If 2011 was the year Killzone found itself on the ropes, then 2013 is the year the franchise regains its footing. Killzone 3, released a couple of years ago on PlayStation 3, was considered by many to be a low point for the series, but earlier this year, Killzone: Mercenary on PS Vita set it back on the right course , and the PlayStation 4 launch game, Killzone: Shadow Fall

Out With the Old

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A Cold War

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Get 'em, OWL!

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Killing the Masses

Shadow Fall's most beautiful map.

Shadow Fall goes a lot further than Mercenary in attempting to remedy some of what was wrong with the franchise, and developer Guerrilla Games has smartly (and obviously) studied its contemporaries in the shooter space for inspiration on how make its series excel again. The Dutch studio has created a Killzone game that feels, in some respects, like a reimagining of what its been endlessly working on since the PlayStation 2 era. It takes slivers of Halo, Call of Duty, Crysis, and Deus Ex to deliver something staggeringly different for Killzone, something longtime fans in particular may not expect.Killzone has always been a bleak-looking game, a product of its equally bleak story surrounding two factions of warring humans, the Vektans and the Helghast, but Shadow Fall one makes a welcome turn for the colorful. It takes place decades after the catastrophic events at the end of Killzone 3, with the conflict between the two sides turning into a bona fide cold war as a result of once again living on the same planet. This story has allowed Guerrilla to explore different, more subtle themes, in turn letting the team flex its artistic muscles in ways it never had a chance to.This becomes immediately evident as soon as you begin the single-player campaign. The wake of endless war -- and the invasive industrial feel of previous entries -- have stepped aside for stunning, colorful cityscapes, lush forests, and abandoned space stations. Shadow Fall’s environments are gorgeous, diverse, and have a tangible feeling of scope, and it’s the pristineness of many of them that make them special. It’s easy to lose track of time staring off into Vekta City’s impressive skyline, or run around looking at the plant life in the forest alongside the wall that keeps the two sides away from one another. And while it doesn’t always run at or near 60 frames per second, Shadow Fall performs nicely, with motion blur slyly hiding some of its rough technical edges.Also eliminated is one of the most well-known and divisive components of the franchise: its incredibly heavy-feeling movement. Mercifully, that mystifying sluggishness is long gone, making Shadow Fall faster and snappier than Killzone has ever been, making way for a shooter that feels, at its core, a lot more like Halo than Killzone 3. And though enemy AI is occasionally lacking, as Helghan foes at times don’t practice self-preservation or seem to even “turn on,” it’s normally up to par, and firing your weapons into them is a blast. So much so that I have to wonder why Guerrilla thought taking so long to put a gun into your hand and let you out of your tutorial-laden cage was a good idea.Once you’re out of that cage, you’ll get to explore a story that, like its aesthetic and feel, is also starkly different than what came before it. Unchained from the more conventional war between the Helghast and Vektans, Guerrilla has decided to explore a plot that’s full of cold war nuance. The uneasy peace between the two sides, split by a literal wall, evokes a heavy post-war Germany influence (much like the Helghast throughout the series rely heavily on a fascist, Nazi-like imagery).This means that big, open battlefields and endless arrays of gunfights are replaced with around 10 hours of more thoughtful, quieter missions that are interspersed with the setpiece battles I know, love, and expect. There’s even an attempt at stealth, though it doesn’t always work very well. You can sneak up behind enemies or fall on top of them unawares for a variety of violent knife kills, but these aren’t always executed as you intend, and it’s fairly common for what should have been an amazing flourish with your blade to turn into a decidedly unsubtle rifle-butt attack, inevitably alerting every other enemy in the area to your presence.The story itself is a bit muddled -- and even nonsensical at times -- but it’s the varied environments it allows you to explore that makes it palatable, if not outright enjoyable. As you jump between the Vektan and Helghan sides of the wall (and elsewhere), you’ll find yourself in all sorts of interesting places that a straightforward war scenario, like those found in previous Killzone games, wouldn’t allow for. It’s unlikely Killzone 2 or 3 would have had you running through a three-story townhouse rescuing hostages in the middle of a city totally unaware that anything bad was happening. But in Shadow Fall, that’s just another day at the office for your character, mysterious Shadow Marshal Lucas Kellen, someone capable of both killing and feeling, a twist for a Killzone protagonist.There are interesting characters to meet (some better voice-acted than others), civilians to interact with, and a ton of story-driving collectibles to find. But the various degrees of non-linearity in each mission really is the hallmark of the single-player campaign. It, along with Shadow Fall’s new graphical flair, is what sets it apart from other Killzone games more than anything else, and represents a new chapter for the franchise.I absolutely adored how it often