So how good is Killing Floor 2 right now?

[Bogdanov89]

I am a huge fan of Killing Floor 1, mainly because of the awesome music and fun casual gameplay (i never went for toughest difficulties or achievement collecting).

Currently KF 2 is on a 50% discount but i am wondering is it at all a game i would like considering it has a troubled development history.

There is even a "free to play KF2 this weekend" offer but at 30GBs heavy i can't realistically download it right now.

I have heard very mixed reviews about KF 2 in the past few months so i wanted to ask the community what do they think of KF 2 right now?

What are the worst aspects of KF 2?

What are the main differences compared to KF 1?

Thank you for helping me out

 

[s5yn3t]

anything negative you've heard in early access stay in early access.
Right now the game is in great stable shape and fun to play.
Only negatives i can give is broken flex that drops fps (but that can be disabled), forced boss health bar that ruins the whole boss fight and by that i mean everyone sees the boss health, and just rushes at him to do as much dmg as possible without thinking about trash (and ik you can disable it but why disable something that gives you an advantage)
And slight lackluster of servers due to tedious process of running one and that it's free weekend that brought over 10k people into the game at once...
And if you're such a die hard kf1 fan, it's less goofy than 1st game and doesn't promote full camp one spot to win, you can do that still but it can go bad quickly if someone is unable to properly defend an angle.

But other than that, it's a lot of fun and the descend map just brings that close quarter madness that keeps everyone on their toes (i hope a mappack with that sub mode comes soon)

 

[oldmidget]

if you are just into the casual play of kf1 (I assume normal+hard) then you will like kf2s easier difficulties. on HOE and suicidal you cant really take time to appreciate all of the gore as much as normal or hard. so you should enjoy it alot. the leveling is much more forgiving as well.

 

[taiiat]

general feature improvements to much of the game.
KF2 does love to Spawn groups of Enemies just a couple Meters away from you - but outside of that much improvement overall.

for more casual oriented things (and even for more serious play), i'm sure any Player would appreciate the various types of CC that can be applied to Enemies. gives you options to prevent incoming Damage by interrupting Enemies (or Blocking/Parrying as that is a thing now) and Et Cetera, rather than simply looking for TTK/DPS advantages to Kill them before they Kill you.

i.e. there's more than one playstyle in the game now.


Enemies slowly shamble towards you much less, and are therefore much more varied - higher Difficulties focus more on giving Enemies new Attack Types rather than just massive uninteresting Health Scaling. there's still some but it's much, much less than in Killing Floor.

 

[Tussell]

If you enjoyed KF1, even on a casual level, there's no reason to skip KF2.

That being said, I would definitely recommend playing more KF1, if you haven't really tried it on harder difficulties, gone for achievements, etc. There's still a lot of gameplay that can be squeezed out of the first one, if you played as casually as you make it sound. If you were to hold off, and really work on the first one, I would say you may be able to snag KF2 even cheaper sometime down the line. I actually need some people to grind out some KF1 achievements with, so by all means, feel free to shoot me a private message on the forums, and I'd love to run some KF1.

I don't think a game like this will die soon, in terms of players. The game left EA less than like, what, six months ago? There's still content updates coming out, and they're holding free/sale weekends frequently enough, that it's helping keep the title on peoples minds and bringing in groups of people each time.

My biggest frustration with the game is the lack of 'new' content. A lot of the stuff is pulled from the first game, or has been a community favorite for ages now. There's not enough brand new, never before seen content. It's all recycled. That being said, Counter-Strike is my favorite FPS of all time, and I've sunk 1,000's of hours into the series. The reason I mention that, is because you don't have to fix something, if it isn't broken. I've been playing some of the same maps since like, the early 2000's, and still have a blast.

Though the sale is likely over at this point, I figured another post telling you that the purchase is certainly worth it, wouldn't hurt.

If you have some friends that are in the same boat as you, I would push the purchase even more.

 

[infntnub]

I don't think a game like this will die soon, in terms of players. The game left EA less than like, what, six months ago? There's still content updates coming out, and they're holding free/sale weekends frequently enough, that it's helping keep the title on peoples minds and bringing in groups of people each time.

I doubt anyone with experience in KF1 has any concerns regarding KF2 dying anytime soon.... look how long TWI maintained KF1.

We have at least a strong 2-3 years of updates/events ahead of us.

 

[Tussell]

I doubt anyone with experience in KF1 has any concerns regarding KF2 dying anytime soon.... look how long TWI maintained KF1.

