Killzone: Shadow Fall Reviews
In the current crop of offerings on the PlayStation 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall is one of your best choices.
: Killzone: Shadow Fall is not going to win over the masses, especially those who never cared for the series to begin with. It is, however, a fine shooter with a fun story, and a multiplayer mode that fans can sink hours and hours into.
Despite being beyond brilliant at times, Killzone: Shadow Fall misfires in many of the same areas as previous entries. It undoubtedly does an exceptional job of demonstrating the power of Sony's next generation system, but the single player pacing issues and narrative flaws let it down. These issues are accentuated by the fact that the core combat and multiplayer is outstanding – even if the lack of voice chat augments an unnecessary obstacle when communicating with your team.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is the most beautiful next-gen console game on the PlayStation 4, and while it does wonders with its presentation value and impressive new levels of visual fidelity, it doesn't do enough to innovate on its campaign story and gameplay offerings.
"Shadow Fall" is a shiny, good-looking game that introduces some basic next-gen concepts, but ultimately lacks a strong sense of self.
It's a dazzling game to behold, but does it have that special magic that will turn it into a hardware-selling blockbuster?
I couldn't shake the feeling that Guerrilla Games had grander visions for Killzone: Shadowfall than what was shipped for the launch of the PS4. Despite it being visually stunning and a ton of fun to play, a lot of it feels like it missed on a bigger opportunity for the franchise.
Killzone has never looked this good.
Killzone: Shadow Fall's multiplayer plays to the series' key strengths. It's too bad the campaign forgot to turn on the heat.
Cleverly progressive one moment and tediously predictable the next, next gen Killzone has all the same strengths and flaws as the older games – just now with even better graphics.
It's all the more frustrating that Shadow Fall fails to establish that identity, because it gets so close in its early design and themes. It sets up an open-ended tactical shooter in a cynical world of sci-fi realpolitik - and then bottles it, taking the easy escape route of another suicide mission into empty spectacle. There's a lack of confidence here that contrasts starkly with Guerrilla's dazzling, sure-footed command of the new hardware. It's a game that any new PlayStation 4 owner will be proud to show off - but it won't be one they remember by the time PS5 rolls around.
Multiplayer is solid and technical presentation sets the bar high for PlayStation 4, but Killzone: Shadow Fall lacks any other enticing features to make it a must-have shooter.
Visually, the game is absolutely beautiful. In addition to the fact that it's not a typical brown shooter, some of the cut-scenes on Vekta will take your breath away and make you realize that next-gen is here, and wow is it pretty. It's just a shame that the fun I initially felt with Shadow Fall's campaign faded away as the end missions droned on for far longer than they should have. At least the multiplayer brings that feeling back.
Killzone: Shadow Fall is a solid launch title for the PS4. It delivers the next-gen experience without cramming it down your throat too much, which is a great change of pace from previous console generations. While it obviously presents what the PS4 is capable of, the developer was careful after the beginning of the game to make sure that the Killzone experience was delivered, no matter what platform it was delivered on. This is definitely a good thing. All-in-all, Killzone: Shadow Fall brings more good things to the table than bad, and a robust multiplayer component gives it a lot of playability past the campaign. This exclusive next-gen shooter is one of the reasons to own a PS4 at launch, and even though it's not perfect, shooter fans will no doubt enjoy Killzone: Shadow Fall for what it is–a good game.
If you have a PS4 and you enjoy a more methodical FPS and want to see some really pretty visuals, Shadow Fall is a good choice.
While the gameplay was OK, there were just too many things in the campaign mode that bugged me. Multiplayer is much better, however, with a solid mission-based experience and smooth interaction.
Warzone multiplayer rounds out the Killzone: Shadow Fall package, and is exactly what you would expect from Killzone multiplayer. Gameplay-wise it resembles that of Killzone 3 very much, and isn't that big of an evolution for a next-gen title. Warzone matches are highly customizable, leading to some fun or hectic situations. And there's a great active community of Killzone players just waiting to start playing and occupy those servers, which have been very stable thus far.
Killzone: Shadow Fall offers up incredible presentation and a better-than-average campaign narrative that's unfortunately more boring to play than it should be. The exciting multiplayer mode injects some greatness into an ultimately good game.
The future of first-person shooter looks an awful lot like the past.
Shadow Fall's multiplayer singlehandedly makes it a worthwhile purchase. A couple of things keep the mode from being truly great, but given the state of the competition this year, Killzone's multiplayer deserves to carve a wider niche.