Topic: The thing about KILLZONE

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The thing about Killzone, and shooters in general.

Me again. About to sling another wall of text your way, containing all the burps of my mind after playing a considerable amount of Killzone Shadowfall on my PS4.

Introduction
Of course I was very excited, being a Killzone fan and all, when I heard about KZ:SF and gobbled up every little bit of information and every single review I could find. I read about the most consistent criticism being around bland story and often I read in forums about „it's just another shooter". Obviously, as with racing games, how much you „get" the little nuanced spills of awewesome in Killzone, or any shooter, depends vastly on how much you're into shooters in general. Im tired of hearing people complain about not enough innovation, everyone wants something new and better but most people fail to understand that most innovations and improvements in a given genre cannot make the game itself „jump out" of the boundaries of the genre itself. For example, at this point we know very little details about „The Division" except that it will blend MMO elements and tactical elements as well as some kind of RPG-ish progression system with your skills and attributes with a core shooter game. That sounds all very awesome and I'm definitely looking towards it, but… it will still be a shooter. I think it has the potention to be a very good one at that but at the end of the day you will still point shooty things at people's faces, push your (awesome) DS4 trigger and blow him to kingdom come.
What I want to show is that no matter how good a game in its given genre is, if random player 435 doesn't like that genre, he will not get the „nuances" and good things about it. Killzone is a game, that after my opinion, has a lot little nuances that make it great, even stand out above other games in the genre. They are, however, not obvious within the very first few hours of the game. If you're interested in the game, found it disappointing or couldn't just get „into" it, read on, I might be able to invigorate your interest for the game.

Singleplayer
Bad things first. Well not particulary bad, but… just not really good. The Campaign was largely critizised for being bland and uninteresting. Well. I have to say, it is. And that comes from a Killzone fan that's very much interested in the backstory of it all. Don't misunderstand me, the game is wonderful to look at and they do a great job creating atmospheric set-pieces and believable settings. It all looks convincing and very much alive. The controls are good and the weapons do what they should do. Only the story and the way you progress thorugh the missions, its all a little bit… all over the place. Most of the time I didn't really get, or even bother why I am doing what I am doing. Don't get me wrong, all the information and background is there, it's just not really well presented. So if you're after an intriguing Singleplayer experience, you gotta look elsewhere. Most magazines and websites rated the game around 7/10 and this is exactly how I feel about the Campaign. It has some really annoying missions as well and long sections where you can actually not do too much except watch your (astounding) surroundings and feel the thick atmosphere, which is good, but for my taste, used too frequently.  But now lets go onto the part that really surprised me positively. The Multiplayer.

Multiplayer
Stop it. Now. I know you're thinking „bland, generic, online shooter". Most people are. Those that only played it for a short while and those that didn't play it and only saw videos of it. And then those that are not into shooters at all. To put my impression of the Multiplayer in perspective, let me tell you that for about 2 years I „bored out" of Shooters. I just was tired of whatever Shooter came my way and I didn't bother with lots of Multiplayer in any game I tried since Battlefield Bad Company II. But I am a huge Killzone fan (and am starving at the scarce and lackluster storytelling Guerilla is feeding us with constantly) and so I tried the Multiplayer, got my butt handed to me on a silver plate, got lost in the levels, got killed by running into the enemy's base, etc… the usual thing that pisses you off when you're new to a shooter and don't have the reflexes of a 12 year old korean boy that was nursed with Red Bull.

I stuck through it… and you should too.

After about 10 hours of Multiplayer I started to remember the map layouts, fiddled with my loadouts and noticed what makes a good match and what makes a bad match, how to identify stupid players and how to use the many special skills to its best effect. I now have like 50 hours of Multiplayer and I tell you, if you're only somewhat into Multiplayer Shooters, this is a game you should give a chance. It's a relatively „fresh" universe in a science fiction setting, so the „modern military"-shooter-boredom won't set in too much. The weapon systems are creative, all pack a punch and all fill a certain role.

The combination of the maps and their respective layout, the game modes, the weapons, classes and abilities make for the most diverse, intense and fun Multiplayer Shooter experiences I've had in a very long time. It has the dynamics of Call of Duty as the maps are largely quite small and focused and there are no vehicles, but the layout is so clever that there is enough hiding places, alternative routes to prevent stalemates (if people play clever) and gives plenty of opportunities for stealth kills, sniper-headshots and intense walk-around-the-corner-look-the-wrong-way-melee-kills.

