Recently I spoke with John Gibson – President/Tripwire Interactive about the pending PSVR release of Killing Floor:Incursion.
How does the story connect with Killing Floor 2?
Killing Floor: Incursion is set after the events of Killing Floor 2. The attempts that Horzine, the corporation that inadvertently unleashed the zed monsters on the world, had made to hire mercenaries to clean up the zed outbreak had failed. The zeds are rampaging across Europe leaving a path of destruction and death. To combat this Horzine has ramped up their efforts to recruit and train elite Horzine Security Forces members. This is where the player comes into the story, as one of these elite recruits. As is often the case, things don’t go as planned, and not everything is as it seems.
What controls will the game support on PSVR?
Two PlayStation®Move Motion Controllers
How does the co-op play work in terms of matchmaking and gameplay?
The game can either do standard matchmaking to find you a match with another player, or you can invite a friend and play co-op together.
Why did you opt go to VR for the follow up vs a Killing Floor 3 or an expansion to KF2?
VR is an exciting and transformational technology for gaming, and the team at Tripwire have really enjoyed bringing the Killing Floor universe to VR. In VR you can experience the Killing Floor world in a way that has never been possible before. In VR, the zeds are terrifying! For Killing Floor 2 we’re constantly updating the game with awesome new content, and there is more to come!
What are some of the weapons players will be able to use and which is your favorite?
Players can use pistols, knives, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, axes, grenades and even dismembered zed body parts! One of my favorite things to do is to slice the sword arms off of the Gorefast enemy, and then use their own sword arms to fight them back. Really my favorite though is dual wielding AK’s.
How many different creatures will the game offer?
There is a wide variety of creatures from the Killing Floor universe in the game, several bosses, and some things never before seen in a Killing Floor game.
What can you tell us about some of the locales that players will find themselves in?
The game features farm houses, creepy forest areas, sewers, cavern systems, offices, high tech labs and more. One of my favorite scenarios involved using a sniper rifle to pick off monsters from the Paris rooftops.
Does the game use a check point save system?
There are two checkpoints for each map. The first is at about the halfway point and the second right before the boss.
How long does the game take to complete?
The campaign takes 4-6 hours to complete the first time through, and can be played through again on a Hardcore mode. There is also an endless co-op horde mode called Holdout which is a blast to play with your friends.
Are there any new or different features for the PSVR version?
Killing Floor: Incursion is a completely new game built from the ground up for VR, so essentially almost everything is new. This is the first Killing Floor game with a campaign with a full story arc. There is VERY large boss to fight which is new to the universe. The ability to dismember the limbs of the monsters then use those same limbs to beat the monsters to death is unique and pretty hilarious at times.
What were the biggest challenges with Incursion as well as the greatest successes?
When Incursion was being built, VR headsets and controllers weren’t even final yet. A lot of the early development was done on hardware that was put together by hand, and sometimes not completely functional. Additionally, when we started on the game there were no other VR shooters released, so it was very uncharted territory and we had to do a lot of research discover a lot of things for ourselves. It was exciting, but also very challenging.
The visceral VR guns and melee weapons are one of the great successes. Battling the zeds in VR with weapons that work and feel this great is so fun and never gets old to me. Being able to use VR to tell a story, and immerse the player was wonderful as well.
What is next for the franchise?
You’ll have to stay tuned to find out!
