Killing Floor is a cooperativefirst-person shootervideo game developed and published by Tripwire Interactive. It was originally released as an Unreal Tournament 2004 mod in 2005. Retail release followed on May 14, 2009, for Microsoft Windows,^[3] and for OS X on May 5, 2010.^[4] The Linux version was released on the Steam platform in November 2012. A sequel, Killing Floor 2, was announced on May 8, 2014 and released in November 18, 2016 worldwide.^[5]

Gameplay[edit]

Killing Floor Incursion is a VR only solo/co-op adventure available only on Oculus Rift.

Killing Floor is a first person shooter, allowing each player to move through a 3D environment. Gameplay consists of two game types: Killing Floor and Objective Mode. In Killing Floor Mode, the player fights waves of zombie-like specimens, or ZEDs, with each wave becoming successively more difficult, until it concludes with a battle against a 'boss' specimen, called the Patriarch.^[6] Objective Mode poses different challenges in addition to fighting against the zombie or zed specimens. 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 a trader to buy and sell ammo, armor, and additional weapons, such as katanas, pipe bombs, flamethrowers, shotguns, and so forth; the Trader's location on the level varies at the end of each wave, discouraging players from camping in one location. Weapons may also be found randomly across the level. Players are encouraged to work together; they can trade items and drop money, healing is more effective on other players than on oneself, 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.

Players select one of seven perks at the start of a match and between rounds. The perk, similar to the idea of a character class, provides bonuses towards certain weapon types, armor, movement, and other factors. Players can level up each perk to increase the benefits it offers. 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 does not need to 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 up, but this can also be done while playing any of the other perks.

As long as at least one member survives the wave, players that die during a wave will drop their current weapon and re-enter the game at the start of the next wave. Crossfire legends offline. If the entire squad is wiped out, they will have to restart the game from the first round.

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. A feature called 'zed time' awards particularly gory kills, such as headshots, with slow-motion, even in multiplayer mode.

God of Wonders Lyrics. Lord of all creation. Of water, earth and sky. The heavens are Your tabernacle. Glory to the Lord on High. God of wonders beyond our galaxy. You are holy, holy. The universe declares Your majesty. Lyrics to 'God of Wonders' by Third Day: Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of all creation. Lord of heaven and earth. Lord of all creation. God of wonders lyrics. God of wonders, beyond out galaxy You are holy, holy The universe declares Your majesty You are holy, holy. Lord of heaven and earth (2X) Early in the morning I will celebrate the light And as I stumble through the darkness I will call Your name by night.

Alex Quick, the lead 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.'^[7] A software development kit (SDK) and level editor are included to aid in the creation of modifications and levels.

Plot[edit]

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 experimentation, 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 the 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 headquarters. Having escaped their sterile prison, the creatures begin to fan out to neighboring areas, devouring the helpless citizens of London while the Metropolitan Police fruitlessly attempt to fight back.

Desperate to contain the outbreak from reaching overseas as planned by the mutated and cybernetically-enhanced scientist Dr. Kevin 'The Patriarch' Clamely, 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.' The player takes the role of a member of one of these teams as they partake in a variety of missions in and around the city of London.

Development[edit]

Killing Floor was originally a total conversion mod for the game Unreal Tournament 2004, first released in 2005.^[8][9] 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.^[7] The mod version had its fifth and final official update in July 2008.

The full Killing Floor retail version was announced in March 2009. With the assistance of the original mod team, Tripwire would be the new developer. The game was released on 14 May 2009 after about three months of work by a crew of around ten developers.^[10]

In 2012, with the launch of the Linux Steam version, the original non-Steam servers were closed and the game was made a Steam exclusive.^[11]

A late 2012 patch introduced support for the Steam Workshop; a distribution platform for user-made content functioning via the Steam client.^[12] In mid-2013, a new mode called 'Objective Mode' was added, where the player team would be tasked with completing specific objectives over the course the various waves in addition to outright survival.^[13]

Reception[edit]

Killing Floor was the top-selling game on Steam shortly after it was released (as of May 19, 2009).^[19] During the PlayStation Experience event in December 2014, Tripwire Interactive announced that Killing Floor had sold almost 3 million copies on PC.^[20]

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.^[21]

Eurogamer commented that 'though not perfect', it was 'clever and relatively cheap'.^[16]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.'^[17] 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.^[22][23][24]Killing Floor has a Metacritic score of 72/100.^[15]

The sequel, Killing Floor 2, was released in November 2016 for Windows and PlayStation 4 and August 2017 for Xbox One.

