Ho-ho-horror, Killing Floor 2 has received yet another content update bringing the gory undead-killing heavy-metal-blaring first-person-shooter, just in time for the idyllic holiday season. With limbs and wrapping-paper alike to scatter across the various maps in the pulse-pounding FPS, a discount on in-game microtransactions (who isn’t interested in that?), and two new weapons that you get to try if you’re willing to pay to increase the limited in-game arsenal, this event is sure to be a groundbreaking success for developers Tripwire Interactive.
First, we’ll look at what’s free to experience. There’s a brand new community-made map called the Sanitarium, compatible with game modes Survival, Weekly, and Endless. Made of twisting hallways and dark recesses, players will need to keep their heads on a swivel to avoid sudden flanks from the undead hordes.
The atmosphere of the new map readily fits in with the dark and unsanitary conditions found in maps already featured in the rest of Killing Floor 2; a forgotten insane asylum that now hosts dark experiments on the forgotten population that were left to decay within her walls. Don’t let that small fact interrupt your enjoyment of the Christmas cheer, however; the zeds have a fun Christmas-themed skin as they desperately chase you in their one chance at food.
A new objective map called the ‘Biotics Lab’ has you assisting Dr. Ogada Buyu in stopping the cloning experiments of the Patriarch. This map is different from the standard ‘survive X waves and then kill the boss’ paradigm, as players must rush around the map and complete various objectives within a time limit as they’re being swarmed.
Beyond the two new maps, a new boss has shown her…well, its head, and it’s just as grotesque and horrifying as the other bosses. Formerly Rachel Clamely, of renown in the first Killing Floor, she has reappeared as the Matriarch. A nasty arsenal of weaponry is at her disposal, and her ability to kill in one-shot is widely bemoaned across the forums (although a patch is included with this update to limit that).
Beyond the maps, the psychopathic gingerbread men and Frosty the Rocket Launcher Man, there’s four new weapons; two are paid, and two are free. The Field Medic receives the HRG Incision, a Railgun that fires high-piercing rounds that shock zeds, and the alternate fire launching darts that can heal your teammates from a distance. The Gunslinger gets a revolver-type handgun called the HRG Winterbites, firing nitrogen-charged rounds that explode on impact.
In paid weapons, The Sharpshooter receives a five-round bolt-action Mosin Nagant with an affixed bayonet, and SWAT receives a Glock 18 with Riot Shield, the latter blocking the majority of damage from the front.
While the store is a bit perplexing to figure out, and packages containing weapons costing upwards of $20, the free content alone in this update makes it worth dusting off the title and reinstalling it for one more round.
