What they achieved with Killzone Shadow Fall is still commendable some ten years later though; the gorgeous visuals, crafted inside Guerrilla’s in-house Decima game engine, still hold up today. Crumbling ruins and glistening skyrise chrome and glass mingles beautifully with verdant citywide forestry. Open-ended level design provides the perfect foundation for non-linear mission structure. Players were free to tackle mission objectives in a multitude of ways providing deep strategic control beyond the limits of typical FPS titles. Elsewhere, player movement is smooth and snappy, belying Killzone’s inherent sluggishness. And new gameplay additions, most notably the hovering drone companion OWL, injected a sense of variety to the endless onslaught of high-octane action Killzone titles were known for.

Well, that high-octane action expected in a Killzone game was largely absent in Shadow Fall, replaced instead by an emphasis on stealth. When action set pieces do occur, they’re largely forgettable – shooting stuff from a moving vehicle, inexplicably free falling between buildings, and shooting more stuff from more moving vehicles. There’s a sense Guerrilla phoned in the latter half of the game in order to keep to launch title timescales.

The universe crafted by Guerrilla for this sequel was filled with interest. The premise, one whereby warring factions now inhabiting the same planet – albeit separated by giant wall – has plenty of intrigue, with potential for in-depth commentary on political and social issues surrounding the game’s narrative. At the end of Killzone 3, the Vektan’s destroy the Helghan homeworld and condemn their populous to refugeeism. Then, to set up Shadow Fall’s premise, they offer salvation to the Helghan refugees by giving up half of their home planet for them to colonise. Thing is, the Helghan’s aren’t too thrilled with this arrangement and systematically hunt down any Vektan citizens before they have a chance to exit beyond the wall to their own half-planet.

A tense cold war scenario threatens to spill into full-scale conflict, exacerbated by terrorist group ‘The Black Hand’s’ bomb attack on the VSA Headquarters, triggering an exodus of Helghast citizens living on the Vektan side of the wall. However, the continuous bait switch recasting Helghans as refugees, invaders, dangerous oppressors, and sleeper cells only serves to muddle up the narrative. Sure, adjusting the purpose and intent of the Helghan’s to support the game’s requirement to kill them is all well and good, but it does little to service Killzone Shadow Fall’s story.

The contradictions don’t end there either. How is it that once player character Lucas Kellan infiltrates the Helghan half do we see a society in destitution? ‘Sanctions’, is the game’s response, but don’t the Helghan’s possess their own economic autonomy? They have an entire half of a planet, presumably rife with natural resources, fertile land, and a skilled workforce, to ensure their population live in comfort. This world rife with believable promise is quickly unravelling into the nonsensical. The Vektan’s and Helghan’s are both oppressors and oppressed, invaders and invaded, fighting a futile war which they both simultaneously want to happen and wish to avoid.

Further along in the game’s narrative, we discover the Helghan homeworld isn’t in fact totally destroyed, and that an antagonist from the previous game is holed up there with a secret army and access to an awful bioweapon. How, why, and for what? How is there significant manpower still present on a planet reportedly deserted by its refugee population, and more importantly, who’s financing all this? How can one bad guy get this operation off the ground? The Helghan’s – as we’re led to believe – are poor. Their population lives in squalor whilst a behind-the-scenes army amasses ready to clean the divided planet of Vektans after the release of their specific race targeting bioweapon.

Suspension of disbelief is a pre-requisite to enjoy most media, of course, but the ground rules set out by the narrative premise must make sense in the world as constructed. Killzone Shadow Fall fails to stick to its own rules, and alongside a supporting cast of forgettable characters and the aforementioned bland set pieces, the experience by game’s end is decidedly underwhelming.

There are issues with the emphasis on stealth too, with long reloading times indicative of a game that really wants you to take your time in the shadows. The run and gun fun of prior Killzone titles is all but evaporated, and whilst a studio should always be commended for trying something new to freshen up a series, Shadow Fall’s stealth portions brought back the inherent sluggishness the gameplay and combat designers presumably worked hard to swiften up during development.

Killzone Shadow Fall’s multiplayer component was pretty robust though. The experience-driven progression unlocking stronger firepower and better loadouts of prior Killzone titles was dropped in favour of a skills-based approach. To exemplify this, all weapons for each of the multiplayer’s three classes were unlocked from the off. Tweakable rules in individual Warzone’s kept the online experience fresh, with ability to arm players with sniper rifles only, or fight to retain only one life, or include a refilling health gauge – for instance – just a handful of the adaptions to individual servers’ players can make. With 10 vast, diverse maps to explore, and Guerrilla stating a commitment to continually update online content for years, then all the ingredients were there for Killzone Shadow Fall to enjoy longevity in the online sphere.

For whatever reason though, player numbers dwindled, and Guerrilla nor Sony took steps to encourage more players back onto their servers. Indeed, the only step they did take was to introduce AI bot opponents that can at least replicate the multiplayer experience. But this isn’t the same as going up against another human; plus, enemy AI was poorly implemented in the single player campaign it probably wasn’t much better online.

Before long, Killzone Shadow Fall’s servers became a ghost town, with hardly a player taking the plunge. Perhaps owing to the runaway success of the Horizon series, Guerrilla have opted to abandon everything Killzone, instead ploughing time, money, and resources into more content for Aloy and her quests through mechanised dinosaur infested lands.  By August last year, Sony and Guerrilla finally pulled the plug. Three Killzone games were turned off – PS Vita title Killzone Mercenary, VR game MIGS: Mechanised Combat League, and Killzone Shadow Fall – including online only DLC Intercept left the world for good.