It's a bit hard to know where to start when describing the awesome experience that the Multiplayer of KZ:SF is. Let me make a very important remark first, when you're playing on a server and are in a team where almost no one, nowhere, ever, places some mobile spawn-beacons, you should leave the server at the next map-change as it is a clear sign that you're in a dumb team and as it is with all modern squad- or team-based shooters, the fun you personally have (unfortunately) is directly dependent on the people you play with. So if you have a few bad games, see if anyone on your team is placing spawn-beacons, if there are hardly ever any, get out and find a better game. (As it is an important tactic to create spawnpoints close to where the action is and get your objectives done, people that don't bother with that are either new to the game and don't know it any better or are just too ignorant and will just run & gun, not minding teamplay too much)

With that out of the way, you're ready to experience a game that is designed to make it always a struggle, with the plenty of objectives (though I recommend classic team deathmatch to learn the maps until you know your way around) and abilities and weapons, it's hardly ever one team dominating another really bad, as there are so many things, little nuanced things that give this game it's own dynamic and individual touch. For example, the support class can revive people. Its an ability that will level up the more you use it, which will decrease its cooldown and its range as well. Yes you can revive a team mate 30+ meters away, if you have a line of sight to him. That means that people are more frequently revived and the action just goes on and on and on, no need to go there and literally pick him up, putting yourself into danger. And guess what, to minimize the danger of getting into a revive-reload-die loop like in so many other Shooters, Guerilla was clever enough to let you respawn (after a revive) with fully loaded weapons and even with grenades, even if you spent all of yours already. That means youre instantely ready for action again and the struggle continues. That's nice little details that can be frustrating if they're absent.

You can also place automated turrets that will shoot on sight. Use them often, make many kills with them and they will also improve over time. Playing on an open map where you can't immediately see your opponents? No problem, throw an air-support-drone-beacon behind enemy lines, just like a grenade and an air-support-drone will spawn there, hovering and hunting down the enemies. Awesome. You like sniping? You will love the selection of semi-automatic and single-fire sniper rifles and the crystal clear scopes in this game. The function of those weapons is immediate and the effects devastating. Want to use a silencer and an elecric shock-device with your sniper rifle? No problem in this game.

There are countless gadgets and really useful weapon attachements. All of them cleverly thought out. For example, after using my Sickle 30 short range shotgun for a while I unlocked incendiary rounds (no further description needed, sounds awesome, IS awesome) and a flaslight for it. Both occupy the same slot on the weapon, so I had to choose. While this sounds like an obvious choice, I went for the flashlight. The incendiary rounds are brutal and deliver some extra damage-over-time, shouldn't you kill your enemy with the first hit, but the flashlight, is a clever tool that is effectively blinding your opponent giving you a second or even two to finish off your disoriented foe. Nothing new you say? Right. But the clever thing about is, you switch the flashlight on, when you need it. Thus you're not permanently blinding your own teammates as you're running around (as it was in Battlefield 3) and to prevent just leaving it on all the time, it's running on batteries, that will deplete when in use and recharge when the flashlight is switched off. This sounds like a little thing, but Shooter veterans will appreciate it as what it is: a brilliant addition!

Also, on some weapons you can have a „mobile mine" attachement. Which is basicly a heat-seeking spider-mine deployed from your underslung-weapon-attachement. Awesome. Makes for some very nice tactical mine-laying.

Then there is the drones. You can have a little helper drone, thats flying with you shooting at what you're shooting or shooting at the guy sneaking up behind you, you can have your drone fly out and stun a group of enemies, you can cloak yourself, making it behind enemy lines, scanning the area, highlighting the enemies for your teammates, giving you points if they kill a highlighted enemy. Of course you can also sneak around stealthed and go for brutal knife-kills. You can deploy energy shields that let your bullets pass but block the bullets of your enemies - in certain maps this creates literal wall of shields and cover-on-the-go where needed. If someone has a stun-drone or the stun-blast abilities, the resulting emp-blast will disable the shields, disorient players and temporarily shut down drones and turrets as well as other electrical devices.

I could go on, there are still plenty of things that are wonderfully developed and implemented. But this post is long already.

If youre on the fence about Killzone, if you're slightly intersted in shooters, give it a chance. It takes time to really see and appreciate the very characteristic dynamic this game has. It's in many ways a different beast than what's out there on the market, you just need a bit to see it. With more maps, game modes and pay-to-get-them-goodies (cosmetic stuff) on the horizon, I won't get bored too quickly with KZ:SF. Im pretty sure it will last me until the next big wave of games hits us.

To sum things up, here is how I personally would rate this game:

Singleplayer: 7/10
Multiplayer 9/10

If you're interested to play it with me, add me on PSN (Same name as on pushsquare).