Killing Floor: Post-Zombie Economics

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Jan 29, 2013

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 89 comments

Happy Birthday to Spoiler Warning, which turns three years old this week. This is a good point to look back over the last three years of discussions, analysis, recording, editing, and all the other work we put into the show. We’ve come a long way and learned a great deal. We’ve released over 200 hours worth of show and played through ten different games, as well as covering a dozen more in specials and one-off episodes.

Looking back over this body of work I have to say: What a complete waste of time. Who would watch this drivel?

And speaking of time-wasting drivel, it’s time for your next dose…


Link (YouTube)

I don’t have much to say about Killing Floor. It wasn’t horrible or anything. (I grouched a bit while we recorded, but that was mostly due to the fact that I was getting sick and felt horrible.) In the beginning I said that Killing Floor was a Payday knockoff, which is a Left 4 Dead knockoff. That’s not really the case at all. I blame the fever.

Having played all three games, I can say they all come from the same general space of small-group co-op shooting against hordes of AI driven foes. Each one has a slightly different approach. In my experience, Payday is a grueling slog of a game where I’m usually asking, “Is this level over?” long before I’ve even reached the halfway point. Killing Floor is more mercifully paced, and the end-of-round shop adds a lot of variety to the experience. Then again, I have a soft spot for Payday’s dark humor and the extreme jackassery of the main characters.

But the biggest problem with all three games is that Rutskarn tells horrible puns while we’re playing and it completely ruins the experience. Honesty, I don’t know what the devs were thinking.

Anyway, there you go. Three years of Spoiler Warning. We’ll probably finish up Walking Dead next week. We’ve already chosen the game for next season, so don’t bother shouting suggestions at us. After The Walking Dead is over, we’re going to play something else.

Thanks for watching!

 


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89 thoughts on “Killing Floor: Post-Zombie Economics

  1. Daemian Lucifer says:

    This video is private.

    And its unprivate now.Yay!

    EDIT:Ha,thats what you get for sleeping sofawall.First!

  2. sofawall says:

    Dammit, I don’t get to get first here…

    EDIT: I should probably leave something constructive. My biggest gripe with Killing Floor is the fact that even if your mechanical skills are up to it, playing on higher difficulties is damn near impossible without a levelled class. Free Crossbow/Body Armour/whatever is really, really useful.

  3. Spammy says:

    For the longest time, I didn’t like Killing Floor. It billet itself as “Co-op Survival Horror,” which are two things that are contradictory. And I didn’t like the way the iron sights worked either.

    But then… something changed. I started to get the dark humor of the game, I figured out the sights, and I started having a blast. I’m not sure what changed, but I now enjoy Killing Floor as a fun way to spend some time killing zombies and collecting dosh. I think a lot of it is the humor of the game, it’s kind of hidden at the start of your playing but it’s there, and I’ve come to enjoy the sarcastic comments of the player characters and the shopkeeper. And *especially* the Summer and Winter themed versions, that’s where the dark humor is really on display.

  4. Knight of Fools says:

    “After The Walking Dead is over, we're going to play something else.”

    And I thought I liked you.

    1. Jokerman says:

      Shamus wasn’t a troll before he started doing SW with Josh :D Its infectious.

    2. Arvind says:

      Come on Shamus, not something else! Play the sequel more of the same, it is way better.

  5. Halfling says:

    Walking Dead ended up being more interesting then I originally thought it would be when it was announced as the next season. Still would not play it myself as I am not really into the horror/apocalypse genre unless it happens to be Fallout, which is really more comedy anyway.

    I hope your next season is something a little more fun and not Spec Ops. Campsters’s video has already said everything that can be said about the game and it would be horrible to have to slog through a season of that.

  6. Dennis Stewart says:

    Oh god, I’m just 3:30 in, but this is painful to watch. You’re supposed to aim for the head and take a single shot at a time, instead of spamming bullets with the pistol. I’m not great at KF, but AAARGH.

    10:20 – Yeah, it gets harder, but the point is that your friends will give you a gun they no longer need or give you money if you die.

