Since the PlayStation 3’s launch, Guerilla Games and its Killzone franchise has seemingly become synonymous with demonstrating the capabilities of Sony’s newest console offspring. The launch of the PlayStation 3, however, was hardly the best start for any party involved, what with the supposed in-game engine reveal being nothing more than a glorified tech demo of what the PlayStation 3 could achieve. Here we are though, a generation later, and on the dawn of the PlayStation 4 release in Europe, attention turns to another Killzone, to see whether promises can be delivered this time. From a visual perspective that most certainly seems to be the case. From a next-gen standpoint though, there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about Killzone: Shadow Fall.
Killzone: Shadow Fall takes place following the Petrusite detonation of Killzone 3. With Helghan now uninhabitable, the ISA allowed the remaining Helghast survivors to share the planet Vekta, dividing the population in two with a towering wall. Shadow Fall follows the antics of Lucas Kellen, from a young child to an esteemed Shadow Marshall, stuck at the frontline on a planet divided. With tensions rising as each side struggles for power and looks for a way to usurp the other, you’ll take Kellen on a wild goose chase around the galaxy for a weapon that puts the fate of both factions in jeopardy.
"OWL, go there and kill stuff.”
Aside from the abnormally slow start, Killzone: Shadow Fall as a campaign, doesn’t do a lot wrong. It doesn’t do a lot that’s innovative either, which is a shame. While the story is enjoyable – the ending is actually pretty great too – and the action is entertaining, it’s the pacing and varied tasks that are Shadow Fall’s shining light. One mission you’ll be in a small sandbox environment, allowed to choose your own path, then the next mission you’ll be in an eerie, Dead Space-esque, derelict space station solving puzzles. There’s corridor shooter segments, on-rails shooter sections, freefall moments and loud, explosive set-pieces. And that’s the problem; it's all been done before, and better too in most instances. The thing that ties the set-pieces all together to make for a gratifying romp, is the pacing and delivery of them all as a whole package.
It does have its issues though, despite doing most things rather well. For one, there’s some rather oddly placed difficulty spikes, some in sections that really could have been done with being cut from the game full stop – like a particular freefall section into a decimated city. Then there’s a distinct lack of signposting at times, some sporadically placed checkpoints, some rather ridiculous enemy AI, as well as some collision detection issues with various bits of the environment. Nonetheless, there’s some great environmental destruction at times that can turn the battle in your favour. The moment we shot down some metal shutters that were blocking powerful, deadly rays of sun to melt Helghast foes was just... just wow.
It’s hard not to take a shine to Killzone: Shadow Fall for its presentation, and that’s where a lot of the joy comes from. The visuals are stunning, especially for a launch title on a new piece of tech, but it’s the artistic direction that wins Shadow Fall the most points. Long gone are the days where Killzone is a monochromatic cesspit of browns and greys. Vekta is a diverse futuristic city with bold primary colours, flickering neon signs and enough lens flare to give JJ Abrams a chubby. It’s almost as if Mirror’s Edge had a threesome with Blade Runner and the new era of Star Trek. The audio is just as delightful too, ranging from subtle synth to in your face orchestral bombast, depending on the action that unfolds before your eyes.
The Helghast have plenty of annoying flying drone things.
As a Shadow Marshall, Lucas has access to a bunch of cool new tools, which play a lot into the freedom of Shadow Fall’s combat. The major new addition is the OWL, a combat drone, who is at your disposal throughout the majority of the game. OWL allows Lucas to get assisted firepower, deploy a shield wherever he wishes, stun enemies, use a zipwire to navigate the environment quicker, and also hack terminals and command posts – heck, OWL can even revive you with adrenaline if you’re down.
The coolest new feature at your disposal though, especially coming from a stealth aficionado, is the ‘tactical echo,’ which allows Lucas to ping a sonar-like emission into the environment to scan for local enemies and points of interest. It ultimately means you can treat Shadow Fall as a more tactical shooter, rather than a run-and-gun affair – although that is equally as possible. Lucas also has access to the LSR44, a Shadow Marshall rifle, which is a high-powered assault rifle that doubles up as a charged range weapon. Stunning weapon, yes, but annoying that you can’t drop it for other weapons when you’re short on ammo.
Once the campaign credits have rolled, multiplayer is where Shadow Fall’s longevity lies. Not as robust as your traditional corridor-shooter offerings, but nevertheless an enjoyable romp. While there are modes for newcomers, various capture modes and 24-player team deathmatch, the Classic Warzone playlist is, as usual, the main draw for players. For those new to the series, Warzone takes place across multiple rounds with varying objectives, from capture and defend, to deathmatch. It’s a great mode – as always – and with some truly impressive visuals, there’s a lot of fun to be had.
