Killing Floor is a hidden gem, a masterpiece of coop zombie shooters, covered beneath newcomer-unfriendly mechanics, nonsense logic, weird design choices, and broken hitboxes. In the beginning, the game makes everything to alienate new players (a.k.a. Fresh Meat), so only the chosen ones stay. But once you fall in love with the game, the bond lasts forever. I'm playing KF1 for 12 years, 4000 gameplay hours, and the game still rocks. During these years, I tried many different coop games or/and zombie shooters, and none of them were as good as this time-proven title, even its sequel.

Nope, you didn't misread, as I didn't mistype. KF1 is an upside-down of common practice. It is super unfriendly to newcomers. I came to KF from Left 4 Dead, having 15 years of experience in FPS gaming. It took me 3 attempts to get familiar and start enjoying the game. I rage-quit for the first two tries, even left a negative review. Don't even try a difficulty harder than Normal until you learn the roots. Even on Normal difficulty, your very first experience will be like this: get trapped by Clots, puked over by a Bloat => gg.

Reading this guide helps beginners a lot.

However, once you've learned the basics, it is quite easy to become a good player and a valid team member even on the hardest difficulty (Hell on Earth). Most likely, you will be spending hundreds or even thousands of hours simply because you enjoy playing the game rather than mastering superior skills. Because this is a coop game where teamwork plays a major role, and no need for heroes when everybody is doing their job. However, becoming a "hero" is also an option if you don't want to rely on your team but solely survive the outbreak of the specimen (a.k.a. zeds or zombies).

While it may seem outdated in 2021, gunplay in Killing Floor is still perfect. Gunplay is the reason I kept returning to KF1 after rage-quitting. Popping heads with Handcannon (a.k.a. Desert Eagle) never gets old. Same as unleashing the Boomstick double-shot at the point-blank and seeing zeds tearing apart and flying ten meters away. Pistols, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, Sniper Rifles, Grenade/Rocket Launchers, Flamethrowers, etc. - KF1 has a wide arsenal to choose from. Most weapons feel solid and quite realistic, especially for an arcade shooter.
Those who say that Back 4 Blood has decent gunplay have never played Killing Floor. B4B's guns feel like plastic toys in comparison to KF.

Playing as a team where everybody does their job according to the chosen role (perk) is much easier than surviving alone. However, teamwork is not mandatory. There are no arbitrary limitations that force you to play as a team, e.g., getting incapacitated and requiring a teammate's help, where the latter usually is nothing but QTE. There is no such thing in KF. You stick with the team because you want to, not because you have to. Surviving in society is easier and safer, like in real life. However, you can play "Rambo" if you have the skills and "balls" to do so. Or if your teammates suck. Or if you are alone.

Optional teamwork has yet another upside - no need to fill the team with bots or randoms. You can play solo or play with a friend - just two of you. Unlike L4D and its clones, KF scales perfectly for a different number of players. Moreover, a different player count may offer various play styles. Playing solo is not the same as playing with a friend, which, in turn, is different from playing in a 6-player team.

While Back 4 Blood uses this term for marketing purposes to cover the lack of content in such an overpriced game, Killing Floor truly offers extreme replayability.

• 36 official maps + Workshop support, where you can find at least a few dozens of good-quality community-made maps.
  
• Seven official perks with more than fifty weapons. Each perk and weapon loadout offers a different, unique playstyle.
  
• Full modding support offers custom perks, weapons, enemies, etc. There are mods and modded servers with more than ten perks and hundreds of weapons.
  
• At the moment of writing, I have 4000 gameplay hours in KF1 and still didn't get bored. And I'm not the only one - there are thousands of KF players having thousands of gameplay hours each.

If you are still reading this text, it means that you've passed the general requirement to start playing KF - the ability to read and process information longer than a tweet. Let's get started then.

• Read this guide first. It explains weird KF mechanics and design choices that might frustrate new players in the beginning. I wish I had that guide back when I started playing...
  
• In the beginning, I encourage you to skip the vanilla game and jump straight to ScrN Brutal KF Bundle mod. The mod offers tons of bug fixes, balance adjustments, QoL improvements and modernizes the game to fit more in 2021. The most important - it keeps the core gameplay close to vanilla. The experience (skills) you get while playing the mod is also valid for the vanilla game - if you decide to earn Steam achievements, for example.

KF1 has a small but solid and consistent community. There are 300-500 concurrent KF1 players every day on Steam. There is no problem finding a server to play on, especially in Europe or North America. Moreover, teammates are not a must-have since the game can be played solo too. If you have a friend to play with, it is enough to enjoy the beauty of KF teamwork.
If you enjoy playing on crowded servers, I suggest joining some KF communities to organize/schedule games. Here are some examples:

• ScrN Balance Fans
  
• Scrake Naders[discord.gg]
  
• Exiled Coalition[discord.com]