Killzone: Shadow Fall

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.

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.

On the strength of its incredible visuals and excellent multiplayer I would recommend Shadow Fall to Killzone fans, but early adopters of the PlayStation 4 looking for a good single-player experience would do better to look elsewhere.

Shadow Fall does a great job when you want to show your friends what the PS4 is capable of –it looks gorgeous, especially on a big screen. But the visuals are where the whole next-gen thing ends, as gameplay-wise it’s just an old, traditional shooter, solid but not breathtaking. The writing is poor, there’s absolutely no breakthrough in terms of the AI and there are no memorable moments in the campaign, which by the way drags on for longer than it should (it took me about 9 hours to finish the game and I spent the last 2-3 hours eagerly awaiting the credits). The multiplayer does not disappoint though. [01/2014, p.56]

Playing through Killzone: Shadow Fall is a rollercoaster of wide-eyed splendour, tempered by the nagging realisation that it’s all window-dressing, disguising the same old experience underneath the god rays and particle effects.

As a launch game Killzone: Shadow Fall is an excellent showcase for the PlayStation 4, showing that the path is well defined and that we can only dream about what's coming in terms of future games.

There remains nothing truly revolutionary about Killzone, its story and characters are still unfortunately bland, its fiction hints at greatness that has never quite emerged. Yet Shadow Fall emerges as the best in the series, approaching that ideal single player balance between the weighty, war-torn shooter of old and the more nimble and varied globe-trotting adventures found in Call of Duty, paired with the most refined, and in-depth multiplayer the series has featured yet.

If you don't like playing online, don't buy Shadow Fall just yet - either wait for a serious discount or forget about it entirely. The game isn't worth buying just for the campaign, which turns out to be poorly designed, kind of boring, uneven and unoriginal. New Killzone is really pretty, but its biggest asset is a well designed, engrossing multiplayer mode.

Shadow Fall shows what Sony's new machine is able to do in terms of graphics, but behind its beautiful façade there's a by the numbers first person shooter that you won't remember in a few months.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is so full of influences, struggling to balance so many different ideas across the eight or so hours of single-player that it fails to settle cohesively. Even worse, nothing here feels particularly new. Killzone: Shadow Fall is an immensely enjoyable shooter but one busy distracting itself from being anything more.

Among the launch games for the PS4, this is definitely a title to be taken into serious consideration. But, at the same time, you have the distinct feeling that the next few FPS for this new console will wipe out the memory of Killzone: Shadow Fall in a matter of two or three years.

Killzone Shadow Fall on PS4 is a good console FPS, but not necessarily a great Killzone, although being more subtle than usual and visually impressive.

A true showcase of PS4's power, Killzone: Shadow Fall is the best launch game for the newly arrived system. On the downside, it seems quite rushed and the newly implemented gameplay ideas are not fully developed.

Keep Killzone: Shadow Fall in mind if you’re looking for a multiplayer shooter that shows off what the system can actually do. If you’re one of those that are lacking the subscription to Playstation Plus, needed to access the multiplayer, then you will likely leave the game disappointed at a poor single player experience and you can do much, much better in the launch lineup than this.

Shadow Fall's measure of success feels shallower than past games in the franchise, but all told it's a complete package for launch or Holiday 2013 PS4 owners.

Despite being beyond brilliant at times, Killzone: Shadow Fall misfires in many of the same areas as previous entries.

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.

Shadow Fall serves up decent sci-fi themed first-person-shooter action complete with teases of what the new console generation has in store for us. It’s not particularly inspired, nor is it anything to write home about, but as something to make your early adoption feel justified, I think Killzone does the trick.

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.

It will dazzle players with its next-generation visuals and give them fun things to do with Sony’s newfangled controller...But when the launch hubbub dies down and you’ve played through your day one bundle of games, this probably isn’t the game you’re going to come back to for seconds.

