Killzone 4: Shadow Fall - first impressions from E3 2013
Is Killzone 4 the killer title that the PS4 needs at launch? Well, based on its showing at E3, it certainly won't hurt the console's chances. Like the previous titles in the series, it's a gritty sci-fi shooter charting the continuing conflict between the people of Vekta and their brutal, quasi-fascist neighbours, the Helghast.
Only this time, their planet ravaged by the war chronicled in Killzone 1 through 3, the Helghast have been forced to take refuge on Vekta. For twenty years peace reigns, but it can't last. One act of terror and, before you know it, the Helghast have rediscovered their military mojo. It's time to continue the fight.
Killzone 4: Shadow Fall trailer
Watch the Killzone 4: Shadow Fall trailer from E3 2013
Read 10 things we learned about the PS4 at E3 2013
This time, though, the fight is a little different. You're no longer playing as a frontline grunt, but as an elite agent of the Vektan authorities, operating behind enemy lines. You might not get the trips and artillery of previous Killzones, but you do get the latest elite agent hardware.
This includes the Owl, a small drone device, which works in three different modes. Sweep right on the DualShock 4 touchpad and it hovers to give you a portable airline - perfect for traversing the game's larger environments. Sweep up, and it becomes your comrade in combat, defending you against the Helghast troops or sweeping the area for hostiles should you direct it to. It can also be asked to call up a handy shield. You can shoot out, but the Helghast can't shoot in.
Your weapons prove equally versatile. You can still scavenge a wide range of guns from the battlefield, but your default arm, a sort of futuristic carbine, can also be set to work as a sniper rifle, its barrel extending and a scope appearing for firing at range. In this mode it's much more powerful, but shots need to be charged up before you can fire, making it less ideal when confronting several targets a little closer up.
With Killzone 4: Shadow Fall, Guerilla Games wanted to give us a different style of Killzone, and that's reflected in everything from the environments to the art style to the way the levels are laid out. The sequence we saw at E3 was set in rugged forest with the area split by a wide rushing river and waterfall.
The forest is dotted with ruined buildings, Helghast guard towers and encampments, and we we're free to wander where we chose. We're promised that many of the game's levels will have a choice of objectives that can be completed in any order, and while the director made it plain that Killzone wasn't going open world, the team did want to give the player more freedom.
Instead of moving from cover to cover, peeking and blasting through a series of streets, corridors and plazas, you're encouraged to move rapidly, improvise and make the most of your high-tech toolkit.
To make this work, Guerilla has ramped up the Helghast AI, making the little orange-goggled devils more aggressive and more inquisitive. They certainly pose a challenge in numbers, and you're encouraged to take a stealthier approach than in earlier Killzones, using tools like a handy sonar locator to spot your enemies and gain the advantage.
At this point we should probably mention the graphics, which are… astonishing. If ridiculously detailed, natural looking rocks, realistic rushing water and gorgeous mist and light effects are the benchmark of next-gen excellence, then Killzone 4: Shadow Fall might be the current leader of the pack. It's a truly stunning looking game. The Helghast have never looked so mean or menacing, or died in so many impressively unpleasant ways.
Any concerns? Only one. You do have many tools at your disposal, and there's probably going to be a bit of a learning curve before you get the hang of the controls. Certainly our brief hands-on wasn't short of humiliating pitfalls.
Overall, though, this is a powerful statement of intent from Sony and Guerilla, that intent being to build a sci-fi shooter capable of standing up with the best of the genre, and showing them how it's done on next-gen hardware. We can't wait to see more.
Next, read our in-depth Xbox One vs PS4 comparison
