Reviews// Killzone: Shadow Fall

Level design gets a boost too with quite an overhaul. Where previous titles followed the tightly controlled and linear corridor/courtyard cycle, Shadow Fall offers larger arenas to tackle.

At first this was a little confounding, as it wasn't entirely clear what the objective was (I'm terrible for zoning out during chatter and cutscenes), however the positions of the objectives are just a button press away. These open areas provide a canvas for two significant new features. The first is the opportunity to approach combat on your terms.

I prefer to observe and attack at range (I flap in close quarters, sending gunfire wild of the target), so being able to assess and attack from the flank gets Plus Points from me. Together, the more open levels, the choice weapons and the tactical options provided by the OWL results in Shadow Fall making a subtle but notable transition from a shooter that has been fairly regular, almost entirely linear, to one that has far open, flexible and considered combat.

The other key addition that shouldn't go unmentioned is the graphics. Holy crap, it looks the mutt's nuts. In one early mission, I was trying to pick off a distant cluster of enemy. Just as I was about to take the first shot, mist rolled in and obscured the view.

This isn't the mist of the last gen; that was more akin to a piece of translucent paper being stuck over the scene. This mist has a depth that allows light and shadow to carve through. Those shadows dance across the environment, to the point where I'd literally jump at shadows - was it an enemy? No, it's the shadow cast by the tatters of a distant flag. 

There are a few rough spots, visually, that had me groaning "I thought we'd left that behind with the PS3", such as the rain falling inside a tarp covered area, or the blood spurts that looks like an afterthought animation, delivered by the intern. But these really are such petty gripes I feel almost embarrassed to have mentioned them.

The more painful rough spots come at some points within missions - and they are few, thankfully. Having a section where, after meticulously shutting down pockets of enemy, you're faced with neverending waves of fresh enemy is frustrating. It wasn't clear that they would constantly spawn, and only after seeing the fifth fresh wave did I decide that rules must have changed, and the only option was to make a dash.

There's also the issue of the game's difficulty; increasingly tough but not frustrating, it goes from a curve to a shear cliff at the foot of which you find yourself fighting with no clear sight of the top. That's when frustration sets in, as a dozen retries start to batter you down. Checkpoints can be unforgiving too, either taking you way back to enjoy redoing loads of legwork, or taking you to just the wrong side of a key instruction. But, it has to said, these issue are rare and not an endemic problem.

Perversely, one of the things I enjoyed the most was the dialogue. It wasn't the dialogue being enjoyable that's perverse, it's the fact it isn't the dire, jarhead, constant stream of growling and shouting of the former games in the series. Instead, the characters talk in a reasonable and believable way, helped no doubt by the fact that key character Sinclair is voiced by and recognisably modelled on David Harewood, who you probably know as CIA Director Estes from Homeland.

Quality dialogue and voice acting aside, the plot is thin, so if you're looking for another Last of Us, you'd better go elsewhere. However, the gameplay holds up so well that I didn't much care if there wasn't a plot twist or shocking reveal down the pipe.

As the most accomplished of the Killzone games, Shadow Fall is an absolute must for fans of the series. I doubt it's going to convert anyone that despised the previous games, but if you like your shooters and were a little ambivalent toward the previous games in the series, you really should check it out.

Pros
+ Tactical combat as to its FPS core
+ Stunning visuals
+ Great dialogue & voice acting

Cons
+ Occasional poor mission scripting
+ Weak plot
+ Periods of frustrating difficulty

SPOnG Score: 4/5

OUR MULTI-PLAYER REVIEW FOLLOWS LATER THIS WEEK