The OWL was quite handy.
I’ve been struggling with what I think of Killzone: Shadow Fall since I finished playing it. On the one hand, the story does spark some interesting thoughts and discussion, and the game was a lot of fun initially. However, the last two or three missions were so padded and filled with “tasks” instead of fun gameplay that it’s really marred what I think of the game.
Here’s some of what I posted on ActionTrip:
Each mission relies on the all-too-familiar linear formula we’ve seen too many first-person shooters before. On the other hand, the maps often seem rather open. At first this felt like it would give the player more options to how to approach a given situation, and sometimes this is true. However, as you progress, the openness feels almost more of a hindrance than anything else, particularly since many maps do not have an intuitive feel as to where Lucas needs to go. Thank God the player can highlight a directional marker for the objective by pressing up on the d-pad, but those missions where Lucas has to find something to move on, good luck to ye. I’m fairly certain I have worn out my up d-pad button already with how many times I’ve pressed it to figure out where in the world I needed to go.
At least the AI is quite scripted and a little dumb to help make up for this. You can always count on the Helghast to consistently pop up their heads after you shoot at them and even run straight toward you when you’re shooting. In addition, whenever Lucas has an unplanned demise, the player can definitely count on the enemies appearing exactly where they were the last time, making it very, very easy to memorize a sequence.
I really enjoyed how Killzone used the touchpad on the PS4 controller. By swiping in certain directions, you could give orders to your little flying drone (OWL). It presented a super steep learning curve at the beginning, but once you got the hang of it, became quite fun. It also made me think of several uses for the touchpad in future PS4 games to the point I’m honestly considering buying another copy of Diablo III to see how it uses it. (I probably won’t, but it’s got me thinking.)
Do I recommend Killzone? I’m not sure. This was my first Killzone game, and it really made me want to check out Killzone 2, which I bought for my husband way back in the day. The game is beautiful, that’s for sure, I can’t imagine too many people buying this immediately unless you’re a fan of the series. Not everyone is as weird as me.
If you want to see more of what I had to say about Killzone, please read my entire review!
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