We have at least a strong 2-3 years of updates/events ahead of us.

I also doubted that anyone with experience in KF1 would doubt the decision to purchase its sequel, but here we are.

I just figured I would try and answer the question from all available angles.

 

[Gregs2k2]

forced boss health bar that ruins the whole boss fight and by that i mean everyone sees the boss health, and just rushes at him to do as much dmg as possible without thinking about trash (and ik you can disable it but why disable something that gives you an advantage)

Not really forced then, is it? For those wanting that extra challenge by using the colour coding on the boss, it's great. By no means is it forced though. Optional, not forced.

 

[legolas141]

I am a huge fan of Killing Floor 1, mainly because of the awesome music and fun casual gameplay (i never went for toughest difficulties or achievement collecting).

Currently KF 2 is on a 50% discount but i am wondering is it at all a game i would like considering it has a troubled development history.

There is even a "free to play KF2 this weekend" offer but at 30GBs heavy i can't realistically download it right now.

I have heard very mixed reviews about KF 2 in the past few months so i wanted to ask the community what do they think of KF 2 right now?

What are the worst aspects of KF 2?

What are the main differences compared to KF 1?

Thank you for helping me out

If you loved KF1 then KF2 will definitely be a solid investment for you. In my opinion, most of the same great gameplay is there, just polished and better looking, along with some amazing new additions. The new perks are also fun to play. Gunslinger is great for those who liked sharpshooter but also liked using high powered pistols and revolvers. It is very satisfying using dual deagles or dual .500 magnums to surgically remove zed skulls. The swat perk is also fun to play with the fast firing smgs that literally shred trash zeds and the fact that they can start with armor helps in the earlier waves. The survivalist is an interesting perk that I havent really used much, but the fact that it uses any weapon from any perk, and has skills to benefit such a spread out style makes it have a unique play style as you can adapt to what your current team needs most, or mix and match weapons that aren't normally used together.

The game still feels very much like the original killing floor as far as combat and gameplay goes. The majority of the official maps are a whole lot of fun to play on as well. They also did a great job of limiting the areas where you can just sit in one spot and beat all of the waves, (there are still some of those, but they aren't always as obvious).

I bought KF2 as soon as it became available and I have loved every minute of it.

 

[s5yn3t]

Not really forced then, is it? For those wanting that extra challenge by using the colour coding on the boss, it's great. By no means is it forced though. Optional, not forced.

It's forced when it's enabled by default

 

[infntnub]

It just dawned on me I got too involved in responding to someone else in this thread and didn't really address OP's question (lol)

Yes - if you enjoy playing KF1 you definitely need to invest in KF2.

Even moreso if you only consider yourself a "casual" player who never really did SUI/HOE. As already mentioned here, KF2 as a whole seems somewhat easier than KF1 (debatable, but you'll hear this a great amount). For example I rarely went beyond Hard in KF1 and I find myself wanting to play SUI all the time and sometimes I try my luck on HOE.

The game is gorgeous and the gore reaches a new level for any video game IMO. Be sure you have a pretty solid GPU so you can crank everything up and get the full effect.

 

[legolas141]

The game is gorgeous and the gore reaches a new level for any video game IMO. Be sure you have a pretty solid GPU so you can crank everything up and get the full effect.

Yeah, they made a huge improvement in that area. It is so interesting watching the snowy outpost level turn into a blood covered carpet of death and destruction.

Also, one thing I didnt mention in my above post, the zeds themselves look amazing now. The Skrake and Fleshpound especially look very menacing and are actually pretty intimidating to face if you are not properly prepared. The KF1 versions always looked underfed or something to me lol.

 

[vealck]

It's bad. To the point I don't really care about it anymore.

It's unnecessarily flashy, way more shallow and disorganized than KF1. The tactical aspect of movement, target prioritization and zed management is pretty much absent. You just have stuff constantly at your face and shoot it pretty much indiscriminately. Whether you were camp or kite fan in KF1, both are way less enjoyable in KF2. Welding doesn't exist and zeds are getting teleported around the corners. Classes are redundant and lack specialization. Once you're over the initial impression made by nice gore and frankly bloated graphics and waaay overdone effects, the gameplay gets old very fast. The only real improvement over KF1 is damn good hit detection system, but it doesn't even matter, as you're just forced to spam fire, while your screen shakes and blurs green from all the gas crawlers.

But you won't hear opinions similar to mine very often here. Pretty much only people who find those changes to their liking or never played KF1 stick around here. Most people who were the voice of critique and actively tried to make this game better, simply moved on.

