Killzone Shadow Fall review

Killzone has long been Sony’s leading sci-fi shooter, yet it’s never gained the same level of presence, or sales, as arch-rival Halo. That game smashed genre conceptions when it launched alongside the Xbox, rapidly turning the console (and it’s successor, the Xbox 360) to the system of choice for such games, in part thanks to their controllers’ superior analogue sticks.

Killzone Shadow Fall then has a huge opportunity to turn around FPS gamers preference for the Xbox brand. It too has launched alongside a new console, the PS4, and it too benefits from a new and much improved controller, the DualShock 4, but that alone may not be enough to bring the series the success that has eluded it to date.

SHOCK ME

The DualShock 4 has certainly been given a chance to shine here. Guerilla’s confidence in the much-improved analogue sticks is such that it has removed aim assist from the game entirely. This is practically unheard of for a console FPS, with the likes of Call of Duty and Halo both having a certain stickiness when you pass the cursor over an enemy.

Another close miss, though we can’t blame the DualShock 4

At first we pined for some assistance, and eventually we had to dial down our sensitivity a little to get the accuracy we needed. This then makes rapid turns harder and so encourages a slower, more tactical approach. Get outflanked in this game and there’s little chance of recovering unscathed.

The touchpad also comes into use, though only as an additional four-way controller. By swiping across it you can get your OWL, a personal robotic combat drone, to attack or stun enemies, hack alarm systems, put up an energy shield, or set-up a zipline to allow for quick downwards moves. These open up your tactical options immensely and provide numerous ways to approach each situation. Try playing without using the OWL and you’ll find it tough going indeed.

TEAR DOWN THIS WALL

Thankfully though you’re one tough hombre, a Shadow Marshal carying out deniable missions for the ISA special forces. Your home planet Vekta has been split in two, with the augmented-human Helghast race settling the other half. Though the Helghast have always been portrayed as something close to space nazis, the series’ moral compass has always been far more ambiguous – as in the excellent Killzone Mercenary on the PS Vita.

Amazingly, given the appearance of the Helghast, they aren’t clear cut bad guys

The current Vektans only settled the planet after the the original settlers rebelled against earth and were pushed off the planet to the far-harsher Helghan – becoming the Helghast in the process. They did then invade Vekta, but it was the Vektans who then destroyed Helghan, forcing the resettlement of their enemy onto their own planet. The resulting scenario has strong parallels with modern day Israel, with no one having a clear moral upper hand.

Your more personal story starts with you as a refugee and quickly provides you with both the motivation to hate the Helghast, and a dubious father figure egging you on. The missions are varied, for an FPS at least, with the game quickly taking-in fantastic detailed-packed urban landscapes, lush forests and rocky cliffs, plus chilling zero-g in a spaceship turned tomb.

GENERATION GAME

All these environments are rendered in exquisite detail by what is undoubtedly the best-looking next-gen launch game. Rays of light pour through the fronds of gently swaying trees, diffuse through smoke and dust, and get chopped by rotating ventilation fans. It’s gloriously over the top at the times, but it’s still glorious.

The lighting effects will impress time-and-time again

Textures are highly-detailed and the geometry of even rockfaces is convincing complex. Plastics take on just the right sheen under strong lighting, while skin has a slight translucent depth which makes it far more believable. The environments are at times mind-blowing, with the camera spinning away from one highly-detailed location and then out over a high-rise futuristic city, all without dropping a frame. It runs at 30fps trouble-free in single-player and looks close to 60fps in multiplayer.

And the materials effects are very impressive too

The audio is equally impressive with accurately modelled sound that reflects off nearby surfaces. The PS4 outputs all this as uncompressed PCM audio, so the whole thing sounds as good as a Blu-ray movie.

LOCK AND LOAD

A multiplayer shooter without auto-aim should give highly-practiced players an advantage on paper, but Killzone’s three-class system makes player abilities and co-operation just as important as twitch skills and weapon choice.

The Assault, Scout and Support classes each have one core ability and a selection of secondary abilities. The Assault class can place a small force field in front of him to absorb incoming fire, and pair this with a speed dash (to get to key choke points first), a stun blast (to disorient foes attacking from any direction), or a combat drone (to increase your own firepower).

The support class can resurrect dead colleagues with full health and ammo, and can choose from abilities such as placing temporary spawn points or automated turrets. The scout can pinpoint enemies for himself and his team using a short-range sonar ability, as well as choose from a cloaking device, stun drone or emergency teleport -great for snipers who need to relocate in a hurry.

The multiplayer revolves around intelligent use of your class abilities, such as this shield

With all three classes working as a team you can dominate a disorganised enemy, even if they’re much quicker on the trigger. With shields in the right places, turrets covering your rear, scouts marking incoming enemies, support medics and a mobile spawn point, you can set yourself up in an almost invulnerable position.

The game won’t let you keep this up for long though, as the game type switches dynamically during a single round. One minute you’ll be playing search and destroy, the next domination, and the next team deathmatch. There are loads of multiplayer options too, and you can craft a warzone to your exact desires and put it up online for others to try. If it gets popular it can shoot up the rankings and appear on the recommended warzone list.

DANGER ZONE

Killzone’s problem is that what most intrigued and thrilled us at the beginning is quickly left behind. One early level has echoes of Halo, with multiple objectives spread across a forested area and many ways to make best use of your toys to achieve them. We replayed it numerous times, but there’s nothing quite like it further on. The game is also too quick to leave the divided Vekta behind with its cultural collision and moral complexity.

Killzone looks fantastic, and plays well, but doesn’t quite live up to its potential

Killzone Shadow Fall could have been a game to match the original Halo, five stars and awards aplenty. However, it fails to live up to its own opening act – maybe the developer simply ran out of time with an immovable deadline looming. It’s still a good game and an undoubted technical achievement, with an intriguing multi-player element; but the single-player campaign left us hankering for a sequel before we even finished it, and not in a good way.

That said, if you have a PS4 and like shooters then you should still buy Killzone Shadow Fall. It’s not quite worth buying a PS4 to play, but it’s still a very good game.