Stepping Inside Shadow Fall: A Review To Kill For

Killzone Shadow Fall is the 6th installment into the PlayStation exclusive franchise, Killzone, but is the fourth title for home consoles.  Killzone Shadow Fall takes place 30 years after the events taking place in Killzone 3. 

You take the role of Lucas Kellen, a Shadow Marshal sworn to protect his people from the Helghast who now co-inhabit their precious Vekta. I was a huge Killzone fan since the PlayStation 2 release of the first title, and I was not expecting to be disappointed by Shadow Fall–and I was not.

This is by far the most beautiful game I have played so far on Next Gen. Being able to sense nearby enemies is one of the most helpful tools you can use when playing the game.

Also, having the OWL (a high-tech hovering attack droid) by my side was more than useful and let’s be honest, pretty kick ass. When on a high ledge you can use the OWL to create a rope to rappel down safely which I had so much fun with. Many mainstay weapons from past Killzone entries have made their return including:

1. M82 Assault Rifle (Pictured below)
2. stA-52 Assault Rifle (pictured below)
3. stA-18 pistol (pictured below) 

One of the new weapons featured in the game that I used more than others is the M55 Rumbler Assault Rifle (4th gen upgrade from the M82 used by the ISA; pictured below):

My experience with Shadow Fall was beyond excellent; its story is exciting. Although, what I do not like is the shying away from giving infinite ammo to your secondary weapon. That being a not-so-big-deal situation, it did not take away from my delight with the game. With PlayStation Plus being the only viable option to play the multiplayer component, the game does have the bot zone returning from Killzone 3 for anyone wanting to just hang back and kill bots all day. 

When using the OWL in the game, I often used it less than I should have. When I did, I used it for defense instead of adding firepower as I didn’t want to risk losing the droid when I needed it most. The OWL can also revive you when downed, as long as you have health packs. If you stray too far from the OWL (pictured below) when downed, or are cornered too much, the OWL will not be able to do such a thing. 

Shadow Fall also put the Dual Shock 4 controller’s touch pad to good use when issuing commands to the droid. The game takes a few twists and turns and is never truly a constant. This game itself has inspired me to create both a Helghan soldier and Shadow Marshal cosplay. Lucas Kellen makes you feel like a stealthy ninja and when you want to go all guns blazing, and he makes you feel like a badass that even Rambo would fear.

This game, if adding the Oculus to it, would make for a pretty interesting experience; an experience I would love to take part in. If you asked me to recommend this game, I would smile and give you an answer of, “Hell yeah!” This game is a contender for my “Top 20 best of 2013” list. If you haven’t played this installment, I highly recommend that you pick this game up and enjoy the great gameplay and beautiful graphics sure do add onto the experience. 

Pros: 

• Beautiful graphics
• Great gameplay
• Compelling story
• Bot mode
• Stable weapons
• Useful touchpad 
• Easy-to-use controller mechanics
• Great AI

Cons:

• Graphics seemed distracting at times (Very few times)
• Secondary ammo is no longer infinite unlike previous Killzone entries
• You cannot carry more than two health packs at a time

In closing, this game is beautiful as it is enriching with a great story, even if it has the few cons I felt it had, it is still a must buy. Therefore, it receives a 9 out of 10.