Unfortunately the servers are relatively quiet at present, even so close to the North American launch, but hopefully the European launch could reinvigorate things online. If the worst comes to the worst, there’s bots to fall back on, although that's hardly ideal. With a wealth of customisation, ten maps, a fairly deep progression system and various abilities for the three class system – assault, scout and support – the only drawback online is the cluttered UI at the backend.
Shadow Fall multiplayer: also really pretty.
In terms of trophies, it’s a mixed bunch, it really is. On the one hand there are some cool trophies for killing enemies while on a zipline, and some neat mid-mission requirements to achieve, but on the other hand there are way too many multiplayer trophies, which seem to be balanced towards the spend-way-too-much-of-my-life-playing-Killzone-multiplayer bracket. A doing the campaign without dying trophy is a cheap way to artificially extend the life of the game too. While the list isn’t inherently bad, it’s not great either. It’s decent enough.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is ultimately a great game, despite all of its issues. Sure, it may have borrowed all of the well-worn clichés from the FPS genre, offering not much in the way of innovation, but that’s not the point. It’s a well put together game with superb production values, pitch-perfect pacing and a great deal of variety within the campaign. Multiplayer is also a competent and enjoyable affair, making Shadow Fall a package that every PlayStation 4 owner should own. A game that kicks the PlayStation 4 generation era off with a bang, Killzone: Shadow Fall is Guerrilla Games finest Killzone to date.
Brilliant stuff from beginning to end. The sound design, from the guns and the musical score, complements the stunning visuals.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is easily the most attractive next-gen game we’ve seen yet – on either system.
Killzone games of old could be described as clunky, slow, a little stiff, but not anymore. Guerilla Games has carved out a great engine here and nailed it.
The campaign, while hardly innovative, is actually rather great. Good pacing, great variety, all Guerilla could have done to better it was actually try something new and come up with its own ideas.
Some good, some bad, but on the whole, a decent enough list.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is an interesting one. It’s a game that does nothing innovative or remarkable, but one that is well-paced, enjoyable and has stellar presentation and production values, both visually and from a sound design aspect. You’ll enjoy most of it, but it’s not the killer-app that Sony – or you, for that matter – may have wanted.
November 27, 2013
Since the PlayStation 3’s launch, Guerilla Games and its Killzone franchise has seemingly become synonymous with demonstrating the capabilities of Sony’s newest console offspring. The launch of the PlayStation 3, however, was hardly the best start for any party involved, what with the supposed in-game engine reveal being nothing more than a glorified tech demo of what the PlayStation 3 could achieve. Here we are though, a generation later, and on the dawn of the PlayStation 4 release in Europe, attention turns to another Killzone, to see whether promises can be delivered this time. From a visual perspective that most certainly seems to be the case. From a next-gen standpoint though, there’s nothing particularly revolutionary about Killzone: Shadow Fall.
Killzone: Shadow Fall takes place following the Petrusite detonation of Killzone 3. With Helghan now uninhabitable, the ISA allowed the remaining Helghast survivors to share the planet Vekta, dividing the population in two with a towering wall. Shadow Fall follows the antics of Lucas Kellen, from a young child to an esteemed Shadow Marshall, stuck at the frontline on a planet divided. With tensions rising as each side struggles for power and looks for a way to usurp the other, you’ll take Kellen on a wild goose chase around the galaxy for a weapon that puts the fate of both factions in jeopardy.
"OWL, go there and kill stuff.”
Aside from the abnormally slow start, Killzone: Shadow Fall as a campaign, doesn’t do a lot wrong. It doesn’t do a lot that’s innovative either, which is a shame. While the story is enjoyable – the ending is actually pretty great too – and the action is entertaining, it’s the pacing and varied tasks that are Shadow Fall’s shining light. One mission you’ll be in a small sandbox environment, allowed to choose your own path, then the next mission you’ll be in an eerie, Dead Space-esque, derelict space station solving puzzles. There’s corridor shooter segments, on-rails shooter sections, freefall moments and loud, explosive set-pieces. And that’s the problem; it's all been done before, and better too in most instances. The thing that ties the set-pieces all together to make for a gratifying romp, is the pacing and delivery of them all as a whole package.
It does have its issues though, despite doing most things rather well. For one, there’s some rather oddly placed difficulty spikes, some in sections that really could have been done with being cut from the game full stop – like a particular freefall section into a decimated city. Then there’s a distinct lack of signposting at times, some sporadically placed checkpoints, some rather ridiculous enemy AI, as well as some collision detection issues with various bits of the environment. Nonetheless, there’s some great environmental destruction at times that can turn the battle in your favour. The moment we shot down some metal shutters that were blocking powerful, deadly rays of sun to melt Helghast foes was just... just wow.
