Killzone: Shadow Fall 1

Killzone: Shadow Fall may have some stiff competition in Battlefield 4 and Call of Duty: Ghosts, but it’s shaping up to be the first-person shooter to own alongside your shiny new PlayStation 4. Dutch developer Guerrilla Games took the gas mask off the first-party exclusive’s multiplayer mode at GamesCom this week, and it sounds absolutely fantastic.

But first, a word or two about the graphics: this is the best looking shooter on Sony’s next generation system. DICE’s rat-a-tat release may look sharp – or not, depending on who you ask – but this is definitely a step ahead. The gun models and particle effects are absolutely unbelievable, and the maps appear to span the same colourful variety as the single player campaign.

However, this isn’t merely shaping up to be a prettier version of a game that you’ve already played. Warzone is back – with more dynamic objectives this time – but like Sony’s system, Guerrilla Games is pushing social. You’ll be able to adapt, tweak, and customise the rules of your own playlists, and then share these with friends.

The very best user-created playlists will bubble to the top, theoretically giving you a never-ending library of modes to play. It’s not clear how deeply you’ll be able to tweak these options, but we’ve already got an awesome version of Oddball in mind. All of the community created playlists will have their own unique leaderboards, too.

Guerrilla Games wants to make the shooter more accessible than previous Killzone games, but inherently difficult to master. As a result, it’s cutting the number of classes down to three: Assault, Scout, and Support. With more readily understandable roles, the developer hopes that players will easily slot into teams, rather than struggle to find a place.

Unlike other shooters, all 22 of the game’s weapons will be unlocked from the start. Instead of spending XP on scopes, clips, and suppressors, you’ll have to complete objectives, of which there are over 1,500 in the game. It means that your kit will be linked to your performance, rather than the amount of hours that you’ve put in. Oh, and speaking of which, all of the DLC maps will be free.

The year of Killzone continues, folks.

[source blog.eu.playstation.com, via uk.ign.com]