Killing Floor 3, the next installment in the popular first-person action/horror shooter franchise, is set to be released on March 25. After the success of its previous titles, Tripwire Interactive is seeking to make a splash with Killing Floor 3 by giving players a fresh approach to combat in the upcoming sequel.
Killing Floor 3 is set to take place in the year 2091, 70 years after the events of Killing Floor 2. With such a large time gap, the developers have had room to evolve the setting and enemies even more than they did in the previous titles. To learn about Killing Floor 3‘s fresh approach to combat and what fans can expect to see when they pick up the game, Game Rant recently sat down with lead combat designer and co-founder of Tripwire Interactive, Bill Munk. Note: The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Killing Floor 3’s Combat Explained
How Killing Floor 3’s Combat Has Evolved
Q: What can you tell me about Zed design and how that’s changing going into Killing Floor 3?
A: When we started developing Killing Floor 3, we wanted to make sure that people who played the first two would feel at home in the game. Like, this is Killing Floor. Instead of trying to make all new Zeds, we wanted to take the Zeds that we had, take a step back, and amplify their design and role on the battlefield. We spent a lot of time trying to elevate what they do and how they do things, while still being recognizable to previous fans of the IP. We are working on new stuff that will be in future updates that we cannot speak on right now.
One of the things you’ll notice is the Zed’s limbs and their hit detection system, like with the Scrake. Killing Floor 2 was all about just shooting the head. We wanted to elevate that gameplay where Zeds, especially big ones, had more critical spots to focus on. You’ll be able to interrupt or kill them quicker. That’s where the whole execution system comes in with the Scrakes and Fleshpounds. If you can destroy their critical zones, they essentially become a free grenade. If there are any Zeds around them, they’ll also be killed.
Q: The Killing Floor franchise has always felt very visceral. Could you speak a little bit about how you designed the combat in general for Killing Floor 3 and how you achieved that feeling?
A: A good gun always has to gratify cause and effect. Shooting a gun and killing something is the present you get, especially in a game like this where that’s the majority of what you’ll be doing. It’s really important that it’s pleasurable and addicting, and you want to keep experiencing it and having enough variation in that so it doesn’t just feel repetitive. We always try to put a lot of effort into that. All your weapon damage and the different ammo you use actually creates different types of cause and effect you can see on the Zeds in Killing Floor 3. If you burn the Zed on its face and arm, you’ll see it be burned, and it will stay burned the entire time. If you shock it, poison it, or get acid on its body, or take chunks of it, you will see that. Those all add up to that enjoyable pleasure that you get fighting these things.
Another aspect was mobility. You know, in Killing Floor 1 and Killing Floor 2, movement was very cumbersome and sluggish. You could walk up to a little rail, it would block you, and something would kill you. That didn’t feel cool. We put a lot of effort into actual mobility, so we wanted to make it where, if you were skilled enough and timed it right, you could try to dash or power slide out of the way of any enemy. For example, when Zed Time kicks in, I like to sprint toward the horde, power slide toward them aggressively, and see how many Zeds I can wipe out before it ends. And that reminds me: we really wanted to make Zed Time more enjoyable. There were times in Killing Floor 2 where Zed Time kicked in, and you wish that it didn’t. We’ve made it where, no matter the situation, Zed Time makes it better. You can move faster, jump further, shoot in real time, and reload in real time, all in Zed Time.
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Tripwire’s Approach to Customizing Weapons in Killing Floor 3
Q: What can you tell me about the weapon modification and customization? What sort was the overarching goal with those features?
A: That is one of our Holy Grail features that we’ve always wanted, and the fans have wanted, ever since the beginning of the Killing Floor franchise. We wanted people to feel like they could personalize a weapon and have it be their weapon. Any weapon you’re using, you’ll start acquiring schematics from killing the Zeds. You also have spy cameras, different terminals and stuff, to get components, and you use those to build the mods. We have over 180 different mods that you can put on weapons, and it changes the nature of the weapon, its power, and how it functions.
I like to make different variations of the same gun. Some weapons I want to have for early waves, so I make sure that I’m not decking it out too much, because each mod has a price when you put it on there. You’ve got to balance that with your operational budget. Sure, you can throw every mod in the world on your gun, but you’re going to have to wait until a very late wave to buy it. You can make multiple of them, save their names, and put different skins on them too. I’m really excited about the trinkets you can put on the guns in Killing Floor 3. Picture a shrunken Clot head on a chain. We’ve got all these different trinkets, sticks, and stuff, so you can really make this gun feel like, “Oh, this is my gun.”
Then, we also have the operational budget. The moment you first load into a game, the loading screen before battle, you see your operational budget. As you level up, that budget goes up, so your starting arsenal can become even more badass. You can take a tier-one weapon and selectively add a couple of mods to it to make it better.
Another element that I think fans are going to enjoy is that, with every mod, you can make it once you have the schematic. You can level that up three times, and when you hit the highest level of that mod, a special stat becomes active. We’ve made a bunch of them, and it’s random which stat applies to that mod. If you don’t like it, you can recycle. It’s like a min-maxer’s dream. We have so many that we haven’t even been able to experience all of them. I’m sure people will have fun and discover some OP thing that we’re like, “Oh, shoot. We’d better fix that.” That’s part of the fun in a game like this, right? Killing Floor 3 is a co-op game, and it does get really hard, especially Hell on Earth. It’s pretty nuts.
Q: How do early-game and late-game combat, someone who hasn’t leveled up versus someone has leveled up several characters, compare?
A: We really want original fans of Killing Floor to load it up and feel right at home. One of the goals is to make it always feel fun and exciting, so it’s really easy to get into, but it’s very difficult to master, especially beating Hell on Earth. We’ve added stuff in there to keep the experience consistent. Let’s say we’re playing, we’re all max level, and we’re playing on normal mode. It’ll perform more like Normal+. It’s still exciting, it’s still easier than other modes, but it throws a ton at you.
Q: Similarly, with the gadgets, what’s the design goal for those in Killing Floor 3?
A: We wanted each specialist to have a weapon that would allow them to survive. If you don’t use your gadgets, you don’t stand a prayer because it serves as a balance with how much we’re throwing at you. That was our approach, because Killing Floor has always been about having fun killing stuff and having crazy OP weapons. Gadgets are a natural progression to take even that to the next level.
Q: I know you’ve spoken quite a bit already about how Killing Floor 3 has improved over past games, but what do you think is the biggest difference overall?
A: I think the biggest difference is just how much more badass it is. I don’t know if that’s a good answer, but all the little ingredients add up. Once you play Killing Floor 3, I’ll feel like we accomplished the mission if everyone is like, “I can’t play Killing Floor 1 or Killing Floor 2 anymore.”
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- Released
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March 25, 2025
- ESRB
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M For Mature 17+ // Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language