You are instructed to read the following. The next set of close combat will be utilizing one of the following simulations. If you are not up to speed with the technology when the simulation is run, then you will be used for the live fire exercises later in the week. Enjoy the report!

Here’s my breakdown of KILLING FLOOR vs. LEFT 4 DEAD (1 and 2):

-TIME COMMITMENT-

You’re going to spend about an hour (minimum) to an hour and a half or
more running through a single L4D campaign, broken into five chapters,
each with its own map.

KILLING FLOOR like a classic multiplayer FPS, rotates through a map
list. The game is divided into 4 – 10 waves of zombie per map, with
time between waves to shop for more ammo and/or bigger guns. The time
between waves is defined as part of the difficulty; playing on
“Beginner”, you have 2 minutes to find the trader (she moves with each
new wave) and complete your shopping; playing on “Normal”, that time
drops to just one minute. Once a map is loaded, there is no additional
load time between waves. Play a Short game (four waves) will take
about 10 – 15 minutes per map.

-SOLO vs. MULTIPLAYER-

Both games are designed to be played primarily as co-op multiplayer,
but can be played solo as well. I can finish L4D campaigns solo on the
“Easy” setting without a problem; I’ve got about a 75-80% completion
percentage playing solo at “Normal” difficulty. I can run through
KILLING FLOOR maps (Short or Long) on the “Beginner” setting without
dying 90+% of the time; I have yet to complete even a Short, 4-wave
map on the “Normal” difficulty setting while running solo.

I’ve not yet played KILLING FLOOR multiplayer, but I’d like to. The
various classes/perks intrigue me, and I’d like to see how they work
together in cooperative gameplay.

-ENEMIES-

L4D has six zombie types: normal + 5 special (Boomer, Smoker, Hunter,
Tank and Witch); L4D2 adds 3 special zombies (Jockey, Spitter and
Charger), plus some uncommon zombies (Mudmen and Clowns, for
example).

KILLING FLOOR has about eight zombie types: Clots (your basic,
lumbering, grabbing variety) and a bunch of special types, including
Stalkers (they cloak), Crawlers (damned spider-zombie hybrids), acid-
spitting Bloats, Gorefasts, Sirens and a couple of others. The final
wave of each KF map starts with just The Patriach (father of all
zombies; he cloaks, has a machine gun and a rocket launcher, and
heals), but if you don’t take him down quickly he can spawn others.

The zombies in KILLING FLOOR always know where you are and are always
actively trying to get you. Then again, there may be as few as 18 of
them in a given wave, so they can’t afford to be standing around
leaning on a wall; if there’s a zombie alive somewhere on the map, it
is trying to kill you. In L4D, there are zombies EVERYWHERE, and a lot
of them are just standing around waiting for something to happen. This
means you have a lot of opportunity to blow a zombie away without it
ever attacking, but it also increases the chance that you’re going to
duck around a corner and bump into seventeen walking corpses. Based on
my experience, the average campaign game of L4D will feature between
1,500 and 3,000 zombie kills, or roughly 300 to 600 zombies per “map”.
KILLING FLOOR will (unless you tweak the settings; I believe you can
control the maximum number of zombies per wave) have anywhere from 18
- 36 zombies per wave, so even in a Long game you’ll be killing less
than 500 baddies.

-GAMEPLAY-

KILLING FLOOR is a straight-up FPS with zombies in it. There’s not a
whole lot of imagination going on: you’ve got big guns, some
explosives, and waves of zombies. The terrain isn’t as useful as it
should be (I can’t jump up on that woodpile and then onto the roof of
the barn? Why not?), but some of the maps are pretty cool nonetheless.
There is a whole door-welding element that I like, which allows you to
control the environment to a degree, preventing (or at least delaying)
zombies from entering an area through certain doors.KF also has a
“Perk” system that allows you to essentially choose a class and get
benefits (“Perks”, get it) based on the class. Each class/perk can be
levelled up by performing activities related to that class. Want to
get better perks from the “Sharpshooter” class? Headshot more zombies.

L4D doesn’t bother with classes; all benefits are derived through
superior firepower and player skill. The sole exception to this is the
addition of adrenaline shots in L4D2, which allows you to briefly run
and shoot much faster than normal. There’s nothing you can do to
control the environment in L4D, but the game does have far more
complex (and satisfying) terrain modeling, which makes you feel like
you’re playing in a much more open, three-dimensional world.

KILLING FLOOR is geared more toward the BATTLEFIELD 1942 crowd; while
L4D maxes out at four players in cooperative modes, I believe KILLING
FLOOR is good for eight players, possibly more. Both games have
competitive modes as well, but I haven’t played around with them
enough to render any kind of opinion or even accurate information.

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Ok, I made it through the book. Luckily I had listened to the Librivox.org version of Warlord of Mars, and most of the rest of the John Carter of Mars series. Otherwise, I would have been left scratching my head over the references that the main character and others use in their in-joke conversations. Comments which are supposed to be obtuse for one of the other characters, but end up being lost on the reader as well if they haven’t read that other series.

The pacing was a little slow, with a lot of character interaction, but not much development, in the first half of the book. Lots of exposition to get the reader up to speed it seemed. The characters seemed kind of flat and more an outlet for talking about the history that got them to Venus, than actual character development. For instance, I found out that the main character was out of the relationship with his would-be girlfriend almost before I knew he was in it in the first place!

I hate to say it, but I could see this as a SciFi channel movie.

I would say that overall it was an ok book, but I don’t know that I would pick up the sequel.

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The Pain is currently sailing towards Los Angeles, California, in the effort to kidnap one Chris Miller, of The Secret Lair. He and I have needed to chat for some time now. If the capture is successful, I am sure the conversation will be an enlightening one. If the capture is not successful, those involved in the capture will be dead from The Secret Lair’s defenses, or they will be, from their incompetence. If you are to be involved in the the capture, please report to deck C for implantation of remote devices and deployment.

I look forward to my chat with Mr. Miller, and I am sure you will to.

– Lord Vandermore

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