It’s official: the once flagship series in Sony’s first-party offerings is no more. It’s likely Killzone Shadow Fall just came at the wrong time, with elevated expectation levied on a launch title which showcased all the graphical prowess of a next-gen title without incorporating substance or longevity. Perhaps, in the world of online multiplayer, there’s just too much competition – FPS mainstays like Halo arguably turn player heads more than Killzone, and the emerging success of the battle royale formula probably was the final nail in the coffin for Shadow Fall.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

But then as we all know, failures such as Shadow Fall did put Killzone’s reputation down the drain – which eventually led to the abandonment of the franchise, and Guerilla Games then moved on to greener pastures. But we can’t help but think about Killzone, and wonder whether it would make for a feasible game in today’s gaming landscape.

And you know what, it would actually make a lot of sense to bring back Killzone – and there are many directions that Sony could take to do just that. Here are 5 that we think is the most probable of the bunch.

The Next Killzone Could Ditch The Original Story

While Killzone had many great things going for it, a good story wasn’t one of those traits. The world-building was solid enough, and coupled with great art direction – and Killzone’s world and characters looked absolutely astonishing. But that facade soon wears out, and criticisms about the story start to rear their head once again. Sure, one could say that in a game that’s so focused on shooting enemies in the face – the story doesn’t really hold that much weight.

And while that could be a valid argument to an extent, a good story goes a long way in really legitimizing a game and paving the way for a larger universe, one that accounts for different kinds of experiences. So why not leave what doesn’t work behind and start with a rebooted plot that’s different from what came before, and be all the better for it?

This is easily the most idealistic way to reintroduce the franchise to a modern gaming landscape. If the next Killzone were to have a rebooted plot, new players who don’t have prior experience with the series would be tempted to jump in, while those who have grown up with it would also get to see it in a new light. And then, of course, the developer would also get to work on a clean slate, which has plenty of advantages of its own. Everyone wins, no one loses.

The Next Killzone Could Be A Multiplayer Focused Game

But if the story and the single-player campaign is something that’s causing a buffet of problems for the developer, why not abandon that portion entirely – and go for a game that’s entirely focused on the multiplayer component of Killzone?

While that approach may sound unintuitive at first, over the course of multiple entries – Killzone managed to create a compelling multiplayer experience that kept fans coming back for more. So it might be best to hone in on those learnings, maybe add a few new game modes, and ship a multiplayer-centric game to test the waters for Killzone in this new market.

If Sony were to take this approach, it could go down two routes – either ship a game with a fixed price tag or make the game free to play. We have seen plenty of multiplayer shooters in both these categories become successful, and while each of these routes has its own set of advantages and disadvantages – there is little argument that Killzone can’t thrive as a multiplayer experience.

The Next Killzone Could Go For An Open World Shooter Approach

While there were many reasons behind Killzone being disbanded after Shadow Fall, one of them is certainly the fact that the franchise didn’t fit into the open-world third-person cinematic experience model that Sony has adopted with the majority of its first-party releases. Supporting that sentiment is the fact that Guerilla Games did go on to make Horizon Zero Dawn after Killzone: Shadow Fall – an open-world action-adventure game – and we all know the love that Sony is giving out to that franchise – and rightfully so.

But who said that Killzone can’t be molded into this aforementioned box, and while that statement might have sounded borderline idiotic a few years before – it’s starting to make more sense with every passing year. Guerilla Games has really nailed how to create open-world experiences with Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, so why not utilize the same learnings for Killzone and bring it back into the fold?

343 Industries did the same treatment with Halo Infinite, and those changes have had a really positive impact on the franchise. So why not take some pages out of that book, and put together an open-world Killzone that reboots the story to make it more palatable for new audiences? Honestly, we feel that there is a lot of potential in Killzone to go this route – and it would be really interesting direction for the series

The Next Killzone Could Go For A Smaller Approach

But going open-world or rebooting the story entirely would require a lot of groundwork and experimentation, and that would definitely require tons of capital. Sure, Sony could manage that if it wants to – but putting that money into a venture that hasn’t really given out expected returns in the past – might not be the wisest decision from a financial standpoint.

As such, going for a mid-budget game could be a better option. Sony has done the same with Killzone in the form of Mercenary, which was a spin-off of the mainline series that was released for the PS Vita. While it was by no means a perfect game, Killzone Mercenary certainly impressed everyone with its visuals and solid gameplay according to handheld standards – and when seen as a whole, it was a success.

So why not do the same again to test the waters, and get a better understanding of whether Killzone could survive in the modern gaming landscape? Development duties could be delegated to a small team internally at Guerilla Games, or Sony could bring in a new team to work on it – but either way, this is a lucrative option and one worth looking into.

The Next Killzone Could Go for VR

We all know that Sony is placing some huge bets on VR, and the upcoming PSVR2 is a bold testament to that statement. Games such as the likes of Horizon: Call of the Mountain are sure to be system-selling games for the platform, but a Killzone VR game wouldn’t hurt either. The first-person shooting gameplay is practically perfect for VR, and games like Blood and Truth have showcased how action adventure games can be built for the platform.

As such, a potential Killzone VR game would be a match made for success – and we are not the only ones who think so. A recent rumor states that a Killzone VR has been in development for some time now, and the project which was previously being helmed by Supermassive Games has been brought in-house and would now be released for the PSVR2. As always, it’s advisable to take this information with a grain of salt, but we all can find some solace in knowing that there’s a ray of hope for now.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.