Released in May of 2009, the original Killing Floor released to Overwhelming Success, bringing a fantastic fresh face to the Round-Based Survival genre. Tripwire Interactive was still relatively new, with  only one other title to their name. Seven years later, we were graced with the wildly popular Killing Floor 2, and here we are in 2025 with our hands now on the latest rendition, Killing Floor 3. Though met with some mixed reception, I was thrilled to get my hands on the latest in the series and see if it held water, and what complaints, if any, were valid. I can see where some players absolutely will find this a bit of a mixed bag, so let's gear up and get some dosh.

If you thought KF 1 and 2 were bloody... you have a whole other thing coming with Killing Floor 3. Bloody? No. Absolute BLOODBATH? Yes. 

Currently at around a bit more than 9,500 reviews, things sit at Mixed reviews. This could be a for  a few reasons. Looking them over, people seemed torn with the attempt at jumping on some bandwagons that may have been better left untouched. One of them is the infamous Battle Pass. Currently priced at $19.99 USD, it will be heavily familiar to fans of Hell Divers 2, as it seems to be structured near identically. A mix of free and premium items, purchasing is not *entirely* needed, but as usual, to get the good cosmetics, you'll want to. On top of the very Diablo 4-esque "Rotating Store" for additional premium cosmetics, it feels very cash-grabby, unfortunately. Many fans were more than happy to pay flat out cash for cosmetics, so I feel this shift left a very bad taste in many fans mouths, mine included.

No Killing Floor would be complete without Zed-Time. It's back, and bloodier than EVER.

Though not part of the review itself- I did purchase the Battle Pass to get a better idea of what I was missing. Even at a glance, however, it was disheartening to see that starting on page 11 (through to the end on page 20) non- premium passholders only got one free cosmetic off each page. Some mere stickers that are barely noticeable when applied. The ratio of points is about 100 points per $1 USD. That being said, the cost of some of the items in rotation is wild for how minute they are. Weapon charms and the like are roughly $3 USD, and something that really can't, and won't be see by others. Would I have been willing to pay a flat out 99 cents transaction fee for it? Sure. 3 bucks? No. The price gouging and cosmetic abuse seems horribly blatant. This was a HUGE letdown.

The Dosh Clip. Always a fan favourite- despite not screaming "Dosh here!" As your wear your "b" key into oblivion. A small sampling of the Season One Pass.

Another contention point seems to be the HUB area. I feel like this was what COULD have been a real great thing, implemented so insanely poor that it's absolutely heartbreaking. It sincerely feels like "We have a Deep Rock Galactic HUB at Home" ... but worse. There is a WILD amount of potential here. With a squad of six, there are six capsules connected to the main chamber which merely turns into a disappointing visual index for some pieces of the game, a skill UI, a battle pass UI, gun customization UI and a shooting range. Also the mission select interface. Other than that, nothing is truly interactable, sans one sad lonely zip line. All the player pods are the same boring bland industrial generic pattern, instead of really giving people a chance to organize and customize space with things like trophies from missions, color schemes... any chance at making this an actual unique experience has gone straight in the bin. The same can be said of the exterior- very generic, industrial and bland, with the only character being through some scrawled sticky-notes that are easily overlookable. While the concept is amazing, it seems like another sad attempt to take something and make a poor imitation. There are no real interactable elements besides the shooting range and menus, and the one lonely zipline. Compare that to something Like Deep Rock Galactics obscenely amazing central HUB, and your ability to spend mass amounts of time in it? Well, it kinda speaks for itself.

This... might be very...very...bad.

As disappointing as I found some of this... when you get into the ACTUAL core gameplay, I couldn't help but really get some of the same feelings I had for Killing Floor 1 and 2. I feel like if you put the "newer" aspects of the game aside, at it's core, it absolutely IS a killing floor title. Is the balance all there? Oh hell no. That needs some work. It has some issues on the code side when it comes with skins and other things. So basically it has it's growing pains. But at the centre of all of this is the game I really do love, with some (what really could be seen as) "polish", and some things that do require MORE, but it's not without it's own merit. I do think the gun customization system is a fantastic way to add depth to the game, and the rate of material collection (on top of what you can scavenge from the surrounding area) is really quite fair. I can't make a complaint there.  

One of the more enjoyed features that I found was the ability to customize weapons with a whole host of attachments, as well as upgrade them.

Ultimately what I hope is that this is going to be the Season of Growing Pains, and they see what works, and what doesn't. I don't think Killing Floor 3 is as much of a lost cause or dead game as some in the community are screaming that it is- but it will require total and complete action of Tripwire Interactives part to save what has basically become their flagship IP. If you feel up for the challenge, dip a toe, see what all the fuss is (or isn't) about. Dip a toe. See if it's worth your time and investment at the current stage, and go from there. I think this may be a hard sell for some, but also an easy purchase for others. Though I myself personally fall middle-of-the-fence, I am hopefully optimistic for it's future.

Killing Floor 3 is available on the Steam Marketplace for $39.99 USD.