Shadow Fall is undoubtedly one of the PlayStation 4’s most divisive launch titles. It may have stunned viewers during Sony’s big unveiling last year but the finished product failed to garner the same fanfare on release.
Instead of churning out a direct follow-up to Killzone 3, Guerrilla Games tried something different with Shadow Fall. Incremental changes to the series’ existing gameplay were combined with a new, more covert single player campaign, drawing a variety of responses from fans.
Some absolutely loved it while others weren’t so enthusiastic. The story, in my opinion fell flat, focused on a small cluster of characters thrown into an age of deception and surveillance following the war on Helghan. The slight change in pace, spacious environments, and use of gadgets were also divisive among players, some of whom longed for the gritty trench fighting they were used to.
After hearing from both sides and with a wad of cash burning a hole in my pocket, I was still unsure I would like Shadow Fall but took the plunge regardless.
Truth be told, I felt rather underwhelmed. Though it certainly showcased the power of the PlayStation 4, I just couldn’t get over the clunky campaign and lack of any real narrative substance. This inevitably tainted my multiplayer experience too and it wasn’t long before Shadow Fall was returned to the shelf. I didn’t think it was a poor game, not by any means. It just didn’t live up to the jaw-dropping debut trailer Sony had used to kickstart another rickety hype train.
Recently, however, I did return to Shadow Fall. After blitzing the last few stages of the campaign I still felt largely indifferent; the ending did little to uplift what was a fairly mediocre slog through a series of shooting galleries. I was ready to retire the game for good this time but something stopped me. Booting the online multiplayer up once again, I thought I’d give Shadow Fall one last chance and I’m glad I did.
In truth, it’s not the most riveting online game on the market. There’s a small selection of modes scattered across a growing catalogue of digital landscapes. Compared to genre leaders Battlefield and Call of Duty, even now it is nowhere near as accessible or expansive yet has a certain irresistible charm.
For me this was the Shadow Fall’s flagship “Warzone” game mode. Team Deathmatch is usually my go-to choice in most multiplayer games yet in Killzone you’d be a mug to pass up its objective-based firefight simulation.
Two teams of twelve face off in a series of four rounds, ranging from the CTF-style “Beacon Theft” to a control point tug of war. What’s unique about Warzone is that there is no interlude in between stages; as soon as one round is resolved, you transition seamlessly into the next.
This single dynamic spews forth an amalgam of gameplay possibilities when locked in battle. Momentum and positioning soon become key thanks to class abilities and equipment such as spawn beacons, turrets, and aerial drones.
The downside to all this is how chaotic these online skirmishes can become. The constant spawning of troops amidst a sea of bullets and grenades can sometimes feel exhausting and even bizarre when you consider the game’s clunky gunplay and navigation. However, even today, Warzone feels like a fresh experience every time I jump in and play.
I didn’t immediately fall in love with the multiplayer; it took a few long sessions to finally “get” what Shadow Fall’s online play actually wanted from me. With that said, it pulled me away from the precipice and ultimately saved my copy of Killzone being flogged to the nearest GAME or CEX.
That’s not to say it’s by any means perfect. Shadow Fall’s progression system is a particular aspect that goes from being a neat innovation to something, I felt, counterintuitive. Instead of gaining experience points and ranking up, players’ scores are simply stockpiled and made visible via their online profiles. The only way to “level-up” as per se is to complete challenges, ranging from “get X kills with X” to “complete X matches” and other specific accolades.
As mentioned before, it starts off as a fun alternative to your traditional XP grinding. However, once you start to cruise towards the 400-mark many of the challenges start to dry up. You will find yourself going out of your way – sometimes imposing strict conditions on your play style – just to get that one step closer to completion.
These same challenges are required to unlock the best gear in multiplayer. From enhanced abilities to weapon attachments, you need to put in a fair amount of graft to make sure you’re on par with Shadow Fall’s toughest online hot shots. Getting noob-tubed in Call of Duty is frustrating: it’s a cheap tactic and one that works rather efficiently. Getting noob-tubed in Shadow Fall, however, is even more frustrating when you know how far away you are from unlocking the insta kill add-on.
If you have a copy collecting dust or stashed away somewhere, it’s definitely worth revisiting even just for an hour or so of online antics. Killzone, like most online shooters, definitely has that “burnout” moment though it kicks in much faster than its more popular FPS counter-parts.
Tuffcub
Am I allowed to disagree with all of this? :)
Battlefield as a lot less accessable than Killzone.
There isnt a “selection of modes” there are thousands, you can create your own.
