EDIT 2: TWI has done a complete 180 on the game. Resistances are pretty much gone, the classes are more powerful than ever, and the game is in the best state it's been since it was first released on Early Access. I'm keeping the review for archival purposes (but changing the recommendation to Yes instead of No), but it no longer applies to the game as of early September 2016.

EDIT: Tripwire has reversed some of the resistances, but not removed the stupid thing. It's more playable than before, but still not that fun. Plus, the team seems hell-bent on making the game more unfun and annoying to play, so I'm keeping this review up until Tripwire straightens up their act.

I do want to note that Tripwire is communicating with the community a bit more than before, but I want to see positive changes, not just fluff.

Let me say this straight: I loved the basics of Killing Floor 2's gameplay. The gore and gameplay are very satisfying and kept me playing for a long time. However, the latest update served as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me stop playing KF2 (at least for the time being). Here's why.

* A horrible, horrible resistance system that turns Killing Floor 2 into a 90s RPG, like Baldur's Gate. Firearm damage is now divided per weapon type, meaning that a bullet from an assault rifle can do more damage against one enemy, but do terrible damage to another. It makes no sense. Because of this, most classes are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ against most enemy types in a half-baked attempt at promoting class diversity, making most of the weapons unfun to use; a cardinal sin, since one of the game's key points is fun gunplay. In order to be effective, you have to read a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ spreadsheet to know exactly what weapons suck and what weapons work against each enemy type. I'm serious. This isn't the 90s; you shouldn't have to read a spreadsheet and memorize a bunch of variables just to shoot enemies in the head.

What's worse is that the resistances make no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sense. A completely naked woman can take shotgun shots and explosions like a champ, but melts if she eats a handful of bullets fired only by an assault rifle. Meanwhile, a naked man on fire can tank nearly anything for no apparent reason. Fire I can understand because he's on fire, but damage from assault rifle rounds doing half damage? Really?

You can get used to the system, but the fact of the matter is that there's no reason why this system was considered a good idea and fun. If you want to encourage class diversity, make the classes kick ass in their own way (which, ironically, Tripwire was getting close to until the Sharpshooter update dropped) or maybe make enemies weak to certain weapon types, not resistant to most of them. Making enemies resistant to attacks from most weapons for the sake of encouraging teamplay is awful; all it does is turn enemies into unfun bullet sponges.

* The team blows off criticism they disagree with, which goes against the point of EA. Confront them about an issue, and they'll throw their feet down and say "BUT IT PLAYED WELL IN INTERNAL TESTING", as if a game being played by a handful of jackoffs in a small office that can consult the devs is equal to it being played online by thousands, often with complete strangers. If you're going to be like that, just make it a full game instead of pretending the game is Early Access and listen to people.

*The Sharpshooter perk was delayed in favor of a PvP mode few wanted and that was essentially stillborn, despite promises that it will increase the playerbase more than a new perk would. It's poorly balanced and a mess to play to thanks human players being able to stomp human-controlled enemies, even with the Sharpshooter update revising it. Before the Sharpshooter update, PvP had one or two active servers at max. I expect it to go down to that level a week after the Sharpshooter is released.

* Terrible patching system. Most companies would patch major issues as they came up; not Tripwire! Tripwire often packs a ton of fixes into one giant package released every 4 or 5 months instead of issuing quick fixes.

One example is the auto-raging at the end of a wave; heavy hitters, like the Scrake, would automatically enter their rage mode (endless sprinting, mostly) when there were five or less enemies. There was no way to make them stop; if you didin't have enough people to deal with the enemy or a class that could handle him, the game was over right there with no chance to prevent this.

The kicker? It took Tripwire several months to fix this, despite complaints about it appearing a few days after the patch that added it went live. Why would a game-ending issue allowed to persist for several months except for incompetence?

* 1 step forward, three steps back when it comes to balancing. When Tripwire wants to nerf a class, they will nerf it into utter uselessness.

The Berserk perk became quite powerful after the Firebug and Demolitions update. When people complained about it, it took Tripwire almost a full year to "fix" it, even though opinion was divided if it was OP or not. When they did "fix" it, it was nerfed to the point where it's currently useless thanks to a terrible rework of the Berserk's skills and the awful resistance system making all of the Berserk's primary weapons do half or less damage to every foe.

I hate to post this review, because KF2 has solid and addicting core gameplay. However, Tripwire seems to have no idea on what direction to take the game, but seem hell-bent on making the game more obtuse to play for God knows why and ruining the core gameplay for the sake of making it hardcore or some crap like that.

If Tripwire pulls their asses out of their head like Overkill did, I'll come back and give this game a positive review. For now, I'm not playing this game and I'm keeping this review up.