challenged me to go about things in different and unique ways, especially on certain maps where you can go in any direction you please. Early in the campaign, you find yourself on the Helghan side of the wall in a stunningly beautiful forest searching for the crew of a downed Vektan aircraft, but before you do, you can stray to the far side of the woods to take out the security station. If you’re seen, you could use your special robotic friend, OWL, to shut off alarms and stop reinforcements from coming, or you could simply shoot everybody in your way. There’s not only inherent strategy to be employed here; there’s inherent replayability, too.The aforementioned OWL – your airborne robotic companion – is the final trump card in Killzone’s repertoire. It can be dispatched to stun or outright attack enemies, it can deploy a shield to give ample protection from enemy fire, and it can even shoot out a zipline that allows access to platforms and other far away areas, giving Shadow Fall an unexpected – albeit underused – feeling of verticality.OWL’s more practical uses are ones that grate a bit as the adventure carries on, however. It’ll often be used to hack computers – time and time again – and it can also be used to apply adrenaline to you when you fall in battle, which is basically a fancy way of saying you’re being healed. The former becomes quite repetitive while the latter allows you to forego some of Shadow Fall’s more difficult parts. I often sacrificed myself with knowledge that OWL could revive me, and I’d begin anew without going back to the last checkpoint (and with time temporarily slowed down to give you an extra edge, to boot).But it’s another tool to use as you see fit, and it’s in these situations – when it’s really forcing you to think – that Shadow Fall shines most. It’s not a corridor-shooting Killzone game by any stretch of the imagination, and while combat truly is a lot of fun – complemented by a great variety of firearms – it’s the quieter, more somber moments that are most memorable. Unfortunately, it’s occasionally cluttered by some pesky missions that made me do things I really don’t want to do – like hacking and remotely controlling spider-like robots or identifying remote targets for an ally to take out – but when Shadow Fall gets down to brass tacks and focuses on what it does best, it provides an utterly satisfying experience.Then again, there are those times where Shadow Fall absolutely insists on doing things it’s just not very good at. Virtually all of these moments happen when you don’t have a gun in your hand, when Guerrilla forcibly shows off its impressive graphics or changes things up for the sake of changing things up. There are strange zero-gravity sections, even stranger areas where you’re free-falling, and a few times where you have to jump around and platform. These scattered sections all share one thing in common: they’re bad. They don’t control well, they aren’t fun, and they break up what is otherwise a fun single-player campaign, one that’s already broken up enough with pretty story scenes.When you’ve finished with Shadow Fall’s campaign, its strong multiplayer modes are a good reason to stick around. I had a blast experimenting with new loadouts and learning the 10 large and diverse maps that revisit indoor and outdoor areas from the campaign, and I was impressed by the variety of modes. Like in Killzone 2 and 3, Warzones – roving game modes that occur on the fly so that you don’t get brought back to a lobby with any regularity – are the name of the game here, though you can play individual modes if you so desire.There’s an almost insane level of granularity in terms of weapon selections and loadouts, skills, attachments, and the like, and interestingly, it all comes under the guise of multiplayer that’s far more accessible than the Killzone games on PlayStation 3. By abandoning experience-driven level progression for a new multiplayer metagame surrounding Challenges, Killzone becomes more about the application of skill than the unlocking of stronger, newer, and better loadouts. Indeed, just about every weapon for all three multiplayer classes are unlocked from the get-go, stressing proficiency above all else.I enjoyed playing with tailor-made Warzones, and equally enjoyed taking the time to create my own. One Warzone I played on during my session required us to use nothing but sniper rifles and knives, with only one life to live. The Warzone I crafted myself brought it to an even more difficult level, with only one type of pistol accessible, and slowly refilling health. It's awesome how intricate you can get in the creation of custom Warzones.Shadow Fall’s roster of locations is pleasantly diverse. I especially loved the rain-soaked nighttime map and, of course, the forested level with a ton of sniper perches and distressingly few places to hide. The three character classes also provide a subtle, additional level of depth, though success rests much more with the weapons and skills you opt to equip than the class you choose. Still, there are fewer classes to choose from when comparing Shadow Fall to Killzone 2 and 3, and some players may pine for the intricacies of earned Ribbons, Badges, and the like found in those games.Interestingly, Guerrilla intends on supporting Shadow Fall with free new maps well into the future, seemingly promising a vibrant online community for some time to go. But multiplayer’s real longevity will come by way of those aforementioned Warzones, where you can rewrite the rules as you please. Being able to affect and alter every little thing about Killzone: Shadow Fall’s online experience truly is the crux of it all. And that’s a good thing.