Welcome to the next generation of WeView. While we’ve covered cross generations titles in WeView before, this is our first foray into truly next generation games, and we’re starting with one of the PS4’s launch exclusives.
So, Killzone Shadow Fall then. It stepped away from the narrative set up in the previous Killzone games and focused on a new world, years later, where Helghast and ISA live side-by-side, separated by a wall.
While the campaign had a rocky start, the pace soon picked up, exploring everywhere from empty space vessels to destroyed worlds. It might not have been the greatest story, even from the Killzone universe, but it brought some interesting issues – as the series always seems to manage – into play, which Aran covered in his Matter of Perspective article.
I reviewed the game, and focused on the incredible set-pieces throughout, as well as the excellent visuals which formed the new setting. This was backed up by solid shooting mechanics, though let down by not exploring the issues that the setting created so wonderfully. I said in my review:
Killzone Shadow Fall is an extremely solid shooter. You won’t be getting the best story here – but it’s decent, particularly if you like the Universe – and it doesn’t bravely explore social issues as much as it could’ve in the single player campaign. It’s a campaign which starts off with inconsistent, open area sections that really miss the mark, but quite literally brings it all together as the game progresses to create something that’s genuinely fun.
So, a good single player campaign, which was achieved with great shooting mechanics. It also had good multiplayer section, though one which had unwelcome changes to the ranking system. I continued:
The multiplayer brings those solid shooting mechanics and blends it with something that’s very familiar for Killzone fans. It perhaps evolves in the wrong directions and some design choices are very strange and might even hinder your experience, but the amount of customisation and fun on offer here is paramount, and the game succeeds in that regard.
There you have it, both of these sections made a great game but one which could have been better in certain areas, so in the end it got an 8/10. If you’re interested in reading more about the multiplayer, then make sure to read our top ten tips.
The real question here is what did you think – did the game do the PS4’s launch line-up justice, where Knack couldn’t and with Driveclub delayed? Let us know in the comments below. Leave a paragraph or two with your thoughts, then follow that up with a Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It rating. If you get your comment in by Sunday, we might even include it in next week’s Verdict round-up.
Eldaveo
Campaign is spoiled by a couple of dreadful chapters (7 and 8), but the multiplayer is really enjoyable and has kept me entertained for hours.
Providing you enjoy online shooters, I strongly suggest you BUY IT (especially now it is around £15).
tonycawley
Wouldn’t that be” bargain bin it” the? Lol ;-)
brnconnell
Had a blast playing the single player, my favourite off all Kz games. Had one go of mp and remembered why I hate mp shooters so traded in. RENT IT
Tuffcub
Multiplayer is superb – mostly. However the continued insistance to update the number of challenges is INFURIATING. I was up to 72% completed before the Insurgent DLC and that knocked me down to below 50% which is very demotivating. Stop moving the sodding goal posts.
But generally awesome all round. BUY IT. So I can SHOOT YOU IN THE FACE.
ron_mcphatty
Since it’s a landmark WeView, and I don’t have a PS4 yet but should be able to get one by July, can I throw a spanner in the works and ask should I buy a PS4 for this game? Alternatively, I could wait until near Christmas and hope for a price drop and new games.
Blair Inglis
Not for this one alone, no, but ALL of the games!
Eldaveo
If you intend to play the multiplayer, I absolutely think its worth buying a PS4 for Killzone.
Killzone and the PS+ titles are keeping me occupied right now and should hopefully do so until Christmas, where there will be plenty of new titles to play :)
The only risk of course is that you don’t get into the online component, then you are left with a crappy campaign and not much else.
lilisdad
That’s exactly what I’m doing. PlayStation plus games and killzone. Until something worthwhile comes out. Doesn’t appear to be much choice apart from shooters and Fifa.
ron_mcphatty
Thanks guys, good advice! I do have a pile of cross-but titles now and a copy of Shadow Fall (silly fleabay seller sent me that instead of KZ3, I didn’t complain!), so Im fairly convinced a PS4 with some plus multiplayer and games too will be more than enough for a few months of games.
djdustb
I now think this is a great game however for a while I thought it was just OK and at times disappointing. Firstly I really struggled with the single player mode as the I have colour blindness issues and the objective marker was just too difficult to see this combined with a more open world feel made the game too frustrating to play for any period of time. I especially struggled in the forest level once back into a darker environment I was OK. This thankfully was patched and so I tried again and I am glad I did. The single player was great fun, I was not a fan of the falling levels but the others were great even if the story was a bit weak and the acting a bit hammy (but most shooters are like this).
The multiplayer has me hooked I cannot stop playing it (I even had to remove the disk from the drive otherwise whenever I turned the PS4 I would ignore all other games to have a quick game (which then lasts two hours!) The maps and updates are all welcome and really add to it with the new classes and weapons. The lack of levelling up I found strange at first but now I love the idea of seeing a completed challenge come up on screen and working out what I can go for next.
I wouldn’t say to buy a PS4 for this game but I would say to buy this for the PS4 (if that makes sense). BUY IT.
tactical20
Single player started slow, but the middle section was absolutely great. Loved the hijacked train level and the levels in the slums and containers. Unfortunately, I found the last few levels boring again. I’ve not played the Multiplayer, so can’t comment on that. I’d usually say rent it, but as you can get copies for cheap now and the fact there aren’t many other PS4 games available, I’d say buy it.
psychobudgie
Single player was good but with some noticeable problems, particularly towards the end of the campaign. However the multiplayer is as excellent as always and based upon that I would say buy it, but if you are only interested in single player bargain bin it, which is pretty easy as I picked it up new with the metal box for £20.
Gastos84
I thought the opening levels were boring and laborious, which didn’t make me overly positive for the rest of the game. The other issue I had is that at no point, and this may be a lack of info pre-release on my part, did I realise that it was going to be a stealth game. Had I known this from the start I could have adjusted earlier.
With that said, once I did adjust and put the opener behind me I thoroughly enjoyed it. It looked nice in parts and felt fairly solid, although I think more thought could have gone into making the trackpad interaction a real positive.
It couldn’t have been worse than KZ3, let’s put it that way! I think Guerilla are forever going to be playing catch up to the near perfect FPS that was KZ2. Can’t comment on MP.
I say Rent….then buy!
Andrewww
It’s Killzone, so there’s no question: buy it. However, after probably about 3/4 of the campaign I’ve put it aside to play other things. I’ll definitely come back to it and finish it, but the story’s not as good as KZ:M’s, it’s better than KZ3, but topping one of my all-time favorites KZ2 is just very difficult.
Best bit for me was the level ‘The doctor’ in the creepy space laboratory, in which you didn’t know what to expect, so that was quite creepy.
TSBonyman
While it has the best visuals of the series due to the PS4’s grunt, in comparison to KZ2 and KZ3 the gameplay is a very mixed bag. Some sections are quite enjoyable but some others are really frustrating to say the least. I haven’t even completed it yet due to one section where the enemies seem to be spawning endlessly and i keep dying.
I don’t find using the touchpad in the least bit intuitive, it’s always an awkward fumble trying to get it to do what i want in a pinch.
Now that i’ve played most of it, i can understand the mixed reviews it got and would say Bargain Bin it, as there should be plenty of secondhand copies about by now.