Thanks to the delay of some PlayStation 4 launch games, Killzone: Shadow Fall became the most anticipated game for the new console. All eyes suddenly were on Guerrilla Games newest shooter… But could the game deliver? After long days of testing, we can clearly say that the game is the best launch game on PlayStation 4.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is different than other Killzone games. Where former Killzone games offered smaller and compact environments for intensive shoot-outs, Shadow Fall offers lager and more beautiful environments. This is one of those launch games that truly shows off the power of the new console. No other (console) shooter can be compared to the beauty that Shadow Fall has to offer. While playing, you’ll often be stunned by the gorgeous sci-fi world that was created for this game.
Everything in the world of Shadow Fall looks incredibly sharp and clear. Killzone is known for rather dark environments but Shadow Fall is the opposite. It offers a lot of bright nature-colors and shows off the planet Vekta in a very realistic way. The planet looks real thanks to the beautiful nature and extraordinary light-effects. Thanks to the lager environments you’ll find yourself gazing at this beautiful planet more than you should actually do. When playing Shadow Fall, it will become very clear what this next-generation system is capable to do.
Not only the planet looks incredible. Guerilla Games made sure that characters in the game looked as close to real-life humans as possible. Facial Expressions therefore look like in movies and sometimes you’ll be able to see raindrops on the faces as well. Aside of the characters, everything else looks great. The water, the architecture of buildings and of course the gunshots and explosions look like they were taking from a movie. We have nothing but love for the new visual style but how does Shadow Fall play? What about the story?
This time you’ll take control over Lucas Kellan, a gifted soldier of the elite Shadow Marshalls. Lucas lost his father at a young age by the hands of the Helghans. Lucas is raised by the army and is forced to be part of the ancient war between the Helghans and Vektans. The story of this war was told in other Killzone games but for the first time in the franchise’ history, you’ll get to see the more human side of the Helghans.
Due to years of war, the home planet of the Helgan is destroyed and can’t host any life forms. The Helgan live on the same planet as the Vektans now, divided by a big wall. Since the Helgan are the Vektans archenemies, they made sure the Helgan lived in poor conditions will the Vektans gained all the money. Needless to say, this resulted in a lot of tensions and a new war at the end. It’s your job to take part in this war and stop the Helgan once more. For the first time however, you’ll get the feeling that the Helgan aren’t that evil as first thought. Without spoiling too much, it’s safe to say that Shadow Fall has the most interesting story yet.
Shadow Fall has the most interesting story yet.
An interesting story and beautiful graphics, so far so good. Now let’s delve deeper into the true gameplay of this Shadow Fall. Fans of the franchise will immediately feel at home since the control-scheme basically remained the same. The controls remained rather cumbersome and the story remained dark as. Guerrilla Games included some game-changing innovations on the other hand as well.
As said before, the world you play in is big, this means you’ll be able to walk around in bigger environments. At the very start of the campaign you’ll find yourself wandering around in a big and open forest. Those bigger environments are meant to offer more choice in the way you want to play. No longer will you be forced to take out enemies in intense shoot-outs, you’ll also be able to pick the more stealthy approach and kill your targets without them knowing you’re there. This ‘semi free-roaming’ sounds great on paper but in the end you’ll notice that Killzone remained an intense first person shooter. The stealthy assassin is never as powerful as the more aggressive shoot-out way of playing the game. Giving you this freedom resulted in some rather odd missions throughout the game. Killzone isn’t meant to be a tactical shooter so Guerrilla Games didn’t had to include those sequences at all.
Another unnecessary gimmick are the technological gadgets you have. We have to admit, scanning the environments for weapons and enemies is handy but results in a slower pace, just like your newest gadget: the Owl. The Owl is the perfect tool to demonstrate the DualShock 4 controller, the Owl can only be controlled on the controller’ Touch Pad. Be swiping in a certain direction, you give your Owl a command. You can for example command your Owl to take down some of the enemies. This works great and gives you a certain feeling of power but when you’re facing a lot of enemies at once, you’ll forget about the Owl. During intense shoot-outs you’ll always fall back on your own skills and won’t have the feeling you need to use the Owl. It’s a shame this gadget never lives up to its potential but this proves once more that Killzone is meant to be played with a more aggressive approach.
It’s a shame that the bigger environments and new gadgets often result in forced stealth or slower paced fragments in the game. Shadow Fall isn’t a long game at all and it still has some traditional intense shoot-out sections, it’s a shame that the other sections often slower the pace of this game. We understand that Guerrilla Games wanted to show off the new technology but it’s a shame it has to come at this price. The singleplayer isn’t bad at all and features some of the best action scenes a shooter has to offer but isn’t as great as we might have hoped thanks to the slower pace.
You’re not alone.
A Killzone game wouldn’t be a Killzone game without a multiplayer. The multiplayer in Shadow Fall offers the same graphic wonders as in the singleplayer. Aside of the most beautiful multiplayer yet, it’s fun to play as well. The well-known Warzone-mode is back and is better than ever. In Warzone you’ll have to complete several challengers in order to win the battle. The team who completed the most challenges at the end, claims victory. It’s great to see that the multiplayer remained fast, beautiful and aggressive.
Just like in previous Killzone games you’ll also be able to customize your weapons. New to this system is that you’ll have to earn some upgrades by clearing some challenges like a certain amount of headshots. Once you cleared several challengers you’ll be able to take your new weapon into combat.
The multiplayer offers some more traditional game-modes as well but thanks to the level-design and beautiful environments it stays fresh every time you play it. The multiplayer compensates the rather short singleplayer and is a big part of this game.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is without a doubt the best PlayStation 4 launch game out there and really shows off what the system is capable of. It’s a shame that some of the innovations led to a slower pace and this doesn’t fit the franchise that well. Shadow Fall therefore isn’t that good as we might have hoped for but what remains is a solid solo and brilliant multiplayer experience. All in all Shadow Fall is the game you need to play when you buy your new PlayStation 4 console.