Killzone: Shadow Fall loses its sheen at times, usually when pursuing moments that are cinematic but not sensible. As a shooter, it's better at thriving on eye-catching environments and supportive combat abilities that don't just come for free.

As much as I enjoyed my online time with Killzone: Shadow Fall--and as much as I will enjoy lots more time with it, unlocking perks that allow me to personalize my weapons--I missed Killzone 3's jump pack, which brought a nifty nimbleness to the battlegrounds. I missed it in Shadow Fall's disappointing single-player campaign, too, which sorely needed a shot of adrenaline.

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.

In fact, here’s a handy metaphor for Killzone: Shadow Fall’s ending: Imagine finishing a meal in a restaurant, and then for dessert having the chef drop his pants and take a huge, steaming turd on your plate. I don’t care how good dinner was – and in this case, it wasn’t anything to call the Michelin Guide folks about – but when the very last thing you’re served is easily the worst part of the entire experience, it can’t help but leave a lingering bad taste.

Essentially, Killzone: Shadow Fall will impress you from a technical standpoint, but not so much from the actual gameplay.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is a pretty game, gorgeous even. But the demand for moments to punctuate trailers or demos forced a sacrifice of story that it never quite recovers from. The OWL will find its place in history as one of the few controller-based mechanics to actually entertain, while the time spent in free fall may make players actually consider a plummet-related death.

Whatever the reason was for making Shadow Fall in the first place, the result is a mixture of bland, annoying and weird.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is a very traditional first-person-shooter that doesn’t achieve anything new. The graphics are impressive and the frame rate is good but it’s hard to get invested in either the action or the story. As a launch title for a new console, it’s passable.

Multiplayer’s not much better, and is a rare area in which Shadow Fall suffers technically, the action slowing to a crawl when things get busy thanks to an unlocked framerate.

Overhauling core mechanisms almost killed the new Killzone. If it weren’t for the multiplayer, the only thing left would be an average shooter with no discernible style or content. [Issue#237]

Killzone: Shadow Fall isn’t the great launch title that Sony was hoping for with its shiny new box. The campaign is too varied in quality to bring a worthy single player experience. For every high point you experience, there’s a low around the corner, and the last bits of the campaign were so monotonous and unexciting, thanks to typical cliché gameplay for the genre that is mixed with tedious level design.

Killzone: Shadow Fall is a game you can toss into your new PlayStation 4 to get a glimpse of the possibilities of next gen. In some years it’ll be remembered as a rather timid launch game, but right now it can capitalize on being one of the consoles first games. It’s a competent shooter with a lacking campaign.

Killzone: Shadow Fall's multiplayer just about makes it a PS4 launch title worth investigating, as its campaign is either entirely competent, and at the worst very frustrating.

Ultimately this is pretty yet uninspired.

Multiplayer may be fun, but it plays too safe to overcome the genuinely disappointing single-player campaign.

It's a quality multiplayer shooter paired with a lackluster campaign that starts out with promise that it completely squanders by the time the credits roll.

If it were possible to punch a video game [in] the face, Killzone: Shadowfall would be sporting a giant shiner right about now. The first-person shooter will test the patience of the most excited new PS4 owner...Shadowfall is needlessly difficult – and the only reward for overcoming its toughest sections is a sense of gratitude that you’ll never have to do them again.

Shadow Fall opens capably but quickly deteriorates into a series of boring firefights against thick enemies, interspersed with the genre's hoariest touchstones and some ill-conceived non-combat sections and mechanics.

In attempting to juggle so many balls at once, it simply loses control and bats them all over the place in a crazed, lurching frenzy as it tries to stop the whole thing from falling apart.

Frustrating and generic gameplay rounds out an otherwise technically impressive package. Killzone: Shadow Fall should have been another solid entry in an above-average franchise, but instead it succumbs to all of the usual launch game pitfalls, and a decent though unimpressive multiplayer suite can’t save it from mediocrity.