    Finished – Not sure what difficulty you guys were playing at the end, but easy mode is there for new players with no experience or xp. I think your main issue was that you guys were all attempting to spray full auto. The guns are very accurate if you use alt fire to switch them to semi-auto mode, and you can pick off zombies one at a time. Also, it’s very rare for the crossbow to be useful, its ammo is very expensive, and is really only good for taking down giant enemies. Same goes for the .50 cal.

    1. Ringwraith says:

      Though if you’re good with a pistol (especially if you’re packing the giant sniper rifle, as you can only carry the standard 9mm with it, so you need to be) the lack of any other weapon isn’t that bad, as you have other people to cope with the hordes while you take out the major threats.

  7. Katesickle says:

    [rutskarn]Something else? I love something else![/rutskarn]

    And yay, I get to celebrate my birthday at the same time as Spoiler Warning :D

  8. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Something else?Oh my god!I love that game.Ive played it like a brazillian times.Every time I finish a game,I play something else.Awesome!

  9. Daemian Lucifer says:

    Sooooo….A coop game about killing zombies eh?It feels like you guys already recorded something like that,and you still havent posted it.

    But I think I know why Josh doesnt want to upload it:Campster won the game that time.

    Best moment of this:Glitch trolling you all with that door.

    1. 4th Dimension says:

      I think their games usually do go that way. They underestimate him, and then suddenly he’s at the top. Even here when they pull the scoreboard he is close to top and has lots of money.

  10. Mailbox says:

    You know I have never played “something else”

    I’m looking forward to it. Does it have a good narrative and a solid cast of characters?

    1. Duneyrr says:

      Even though I knew what was going to be behind it, I still checked…

  11. Velkrin says:

    Well since you already picked the game we’re just going to have to guess what it is.

    My Guess: Deus Ex Machiavellian Mod.

    1. Exetera says:

      I think you mean “Malkavian Mod.”

    2. Josh says:

      That would be the DLC to Assassin’s Creed II where Jensen goes back in time to the renaissance and accidentally gets Machiavelli arrested, right?

      1. Velkrin says:

        It’s the one where you get teamed up with a soda machine in order to get pills.

        See also: Half-Mind.

  12. Halfling says:

    After watching the video I think the next game needs to have lots of Brits or Australians. That way Rutskarn will spend half the season trolling everyone with accents.

  13. Dude says:

    I’m calling it. Skyrim. It’s all that’s left.

    1. TraderRager says:

      My hypothetical money is on Spec Ops: The Line.

      1. aldowyn says:

        A: It’s been done to death. B: It’s obvious anyway. C: I’m not sure JOSH could come up with a unique playstyle for that game.

        Dishonored is a possibility, I’d love to see Far Cry 3… Skyrim’s definitely possible.

        1. X2-Eliah says:

          Hah. And skyrim hasn’t been done to death!?

          1. BeardedDork says:

            Not here it hasn’t. There have been, last I counted, four posts I think it was on Skyrim. Shamus specifically didn’t talk about most of the game so they could have stuff to talk about it when they Spoiler Warning it.

            It’s also a Bethesda game which complements the style of Spoiler Warning very nicely, I’m sure they will also do Dishonored, but I think it will be a couple games down the line.

            1. Even says:

              I kinda wish they’d do more talking to get the most offensively stupid stuff out of the way like with the Thieves’ Guild missions so they could focus on whatever they deem acceptable. It wouldn’t even be too spoilery on the rest of the game since pretty much all the major questlines and quests are independent from each other plot wise.

        2. supflidowg says:

          I just throwing this out right now but for a between episode (like Halflife or the Hitmas asides) lets finish up the Fallout: New Vegas dlc’s Old World Blues and Honest Hearts

          Everyone join me in this campaign to bring back the Cuftbert
          (at least untill fallout 4 comes out)

          1. Ithilanor says:

            They did Honest Hearts; Lonesome Road is the other one they haven’t played.

    2. BeardedDork says:

      I was just thinking of playing that one through again anyway.

