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[FrankCaron]

What Is It?

"Intercept" is the co-op expansion for PS4 launch title Killzone: Shadow Fall. More details and info can be found on the official PlayStation Blog.

How much?

Free with the $19.99 season pass, $9.99 as DLC, or $19.99 as a standalone now. Additional map packs will be available for the expansion.

How does it work?

As you kill bad guys and hold key points on the map, you earn points. The more points you hold over time, collectively as a group, the more of a multiplier you get which increases the number of points you earn each tick.

To win, you need to hit X total points as a team.

Should a team member die, though, all points he or she was holding are lost. The only way to save them is to bank them at the central base. Banked points can then be used to buy bonuses and upgrades which help your team survive.

The trick here is that these points, this currency, is the same point balance that determines the win condition, and banking points reduces your team's point earning multiplier. Every bonus you buy directly affects your proximity to meeting the win condition, and as time goes on, the enemies get harder, faster, better, strong.

This creates a unique and compelling risk vs reward game, and the result is a mode that really requires all four people to coordinate what and when they're banking and buying. It's a bit hectic at first, but when it clicks, it's super satisfying.

Classes and Progression

Each of the classes has a number of gun unlocks which can be acquired by completing challenges and earning points across games.

How many players?

Four players online only, no split screen and no bots.

What's this about a standalone release?

The mode will be released as a standalone game, which does not require the original disc / download, in August 2014 for $19.99.

PSN IDs and Availability

• FrankCaron: 6-10 pm EST
• Murdy_Plops (don't judge)
• LastGamer84
• Das_Mookid
• hi-fi_famicom
• hat_00

Impressions

The Good

So I just put in a few hours with the Killzone: Shadow Fall co-op expansion that dropped today. This was actually my main reason for picking the game and season pass up; I love horde modes, and it seemed like Guerilla was investing in a solid one.

Sure enough, Intercept has some really nifty mechanics that I think make it stand out amongst the likes of Gears' Horde mode and Zombies.

Mainly, the "win" condition and upgrade system make it compelling.

Admittedly the game's progression system hurts this mode a bit, as guns are unlocked by meta unlocks across games, which means noob players are pretty hampered. I almost wish they'd done what Treyarch did with Ghosts' "Extinction", limiting gun unlocks to the same game.

All told, though, this mode is awesome, and I think it'll do quite well as a standalone - especially if it's sub $15.

You didn't mean to actually play coop with a friend did you? Talk about frustrating, friend of mine and I kept trying last night but kept blue screening. Only thing that worked was one join and the other join off them. Using the option join never worked. We had like one or two good games then blue screened mid match and said fk it. I really liked what we could play though. The bosses coming in was unexpected.

This is an absolute blast.

The classes are all great fun to use, and the particular spread of powers and special items are so much better balanced in a co-op setup. The only thing I'd change is to make the medic's resupply crates last longer. There have been plenty of times where I've seen a medic place a supply crate just before we rush to retake a control point and by the time we come back from that skirmish its disappeared. Preferably they'd stay until their supply was used up rather than being on a timer.

Coop is great ! Have a blast to play it with friends. Love how the music kicks in when a special foe appears. Shit can get really intense. Sweating hands after 30min. is not unusual lol. And i think the Coop uses the SP rendering in full 1080p glory. Seems lesser blurry then the MP (and only 30FPS?). Good work so far Guerrilla. Kudos for that.

The Bad

Netcode was not good. Very laggy.
UI is horrendous for co-op. Readability is terrible and I can hardly see what is what onscreen.
I found the experience confusing and I wasn't sure what the actual objective was. Do I capture links? Do I just shoot the enemies? What is the end game?

The Ugly

Last I looked there was like...122 people playing.

Links
PlayStation Blog Release Post
E3 Trailer
What You Need To Know Trailer
Tutorial Video

Updates
- Re-rolled the thread into the unofficial OT (June 25)
- Updated the impressions and added more PSN ideas (June 26)
- Updated in lieu of the standalone release (August 6)

 

[KalBalboa]

I'm tempted to jump on the standalone version.

 

[Tallshortman]

I wish they shipped this sooner or with the original game. I've moved to doing almost all competitive shooters on the PC so while SF was fun, I still preferred my PC shooters. May pick this up if more impressions are good.

How's the co-op population?

 

[FrankCaron]

How's the co-op population?

There were about 30 games up when I started the queue, and I was queued for all of a second before dropping in, so I'd say good enough for Day 0. Time will tell if it has staying power; I'm hopeful the standalone release will keep it relevant.

 

[MagicWithEarvin]

Do you need to own the full game to play the co-op mode or can you buy it separately a la Infamous: Festival of Blood?

