I had to break Killing Floor 3's first multiplayer beta in order to survive, but don't expect this strategy to work again

Two waves into my first Killing Floor 3 multiplayer match, I'm on a roll. I've just spent way too much money on the biggest, meanest gun in the tool arsenal – a purple tier automatic rifle that turns zombies into sticky piles of lasagne – and I have zero regrets. Happily, I signal my team that I'm ready to go. Sure I forgot to replenish my armor, grenades, and shock traps, I admit sheepishly, but look! Shiny new gun! They're probably less amused than I am, but it doesn't matter. If I only manage to stay alive, I'll get to top up on all that and more… if I manage to stay alive.

That won't be easy, though. It's not my first time playing the new Killing Floor game, having reveled in the solo Killing Floor 3 hands-on demo at Gamescom last year, but the experience is that much more of a chaotic free-for-all with four squadmates at my side. Tripwire's signature flair for bloody, riotous gunplay is made all the better for Killing Floor 3's refined approach to multiplayer mode that lets players take the game into their own hands. With the addition of gun mods, "RPG-inspired loot and character progression" systems, and a slew of new Zed types to blast through, I barely felt the hour tick by – and even managed to find a cheeky accidental exploit along the way.

Squad up

My KF3 multiplayer adventures begin in a bunker. Loading into the Stronghold – an underground one-stop shop for all things Zed-slaying – with my fellow teammates, I get myself acquainted with my surroundings. This giant metal cavern serves as a lobby, with each player given their own pod-like chamber in which to ready up, choose a character and loadout, and head into the main hall to vote on a map.

Killing Floor 3's drive toward an RPG-influenced character levelling system means that each playable character has its strengths and specialities. There's a host of available archetypes, from an all-rounder Engineer to the Medic, Sharpshooter, and a glass cannon Firebug that deals devastating AOE damage using their gadget. Gadgets are special attacks specific to each character that exist on a cooldown, each offering a supercharged attack that comes in clutch when backed into a corner. As one of the Tripwire devs proudly describes it, hitting the X key to activate your gadget essentially makes it the "oh, shit" button. What's more, each character's gadget gets stronger as you level up your character after each multiplayer mission you complete.

Gasmask-clad Mr Foster's gadget, for example, summons an attack drone by your side which guns down Zeds automatically as you turn to face them. Essentially, Mr Foster becomes a human turret. Suffice to say, I stick with him as my main for the remainder of the session.

That "oh shit" button quickly becomes my lifesaver, as the first wave of Zeds soaks up all my bullets within minutes. Not having enough time to throw out an ammo bag to restock fast enough amid the fray, I turn around and face fresh horrors. A chainsaw-wielding hulk of Zed – known as a Scrake – is fast approaching, and my teammates' bullets seem to be doing nothing to it. Suddenly, the adrenaline surging through my veins blessedly causes my shaky hands to hit the X key by accident – and lo and behold, the Scrake falls to its pulpy knees in a hail of bullets. Somehow, I've survived, and can follow a glowing blue trail to the next wave zone and carry on the siege with my crew.

By the time we load into a new map, I have not actually died yet. In fact, I'm feeling good about how well I'm doing. That's because Killing Floor 3 feels exceptionally player-friendly. Not only is its FPS flow easy to click into whether or not you're a series veteran, the game comes stocked with 36 weapons and over 150 weapon mods to help you tailor your build. Killing Floor 3 wants you to have fun and play the game any way you want, making for the most flexible experience seen in the series yet.

I'm all about the power fantasy when it comes to zombie horde shooters, but Killing Floor 3 makes me work hard for that fantasy. Soon enough, I'm back in the same predicament as before: facing down a powerful enemy with rapidly-dwindling bullets and no item or grenade to bail me out. The difference here is that I would now give anything to be up against a Scrake.

Playing with the big boys

I'm face to face with my first Killing Floor 3 boss encounter: dual hulking beasts, towering over my three person squad menacingly. I'm told by TripWire's QA testers, who join me for the match, that the number of enemies in a boss encounter scales to the size of the group. Bear that in mind if you're looking to go in with a full house crew of six.

As soon as the brutes come crashing into the battle ground, I panic. Barrel-chested and bloodied, howling from mouths set deep in pointed, sharklike heads that are nearly impossible to lock onto, my mind goes blank. Within moments, my pesky shakes are back. Emptying clip after clip into their bullet-sponge bodies is doing absolutely nothing for me, so in a fit of desperation to escape a rush attack, I start spam jumping – and somehow end up stuck in a wall. The QA testers howl in disbelief as, to my great relief, I discover that the twin bad guys cannot touch me from this accidental safe zone. Here I can simply rain hell down upon these unfortunate brutes, zeroing in on one in particular, having the time of my life until I somehow get unstuck and remember that I'm not playing the game correctly. "I know exactly what you did there," one of my teammates laughs, before mentioning that they'll get it fixed up soon.

I have no doubt Tripwire will make good on that promise. My experience with Killing Floor 3's multiplayer beta was a short yet thrilling joyride, skirting entrails and snapping jaws in equal measure in perhaps the most fun I've had in a co-op game in months. I'm told there's still a little work to be done before its March 25 release date, but this taste of blood has me thirsty for more already. Though, I gotta say, I could do with far fewer Scrakes out to ruin my fun time.

Killing Floor 3 has the chance to become one of the best zombie games ever