Killing Floor 3affirmed for me that there ’s something inherently fun about fighting off hordes of zombie with your friend .

play together to fight grotesque tool of all pattern and sizes , scavenging for resource , and slow feeling the challenge incline up round after round of drinks is a inviolable core gameplay loop that many gaming classics have . Of course , Call of Duty dominate this quad with its Zombies modal value , withBlack Ops 6being particularly entertaining . go out 4 Dead 2andBack 4 Bloodare personal front-runner of mine , but I ’ve only occasionally dabbled in Killing Floor , a series of around - based zombi ( or Zed ) shooters byManeater’sTripwire Interactive .

WithKilling Floor 3 , Tripwire brings the dealership forth to Unreal Engine 5 and show off its mastery of this enamor cobalt - op shooter formula . If you ’re drive a short tired of playing on the sameBlack Ops 6 Zombiesmaps over and over again , you should consider checkingKilling Floor 3out when it launches next calendar month .

An Unreal Engine 5 upgrade

The core gameplay normal of zombie shooters is golden , and Tripwire has n’t done much to break up what works here . Teams of up to six players each chose a specializer and kit out themselves out with weapon , tools , and power . They are then dropped into a match and attempt to survive as many rounds as potential as horde of “ Zeds ” try their best to pop the participant . Between round , players can purchase upgrades with earned currency from a bargainer .

player can return to their home base between matches to string up out with their friends or engage with meta - progression fictional character upgrades . rinsing and repetition , and you have a winning Centennial State - op shooter formula that already had its hook in me after playing just a few rounds with its developers and other journalists . Because it ’s not too drastic of a shake - up , you might wonder why Tripwire decided to make a young numbered sequel in the Killing Floor franchise .

originative Director Bryan Wynia tells Digital Trends that technology was an authoritative reason . He explains thatKilling Floor 2was made on a qualify version of Unreal Engine 3 whileKilling Floor 3was prototyped in Unreal Engine 4 before participate full production on Unreal Engine 5 . That allowed the developers to do many things they could n’t before , particularly when it comes to firing .

“ One of the mindsets we had is when there ’s a big technological procession , it really allows us to do things we might not have been able to do in the past tense , ” Wynia differentiate Digital Trends . “ There was all this excitement and accessibility to establish something that we ’ve always want to build . Our light squad is really focussed on dynamic light . It ’s very subtle , but it ’s very impactful . Being able to have very dynamic veridical - cosmos representative lighting on top of various set opus in the environment , that factor of immersion is increased due to what our team can do inside of Unreal Engine 5 . ”

Mutating Killing Floor’s core

The Unreal Engine 5 upgrade and bloodier - than - ever gore should entice players , but some other new features makeKilling flooring 3worthy of being a full - on sequel . Two in finical digest out : weapon modifications and round mutations . Modification allows players to customise their artillery with schematics and crafting material they earn . Wynia emphasise that “ the way you interact with the world of Killing Floor is through your weapon system , ” so they wanted players to have a lot of control over what their weapon can do .

Mutations will protrude up after several rounds , supply specific modifier gene to shake things up . For example , Fodder have an overwhelming amount of Crawler and Cist Zeds attack players , force them to work together and adapt to overcome it . Wynia tell Digital Trends that one feature Tripwire regard but did n’t implement was friendly fire , although it may live on in some way .

“ We did prototype a adaptation of friendly fire betimes on in growing , and it was brutal . There are some really outstanding game out there where it plays really well , but with the amount of chaos and close - quarters combat of Killing Floor with AOE weapons , it was pestilent , ” Wynia says . “ That being pronounce , with the popularity of friendly ardour having a revitalization , I would n’t be surprised if we explored some mutations for it in the future , perchance called Trigger Discipline or something like that . ”

Killing Floor 3’sarenas are already bally messes after each stave , so I can imagine how much more ridiculous that would look with friendly - fervour enabled . disregarding of whether or not well-disposed fire does come to the game , Killing Floor 3is shaping up to be a desirable technological upgrade for a fundamental performing in the co - op zombie triggerman space . If you ’re look for an alternative toBlack Ops 6 Zombiesor desire a new co - op game to represent with friends , Killing Floor 3offers a bloody effective metre .

Killing Floor 3launches for PC , PS5 , and Xbox Series X / S on March 25 . you could also sign up for a Closed Beta taking plaza between February 20 and February 24 .