Killing Floor 3 is finally here, bringing more blood, bullets, and brutal co-op action to the table. Developed by Tripwire Interactive, this latest entry in the long-running franchise aims to pull both veterans and newcomers into its gory world of Zeds and chaos. But does it deliver something fresh, or is it just more of the same?
After spending hours blasting through waves of enemies, trying out the different classes, and diving into its weapon customisation system, here’s how Killing Floor 3 stacks up in 2025’s crowded co-op shooter scene.
Gameplay
Playing through Killing Floor 3 has been an absolute blast, I’ll be honest. I’ve put in more time playing this than the previous game. With a game that’s meant to be played over a long period of time, getting incremental drops of content, it felt weird coming late into its lifetime. This is why the latest iteration of the franchise felt like the perfect jumping in point, for me.
There are six characters to pick from, each with their unique skill trees, weapons, support and ultimate abilities. While they’re all named, let’s talk about their classes which are: Commando, Firebug, Engineer, Sharpshooter, Ninja and Medic. I spent most of my time playing as a Commando, they play as you would expect, but their ultimate ability summons a drone which supports you with covering fire, oh and you can drop ammo boxes for people to replenish.
What I really liked is that even though each class has a support tool, you’re not locked into just that. I only found this out, as one of the story missions required me to go into a locked room, and no one else on the team would open the door. After trying the match for the second time, bam. Unlocked it and completed that story mission! I really appreciated the flexibility on offer.
Zeds, Zeds and more Zeds!
Commando is your classic run-and-gun role. Rifles, grenades, a solid choice. It’s familiar, but in a good way: the shooting’s tight, the pacing’s fast, and clearing wave after wave of Zeds hasn’t gotten old. I did have to tweak settings for it to feel right, by default crosshairs were disabled. It was immersive and looked clean, but didn’t help my aim. Once switching them back on, everything just felt right.
There are 10 different enemies within the game which can be categorised in small, medium and large. All with different weaknesses and ways to exploit them. There are also 3 different bosses available in the game right now. While the offering might sound a little lackluster, thankfully the devs have a roadmap in place of content to come. That said, when you’re mid-fight, cornered by a swarm or staring down one of the bigger abominations, you won’t be thinking about what’s missing. It’s chaotic, tense, and bloody fun.
Weapons, Upgrades and Crafting
Within the first few hours of the game, I started to feel that I was quite weak. More specifically that my damage output wasn’t matching that of my squad mates. At first I thought this was down to the weapons that I was using in each match. As you complete each wave, outposts open up to you, and you’re able to restock ammo, buy weapons or upgrade your armor. While swapping out my loadout, this felt incremental and left me feeling unsatisfied.
That changed when I explored the main hub. Turns out, you can build custom loadouts, craft weapon mods and upgrade them through different rarities. While destroying hordes of Zeds, you gather an impressive collection of materials used to craft different mods. Once I started experimenting with builds and mods, the whole progression system started to click, and my damage finally started to catch up.
Blood, Bass and Bullets
Killing Floor 3 goes through a bit of a visual transformation as you play. The 8 maps available at launch all looking fitting for the setting – industrial zones, labs, city streets but they also feel a little too clean. Enemies and environments both have a sterile, polished look that clashes with the tone that you would expect from a gritty, blood-soaked co-op shooter.
This evolves quite quickly. Once the action kicks off, and the Zeds start pouring in, the environments shift dramatically. Walls, floors get caked in blood. It’s a great visual payoff that makes every wave feel more intense than the last. By the time you hit the later rounds, the same sterile lab you started in, looks like something out of a horror film.
The soundtrack leans hard into heavy metal and electronic beats, and it fits the chaos perfectly. When the tempo of the music really starts to kick in, and the chaos of Zeds being dispatched across the field, it’s really reminiscent of Doom – both in look and sound..
Final Thoughts
Killing Floor 3 doesn’t reinvent the formula and honestly, it doesn’t need to. It’s a fast, gory, team shooter that knows what it wants to be. The moment-to-moment action is incredibly satisfying, especially when you’ve found your feet and have experimented with different builds and weapon layouts. I’ll be honest it does launch with a decent amount of maps, and lacks enemy variety but that’s on reflection only. In the middle of gameplay, while surrounded with gore and explosions, you don’t have an opportunity to think about it.
The story? Pretty much non-existent. There’s missions to complete which gradually take your across the various maps. Honestly, I didn’t come here for the story and I’m glad it doesn’t get in the way..
The content roadmap looks to be promising, with more weapons, levels and enemies to be introduced but what’s here is a promising start. Seasoned Killing Floor players might want to give the game some time, but for those new to the franchise, you’ll be eating well.
If you’re a fan of co-op shooters, loving mowing down monsters with friends, and love to make it rain blood, Killing Floor 3 is worth jumping into.