      1. newdarkcloud says:

        I just started going through a new playthrough in preparation for the DLC finally coming out on the PS3 (half-off too).

    3. Torsten says:

      My guess is Dishonored, though I’m kind of hoping a season of Sleeping Dogs.

      1. Thomas says:

        I reckon Dishonoured is too new/not as good as the Walking Dead.

        We haven’t had a troll season in a while now so maybe it is Skyrim’s time

        1. newdarkcloud says:

          I want a Skyrim season and/or Dishonored.

          1. Thomas says:

            I hope it’s not Dishonoured, I’m not going to spoil that game and there’s no way I can play it for another two months :(

        2. swenson says:

          The best part about a Skyrim season is that we all know that Josh’s computer is cursed (blessed?) to show off as many bugs as possible, even in the least buggy games… and Skyrim is far from the least buggy.

        3. Halfling says:

          It will be interesting to see how Campster reacts to a troll season. I wonder what the equivalent of the flamer will be.

          1. AyeGill says:

            A shitload of dragon bones?

    4. Wedge says:

      I’m crossing my fingers for Spec Ops, but I suspect it will be Skyrim.

      1. Groboclown says:

        My money’s on Hexagon.

  14. Hitchmeister says:

    I loved Glitch’s Kaiden Alenko impression at the 13:06 point. That was the highlight for me.

  15. impassiveimperfect says:

    http://www.soundsnap.com/tags/noise_maker

    It’s really hard finding a good birthday noise maker sound effect on youtube.

    Happy birthday, you Spoiler Warners.

    1. Daemian Lucifer says:

      You can always go with this classic.

  16. Nytzschy says:

    Wow, look at Josh’s little SCAR go!

    Thanks to Shamus, Randy, Josh, Rutskarn, Mumbles, Chris, and Reginald for the several years of free, quality entertainment.

  17. Sabrdance (MatthewH) says:

    So, do ninja zombies exist in Killing Floor too, or was that an editing trick?

    1. Spammy says:

      For certain definitions of ninja. Zombies spawn where you’re not looking (literally), Crawlers are dark on the dark floor and also spawn in odd locations, and Stalkers are invisible and like to sneak up on you. So there are at least some plausibly ninja-like zombies.

  18. Eljacko says:

    Three years! Party hats and kazoos for everybody!

    I used to play a lot of Killing Floor, but I ended up making friends in it and I stopped playing when they did. That’s usually how I lose interest in multiplayer games. It never gets as good as when you’re playing with friends, and nothing else ever lives up to it.

  19. RedSun says:

    Placing my bets on Dishonored for next season, partially because it’ll be a bit before I can upgrade my PC to play it and partially because I can’t wait to see the absolute messes that Reginald Corvobert will get into.

    By the way, anyone know what the stinger from the beginning of all the specials is from? I know its from Tf2, but which song? That’d make a hell of a notification ringtone.

    1. McNutcase says:

      It’s from the TF2-ised version of the Magnum Force theme, as used in Meet the Sniper. One of the few bits of TF2 music that’s not actually in with all your game files since Valve can’t legally distribute it like that – they don’t have the right sort of license.

      When text messages arrive, my phone dominates someone in TF2. It’s about the only time I ever hear that sting, with my skill level…

  20. Bryan says:

    Heh; the New Vegas end-of-episode music. Nice. :-)

    Edit: And then the DX:HR music. Even better.

  21. macrovore says:

    “Having played all three games, I can say they all come from the same general space of small-group co-op shooting against hordes of AI driven foes.”

    Another game very similar to this is Alien Swarm. It’s free on Steam, and Valve made it. It borrows several design elements from the Half-Life series (even with an elevater defense level like in the HL1)

    It’s an isometric co-op shooter in which the players are space marines doing various missions and fighting off hordes of AI-controlled aliens. The gameplay is similar to L4D with the basic and special aliens, several big set-pieces, and interesting environments.

    One of my favorite parts is when the Technician (one of the four character classes) needs to hack into a terminal to access data, open a door, or activate an explosive. It’s a pretty simple mini-game (easier, in fact, than Bioshock’s hacking mini-game), but the hook is that the game doesn’t stay paused. If you take too long hacking (and you will very often), your access gets noticed and the game sends hordes of aliens after you, and your allies have to defend you as you try to complete the challenge as fast as possible.

