Killing Floor 3 – Review

Time to go caroling, and take a zombie head?

After struggling for months, years, centuries with Helldivers 2, I found myself wanting something more… personal. Something where I could feel every bullet, every explosion, and every thump in the controller. Well, there you go, what dreams I have. So the big winning title was Killing Floor 3, developed by Tripwire Interactive and planned for release on PlayStation 5 in 2025. Yes, PS5. If we’re going to have haptic feedback, then it might as well vibrate when four Zeds jump you. And just like that, I snuck in a Shaun of The Dead reference for the cinephiles out there.

The Zeds have evolved, or so it seems to me

The action takes place in 2091, when the Horzine Corporation took the idea of “biological workers” a bit too far and mass-produced Zeds – genetically modified creatures who completely forgot about GDPR and burst into any remaining intact city. The player is part of Nightfall, a rebel group trying to fix the chaos. How? With weapons, obviously, and a craving for co-op like you haven't seen since Left 4 Dead. In fact, the title constantly reminded me of the old Left 4 Dead.

The PS5 adds an extra layer of madness here. The DualSense controller vibrates differently depending on the weapon. Every shotgun blast has that specific “thump”. You feel it when you’re firing something big (that’s what she said) and you also feel it when you run out of ammo. It’s like a warning system for impending panic, which, I might add, is useless in the scenarios this game proposes.

6-player co-op and slow-motion galore

The game offers support for up to 6 players simultaneously in cooperative mode. It's total fun, but also chaos in equal measure. When the team is well-synchronised, everything looks like a staged scene from an SF horror movie. When it's not… let's just say a Zed jumping on your head while you're looking at the mini-map isn't just a strange coincidence, but a tragic habit.

Zed Time, the classic mechanic from the series, is now more controllable. You have a bar that charges by getting kills or destroying critical points. Once activated, the entire team enters slow-motion. It's that moment where you feel like you've entered a cheat code. And on PS5, Zed Time looks deliciously disgusting. Every drop of blood, every dismembered limb, is rendered with a clarity that makes you say “Wow” and “Yuck” at the same time. For this reason, I'm going to say it here and now: the Killing Floor series is not for everyone. You either like it or you don’t!

The M.E.A.T. System 2.0 and calculated hierarchies: Scientific gore, supposedly

Tripwire boasted that they worked extensively on bodily realism. The M.E.A.T. System 2.0 allows for gradual destruction of enemies. You can shoot a Zed's arm and watch it break into pieces, with the rest of the body reacting in accordance with the laws of physics. Every attack leaves traces, blood remains on the walls, and on PS5, everything is super fluid when your framerate isn't exploding. Spoiler alert: The game has optimisation issues, at least in my experience, that was the situation.

Players can choose from six specialists, each with their own skill tree and playstyle. You have modified weapons, special ammo (fire, ice, shock), and combos that synchronise in Zed Time for maximum effect. Basically, if you're the type who plays as a team, you can become a mincing machine. If not, you have all the time in the world to run and scream into the microphone.

Everything is customisable. From your skills to how your weapons work. You have an RPG, but you want it faster? Make it so. Want your SMG to slow down enemies? You have that option too. It's a complex, but satisfying system, perhaps too complex for a zombie shooter, some might say.

Graphics on PS5: beautiful, but not sustainable in this title

On paper, Killing Floor 3 runs on Unreal Engine 5 and promises next-gen graphics. Dynamic lighting, detailed Zed faces, and realistic shadows. The community noted in the beta version, however, that on PS5 the game has framerate fluctuations, especially in 6-player co-op. Some reported drops below 30 FPS, blurry UI, and animations disappearing when you least expect it. These problems seem to have persisted in the “final” version of the game, which also manifests on other platforms, of course at different levels and intensities.

On PS5 Pro, things are more stable, but you still occasionally get visual glitches. It seems Tripwire was more concerned with blood than optimisation. Despite all this, when everything is running well, it's a spectacular-looking game. A series of adjustments, patches, and extra content, I believe, can fix this problem so common today in almost all major releases. The guys at Tripwire are good to their word anyway; we've had two Killing Floors before and we know how it works.

Sound, music, and moments of authentic panic

Sound is the strong point. Each weapon has a distinct sound, and when you shoot a Zed, you know exactly what you've done. The music is metal-industrial style and fits perfectly. When the final wave crashes over you, and the music intensifies, the controller trembles and Zed Time activates, you have that moment where you wonder if it's time to form a metal band with the game's gameplay as your music video.

Bugs and hopes

Yes, there are bugs. Yes, there are performance issues. But the community is active, and as I said earlier, Tripwire has been responsive in the past. Patches, optimisations, and probably some DLC with even weirder monsters are promised. If you like the idea of DOOM combined with Back 4 Blood, with Borderlands-style upgrades, then Killing Floor 3 might be exactly what you're looking for. However, even Left 4 Dead fans won't have trouble adapting.

Final Verdict: Bloody chaos with potential

Killing Floor 3 isn't for the faint of heart or story-driven fans. But if you want to shoot mutants, feel the impact of every bullet, and have co-op like a basement rave, this game is for you. In the final version, PS5 performance is decent, it runs better than in beta, but there are still hiccups. The gameplay can become repetitive, but that comes with the territory. KF fans will find joy in every class and load-out and an obvious upgrade in the new iteration of the series.

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Played on: PlayStation 5
Release date: 24 July 2025
Developer: Tripwire Interactive
Publisher: Tripwire Interactive