About a year ago we saw the release of Killing Floor: Uncovered, Tripwire Interactive’s live action teaser/prequel giving us an inside look at the goings on at Horzine (their version Umbrella corp from the Resident Evil series) the day that things first fell apart.
If you remember the Halo commercials from just before the release of any recent Halo game or if you loved those Call of Duty, and Fallout ads then you will get what this is.
The cast give a great performance, and the props are all very solid as well. The makeup and gore are realistic, and no more over the top than they should be. The Horzine company logo is in all the right places, and gives a realistic feeling to the world you are dropped into. In fact they do a good job on this little 11 minute long short from start to finish. The music is provided by writers Justin Harma, Bob Lynge, Ryan Kirby, Jared Easterling, and Aaron Kadura, and performed by Fit For a King provided by special arrangement with Rogue Octopus.
To quote Steam “Killing Floor: Uncovered is an exciting live action film inspired by the popular videogame franchise Killing Floor. Killing Floor: Uncovered delivers an action-packed experience that both gamers and horror film fans will love!”
You begin the story with a very clean promotional ad for what appears to be a successful, biotechnology company Horzine, but as you should expect that promo has been corrupted. We then meet our would be environmental activism heroes in a moving van as they suit up (dressing in hazmat suits with the Horzine logo on them). They proceed to have cameras hidden on them, as they talk about the mission ahead, and go over their plans for the last time. We learn here that our team are dressed as in-house cleaners as well.
In no time we are with our team of heroes, and off in the night to fulfill the mission at hand. A nice touch seeing the Horzine logos on the fencing that is all you can see out of the windows so you know they are close. There is a sense of urgency as we learn the team is running late. Once on site we meet a lone security guard who admits to wanting these foul practices stopped, and brought out into the light being the reason he is helping. The team has arrived late so there is not much time, and they are hurried inside.
Once passed the guards and inside the facility, the guard takes them down to the floor they are seeking in the elevator, but then tells them that he can not go further as he just can not lose his job, and the reasons why. So our team must proceed alone with no idea what to expect.
From here things kick off, and the story moves very fast leading to the inevitable releasing of some very twisted psychotic clones. Things devolve quickly, and we see everyone get theirs in turn through both site cameras, and the hidden cameras on the “cleaners”.
There is a nice quick ending, and you can feel that this is only the start for this world, so I was satisfied with the overall outcome, and with everything we were shown. I would have liked the opening sequence in the van to have been a bit shorter, but it does it’s job giving enough background on each character that you do feel you know them when they are in trouble later.
It is a short little mini movie, but it does its job in giving the viewer a good sense of the world that they would be entering if they chose to play either of the Killing Floor games. Of course this was all to help promote the launch of Killing Floor 2 On April 25th of 2015 in Early access which has had very positive reviews. (Not really so much a launch as a paid beta but it’s the way of things now and I’ll touch on that soon.)
With the No. 1 game right now in many places Dying Light : The Following the updated and enhanced version of Dying light and the continued success of The Walking Dead in all forms of media. People are showing that they will still pay for solid products, and that they want to be scared.
You can watch The Killing Floor: Uncovered on Steam, or directly from Tripwire.
Bring on the dripping blood and raspy voices.