 

[jtan]

I have no money but now I feel the need to buy this!

 

[Dash Kappei]

So I just put in a few hours with the Killzone: Shadow Fall co-op expansion that dropped today. This was actually my main reason for picking the game and season pass up; I love horde modes, and it seemed like Guerilla was investing in a solid one.

Sure enough, Intercept has some really nifty mechanics that I think make it stand out amongst the likes of Gears' Horde mode and Zombies.

Mainly, the "win" condition and upgrade system make it compelling.

As you kill bad guys and hold key points on the map, you earn points. The more points you hold over time, collectively as a group, the more of a multiplier you get which increases the number of points you earn each tick.

To win, you need to hit X total points as a team.

Should a team member die, though, all points he or she was holding are lost. The only way to save them is to bank them at the central base. Banked points can then be used to buy bonuses and upgrades which help your team survive.

The trick here is that you're spending the same points you need to win, and banking reduces your team's multiplier.

This creates a unique and compelling risk vs reward game, and the result is a mode that really requires all four people to coordinate what and when they're banking and buying. It's a bit hectic at first, but when it clicks, it's super satisfying.

Admittedly the game's progression system hurts this mode a bit, as guns are unlocked by meta unlocks across games, which means noob players are pretty hampered. I almost wish they'd done what Treyarch did with Ghosts' "Extinction", limiting gun unlocks to the same game.

All told, though, this mode is awesome, and I think it'll do quite well as a standalone - especially if it's sub $15.

How much does it cost if I own the game but no season pass?

 

[MrBambinoDent]

Glad to hear it's good, might pick it up soon if I get one of my friends to do the same.

 

[Habib Marwan]

Somehow I missed that this will be standalone... I will be picking it up for sure!

 

[labaronx]

Sounds good.

Playing it later can't wait

 

[Fix The Scientist]

Can you play this solo/offline?

 

[Raonak]

Looked pretty interesting at the conference.

 

[FoxnHurley]

Thanks for your insight, FrankCaron! I wasn't exactly sure of how to play this mode, but your description gave a great introduction as to what is expected from a match.

I wasn't even aware that this DLC had been released, haha.

Feel free to add me guys if you're looking for a competent squadmate--PSN: FoxnHurley-

 

[FatalT]

I've never been so angry at motherfuckers not knowing to bank their points. So much unnecessary rage.

 

[Moofers]

The standalone won't be available until August.

I sold my copy of KZ because it was May and they gave no word on any kind of ETA for this despite my begging on twitter. I had a feeling it wouldn't be out until September and I was not willing to hold out that long while the game's value and population dwindled.

If it's holding up in august I might jump on, but honestly that's TLOU and Diablo time.

 

[Grinchy]

Is there anyone using the party system who can actually play together or does everyone end up with the CE-34878-0 error?

 

[CozMick]

Im hearing that the new challenges are glitched and not tracking properly, is this true?

 

[FrankCaron]

Im hearing that the new challenges are glitched and not tracking properly, is this true?

I haven't unlocked any challenges quite yet but I'm not sure if it's tracking or not; I'll double check tonight.

 

[Nipo]

The standalone won't be available until August.

That is a shame. If it were available now I might get it tonight so I have something to play. But August? Last of us will be out Diablo will be our soon and destiny only a month away so no reason to get it then.

 

[2real4tv]

Already traded mine the game should have been delayed, there was enough FPS at release imo.

 

[Vashetti]

Already traded mine the game should have been delayed, there was enough FPS at release imo.

That would leave Knack as the only major launch exclusive.

 

[Santar]

Can you play this solo/offline?

I'm curious about this as well.

 

[FrankCaron]

Can you play this solo/offline?

Doesn't look like it; I don't remember seeing a Botzone option, but I can double check tonight. I suspect because of the complexity of the mechanics that the AI would be a bit frustrating to play with, as there are multiple things to take into account re: banking and where/when to hold the capture points as a player.

 

[lordxar]

Is there anyone using the party system who can actually play together or does everyone end up with the CE-34878-0 error?

You didn't mean to actually play coop with a friend did you? Talk about frustrating, friend of mine and I kept trying last night but kept blue screening. Only thing that worked was one join and the other join off them. Using the option join never worked. We had like one or two good games then blue screened mid match and said fk it. I really liked what we could play though. The bosses coming in was unexpected.

 

[Vhalyar]

It's about time. I bought SF on the promise of co-op, I'm glad it's an interesting system.

 

[JB1981]

Downloaded last night but was too tired to play, will give it a try tonight.