    The campaign is pretty quick, and it’s really fun. I think you guys might have a good time playing it, maybe even doing one of the Spoiler Warning filler episodes like you did with HL2.

  22. X2-Eliah says:

    Soo, You are gonna play Alpha Protocol next? Good, good.

    As for this game.. yegads, the level design is a bit bad, innit? At least visually, it all looks so indistinguishable and meh-ey.

    1. newdarkcloud says:

      Nah. Shamus and co can’t take the pressure (of timed dialog). Only the likes of myself, Aldowyn, and anaphysik will be taking that game.

      1. aldowyn says:

        and whoever else wants to take a (temporary) spin at it…

        1. Ringwraith says:

          This makes me just want to replay it now.
          I love hearing and generally discussing all the crazy stuff that can happen in that game, because there is so much, (like how you can have everyone but two characters dead by the end).

          1. newdarkcloud says:

            If you like, we can add you to the guest list. Right now we only have two others.

            The only requirement is that you have Skype. We can work around scheduling conflicts.

            1. Ringwraith says:

              If you don’t mind me rambling incoherently, I could do. :D

              1. newdarkcloud says:

                Okay, consider you added. :D

            2. anaphysik says:

              “We can work around scheduling conflicts.”

              There are no such things as ‘scheduling conflicts’ with us. Only ‘hey, weren’t we supposed to actually play sometime?’

              1. Ringwraith says:

                …and “why can’t I keep my eyes open?”

      2. anaphysik says:

        yes… yes… drum up the rabbling crowds to watch out Spoiler-Warning-knockoff dribble. #Mwahahaha

        (It’s like a viewer-based spin-off of Spoiler Warning.)

    2. Ringwraith says:

      The map they were on is one of the worst, as it’s almost pitch-black throughout and just a big loop.
      A lot of the other maps have more distinguishable locales. Even Farm has more recognisable things and 90% of that map is fields.

      1. Spammy says:

        Farm is actually one of my favorite maps in the game, I just think it has such a great flow as you move from a lighted area and a building across the vast dark fields to reach the next set of buildings the Shopkeeper’s at.

  23. After The Walking Dead is over, we're going to play something else.

    Shamus you are one glorious troll.

  24. SougoXIII says:

    Oh Shamus you troll! But that’s OK because we all love you for it.

    Happy Birthday Spoiler Warning! Here’s to many more years of game breaking bugs, insightful commentary that get sidetrack by horrible puns, cannibalism and the Chaotic Stupidity of a certain bonnet-wearing gentleman.

  25. Zukhramm says:

    Killing Floor probably has the best voice acting in any game I’ve played.

    1. Wraith says:

      DOSH. GRAB IT WHILE YE CAN!

      LOADS O’ MONAAAAAAAY!

      BLOODY WELL SAVE ME!

      1. Irridium says:

        I’M TRYIN’ TO HEAL YA, NOT TICKLE YA!

        1. Nordicus says:

          STAND STILL, DO I LOOK LIKE I’M NICKING STUFF?

          1. Zukhramm says:

            I’M WELDING THIS DOOR!

            1. Spammy says:

              CHRIST, DON’T LET THAT BIG BUGGER NEAR ME.

              1. NOE! NOOEEE! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEE!

    2. Ringwraith says:

      Bonus points by being voiced by (at least) one of their own devs.
      Anyone who complains at the “fakeness” of it probably should talk to the guy, he’s not far off from it normally (it just seems to be a more upbeat tone of his normal speech).

  26. RTBones says:

    First, happy birthday Spoiler Warning.

    Second, wishing Spoiler Warning many happy returns.

    There is no third thing.

  27. Mersadeon says:

    I just wanted to say: THANK YOU! Spoiler Warning is awesome. I can’t believe it has been so long! It’s my favorite show on the internet. (Not on the Citadel, though.)

