Killing Floor 3 preview: A carnival of gore and chaos

With Killing Floor 3, developer Tripwire Interactive is here to further refine the iconic horde shooter formula. I was fortunate enough to be able to sit down with the dev team for a multiplayer session of the upcoming co-op FPS title, to see how it's shaping up before its launch late next month. As someone new to the underrated series, I was pleasantly surprised in many ways.

In a nutshell, fans itching for a new Left 4 Dead-style experience have reason to be excited. Read on to know my full thoughts on Killing Floor 3 via our hands-on preview.

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Killing Floor 3 is a ride fueled by guts and action

Take on the horde solo or in co-op (Image via Tripwire Interactive)

Set decades after the events of Killing Floor 2, this sequel sees players in charge of the Nightfall, a group of specialists dedicated to eradicating the threat of Zeds — horrifying monstrosities created by the megacorporation, Horzine. There are six different characters to pick from, each fitting the game's 6-player co-op slot like a glove.

Players will be dropped into a hub area from where they can select different aspects of the game, like Maps and Specialist Perks (under each hero's distinct skill trees). This can also be done via menus, instead of physically walking around the place.

For our session, we had a four-man squad taking on the mutant menace with me going for the Engineer — a burly shotgun-totting fella who also has access to a handy toolkit that can enable turrets and ziplines. That said, Killing Floor 3's modular loadout system allows any character to pick any weapon, though certain heroes are better with specific weapons than others.

Select the right Specialist for the job (Image via Tripwire Interactive)

The visuals of Killing Floor 3 are striking, with dilapidated hallways and messy outdoors, all crawling with the Zed threat in waves. Players will have some time to prepare before the horde of mutants attack players gathered around a defensive stronghold. As such, having a Specialist and loadout setup variety is necessary to have a leg up during playthroughs because this is a surprisingly challenging game.

Thankfully, players will have access to armor crates and quick vendors laden around the map to restock ammo and tools, upgrade weapons and armor, and more. I found myself sticking to a powerful flame-spewing weapon that made quick work of any nasties that dared get close, all of which exploded in a gratifying and nasty burst of crimson, thanks to the evolved M.E.A.T. system for dynamic gore.

A healthy variety of Zeds are thrown into the mix, from the shambling zombie-like Cyst and destructive, bile-spewing Bloat, to terrifying monstrosities like the shrieker Siren and the chainsaw-wielding Scrake.

The enemy AI Director dynamically adapts to various factors, like player locations and party size, and players also must keep an eye out above for Crawlers that can emerge from vents or other high places.

The gore is easily the most entertaining aspect of the game, next to the chaotic gameplay (Image via Tripwire Interactive)

Each wave will finally culminate in a showdown against a powerful boss and players will have to contend with both the unique threat and the minion Zeds that will overwhelm players.

Spatial awareness as well as having a Medic Specialist on the team is paramount to success, on top of smartly utilizing each character's unique ability. This, by the way, has a long cooldown — the Engineer, for example, can summon two Sonic cannons to blast foes within range.

Successful expeditions will earn players progression levels and level up their character to invest in weapon and character upgrades to make life just a bit easier. All in all, even though I experienced just a brief slice of what Killing Floor 3 serves, I was left satisfied and intrigued enough to eagerly anticipate the full launch. Co-op shooter fans, keep an eye out for this one.

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Killing Floor 3 launches on March 25, 2025, for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.