Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept DLC Review

Intercept this.

Killzone: Shadow Fall really impressed me last year at PlayStation 4’s launch with incredible graphics and a single-player campaign that tried to take strides in a genre that’s quickly grown stale in relying so heavily on expanded multiplayer options. Sure, Shadow Fall still had rotating Warzones that kept players on their toes by offering up different objectives in a single match, but the game felt a little clunky and on par with what you’d expect from a launch title.

Thankfully, Guerrilla Games have issued updates to keep the community of Killzone fans happy after launch and the latest, heftiest new content landed this week in the form of cooperative multiplayer DLC dubbed Intercept. This new mode gives up to four players the opportunity to take on advancing waves of Helghast soldiers in an effort to defend a few key locations. While the maps themselves might feel a little too familiar to anyone who has thoroughly explored everything the base game has to offer, Intercept does a great job of adding another layer to the satisfying gunplay and classes present in standard multiplayer.

Specifically, each of Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept's four classes feel distinct. No single soldier can do everything needed to successfully defend a location and, as such, players absolutely must work together to guarantee that everyone stays alive and the Helghast don’t win. Here’s a gallery featuring each distinct class:

Once you pick your class, you and three others need to hunker down and understand specific points of entry for Helghast swarms. As with any cooperative, wave-based multiplayer shooter, you’ll likely find enemy spawn points and watch them stupidly blink into your field of view if you’re really dedicated. This proves a particular problem for the Sniper class who can get a high vantage point and spend the entire match making sure bodies pile up and Helghast goggles go lights-out as soon as they appear.

Still, mid- o long-term engagements provide some intense challenges that will test both your trigger finger and your ability to work together as a team. One early round as a medic left me hopelessly at fault for our loss after I spent most of my time looking at a spawn screen. Once you learn a map, it can be much easier to store up points, but Killzone: Shadow Fall Intercept also leaves it up to you to determine the rewards you unlock after the celebratory mortars fall.

Players earn credits and multipliers as they fight, meaning you could spend a deathless-match earning thousands of credits, but banking them at the central base will push your team to victory that much faster. Banking points allows each class to discover different rhythms to the flow of combat. You won’t so much rely on stopping by in-between rounds as you might sprint through your base to recover a little health before proceeding on to revive another soldier or plant another turret.

It was a little too easy to drop Killzone: Shadow Fall’s base multiplayer game last fall, so I was pleasantly surprised by Intercept’s eagerly accessible mechanics. When you’re playing against a lot of other human players, some classes and weapons feel inherently broken, but Guerrilla Games made sure not to repeat that mistake in this cooperative mode. Weapons feel balanced and not at all like one class has an advantage over another. Each player absolutely must work with others and soon you’ll come to recognize opportunities for new tactics on the field.

An automated turret might allow an infantry player to hold down a point while the sniper can play overwatch for the medic as he runs back and forth issuing revival drones. No matter what you do, you’ll do it better when you allow your teammate to assist or take over so you can address something more pressing. Knowing your role makes Intercept one of the better cooperative experiences available on PlayStation 4 right now.

Code provided by publisher. Exclusive to PlayStation 4.