    Also, something else is my favourite game! Thanks, guys!

  28. Mr Compassionate says:

    I like the spoiler tag joke at the end there, you sneaky bugger :)

  29. swenson says:

    Is there going to be a “break” game between seasons? If so, will you do Half-Life 2: Episode 1, even if it’s my least favorite? Not that it’s bad or anything, and it’s got some interesting bits (and some bits that I refuse to play… I’m scared of the dark, okay?), it’s just that HL2 and Episode 2 are so much better.

    1. Wedge says:

      I would like this too. It’s nice to have a bit of a palate cleanser inbetween seasons. And I always love watching you guys gush over how awesome Valve is forever.

    2. Ringwraith says:

      Shamus did mention jumping straight into The Walking Dead was an exception simply because it was very of the moment.

  30. MrGuy says:

    HOW ABOUT A NICE GAME OF CHESS?

  31. Pearly says:

    I wouldn’t say a complete waste of time. It adequately synthesises the experience of sitting on the couch watching your buddies play video games on a random afternoon”” which is helpful to me. It means I can just listen as much as I watch, and the discourse, while not wholly high-brow, has both clever and groan-inducing moments. Unlike a lot of proper shows, I can knit to it, or paint to it, which is what attracted me to the show in the first place, really.

    That said, I suggest you lot try Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, particularly Rutskarn. It’s the kind of game that never misses a chance to make a pun. It’s for Playstation 3 exclusively, so I understand that you can’t stream it, but it’s still something I’d suggest putting time into. You won’t regret it.

    Here’s to three years of this ridiculous nonsense! Here’s to three more!

    1. Katesickle says:

      I like Spoiler Warning for the same reason you do–I an listen to it while crafting. I keep joking to my friends that the Walking Dead season is a pain because I actually want to *watch* the show to read the subtitles and see what’s going on.

  32. harborpirate says:

    I enjoy the episodes of shorter games much more than the MONSTRO RPG Spoiler Warning Episodes.

    I tried watching the Mass Effect and Fallout 3 eps, but they just drag on, and not even the commentary can save them.

    My favorite Spoiler Warning so far was Alan Wake, a game that was relatively short, and had a good mix of both crippling flaws to complain about and novel ideas and mechanics that the group could highlight. It also helps that the story the game was telling was (at times) interesting, and that the scenery was varied and often looked quite good.

    1. X2-Eliah says:

      Agreed on the first paragraph. I “can’t wait” to hit the hundredth episode of skyrim’s SW where everyone has alreadysaid everything ages ago and nothing interesting is happening due to sticking to the (somewhat) dull main quest and the (completely) dull guild mqlines.

      Eh, nevermind, I’m in a really bad mood today. But eben so, I think I am that guy on the corner of the street chating “the end is nigh”.

  33. Jakale says:

    So, from the looks of it, Killing Floor takes place in a world where the zombie plague hit during the 21st Annual Nudists of the World Convention and Gun Expo.

    1. Gruhunchously says:

      On that note, a gun convention would probably be the best (worst?) time and placevfor a zombie outbreak.

  34. Steve Online says:

    You can tell that Josh has some practice, because he plays commando and refuses to aim at anything else while there are stalkers on the screen.

    If you do this again, please yell at the others to stop shooting your zombies.

  35. Simon Buchan says:

    Seeing this makes me want to see you guys fail horribly at Natural Selection 2. I don’t know if that’s feasible, since it’s a team vs. game that works best with 10+ players, and has an extremely hard to learn “Commander” role for each team, but maybe you could do a “The Team” vs. “The Viewers” game or two. It should be gloriously bad!

  36. Jeff says:

    A nitpick, though others may have mentioned it.

    Left4Dead came out in 2008. Killing Floor was first released as a mod in 2005, before coming out as a game in 2009. Payday came out in 2011, and the moment it did I saw it as a rip off of Killing Floor with cops instead of zombies. Since Killing Floor came out 2 years earlier, ya know? ;)

  37. Ithilanor says:

    …Is it just me, or does Glitch sound like Mumbles when his voice gets high-pitched?

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