It’s hard not to take a shine to Killzone: Shadow Fall for its presentation, and that’s where a lot of the joy comes from. The visuals are stunning, especially for a launch title on a new piece of tech, but it’s the artistic direction that wins Shadow Fall the most points. Long gone are the days where Killzone is a monochromatic cesspit of browns and greys. Vekta is a diverse futuristic city with bold primary colours, flickering neon signs and enough lens flare to give JJ Abrams a chubby. It’s almost as if Mirror’s Edge had a threesome with Blade Runner and the new era of Star Trek. The audio is just as delightful too, ranging from subtle synth to in your face orchestral bombast, depending on the action that unfolds before your eyes.
The Helghast have plenty of annoying flying drone things.
As a Shadow Marshall, Lucas has access to a bunch of cool new tools, which play a lot into the freedom of Shadow Fall’s combat. The major new addition is the OWL, a combat drone, who is at your disposal throughout the majority of the game. OWL allows Lucas to get assisted firepower, deploy a shield wherever he wishes, stun enemies, use a zipwire to navigate the environment quicker, and also hack terminals and command posts – heck, OWL can even revive you with adrenaline if you’re down.
The coolest new feature at your disposal though, especially coming from a stealth aficionado, is the ‘tactical echo,’ which allows Lucas to ping a sonar-like emission into the environment to scan for local enemies and points of interest. It ultimately means you can treat Shadow Fall as a more tactical shooter, rather than a run-and-gun affair – although that is equally as possible. Lucas also has access to the LSR44, a Shadow Marshall rifle, which is a high-powered assault rifle that doubles up as a charged range weapon. Stunning weapon, yes, but annoying that you can’t drop it for other weapons when you’re short on ammo.
Once the campaign credits have rolled, multiplayer is where Shadow Fall’s longevity lies. Not as robust as your traditional corridor-shooter offerings, but nevertheless an enjoyable romp. While there are modes for newcomers, various capture modes and 24-player team deathmatch, the Classic Warzone playlist is, as usual, the main draw for players. For those new to the series, Warzone takes place across multiple rounds with varying objectives, from capture and defend, to deathmatch. It’s a great mode – as always – and with some truly impressive visuals, there’s a lot of fun to be had.
Unfortunately the servers are relatively quiet at present, even so close to the North American launch, but hopefully the European launch could reinvigorate things online. If the worst comes to the worst, there’s bots to fall back on, although that's hardly ideal. With a wealth of customisation, ten maps, a fairly deep progression system and various abilities for the three class system – assault, scout and support – the only drawback online is the cluttered UI at the backend.
Shadow Fall multiplayer: also really pretty.
In terms of trophies, it’s a mixed bunch, it really is. On the one hand there are some cool trophies for killing enemies while on a zipline, and some neat mid-mission requirements to achieve, but on the other hand there are way too many multiplayer trophies, which seem to be balanced towards the spend-way-too-much-of-my-life-playing-Killzone-multiplayer bracket. A doing the campaign without dying trophy is a cheap way to artificially extend the life of the game too. While the list isn’t inherently bad, it’s not great either. It’s decent enough.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is ultimately a great game, despite all of its issues. Sure, it may have borrowed all of the well-worn clichés from the FPS genre, offering not much in the way of innovation, but that’s not the point. It’s a well put together game with superb production values, pitch-perfect pacing and a great deal of variety within the campaign. Multiplayer is also a competent and enjoyable affair, making Shadow Fall a package that every PlayStation 4 owner should own. A game that kicks the PlayStation 4 generation era off with a bang, Killzone: Shadow Fall is Guerrilla Games finest Killzone to date.
Brilliant stuff from beginning to end. The sound design, from the guns and the musical score, complements the stunning visuals.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is easily the most attractive next-gen game we’ve seen yet – on either system.
Killzone games of old could be described as clunky, slow, a little stiff, but not anymore. Guerilla Games has carved out a great engine here and nailed it.
The campaign, while hardly innovative, is actually rather great. Good pacing, great variety, all Guerilla could have done to better it was actually try something new and come up with its own ideas.
Some good, some bad, but on the whole, a decent enough list.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is an interesting one. It’s a game that does nothing innovative or remarkable, but one that is well-paced, enjoyable and has stellar presentation and production values, both visually and from a sound design aspect. You’ll enjoy most of it, but it’s not the killer-app that Sony – or you, for that matter – may have wanted.