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Killzone: Shadow Fall |OT| Nothing Stops This Rain

Glad to hear all of your impressions. I'm still on the fence as to which FPS I should purchase first for my PS4, this or BF4.

I was dead set on getting this but the reviews for the game have scared me off. I'm just trying to decide now whether it is still with the risk.

I enjoyed Killzone 2, didn't like 3. Owned BF3 on my PS3 but didn't play MP all that much. I used to sink a lot of time into Bad company 2. Any advice gaffers?

Personally I'd say BF4 hands down. I just tried my first match of MP in KZ, and urgg, after playing BF4, there's nothing at all that interest me in the multiplayer of Killzone.
 

No Love

Banned
The more and more I play this, the more I feel that everyone should know: the reviews lied to you. The campaign is fun, very interesting in its pacing (the 3rd mission "Doctor" is creepy, cerebral, and slightly Event Horizonish... Its so nice to have a shooter with atmosphere that isn't afraid to slow the pace down), gorgeous and plays very tightly. I'd say the campaign is a combo between Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4. It reminds me of the criminally underrated Resistance 3 campaign, but more impressive and polished.

And the multiplayer... Oh jesus. So so good. Silky smooth,challenging,awesome maps with tons of pathways and areas to fight in, gunplay is extremely satisfying.

I mean come on people, all these bullshit "professional" reviews didn't even review the multiplayer. They said a couple sentences and that was that. They omitted one of the best parts of the game that'll keep people playing for months,;like Killzone 2 did.

Fuck the reviews. This is the best PS4 launch game. Period.
 

IcyEyes

Member
I wasn't feeling this at first last night, but I'm having alot of fun today. Campaign is gorgeous, and I'm really enjoying it. Not sure what people expected out of it, but so far it's my favorite campaign of any Killzone game.

Multiplayer has been a mixed bag for me, but I need to put some more time into it.

I think many of the reviewers felt disoriented and you need a bit of skill to enjoy the campaign. It's Killzone, it's about gorgeous visuals, intense shooting and memorable moments. The story may be simple, but no one is so stupid to go to the cinema to watch the Avengers hoping to see a deep, touching or twisted story.

I don't really understand why there's so much negative emphasis on this game. It's fun and this is enough.

The more and more I play this, the more I feel that everyone should know: the reviews lied to you. The campaign is fun, very interesting in its pacing (the 3rd mission "Doctor" is creepy, cerebral, and slightly Event Horizonish... Its so nice to have a shooter with atmosphere that isn't afraid to slow the pace down), gorgeous and plays very tightly. I'd say the campaign is a combo between Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4. It reminds me of the criminally underrated Resistance 3 campaign, but more impressive and polished.

And the multiplayer... Oh jesus. So so good. Silky smooth,challenging,awesome maps with tons of pathways and areas to fight in, gunplay is extremely satisfying.

I mean come on people, all these bullshit "professional" reviews didn't even review the multiplayer. They said a couple sentences and that was that. They omitted one of the best parts of the game that'll keep people playing for months,;like Killzone 2 did.

Fuck the reviews. This is the best PS4 launch game. Period.

I'm with you.
A bit "rude" message but you speak the truth.

I can understand why some reviewers dislike this game, but I don't care at all.
 

JORMBO

Darkness no more
How does saving work? I think I cleared most of the forest, but I turned the system off to go do something else. I come back and I am at the start of the level again. I don't see an option to save manually.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
been playing this more. how in the fuck did it get such low scores? It just doesn't make any sense. The game is fucking amazing for a launch title.
 
I have played about two fours of game so far, but a lot of it was replaying a forest area because I was trying different things. I found the game seriously impressive and very captivating. I *really* enjoyed playing it so far and I think something must be massively going south later on in the game to warrant such mixed reviews.

It gets frustrating, they're pretty unapologetic about tossing in weird trial and error type things with new mechanics being explained on the fly. Which means you die each time a new mechanic is explained about 3 sec. too late. Checkpoints are decent and load time is almost non-existent though.

Pacing is also a huge departure from the constant bombast AAA stuff. A lot of moody atmosphere and tension building where you aren't shooting at things. The maps aren't laid out in an obvious funnel either, so its easy to get turned around an your next checkpoint isn't really obvious most of the time.

I can see how the SP could be a divisive thing, but I don't really get the "generic" complaints, or how harshly the story and dialog have been criticized.

The more and more I play this, the more I feel that everyone should know: the reviews lied to you.
...
Fuck the reviews. This is the best PS4 launch game. Period.

