For a developer as seasoned in the co-op zombie-slaying genre as Tripwire Interactive, Killing Floor 3 is a middling experience. It's the opposite of comfort food - even if you can't stop playing, you know it's bad for you, until boredom ultimately takes over.
From the lackluster "campaign" to the almost useless Stronghold, Killing Floor 3 feels like a mishmash of uncertain ideas, many of which don't quite work. The Specialist system feels out of place, limiting build variety and delivering characters that range from lackluster to annoying. The range of skills is interesting, but upgrading and unlocking them feels like a slog past the opening hours. Modding weapons is cool, but the grind will wear you down.
Even the actual killing on the floors disappoints due to bugs, glitches, and iffy weapon feel, despite some solid level design and tense moments on higher difficulties. Killing Floor 3 could become something if it revamps the foundations and taps into the primal desire to explode Zed heads, but for now, it's a tedious endeavor that even the slick heavy metal soundtrack can't improve.