Tl;dr: absolutely don't buy it unless you try it over free weekend and find out whether this new formula it suits you or not.

 

[Tussell]

It's bad. To the point I don't really care about it anymore.

It's unnecessarily flashy, way more shallow and disorganized than KF1. The tactical aspect of movement, target prioritization and zed management is pretty much absent. You just have stuff constantly at your face and shoot it pretty much indiscriminately. Whether you were camp or kite fan in KF1, both are way less enjoyable in KF2. Welding doesn't exist and zeds are getting teleported around the corners. Classes are redundant and lack specialization. Once you're over the initial impression made by nice gore and frankly bloated graphics and waaay overdone effects, the gameplay gets old very fast. The only real improvement over KF1 is damn good hit detection system, but it doesn't even matter, as you're just forced to spam fire, while your screen shakes and blurs green from all the gas crawlers.

But you won't hear opinions similar to mine very often here. Pretty much only people who find those changes to their liking or never played KF1 stick around here. Most people who were the voice of critique and actively tried to make this game better, simply moved on.

Tl;dr: absolutely don't buy it unless you try it over free weekend and find out whether this new formula it suits you or not.

As a fan of the original Killing Floor, but being a new forum user, I have to say, I've found many people that have transitioned from KF1 to KF2, and have still enjoyed their experience, based off posts on this forum. Many of my friends and I are enjoying KF2, and some of us came from the mod days.

I feel like your issues with the game are more emotionally driven than anything else, for some reason.

Target priority is still a big part of the game. It's obvious when you need to focus DPS on a certain enemy, and it's been a big part of the game since the original one. Unless you and your team are just bad, it should be an obvious part of both games. I don't think much has changed in that respect. If you could reiterate a little more on that, I'm curious.

Was camping all that fun to you? I'm glad they've found ways around sitting around the map and or kiting. Obviously certain areas are better for a holdout than others, but is camping something you really wanted to do? Kiting is still definitely a part of the game though, it's nice to get the big guys out of giant piles of trash when stuck in smaller rooms, for example.

Welding does exist...

Classes lack specialization? I'm confused...

I will agree there's an overuse of certain effects, akin to that of the ambient occlusion that makes me hate looking at a Battlfield game, but I wouldn't say it's a detrimental key to what could ruin KF2.

I wouldn't say "absolutely don't buy it" either. If he was a fan of the original, there's a lot to take away from the sequel. While you're welcome to your opinions, as is anyone, I feel as though the points you made were emotionally driven. Maybe you don't like the perks in this as much as you did the original, maybe you don't like the strategies that are used in the second one when compared to the first, etc. I wouldn't necessarily say that makes them bad.

I just wanted to comment on this post to let the OP know that there's a vast amount of opinions from both new users and old users. No disrespect whatsoever.

 

[Gladius]

As a fan of the original Killing Floor, but being a new forum user, I have to say, I've found many people that have transitioned from KF1 to KF2, and have still enjoyed their experience, based off posts on this forum. Many of my friends and I are enjoying KF2, and some of us came from the mod days.

I feel like your issues with the game are more emotionally driven than anything else, for some reason.

The thing is that there are different playstyle cultures in KF1. The bottom level is casual style, where the use of sophisticated game mechanics doesn't matter and it's pretty much about group spam. Then you have another culture that is mostly about kiting where teamplay isn't the priority, because a single player can easily kite a whole wave alone, after everyone else died. And then there is the culture of the combo players. This is where long time players end up sooner or later. They learned the game mechanics and how that traanslates into teamplay without unwanted chaos. Now the problem with KF2 is that it only caters the casual culture. And in the KF1 combo scene most players are simply not interested into a game that is not a real successor for what made them play KF1 for several thousand hours. Some of them play KF2 a little bit on the side, but it gets relatively boring quickly. because the gameplay is shallow. It's all about DPS and not about interesting and creative ways to kill scrakes and fleshpounds. The game matrix of KF2 would allow to make the game less shallow with all those zed afflictions and the more complex hitzone systems. But game design is falling short here. TWI is trying to keep the player numbers up with implementing new maps and weapons. But they are lacking at coming up with interesting game mechanics that provide the same depth of gameplay that KF1 offers.

