Tripwire Interactive have officially announced Killing Floor 2, the follow-up to 2009’s standalone release which was born from a 2005 Unreal Tournament mod. Given Killing Floor’s 2.5 million copies sold, it comes as no surprise that the developer is readying a sequel for the co-op zombie shooter. Killing Floor 2 is set to be bigger and badder than its predecessor in all regards, and you can thank the greatly expanded budget for that.
The sequel will benefit from full motion capture, which has resulted in 3000 enemy animations (95 death animations per enemy). All of this plays into the new MEAT -Massive Evisceration and Trauma – system that will allow zombies to be cut in half (vertically or horizontally), have their skull and brain exposed, and have their entire head blown to bits. It is going to be a gorefest, that much is certain. You’ll no doubt appreciate the new damage system when you decide to get up close and personal with the revamped melee system, comprised of four-way directional swinging with light and heavy variations.
Tripwire is also taking a new approach in terms of difficulty. Instead of simply increasing enemy speed and health on higher difficulties, enemies will gain new behaviors which may void certain tactics. The new Hell on Earth difficulty is said to provide a vastly different experience than Normal. The cherry on top of all of this news is that Tripwire wants to keep the community involved by keeping the game open to mods via Steam Workshop integration.
Killing Floor 2 will arrive on Steam Early Access. As for when, we do not know.
