Review #836: Killzone Shadow Fall

 So, basically, it's like space nazis, right?

 Well, Mercenary was the gateway drug into this series, so I said... why not just jump straight to the end with Killzone: Shadow Fall? This game was a launch game for the PS4, I mean, first-person shooters where in vogue during the PS3/X360 generation, might as well start off this generation with another one, right?

 The game picks up after Killzone 3, but you play as an entirely new character, Lucas Keller. Fact is, if you try to dive into the series with this entry... it won't be easy following the lore and the setting, so I actually had to google a few details. Like what were the Helghast and if they were human or not and why they hated the humans, or Vektans since Vekta seems to be the series' choice planet. So... yeah, if you want to understand what you are playing, some extra curricular reading might be necessary. As for the story in this game... it has a few interesting twists, but overall? Forgettable. You play as a Shadow Marshall operative and one things leads into the other and next thing you know both the Vektans and the new Helghast, now forced to share Vekta with Vektans, end up fighting over a new deadly weapon that could wipe out the other race entirely.  In the game's defense, it makes up for the story with some beautiful environments, like, seriously, they are not as detailed as the ones in Ghost of Tsushima(Comparing a launch game with what could be the PS4's final exclusive, nice!) but they are well made and quite appealing. And y'might as well enjoy the scenery, because it seems like the game even forgets about a few characters and what not.

 Gameplay is what you'd expect, it's a modern first person shooter with regenerating health, although it does add a few wrinkles to the formula all of its own. For instance, while you are limited to carrying only two weapons, as per usual, you can't drop your main assault rifle, which can turn into a sniper energy gun by pressing down on the d-pad. It's an interesting decision, to say the least, only being able to swap your secondary weapon. You also get a Drone called OWL, which you can use to hack enemy alarms or a few plot-related computers, as well as to aid you in battle. Swiping on the joystick's touchpad lets you pick between Attack, Stun, Shield and Zipline, and then you execute the action by pressing L1. Yes, it takes a bit of getting used to. Attack has the OWL attack whomever you target, and then it'll just stay in battle alongside you, Stun can, well, stun enemies but it's also one of the few ways you can destroy enemy shields, Zipline lets you Zipline below you, which has few combat related appliances and it's mostly done to progress through levels and Shield which creates a shield in front you, useful when there is no cover close by. I'm not gonna lie, managing the drone with the touchpad, while keeping track of enemies during a fight is a lot to get your mind around, particularly on the early levels, but by the second or third level it should feel a bit more natural.

 In this game, the directional pad is used for secondary, but important, functions. Right is used to activate a Radar, the longer you hold down the button, the larger the area it will cover, but if you hold on for too long it will overheat and alert every enemy. After you use the radar, enemies will remain highlighted through walls for a short while. The Radar is a very useful tool, so you'll get a lot of use out of that one. Down is used to swap between modes with guns that allow it. Up is used to highlight where you should go next. Left is used to heal. You can carry up to two Adrenaline packs, and they are quite useful. If you use one while you are hurt you can skip the wait for your health to regenerate, if you use it while healthy, you'll slow down time when you aim for a bit, or, you could use them as extra lives. The OWL can take damage, and after it takes enough damage it'll go offline for a few moments. If your OWL happens to be online when you die, and provided you have an Adrenaline pack on you, it can revive you on the spot, which never ceases to be useful. There's a very weird caveat with these functions, you can't use them while moving. There's a bit of an exploit, if you start using the radar and THEN move, you can, but you can't trigger these things once you are moving, which is pretty lame. Another little issue, but it's probably my fault, I kept wasting Adrenaline Packs since sometimes I'd mix up the radar and Adrenaline pack buttons(Left and Right).

 Here's the skinny, throughout the first few levels I kinda didn't like the game. It was easy to get murdered, and the drone seemed like a hassle, plus, movement was kinda weird, Lucas wouldn't climb a ledge if I jumped at it, oh no, I had to be at a certain distance, not next to the ledge, and press X when the prompt appeared on screen. Levels were also too large and a bit confusing, and the very first chapter made a poor impression when I died 3 times because I did exactly what the game told me to do("Crouch and come here", and I'd do that but a drone would kill me, Child Lucas, even though I followed instructions to a tee). But slowly I finally understood how to play the game, and wouldn't you know it, I started to have a lot of fun with it. Firefights were intense, but a fun intense, I died quite a few times throughout my time with the game, but it was always fun....

 Almost always fun. The last few levels kinda took a slump downward. Chapter 8 features a horrible 'free fall' section. It looks amazing, because all sort of ruined buildings and debris are falling around you, and it looks amazing, but it's such an annoying section to play because it's so hard to avoid everything. I almost gave up on the game right there and then. Then, in chapter 9, there's this part in which you go into space through a weird blue-energy draft thing, and I got to the top, and the entire environment was completely glitched out. I restarted the checkpoint and... everything around me was glitched. It made no sense, I had no way of going where I needed to be, and the entire environment was glitching out of existence. I restarted the section, instead of the checkpoint, and for whatever reason, while the game has you on a set course INSIDE this object... you are supposed to climb it from the outside. But it's so easy to get inside, I don't get it. Near the end of this chapter comes a brutal shootout that, for the first and only time in the game, actually was the wrong kind of intense. I managed to beat this section by finding a cranny I could hide in to restore my health, while my OWL attracted enemy fire and I popped my head out to deal damage every now and then. And then comes the final, tenth chapter.... and you are given an entirely new set of tools, while removing adrenaline packs and your OWL. And it's a stealth section. It made no sense to shake things up SO much for the final chapter in the game, and it as needlessly hard. Honestly, it made a otherwise decent game finish with a whimper.

 Killzone Shadow Fall is pretty good, but it's also a bit weird. But I can commend it for doing their own thing. For instance, a normal radar would've been much more convenient, but. y'know, they wanted this weird overheating radar because why not? And I like that, they didn't really care about what was convenient, or how the game could easily overwhelm you at first. Now, I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the series can offer.
 7.5 out of 10