 

[Tussell]

The thing is that there are different playstyle cultures in KF1. The bottom level is casual style, where the use of sophisticated game mechanics doesn't matter and it's pretty much about group spam. Then you have another culture that is mostly about kiting where teamplay isn't the priority, because a single player can easily kite a whole wave alone, after everyone else died. And then there is the culture of the combo players. This is where long time players end up sooner or later. They learned the game mechanics and how that traanslates into teamplay without unwanted chaos. Now the problem with KF2 is that it only caters the casual culture. And in the KF1 combo scene most players are simply not interested into a game that is not a real successor for what made them play KF1 for several thousand hours. Some of them play KF2 a little bit on the side, but it gets relatively boring quickly. because the gameplay is shallow. It's all about DPS and not about interesting and creative ways to kill scrakes and fleshpounds. The game matrix of KF2 would allow to make the game less shallow with all those zed afflictions and the more complex hitzone systems. But game design is falling short here. TWI is trying to keep the player numbers up with implementing new maps and weapons. But they are lacking at coming up with interesting game mechanics that provide the same depth of gameplay that KF1 offers.

I get that, to an extent, but when OP says he's a casual player who liked the game for a casual gameplay environment as well as the music, I don't think that either your response or vealck's really cater to what the OP is looking for.

I also think it may be getting looked into too hard. Killing Floor 1 wasn't some groundbreaking strategic co-op FPS, and it's not one today either. I was like, a 13 year old stoner when I first got introduced to KF1. Let me tell you, there was no deep thought put into the gameplay, and we did just fine. That being said, I don't see any of the current changes veering too far off from the original.

 

[CARDUSH]

i will say 6/10
the short amount of things to keep player playing every single day is something not good
already all achivements, levels etc
its just kill zeds, repeat, with no goal and objetive
kf1 was a game with loads of achievements and challenge for the player

 

[defekt_]

KF2 is okay. Fun in short bursts (after ~300hrs of play). A solid 7/10 I'd say (where 5 is average).

KF2's issues are that it's just too basic to keep anyone interested for long who looks for clever tactics, cunning use of terrain, and inventive team combos in their shooters (co-op or otherwise). It's not that the game doesn't have the potential to tick a couple of those boxes (e.g., terrain [doors], special hitzones on Zeds, Perk choices) it's just that the game doesn't bother itself with them (e.g., welding doors is almost never useful, shooting a zed in the head is always the best/default action, none of the Perks do anything beyond lashing out damage). KF1 ticked more of those boxes than KF2 does.

Nobody I know plays it any more and the new Holdout^HMeatgrinder content ran out of steam for me after about 5hrs.

KF2 is definitely the prettier but dumber half of the pair.

 

[taiiat]

But you won't hear opinions similar to mine very often here. Pretty much only people who find those changes to their liking or never played KF1 stick around here. Most people who were the voice of critique and actively tried to make this game better, simply moved on.

for the self proclaimed 'casual' Gameplay played in the past of the OP, i don't think most of the considerations and shortcomings of Killing Floor 2 will apply, other than Enemies Spawning right next to you.
(infact for 'casual' Gameplay things are assuredly notably deeper and more interesting)

i.e. Killing Floor 2 has issues, but i don't think a significant amount of them will apply to the subject at hand.

 

[Gladius]

I also think it may be getting looked into too hard. Killing Floor 1 wasn't some groundbreaking strategic co-op FPS, and it's not one today either. I was like, a 13 year old stoner when I first got introduced to KF1. My friends and I would have LAN's where we would play the original nonstop. Let me tell you, there was no deep thought put into the gameplay, and we did just fine. That being said, I don't see any of the current changes veering too far off from the original.

Looking at it so superficially is exactly what made KF2 game design so shallow. In KF1 you don't need to utilize in depth game mechanics and you will still do fine. But when you get bored after hundreds or even thousands of hours there is just more about it to learn. And you have the choice in KF1 if you want to play shallow or not. And KF2 is just a dumbed down lookalike KF that is streamlined for what the mayority of players does. There is no choice. There is only shallow gameplay.

I give you a recent example I just experienced. An old friend I used to play KF1 with, contacted me last week and asked me about the current state of KF2. I invited him to the testmap and showed him every perk and their weapons and all those methods to kill scrakes and fleshpounds. After we were done his reaction was … „what, that's all?“. Then we had some games of KF2. Today he installed KF1 again and we just had some games. And his comment was that he enjoys KF1 way more because there is so much more about it. I told him that I have still hope for KF2 but I don't count much on the devs. They make their game for the lowest common denoniator. And that is more about a run and gun audience on gamepad controllers and not the minority of players that are into the combo playstyle. Imo only the modding community can rescue that game from being a superficial shoot em up. Because the devs clearly show no interest in making anything else than exactly that.