100% agree, HL2 vibe too (sacrilege).
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
I wonder why they completely got rid of the gore and turned down the blood in general. The shotgun headshots in 2/3/Mercenaries were the best in gaming, bummer to see them gone.
To make it less off-putting to newcomers probably. The game feel far more sophisticated and less gritty than previous two. Blood on the ground looks really good though.
 
The game is fucking amazing...

I don't know about that. The gunplay is decent enough - but enemy AI is pretty minimal.

Level design is a little stale. You can tell they tried to make the levels dynamic, at least in some areas, but you really have to work at it to exploit this kind of stuff. Mainly it's just send in the Owl and follow up shooting stuff.

Story telling, and the story itself, is pretty shoddy. Voice acting doesn't help either - and some characters, like the bad guy who always talks over the intercom, is terrible.

for a launch title.

Perhaps.
 
So the consensus seems to be that the SP is shite and the MP is the tits.

Great news for me, since I only want this game for the MP.

SP campaigns of FPS are pretty much all throwaway trash anyway. Picking up my PS4 with this game in December after final exams.
 
Sent a Tweet to @killzone about improving the FOV in this game. Most FPS games probably have a default FOV value of 55-60, while SF's is something like 45.
 

AlphaDump

Gold Member
You liking the campaign?

btw awesome avatar lol


yeah been playing it for a good 4 hours. gameplay reminds me of Crysis II with the OWL options in how opened it is. the whole presentation is just absurd, especially for a launch title.


and thanks, that's my buddy winston on the day he graduated from puppy school :)
 

Bookoo

Member
I must have lost my touch for controllers in FPS. I enjoyed Killzone 2 and 3, but am not really enjoying the MP in this so much.

I have only played a few matches, it really feels like they dumbed it down.
 

Wasp

Member
Oh god, just got into an infinite death checkpoint loop as it saved as soon as I blew a hole through the objective but my positioning made it so that I fell and died. Haven't had this happen in a long time, lol.
That happened to me in Halo 4. The game autosaved a split second before I was hit in the head by a sniper so I got stuck in an infinite death loop.
 

oatmeal

Banned
Damnit...I told myself i wouldn't buy this game. I hated KZ2...

And yet I bought it...and sure enough, I hate it. And it was a digital so I can't even do anything about it.

That sucks. What a waste of $60.

Thanks for not having demos.
 

GodofWine

Member
Damnit...I told myself i wouldn't buy this game. I hated KZ2...

And yet I bought it...and sure enough, I hate it. And it was a digital so I can't even do anything about it.

That sucks. What a waste of $60.

Thanks for not having demos.

The game suffers from none of the 'ills' that KZ2 did. Yes its a slower, more weighty game than floating gun of duty, but this one actually has really really responsive controls.

The lack of auto aim takes a full day to adjust to though, dive back in after a day off...but no COD in the middle.

(I have no idea if you are playing COD, at all or ever, but its the only game I can use to make that point)
 

oatmeal

Banned
The game suffers from none of the 'ills' that KZ2 did. Yes its a slower, more weighty game than floating gun of duty, but this one actually has really really responsive controls.

The lack of auto aim takes a full day to adjust to though, dive back in after a day off...but no COD in the middle.

(I have no idea if you are playing COD, at all or ever, but its the only game I can use to make that point)

Controls are fine, I dislike the maps, I dislike the graphics (they're technically wonderful, but I hate the look of it, there's always some sparks or flare getting in the way), I feel like the enemies in both SP/MP blend into their surroundings.

The sound design is great.

And I'm not playing CoD, I think I may just be tired of FPS's. :/
 

Jarmel

Banned
So finished the campaign.

Oh fucking lawl. The worst part is that the writing isn't the only problem with the game. I'll start with the writing though as it's fucking terrible on so many levels. We have the contrivances throughout the game where shit happens and it's done in such a shitty manner. I'll give you an example,
Lucas fucks up killing the Black Hand terrorist leader despite having a gun directly pointed at this fucker's head and from the back. It's mindblowing and surprise surprise, he turns out to be alive, all for a shitty endgame boss battle.
Lucas is completely inept throughout the story. There are the horrible characters such as Sinclair who are so fucking shallow that it's irritating especially considering that there is no semblance of a relationship between Sinclair and Lucas despite Sinclair essentially adopting you. Oh and Sinclair being all genocide genocide all the time doesn't help his portrayal. The crazy scientist lady or the Black Hand terrorist leader are unbelievably shitty considering the goals GG were trying to do with this game. The themes aren't handled well at all and pretty much slap you in the face with them in the most obvious manner.
Also there are some unclear elements about the weapon especially near the end as it's mentioned as being a virus but then you see some EMP like thing and Echo mentions that he had activated the weapon.
The ending is also indeed lolz worthy.

