|
|
|
KILLZONE SHADOW FALL (PS4)
|
Publisher: Sony.
Developer: Guerrilla Games. Released: November 2013. Genre: FPS. Posted 28th September 2017. By Tom Clare © 2017 |
With a talented development house in Guerrilla Games and the formidable new DECIMA engine at their fingertips, Killzone Shadow Fall was set fair, on paper at least, to become a first-rate launch title from which to springboard the PlayStation 4's eighth-gen challenge. In a technical sense, Shadow Fall succeeds where few launch games have done so before, offering a decent amount of content and largely avoiding the pitfalls associated with day-one releases. However, an unmemorable, dour campaign is beset by pacing issues and difficulty spikes, meaning the game fails to recapture the visceral energy of its PS3 predecessors.
Presentation is a key factor for any launch title, and here Shadow Fall delivers the goods. With a range of titles sharing last-gen releases with their PS4 counterparts (Need for Speed Rivals, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Assassin's Creed IV to name but a few), Guerilla’s effort benefited from a sole development platform, presenting a sci-fi shooter on a grand scale. As a consequence, it's likely the best-looking game of the initial selection. Whilst the general design of Shadow Fall's environs borders on bland at times, its huge cityscapes and enormous vantage points reveal the breadth of the system's graphical capabilities. Whilst neither the clarity nor the character detail exhibit the PS4 to its ultimate potential, the game nevertheless handles large locations and busy action sequences without a hitch. The result is an admirable early showcase that makes greater use of new hardware than its PS3 launch equivalent Resistance: Fall of Man.
That Shadow Fall is a bit disappointing next to its explosive PS3 predecessors is perhaps understandable, given what we've come to expect of launch titles over the last twenty years or so. What's surprising however, is that its flaws manifest in a different form to that which might have expected. Normally, issues include a new wave of era-specific bugs that future games would seek to iron-out, and the style over substance dilemma, as befell Ridge Racer V and many others, where the focus shifts entirely to the aesthetics, at the expense of content or innovation. Shadow Fall actually runs really well; if Guerrilla had any teething problems developing for PS4, then there's little evidence of any technical frailties, and its even confident enough to parade a number of huge, vista shots from the tops of skyscrapers or from dropship briefings. It's also in no way anaemic from a content point of view, with the main story harbouring ten decent-sized chapters and a Hard difficulty option that offers a stern test. Furthermore, there's no fewer than seventeen multiplayer maps and a meaty array of options on hand for players seeking a post-completion fix.
Breaking FPS laws that prohibit expressive colour palettes
|
He'll have even more to moan about in a minute
|
But having honed the formula for weighty console shooting more or less to a tee by the release of Killzone 3, Shadow Fall is an exercise in frustration. You'll witness glimpses of a truly grandstanding action game, only for it to undo the good work with questionable design choices and frequent, severe difficulty spikes. You'd have thought Killzone would have been just the game to deliver a show-stopping display of shoot 'em up action, but for a Guerrilla game, it's surprisingly subdued at times. The opening treats you to a slightly peculiar, clumsy tutorial where you relive a traumatic childhood experience as the young Lucas Kellan, and the early parts of his adventure focus more on awkward, large-scale stealth sections, where the A.I. is excessively sensitive. Stealth sections have worked for the series, but typically in small doses. Sneaking sections here don't play to Shadow Fall's strengths however, as when you're inevitably spotted by Helghast, they trip alarms and send repeatedly for back-up, leaving you to wade through recycled gunfights in order to silence the security. There's also an annoying propensity to drop the player into frustrating free-fall situations that feel like parlour tricks designed to draw focus back to its graphical clout.
Shadow Fall's tone is less gung-ho than you'd expect, a conscious decision that stems from a story that opts for a markedly heavier, more thought-provoking approach than the series has been known for. Lucas's teaming up with a Helghan spy known as Echo ads a little intrigue to the established war game formula, but in truth, none of the game's characters, good or bad, are nuanced enough to make its credible themes work, and the ending feels flat.
It finds its blasting chops, belatedly, following an atmospheric, Dead Space-esque trawl through a deserted spaceship. The shooting is competent if unspectacular, workmanlike. It evokes more comparisons with the slightly less refined, PlayStation 2 original Killzone. You've a mechanised OWL turret that can be sent in to stun or shoot foes, or to provide an occasional zipline across gaps too big to jump. It's okay, though seemingly a half-hearted means of peddling the PS4 controller's new swipe/touchpad.
Shadow Fall's tone is less gung-ho than you'd expect, a conscious decision that stems from a story that opts for a markedly heavier, more thought-provoking approach than the series has been known for. Lucas's teaming up with a Helghan spy known as Echo ads a little intrigue to the established war game formula, but in truth, none of the game's characters, good or bad, are nuanced enough to make its credible themes work, and the ending feels flat.
