Killing Floor 2 feels so soulless

[K0bra]

Hello Guys
I want to talk about Killing Floor 2 and my problem with it.My friends and me bought the game when it came out for EA because we loved Killing Floor 1 and heavily enjoyed it.Something on KF1 was special.The flair,the humor,the horror,nice gameplay,awesome maps,felt like a huge horror slapstick show.We had a server,beat quite everything on HoE,laughed hard alot of times while playing,loved every update like this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oVqwrhbu70 (that was by far my absolutely favourite one).

So i thought Killing Floor 2 will have the same flair,humor and horror.At the end my friends dont want to play it anymore because they all say its to diffrent and lost its "soul"
I have quite the same problem and i dont know exactly why.I would love to enjoy KF2 the same way i did with KF1 but something is so completely diffrent in KF2 to KF1.The flair is not even close as good.No horror.The maps are all so closely.
The graphics are very nice and the gore system is lovely,the animations are very nice,the soundtrack is very nice again(even when its not my music taste but that is 100% KF) but thats all?.Its to clean and not so dirty like the first one.The humor isnt the same.It feels like Killing Floor has lost its soul and is a complete diffrent game.
Its really hard to explain for me because i cant point this out and english isnt my first language.
Do you guys have the same feeling when playing Killing Floor 2?I hope me and my friends are not the only ones.
What do you guys think how the Developers could improve the game to come in some parts closer to the Original?

I wrote this critique because i really love Killing Floor.
Thanks guys for read my stuff and have a nice day

 

[johnsons]

Totally agree
Thanks for the stupid zed teleport system ,auto range and last 5 zed range

 

[Reclusiarch]

I played both, I prefer a lot more KF2, the combat is more satisfactory, the feedback of every impact is great, and the weapons feel way more mighty. Also I feel like the gameplay is more fluid.

Yes the first one had more funny dialogue, but that's not the reason why I played it.

 

[silverlighted]

The visual aesthetic is different. That isn't the soul of the game to me though.
Neither is humor, but I also think that stayed the same if not better in this one thanks to the variety of voice actors.

 

[Ydiss]

I tried KF and really didn't like it at all. It might have been because I was bang into L4D at the time, which had versus mode (which was astoundingly fun), whereas KF was only coop, and L4D had a much more interesting style of game play with progression through maps rather than permanent wave camping. I think it was also because I hated the audio. The voice content just aggravated me.

But these days I don't have enough time to play PVP games. I have only a few hours to play games and I was looking for a decent coop game that you can play for 30 minutes to an hour in one sitting and feel as though you've had fun. I tried KF2 and it felt solid, polished and really fun. The more I play it the more I like it, as I progress through difficulty settings and learn new strategies.

The audio, I think, is way better. The game play is paced really well, it's perfect for coop with my friends and it's challenging. And the graphics are superb.

I think it's just a matter of taste. I prefer the feel of kf2 much more. And the game has come at a good time for me.

 

[Vi-Pe]

The biggest problem is the atmosphere... The graphics are good but the gritty, horrorish look made KF1 so good and compared to the Sci-Fi look of KF2 the KF1 look is wayy better.
There is also only 2 songs from original KF1. I would have liked to see the best KF1 songs remade into KF2, or even just copied to it..
But KF2 is superior to KF1 in almost every other way.

 

[TheTCREngineer]

The biggest problem is the atmosphere... The graphics are good but the gritty, horrorish look made KF1 so good and compared to the Sci-Fi look of KF2 the KF1 look is wayy better.
There is also only 2 songs from original KF1. I would have liked to see the best KF1 songs remade into KF2, or even just copied to it..
But KF2 is superior to KF1 in almost every other way.

I still enjoy KF1's gameplay more compared to KF2 and it sure as hell won't change until we get the promise of a better response system that was shown in the trailer, zeds alive without hands or legs and the gimmicks to stop being gimmicks(Zed skills, Player skills). Also the overall audio of the game is annoying. Though, they said they are fixing it up and until then I'll wait.

 

[mistincat]

I hate the sound of the 9mm pistol so much..

 

[Furious Imbecile]

To me the biggest difference is that in KF2 all the maps are very clean and calm. Aside from the destruction and littered objects, every map feels like they have been succesfully evacuated with no casualties. Only Evacuation Point shows any kind of human casualties and even then it's not really all that athmospheric.

I mean KF1 had littered corpses with varying causes of death on almost if not completely all maps which greatly added to the athmosphere.

 

[Vapid]

My main problem with KF2 is that it's just so much faster-paced than KF1, and so healing allies and getting headshots is generally much, much more difficult; there's also the fact that the smaller Zeds are a lot more maneuverable.

In terms of atmosphere, weapons, etc. I think the game is great. I don't really have any complaints on that side of things... we get more maps and weapons with major patches, and there's still three (?) perks to be added.

I certainly think that it's an improvement over KF1 - as much as I loved that game - and some of the issues I have with KF2 may be ironed out over time.

 

[ICe_Colt]

I have to agree to the fact that KF2 feels soulless. It just doesn't give me the same vibe as KF1. Better character, better atmosphere more in line with the original game would do the trick I believe.

 

[Pixues]

I sort of agree. KF2 is still fun, but it is indeed missing something essential that KF1 had, and I can't quite point it out either.

I think KF1 felt more like survival, i felt more helpless, which made me enjoy the company of teammates more. Maybe its because i couldn't sprint in KF1. It just had a different atmoshpere.

KF2 is turned into a modern action shooter, it just looks like KF1, but is not the same.

 

[NorthDumpling]

This is the plus one thread to the case, that game is "Dying". Dont write things like that, there are millions like this on the forum.