You think Challenges start falling off near 400? Try when you get over 1,300. THEN they get difficult. (there about 2,400 challenges now)
And you are playing it wrong. The whole point of the challenges is to MAKE you change play style, that is the whole point of Killzone. You can’t just be Sniper, you have to change tactics, weapons and abilities depending on the situation. If you do that, the challenges rack up very quickly and you dont actually “Grind” anything, they occur naturally as you are constantly change play style.
Start as Support. Run out, drop a spawn beacon near the objective, next time you die, Assault with the Zapper beacon thing, next time, support again with scanning beacon, next time, Sniper with guard drone. Do that quick enough and you can have four extra doobrydoodahs racking up scans, scores and kills, plus kills from the different wapons from the classes.
See. Playing it wrong :)
Blair Inglis
Disagree with all of it? So you don’t think the multiplayer is good?
Tuffcub
No, it’s not good, its AWESOMESAUCE.
Pitcher-T
I’ve got to agree with Tuffcub here. In the era of ‘me too’ versions of call of duty and battlefield, I find Killzone to be a refreshing alternative to the online multiplayer games.
Jim Hargreaves
There are thousands of playlists. Literally. But in terms of the modes that make up those lists, there aren’t a huge amount. Especially if your looking at the most populated lobbies.
Fair enough if you enjoy grinding the challenges but to me they felt laboured towards the 400-mark. For instance, getting a better Drone Buddy for the Assault requires a tedious amount of kills. However, the Drone is so useless at level one that you would be lucky to scrape one kill with it per game.
Nothing wrong with wanting an XP meter on top of challenges so players don’t feel like they’re chasing very narrow objectives.
Tuffcub
Go to the “Ability boosting” warzone, no weapons are allowed, only abilites. Fire up your drone and rack up those kills. Alternatively go to Pistols only and do the same.
Easy.
And going to the most populated lobbies is the surest way of NOT getting challenges. Less players = More chance of achieving objectives. Got to a quiet Warzone and you can get 8-10 challenges completed in one match. I managed 25 in one game.
Tuffcub
I think you’re having a hard time because you are sticking to the two main Warzones. I don’t bother with them at all.
Bilbo_bobbins
I really wanted to get along with the MP side of it, as I loved KZ2. KZ3 I played a bit but got bored of the stupid changes. Shadow Fall, yuk. Just feels wrong and I hate the challenges. I dunno, I find the maps way too cluttered and the game just not that good.
Kennykazey
I haven’t spent much time with Shadowfall, the campaign is passable but I liked what I’ve played of multiplayer. I’ll be going back soon as I’ve got to get my money worth from the season pass.
Dan Jones
I’ve had Shadow Fall for a few months now and have only completed 4 missions of the campaign and haven’t even bothered to touch the multiplayer.
Without a doubt it’s the best looking game I’ve played on the PS4 but I’m really struggling to get into it. The story and characters are not up to scratch with Killzone 2 and 3.
Also entire idea of the MP progression is why I haven’t played online side of it yet, but I’ll eventually give it a go. Saying that I haven’t had much luck with BF4. Too much connection issues.
Tuffcub
There is progression, they lied. Lots of stuff is locked off until you gain XP – i mean complete challenges. Same thing, just different names.
Dan Jones
I gave it a go shortly after writing my comment. Managed a 13 kill streak in my first game which I was pretty pleased at, albeit it was a recruits lobby.
Much better than I was expecting.
blarty
I found the biggest problem with Killzone Shadow Fall is not that the writing itself was weak, because in a way it isn’t, it’s that you don’t care about it, your ability ‘to step into the shoes’ of Lucas Kellan is largely ignored from a narrative perspective and there’s no emotional or empathic connection between the player and the character – without being engaged on some level you can’t be invested in the game therefore it is easier to put the game to one side than ‘I’ll just have ten more minutes’
Like multiplayer although the smaller numbers of players makes lag a problem.
coruscant
I still think that the only decent story in the series was Killzone 1, due to the interaction between the various main characters. With a the sequels, its all you following orders, and the story behind them isn’t engaging enough for you to care much about the story.
Having said that, I’m really enjoying Shadow Fall’s gameplay (btw I just got my PS4 and Shadow Fall around 2 weeks ago), finding playing stealthily a lot more refreshing. The story is keeping me going to, because although I don’t find it that motivating, I can see what they’re trying to do, its just a shame they do it so kack-handedly.
MrJimmy
I also concur with tuffcub, kzsf (multiplayer) is a triumph, true to the kz tradition, the new ideas almost completely work, updates show no sign of slowing down ( we’ve only had one dose of the season pass) the only problem I find is people playing it like they are playing cod, which is missing the point. People who play support and ignore the massive red cross hanging over my flailing body NEED TO PRESS ACROSS ON THE D PAD, ITS NOT HARD