It finds its blasting chops, belatedly, following an atmospheric, Dead Space-esque trawl through a deserted spaceship. The shooting is competent if unspectacular, workmanlike. It evokes more comparisons with the slightly less refined, PlayStation 2 original Killzone. You've a mechanised OWL turret that can be sent in to stun or shoot foes, or to provide an occasional zipline across gaps too big to jump. It's okay, though seemingly a half-hearted means of peddling the PS4 controller's new swipe/touchpad.
Personally, I'd have spelt it "burned", but a crisis is a crisis, I suppose
|
The zero-gravity bits look fantastic
|
Killzone can reliably cite audio amongst its strongest suits, and here it's accomplished without ever quite grabbing you by the scruff of the neck, with less memorable music than its recent predecessors. Nevertheless, you can expect the usual array of guttural gunfire and Helghan taunts (always good fun). Multiplayer offers a more exciting setup than the single-player. Whilst the game modes will be familiar to fans of the series, a strong mix of team disciplines including team deathmatch and a number of variants on beacon capture are aided by an excellent selection of maps and a vast development tree for those chasing trophies and titles. Whilst the maps sometimes feel a little large for the twelve-man encounters that you'll mostly be involved in, the range is great, as is the option to use bots to deputise for missing players, meaning there's always plenty of action to get stuck into.
So can Guerrilla Games' PS4 launch effort be considered a success? Yes, in a sense, but a qualified one. It's very solid, there's plenty of content and it looks pretty, if a little derivative. It's also an easy recommendation for early adopters focused on finding a durable, eighth-gen multiplayer experience. However, the campaign is a disappointment, whilst the shooting and level design are simply not up to the standards of previous instalments. In simple terms, Shadow Fall is a decent launch title, just not a very good Killzone game.
So can Guerrilla Games' PS4 launch effort be considered a success? Yes, in a sense, but a qualified one. It's very solid, there's plenty of content and it looks pretty, if a little derivative. It's also an easy recommendation for early adopters focused on finding a durable, eighth-gen multiplayer experience. However, the campaign is a disappointment, whilst the shooting and level design are simply not up to the standards of previous instalments. In simple terms, Shadow Fall is a decent launch title, just not a very good Killzone game.
|
|
|
|
|
VERDICT
Visual: 8/10
Audio: 6/10 Gameplay: 5/10 Longevity: 6/10 OVERALL: 6/10 |
PIXEL SECONDS: KILLZONE SHADOW FALL (PS4)
Shadow Fall marks a disappointing entry into what has been a mostly great series. As a launch title for the PS4, it certainly showcases the power of the new hardware, with stunning vistas and lifelike characters buoyed by a smooth engine, which keeps the action crisp. What isn’t a step forward is its mediocre campaign, which mixes a sterile and pretentious story with middling gameplay set-pieces, which emphasise visual grandeur over natural shooting. In trying to seek an identity away from its predecessors, it ironically ends up feeling like a poor man’s The Last of Us or any number of other modern stealth/shooter hybrids. Some battles feel great, while other set-pieces which usually focus on stealth prove infuriating. It makes for a dull time, overall. The multiplayer somewhat improves matters, allowing you to partake in large-scale Warzones as well as smartly implemented bots to fill any possible gaps. It’s not perfect, as maps feel like they were going for scale over intelligent design, but it can offer some no-frills, classed-based shooting somewhat resembling the old Killzone. In the end, it’ll be a decent rental for fans of the series, but this once-lauded shooter may have just consigned itself to the shadows. [5] - Shane Battams © 2017
Shadow Fall marks a disappointing entry into what has been a mostly great series. As a launch title for the PS4, it certainly showcases the power of the new hardware, with stunning vistas and lifelike characters buoyed by a smooth engine, which keeps the action crisp. What isn’t a step forward is its mediocre campaign, which mixes a sterile and pretentious story with middling gameplay set-pieces, which emphasise visual grandeur over natural shooting. In trying to seek an identity away from its predecessors, it ironically ends up feeling like a poor man’s The Last of Us or any number of other modern stealth/shooter hybrids. Some battles feel great, while other set-pieces which usually focus on stealth prove infuriating. It makes for a dull time, overall. The multiplayer somewhat improves matters, allowing you to partake in large-scale Warzones as well as smartly implemented bots to fill any possible gaps. It’s not perfect, as maps feel like they were going for scale over intelligent design, but it can offer some no-frills, classed-based shooting somewhat resembling the old Killzone. In the end, it’ll be a decent rental for fans of the series, but this once-lauded shooter may have just consigned itself to the shadows. [5] - Shane Battams © 2017