Gameplay-wise, the reviews are kinda wrong in that the level design kinda remains open for most of the game. Problem is that it becomes a clusterfuck near the end. Whoever designed Chapter 8 though deserves to be fired for one of the most egregious game designs I've ever seen. You have to hack the alarm systems to stop the enemies from constantly spawning. Problem is that they threw the alarm systems right next to the enemy spawn points, have those shield guys shooting at you, the bot draws aggro, and the enemies are spawning quick as fuck. I killed 50 people before I lucked out and was able to hack the alarms. Beyond fucking annoying. Then there is the boss battle right after that is poorly designed on every conceivable level. Chapter 9 is just a bunch of enemy waves where the game throws everything at you. In those medium sized you can't really maneuver around as much as you want due to the number of enemies.

There are good elements to the singleplayer such as Chapter 3 which did have a sort of Dead Space aspect to it and the earlier levels as a whole were fun. However the later ones especially past the end of Chapter 7, which is just one gigantic battle, aren't fun and it's just frustrating shit heaped on frustrating shit.

Also the enemy AI is awful, anyone telling you otherwise doesn't know what they're talking about.
 

Drencrom

Member
If you enjoyed KZ2, definitely get this.

It's similar to KZ2 but better.

I just want to congratulate GG on the MP. It is so damn good. It reminds me of KZ2 which is the highest praise I can give an online FPS.

Reminds me of KZ2 as well, and that's an awesome thing. Glad they didn't try to expand upon KZ3's all-over-the-place MP.

Shit, need to pick this up sooner than i thought
 
Man these impressions are killing me. I love Killzone so much and I'm so hyped to play it right now.

What is the general consensus on length?
How does the length compare to other FPS games?

Most importantly how is the soundtrack? Heard that it is by two different composers.
 

MADGAME

Member
The more and more I play this, the more I feel that everyone should know: the reviews lied to you. The campaign is fun, very interesting in its pacing (the 3rd mission "Doctor" is creepy, cerebral, and slightly Event Horizonish... Its so nice to have a shooter with atmosphere that isn't afraid to slow the pace down), gorgeous and plays very tightly. I'd say the campaign is a combo between Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4. It reminds me of the criminally underrated Resistance 3 campaign, but more impressive and polished.

And the multiplayer... Oh jesus. So so good. Silky smooth,challenging,awesome maps with tons of pathways and areas to fight in, gunplay is extremely satisfying.

I mean come on people, all these bullshit "professional" reviews didn't even review the multiplayer. They said a couple sentences and that was that. They omitted one of the best parts of the game that'll keep people playing for months,;like Killzone 2 did.

Fuck the reviews. This is the best PS4 launch game. Period.

Demos > Reviews when demos are possible
 

MilkBeard

Member
The more and more I play this, the more I feel that everyone should know: the reviews lied to you. The campaign is fun, very interesting in its pacing (the 3rd mission "Doctor" is creepy, cerebral, and slightly Event Horizonish... Its so nice to have a shooter with atmosphere that isn't afraid to slow the pace down), gorgeous and plays very tightly. I'd say the campaign is a combo between Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 4. It reminds me of the criminally underrated Resistance 3 campaign, but more impressive and polished.

And the multiplayer... Oh jesus. So so good. Silky smooth,challenging,awesome maps with tons of pathways and areas to fight in, gunplay is extremely satisfying.

I mean come on people, all these bullshit "professional" reviews didn't even review the multiplayer. They said a couple sentences and that was that. They omitted one of the best parts of the game that'll keep people playing for months,;like Killzone 2 did.

Fuck the reviews. This is the best PS4 launch game. Period.

I kind of agree, although I don't play a lot of first person shooters so I don't know how it compares. I have played Bioshock/Infinite and Dishonored, for what it's worth.

So far I have gotten to the part where
you first get to hack the little bots and take control of them.
I would say that the campaign so far is very solid, and I have been enjoying it. It has moments that are all atmosphere, in the style of those games that I mentioned before. At times it does give me a little bit of a Metroid Prime vibe. Not quite as open world as that though.

Up to where I'm at, I'd say I agree with IGN's review and score. For once I actually agree with one of their reviews.

EDIT: Oh and I love the Owl. It's an awesome little companion. I use it all the time. It's so fun to send it over on one side of a group of enemies, let it distract them, and then come on the other side and ambush them. I hope GG uses this thing more in the future because it has a lot more potential that could be tapped, especially for platforming and tactics.
 

