PlayStation has never had much luck with first-person shooters. Haze was a stinker and led to the eventual closure of Free Radical Design. MAG was an overly ambitious mess that was simultaneously ill-thought out and ahead of its time, while Guerrilla’s Killzone series has long stood in the shadow of Bungie’s Halo. It is a genre Sony has frequented for generations, but never excelled in. For many, that long-held opinion changed with Helldivers 2.
While not a first-party exclusive like Killzone, Arrowhead Interactive’s live-service ode to the powers of galactic democracy conquered the galaxy when it launched in February. It offered a fresh take on squad-based gunplay we hadn’t seen before with matches that were equally tense and hilarious as you struggled to survive amidst hordes of insects and machines. It is a game that captures the imagination of millions with its fresh take on the genre, and despite its occasional missteps, remains a big player to this day. Now, its first big crossover is here.
Following backlash, Arrowhead has since announced that the upcoming second part of its Killzone collab will be given away for free.
Helldivers 2’s Killzone Crossover Should Have Been A Warbond
Since its release, Helldivers 2 has received a lot of praise for its monetisation. It launched at a lower price point for starters, allowing players to jump into the game for $34.99 knowing all their money was well spent. Then along came Warbonds, miniature battle passes you could spend in-game currency on to unlock all manner of new weapons and cosmetics. These are not only affordable, but none of them cease to exist when another one comes along, so it is possible to unlock anything you might have missed by jumping between bonds whenever.
I love this system, and wish more live-service games adopted it instead of relying on the powers of FOMO to ensure audiences are constantly tuned in for each seasonal drop. Sometimes I have other things to play, or I’m simply not in the mood for Helldivers 2, or maybe life gets in the way and I don’t want to feel guilty for missing out. The Killzone crossover doesn’t adopt this route, instead choosing to sell its skins, weapons, and cosmetics at a premium rate that its players already believe is too expensive. It’s a free-to-play attitude to a premium title, which was always going to turn people off, no matter how you tried to deliver it.
Since releasing, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani hopped onto the official Discord server to touch on player concerns and how this overpriced debacle wasn’t due to Sony influence or something equally nefarious, it was merely trying to find a sweet spot when it comes to the release of crossovers like this, and how it can offer a fair deal to players:
“Firstly – this is our first collaboration so we’ll be figuring it out as we go along,” Jorjani said. “Let us know what you’d like to see in the future. Secondly, it’s optional – the more of this we sell – the more Illuminate type stuff we can keep dropping for free.”
Killzone Needs A Remastered Collection Or Something To Honor Its Legacy
I understand the teething issues that come with premium crossovers like this, and devs will be trying to find the sweet spot between maximum profits and not raking their fans over the coals. Killzone was a misstep, and now players have learned it was originally intended to be a Warbond, like all its other cosmetics, some believe this was done out of greed. Regardless of the truth, it’s a bummer that Killzone’s first modern appearance outside of Astro Bot finds itself mired by such controversy. It deserves better, and one day I hope Sony is willing to do something with the property.
Killzone Shadow Fall is readily available in both physical and digital form while still looking gorgeous. It isn’t the greatest shooter ever made, but it is well worth your time.
A remastered collection featuring all three of the mainline games wouldn’t go amiss. The first already received this treatment on PS3, while Killzone 2 & 3 still look and feel nice to play all these years later, so why not do the internal development work and bring this dormant series back for another go. Guerrilla committing to an entirely new entry would be foolish, and in the current landscape of live-service shooters, I doubt it could hold muster anyway.
After going all in on Horizon I want to see that series continue to evolve, but that doesn’t mean an iconic piece of Sony history should be left to rot on older platforms forevermore. If its legacy ends with an awkward Helldivers 2 collaboration, I’m not sure if I’ll ever get over the missed potential.