EDIT 2: TWI has done a complete 180 on the game. Resistances are pretty much gone, the classes are more powerful than ever, and the game is in the best state it's been since it was first released on Early Access. I'm keeping the review for archival purposes (but changing the recommendation to Yes instead of No), but it no longer applies to the game as of early September 2016. EDIT: Tripwire has reversed some of the resistances, but not removed the stupid thing. It's more playable than before, but still not that fun. Plus, the team seems hell-bent on making the game more unfun and annoying to play, so I'm keeping this review up until Tripwire straightens up their act. I do want to note that Tripwire is communicating with the community a bit more than before, but I want to see positive changes, not just fluff. Let me say this straight: I loved the basics of Killing Floor 2's gameplay. The gore and gameplay are very satisfying and kept me playing for a long time. However, the latest update served as the straw that broke the camel's back and made me stop playing KF2 (at least for the time being). Here's why. * A horrible, horrible resistance system that turns Killing Floor 2 into a 90s RPG, like Baldur's Gate. Firearm damage is now divided per weapon type, meaning that a bullet from an assault rifle can do more damage against one enemy, but do terrible damage to another. It makes no sense. Because of this, most classes are dogshit against most enemy types in a half-baked attempt at promoting class diversity, making most of the weapons unfun to use; a cardinal sin, since one of the game's key points is fun gunplay. In order to be effective, you have to read a goddamn spreadsheet to know exactly what weapons suck and what weapons work against each enemy type. I'm serious. This isn't the 90s; you shouldn't have to read a spreadsheet and memorize a bunch of variables just to shoot enemies in the head. What's worse is that the resistances make no goddamn sense. A completely naked woman can take shotgun shots and explosions like a champ, but melts if she eats a handful of bullets fired only by an assault rifle. Meanwhile, a naked man on fire can tank nearly anything for no apparent reason. Fire I can understand because he's on fire, but damage from assault rifle rounds doing half damage? Really? You can get used to the system, but the fact of the matter is that there's no reason why this system was considered a good idea and fun. If you want to encourage class diversity, make the classes kick ass in their own way (which, ironically, Tripwire was getting close to until the Sharpshooter update dropped) or maybe make enemies weak to certain weapon types, not resistant to most of them. Making enemies resistant to attacks from most weapons for the sake of encouraging teamplay is awful; all it does is turn enemies into unfun bullet sponges. * The team blows off criticism they disagree with, which goes against the point of EA. Confront them about an issue, and they'll throw their feet down and say "BUT IT PLAYED WELL IN INTERNAL TESTING", as if a game being played by a handful of jackoffs in a small office that can consult the devs is equal to it being played online by thousands, often with complete strangers. If you're going to be like that, just make it a full game instead of pretending the game is Early Access and listen to people. *The Sharpshooter perk was delayed in favor of a PvP mode few wanted and that was essentially stillborn, despite promises that it will increase the playerbase more than a new perk would. It's poorly balanced and a mess to play to thanks human players being able to stomp human-controlled enemies, even with the Sharpshooter update revising it. Before the Sharpshooter update, PvP had one or two active servers at max. I expect it to go down to that level a week after the Sharpshooter is released. * Terrible patching system. Most companies would patch major issues as they came up; not Tripwire! Tripwire often packs a ton of fixes into one giant package released every 4 or 5 months instead of issuing quick fixes. One example is the auto-raging at the end of a wave; heavy hitters, like the Scrake, would automatically enter their rage mode (endless sprinting, mostly) when there were five or less enemies. There was no way to make them stop; if you didin't have enough people to deal with the enemy or a class that could handle him, the game was over right there with no chance to prevent this. The kicker? It took Tripwire several months to fix this, despite complaints about it appearing a few days after the patch that added it went live. Why would a game-ending issue allowed to persist for several months except for incompetence? * 1 step forward, three steps back when it comes to balancing. When Tripwire wants to nerf a class, they will nerf it into utter uselessness. The Berserk perk became quite powerful after the Firebug and Demolitions update. When people complained about it, it took Tripwire almost a full year to "fix" it, even though opinion was divided if it was OP or not. When they did "fix" it, it was nerfed to the point where it's currently useless thanks to a terrible rework of the Berserk's skills and the awful resistance system making all of the Berserk's primary weapons do half or less damage to every foe. I hate to post this review, because KF2 has solid and addicting core gameplay. However, Tripwire seems to have no idea on what direction to take the game, but seem hell-bent on making the game more obtuse to play for God knows why and ruining the core gameplay for the sake of making it hardcore or some crap like that. If Tripwire pulls their asses out of their head like Overkill did, I'll come back and give this game a positive review. For now, I'm not playing this game and I'm keeping this review up.