 

[utek]

The biggest problem is the atmosphere... The graphics are good but the gritty, horrorish look made KF1 so good and compared to the Sci-Fi look of KF2 the KF1 look is wayy better.

But KF2 is superior to KF1 in almost every other way.

+1

yep,...i love Killing Floor 2 but,you are right,...Rising Storm had the same problem the gray/dark/gritty Red Orchestra war look was gone,it was to clean/sterile looking,just like KF 2 compared to KF1


anyhow,this can easily be fixed,just add some "schmutz" to KF2

 

[murphIV]

I do understand where the OP is coming from. There are many things about KF2 that are better than KF1.

I miss the dark, gritty, atmosphere of the original biotics lab the most.

Tried playing the custom map new version of it and everything is all shiny and it just didn't work for me. Now the map maker nailed the layout and close quarters but it just not the same.

 

[sander_cohen]

I would agree, KF2 feels different to me from what I felt with KF1. Its hard for me do exactly point out what it is. But the already mentioned "clean" maps are definetly one reason. Because of that I took some time to display various dead people in my map, for me it is just important to see the battlefield filled with bodys of the unlucky ones.

By the way, I still miss one feature displayed in the videos that were released before EA. The players were able to kick around brains on the bloody ground. It looked cool somehow. The improved gore in KF2 is a great step up to KF1 too. Maybe it feels a little different because of that too? Maybe in KF1 you could see a bit of gore and filled out the rest with your imagination. In KF2 we simply see this sometimes almost gross things and there is no real room for imagination... I dont know if it makes sense

The music still kicks *** though and really supports the slaughtering of the Zeds. I enjoy the game a lot the way it is, but the Argument in the OP is understandable for me.
​

 

[ScrakeMorgendorffer]

Someone wrote a post quite some time ago that hinted towards the same thing - not so much that the game was soulless per se, but more that the speed of KF2 doesn't grant you enough time to feel that impending sense of doom that comes with the approach of several scrakes and fleshpounds.

I think a good analogy for it is the difference in production values between music of the analogue era and the digital era.

Music generally in the analogue period was often more dynamic - in particular, you couldn't hear the full loudness of the drums all the time: the changes in volume and intensity were dependent on the musician themselves.

Music generally in the digital era is extremely compressed - in that the dynamic range of it has been narrowed so much that the entire volume of the recording can be pushed to within a hair's breadth of clipping the digital signal.

The problem with the latter is, that what it showcases in intensity, it lacks in variety. You don't get the troughs and peaks in action the same way that you used to do with KF1.

This is my understanding of why the "feel" of the game isn't quite as satisfying.

 

[xrider84]

I played both, I prefer a lot more KF2, the combat is more satisfactory, the feedback of every impact is great, and the weapons feel way more mighty. Also I feel like the gameplay is more fluid.


I'm not sure how much of the original you played, but the weapons in KF2 feel way weaker than the first. Especially ... All of them.
I find the weapons in the first game to be much more fun. The flamethrower felt like an actual flame thrower.. Shooting. Streams of liquid napalm across far distances. I can't even begin to fully describe my disappointment in every support weapon. They feel like weak toy nerf guns in KF2. Commando feels lame. TW said they were gun fanatics and consulted a lot to make the weapons in KF2 as real as possible, but it sure feels as if the never fired any of these weapons; or saw them get fired, ever. Real aa12 has no kick at all. Real scar has plenty of oompf, on game does not.

Yes, the first Killing Floor has a special place in me. I agree with what some of you have already said. KF2 feels much more sci Fi. The first game was nostalgic. It had a feeling of a cult horror movie with dark humor, grainy graphics, and a great soundtrack that made it sound more enjoyable to kill to.

I think one of the things that killed was indeed the advancement of technology and the addition of more realistic lighting and shadows. It seems so many levels are trying to take advantage of the more developed lighting system and are; in my opinion, way too damn dark and no fun. The original killing floor levels didn't focus so much on realistic details.... They were just fun!

All in all I love KF2. It's an amazing game, but it lacks the temptation of the original. The first killing floor was like an ex girlfriend... Was super fun, had a special dirtiness to her, knew how to be crazy in the right ways, always loyal, and is always there when I need to have some excitement....and anytime she tempts me; or gets brought up, I have an insatiable urge to run back and take a ride.

 

[Nenga]

For me it's two things. The loss of tricks to the zeds (staying out of a fleshpounds view for example.) In KF1 there was a big difference between a scrake and a fleshpound. In KF2 they honestly feel mostly the same. Sure there's different damage areas but but it doesn't feel like they're different enough.

The other is enemy lock on. If a fleshpound decides it's going to hit you and you manage to sidestep it, it will turn mid-attack to make sure you get hit.

Both these things combined make the game feel like it doesn't take as much skill. There's nothing extra to learn about a zed once you learn its basic abilities. With the zeds snapping to you it feels like you just need to be a tank more than knowing how to avoid taking that damage.

 

[Vapid]

I'm not sure how much of the original you played, but the weapons in KF2 feel way weaker than the first. Especially ... All of them.
I find the weapons in the first game to be much more fun. The flamethrower felt like an actual flame thrower.. Shooting. Streams of liquid napalm across far distances. I can't even begin to fully describe my disappointment in every support weapon. They feel like weak toy nerf guns in KF2. Commando feels lame. TW said they were gun fanatics and consulted a lot to make the weapons in KF2 as real as possible, but it sure feels as if the never fired any of these weapons; or saw them get fired, ever. Real aa12 has no kick at all. Real scar has plenty of oompf, on game does not.

+1 to all this. I'm hoping weapon kickback and power is something that will be tweaked over time.