By May 2019, the Killing Floor series has sold more than 10 million units combined, with total revenues over US$100 million.^[25]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Killing Floor Original Soundtrack'. Bandcamp. Retrieved 29 September 2018.
2. ^'Exclusive: Killing Floor and Red Orchestra coming to the Mac'. BigDownload. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
3. ^'Steam Store'. Steam Store. Retrieved May 13, 2009.
4. ^'Killing Floor website'. Killing Floor website. Archived from the original on May 23, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
5. ^O'Connor, Alice (8 May 2014). 'Loadsa Muties: Killing Floor 2 Announced With More Gore'. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
6. ^'Killing Floor Overview'. Killing Floor Official Web Site. Retrieved May 6, 2009.
7. ^ ^ab'GT Q&A: Tripwire's Killing Floor'. FileFront.com. May 6, 2009.
8. ^'Duck and Cover :: View topic - Killing Floor Released'. duckandcover.cx. August 31, 2005. Retrieved 2007-12-23.
9. ^de Matos, Xav (22 March 2009). 'Killing Floor mod gets standalone Steam release'. Joystiq. Retrieved 12 January 2013.
10. ^John Gibson (July 21, 2011). 'An Open Letter To The Community'. Retrieved July 21, 2011.
11. ^Andrew Burnes (20 March 2009). 'Tripwire Interactive Announces Killing Floor'. Voodoo Extreme. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
12. ^Senior, Tom (24 September 2012). 'Killing Floor gets Steam Workshop support, Red Orchestra 2 Steam Workshop support incoming'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
13. ^O'Conner, Alice (4 July 2013). 'Killing Floor free for a week as Summer Sideshow introduces Objective Mode'. Shacknews. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
14. ^'Killing Floor'. GameRankings. Retrieved 25 October 2009.
15. ^ ^ab'Killing Floor'. Metacritic. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
16. ^ ^ab'Killing Floor'. Eurogamer. May 28, 2009.
17. ^ ^ab'Killing Floor Review'. GameSpot. May 26, 2009. Visually, Killing Floor compares poorly with contemporary shooters, thanks to its five-year-old engine(..)The sound effects are outstanding, especially for guns, and you can often use subtle sound clues to detect incoming enemies. Unfortunately, the voice acting and soundtrack don't achieve the same level of quality(..)Meanwhile, derivative, generic metal music does little to improve the tone(..)It's absurd and crass, and yet you can't help but enjoy it
18. ^'Killing Floor Review. 28 Days Later meets Left 4 Dead'. IGN. May 20, 2009.
19. ^'Killing Floor Wipes the Killing Floor'. Retrieved June 3, 2009.
20. ^'Killing Floor has sold almost million copies'. 2014-12-10.
21. ^'2009 Reader's Choice Award Winners'. Voodoo Extreme. Retrieved 19 January 2010.
22. ^'Killing Floor'. Game-Over.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
23. ^'Killing Floor'. HardCoreGamer.com. Retrieved 9 August 2009.
24. ^'Killing Floor'. GameSquad.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
25. ^McAloon, Alissa (May 15, 2019). 'The Killing Floor series has earned $100 million in revenue in 10 years'. Gamasutra. Retrieved May 15, 2019.

External links[edit]

The Crucible,” and Windows Mixed Reality SupportKilling Floor: Incursion Content Update Introduces New Map “The Crucible,” and Windows Mixed Reality Support Today!Killing Floor: Incursion now supports Windows Mixed Reality headsets on Steam in addition to Oculus Rift and HTC Vive devices. About This GameFrom Tripwire Interactive, makers of Red Orchestra and Killing Floor franchises, comes a multi-chapter, story-driven adventure made specifically for VR. Explore this detailed and immersive world alone or with a partner while fighting for your life with pistols, shotguns, axes, and even the occasional leftover limb. Travel through diverse environments, from creepy farmhouses to mysterious catacombs, in order to uncover who or what is behind the Zed menace. Discover what the Horzine Corporation is really up to and be careful who you trust.When it’s all over, invite a friend to go back with you and see if you can pull them through alive.

Good luck!Key Features. Co-Op Play: When the going gets tough, bring a friend! Play co-op with a friend in both Story and Holdout modes.

Narrative Campaign: Play through the five-stage, fully voiced story campaign to uncover the secrets behind Horzine and their relationship with the Zeds. Holdout - Endless Game Mode: See how long you can last against the Zeds in this endless mode! Increasingly tough groups of Zeds are thrown at you until you finally succumb. A new weapon, special power ups, and other mechanics are available in this mode. Visceral Gore: The Zeds you attack don’t just die; they get decapitated and dismembered as heads and limbs go flying, all covered in blood. You can even pick up these Zed bits and use them as weapons!. Immersive Environments: Five different environments to explore, from high tech virtual training facilities to dilapidated trailer parks, each with its own threats and story.

A Variety of Weapons: Chop, slash, shoot, and blast your way through hordes of Zeds with weapons ranging from fire axes to sniper rifles. Each level introduces new options for violence.

Terrifying Zeds: Some Zeds stumble, some crawl, some sprint, and some shoot at you with plasma cannons! Each Zed has its own tactics, strengths, and weaknesses that you must learn if you want to survive. New control options: Now includes options to use Espire Control Theater as well as a new Free Move system.