indestructible when playing solo. The game has half the number of classes and a third of the total number of maps compared to Killing Floor 2. Another annoying quirk is the fact that the bigger the enemy, the faster they are making it also impossible to not get tossed around like a basketball by a Fleshpound.

Killing Floor 3 was one of my most anticipated titles of 2025 and boy does it deliver. It’s brutal, challenging and intense. There’s enough weaponry to give players a lot of flexibility for some custom loadouts, perks does level the playing field against tougher enemies and it’s the perfect game for some multiplayer goodness. However, solo play can be brutal and while the hub is an annoying interruptions, the fact that the number of maps and classes is lower than in KF2 is a huge bummer. I understand the release model of dripping content, but that also means there’s no real reason to buy this on day 1 (unless you’re a die hard KF fan). Killing Floor 3 is an absolute must play game of 2025, either solo or multiplayer, but it all depends on how you prefer your content. If you don’t mind the dripping release, then buy it. But if you prefer to have a more complete experience with all originally intended content, I suggest waiting a year or so after Tripwire Interactive has added everything.