Well, a lot of information regarding Sony’s new console was released last night at the Sony Playstation 4 news conference. With the release of new hardware, happily there were also new game announcements. One of those games was Killzone Shadow Fall. Developed by Guerilla Games, the Killzone series has been known to push console hardware. This article will look to analyse the gameplay demo/trailer shown at the PS4 meeting last night.
Firstly, one of course will need to mention the graphics. The game looks leaps and bounds better than any current console game, which should be a given. Some might not see that graphical leap if they don’t really pay attention to their surroundings. From the number of characters on screen in the game, to the effects of the first explosion shown on screen, and even through the whole ‘in air’ sequence, the graphics were technically very good. It was also very colourful to look at, something that the Killzone series hasn’t always been known for.
From a gameplay perspective, the initial stage of the demo showed the controlled character simply walking through a security check point, reminding a few journalist of Half-Life 2. It is hard to say whether this was only the case in this particular situation or whether there would be other moments like this in the final game. It would be a neat addition if true. The gameplay shown looked linear, however there was some freedom it seemed in how you approached the carnage on screen. In the demo shown, the player chose to climb up the side of a building before jumping on a helghast enemy, killing him in the process, and then throwing a knife at another enemy. This is very reminiscent of Far Cry 3’s takedown mechanic. That being said, this seemed just like one way of dealing with that situation.
Another gameplay aspect to point out is how much more futuristic the gameplay seems when compared to older Killzone games. The main weapon showcased looked like a hybrid railgun rifle. It also looked like the character had special abilities attached to his armor, as during the demo we saw the lower half of the screen glow blue for a while. As said, this seemed to be a special ability that comes from your armor. Very reminiscent of Crysis style armor abilities. It was hard to pinpoint the exact advantage this allowed, although we could clearly see the game head into a kind of slow-motion sequence when the player aimed down his scope. This would again be a new addition to the Killzone series. Whilst hard to comment on its usefulness, the game seems to be shaping up decently for a next-gen FPS.
Lastly, I’ll touch upon the setting of the game. This is one of the first times we saw a living, breathing city in a Killzone game. The most interesting aspect though is how the city seemed divided between human and helghan territory. At the end of the gameplay demo, we saw what looked like the helghan side of the city, with the three helghan airships appearing on that side, countered by the human airships following up behind the character. It seems an interesting setting at least, and perhaps Killzone will looks to provide a more interesting story than previous games.
That’s all for this analysis of the new Killzone game. Part of the hype no doubt comes fro the fact this is a first glimpse of gaming on next-gen hardware. Hopefully the final game will live up to the hype. Do you guys have any thoughts regarding the demo shown?
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