 

[EventHorizon]

That is a shame. If it were available now I might get it tonight so I have something to play. But August? Last of us will be out Diablo will be our soon and destiny only a month away so no reason to get it then.

Yep, I'm wondering if this will hurt their sales too. I guess they did it this way because if they didn't then a lot of current owners would sell the game in order to pickup the stand alone coop.

Still, it is dangerous for a game that is reliant of player population to have a split launch like this. If the population drops too far before the stand alone release, I'll be reluctant to pick it up even if I think I'll like it. And yes...the extra competition won't help them either.

 

[anonymous_abc]

You might have just sold me on starting up KZSF again tonight OP. Thanks.

 

[bayman]

How much does it cost if I own the game but no season pass?

$10

I bought the season pass just because there are more co-op maps coming and I assume they will be part of the season pass too.

Played a couple games last night and it's exactly what I hoped for. Beware though it is very challenging for new players unless maybe you played a lot of competitive which I did not. Hopefully enough people get into it that there will always be a game to find.

 

[AGoodODST]

Is there split screen? Been ages since I started up the game, can't even remember if competence multi had it.

 

[CozMick]

Is there split screen? Been ages since I started up the game, can't even remember if competence multi had it.

No split screen.

Man I've been F5'n the web store since 12:00.

SCEE suck urgh :/

 

[AGoodODST]

No split screen.

Man I've been F5'n the web store since 12:00.

SCEE suck urgh :/

No buy then. Cheers for answering

 

[BigTnaples]

Looking forward to this. Shadowfall is an extremely underrated game.

 

[Cornbread78]

Wait, so if this is stand-alone, what was that 2.2GB patch I downloaded last night while playing SP?

 

[CozMick]

Wait, so if this is stand-alone, what was that 2.2GB patch I downloaded last night while playing SP?

This version requires the original game, the standalone will be available around August.

 

[FrankCaron]

Wait, so if this is stand-alone, what was that 2.2GB patch I downloaded last night while playing SP?

They also released a massive (in size, not scope) patch that fixed some bugs as well as prepped the game to receive the DLC.

 

[shadowsdarknes]

I think I might get this.

We need a thread to organize people to play together.

 

[FrankCaron]

I think I might get this.

We need a thread to organize people to play together.

I'm in for this! Re-rolled this thread as the (unofficial?) OT.

 

[BattleMonkey]

I want this, but fear it will be dead relatively quick with how small the game's population is, and holding back the stand alone so long just makes it worse. This launching with the game could have been a big boost for the title.

 

[FrankCaron]

Maybe I can get a mod to help me with the thread rename as per the revamped post title?

 

[shadowsdarknes]

I want this, but fear it will be dead relatively quick with how small the game's population is, and holding back the stand alone so long just makes it worse. This launching with the game could have been a big boost for the title.

Surely there will be plenty of gaffers who would want to play.

I'm going to get this later today. I must own everything Killzone.

 

[wapplew]

If I buy my main game from EU psn, can I buy DLC from other psn?

 

[EekTheKat]

I love the voiceover of the officer in this - it's like having John Wayne as your commanding officer.

Just got my first Marksman complement from him lol.

All last night he was complementing everyone but me as the Marksman in every game I tried.

 

[FrankCaron]

Thread re-branded and cleaned up. If you're up for playing, let me know your PSN ID and availability, and I'll add it to the OP.

 

[Tenshi Hauru]

The release post on the PS Blog lists the standalone price as $20. That feels like a decent price if the expansion turns out to be good. Would love to see more impressions on this.

To the people that have played already, does it still feel fresh and exciting to play after a couple of matches? I'm worried that for as fun as it may be, that it may start feeling samey quick.

 

[Ephemeris]

Looking forward to jumping in

 

[Murdoch]

Definately up for this

PSN ID : Murdy_Plops (don't judge)

 

[LastGamer84]

Bought this last night - left it to dl overnight. If anyone wants to add me for some co-op action -

PSN ID: LastGamer84

 

[FrankCaron]

The release post on the PS Blog lists the standalone price as $20. That feels like a decent price if the expansion turns out to be good. Would love to see more impressions on this.

Sweet. Thanks for the heads up! Fixed the OP.

 

[boredofcanada]

To the people that have played already, does it still feel fresh and exciting to play after a couple of matches? I'm worried that for as fun as it may be, that it may start feeling samey quick.

Played like 6 matches yesterday with a full team with mics. It felt fresh and new at first but by the end it was starting ii feel samey. The glitched weapon unlocking being the main reason why. It doesn't really have anything to work towards. It is fun though. One map ( highway I think ) is pretty awesome.