X-Frame

Member
I played KZ:SF all morning and afternoon and not one connection issue or error or anything. I was thinking about popping in BF4 for a bit but going to their OT, it seems to be barely working.

Very impressed with how KZ is doing at launch!
 

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
. The maps aren't laid out in an obvious funnel either, so its easy to get turned around an your next checkpoint isn't really obvious most of the time.
I like that so far. It requires at least a minimum if thinking to keep playing. It's never been too difficult figuring that out so far, but you can't just put brain on autopilot either.
 

JCizzle

Member
I'm liking the campaign so far. The story is a bit disjointed, but the gameplay is fun. Just
infiltrated helgan territory
. Give it an 85/100 so far.
 

GodofWine

Member
Controls are fine, I dislike the maps, I dislike the graphics (they're technically wonderful, but I hate the look of it, there's always some sparks or flare getting in the way), I feel like the enemies in both SP/MP blend into their surroundings.

The sound design is great.

And I'm not playing CoD, I think I may just be tired of FPS's. :/

Sound is damn good.

Oh well...maybe I'll run into ya somewhere online where we dont have to shoot eachother :)
 

MilkBeard

Member
When you get to the later parts of the game, being inside some of the more reflective areas with the Owl is awesome, It emits this really beautiful looking light that reflects everywhere and reminds me of the kind of lighting that I've only seen in Sci-fi movies.

It's true that there are some areas that seem pretty average, while some areas look amazing. But one effect that is balls-to-the-wall awesome is the volumetric fog/lighting indoors. There were some moments that were pretty breathtaking. It will be nice to see another game from them and other developers that aren't rushed for launch.
 

i-Lo

Member
Pertaining to visuals:

In the Feb 20 event when KZSF was first shown off, I didn't remember seeing aliasing in the blurred section of the handle bar when the protagonist looks out the aircraft into the horizon. Did they change the AA for the game?

Also, while I have noticed some LoD pop in forest level in SP (from vids) I have barely noticed any such thing in MP. Can anyone else corroborate this?
 

Grinchy

Banned
this level where you troll around a ship in near pitch blackness is painfully fucking bad. just ass backward, unenjoyable level design

You know what annoyed me about it was that you are given a choice whether you want to go up or down first. I went up first. I did the whole upper section, then went down and did the lower section. Since I chose that order, when I had to go back up for another part, everything was reset back to the way it was before I had been there. So I find my way back through and use the perusite (sp?) containers yet again, just to get back to an area I had already cleared out.

Not a huge issue, but it really made the feeling of choosing your own path seem very limited.
 

GodofWine

Member
Yeah, that's a massive oversight not being able to talk to team mates that aren't in your party.

This needs to be patched.



If you enjoyed KZ2, definitely get this.

It's similar to KZ2 but better.

so thats why it was dead silent...

and yes, this is KZ 2 with the added bonus of being able to actually aim. :)
 

Everdred

Member
Beat the game on Hard this morning. I can't believe the reviewers and I are playing the same game.

The single player is awesome. I love the open ended-ness and the approachability of every situation. And I LOVE the fact that they don't slap you in the face with instructions on where to go. It reminds me of Half-Life (I'm not saying it's that good, settle down) where the environments are big and you have to figure out what you're doing and it isn't always obvious. There are a lot of story moments where you aren't just shooting people, plus the whole story is in first person.

Only played about 2 hours of multiplayer, I like it so far but it was a little slower than I expected. Was doing very well. I have K:D of 3:1 and a win ratio of 3:1 too.
 
Beat the game on Hard this morning. I can't believe the reviewers and I are playing the same game.

The single player is awesome. I love the open ended-ness and the approachability of every situation. And I LOVE the fact that they don't slap you in the face with instructions on where to go. It reminds me of Half-Life (I'm not saying it's that good, settle down) where the environments are big and you have to figure out what you're doing and it isn't always obvious. There are a lot of story moments where you aren't just shooting people, plus the whole story is in first person.

Only played about 2 hours of multiplayer, I like it so far but it was a little slower than I expected. Was doing very well. I have K:D of 3:1 and a win ratio of 3:1 too.

I've been asking around but haven't had any feedback yet, perhaps you'll help out a EU Gaffer.

How long is the game? I've heard around 10-12 hours is that about right, sounds long for a FPS as they usually go for 6-8 max.

What is the Soundtrack like? Do the two composers work well to establish a score that compliments the different tones throughout the game?

Thanks!
 
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