‘Killzone: Shadow Fall’ Multiplayer Detailed – Part 2

Progression System

Unlike previous Killzone games the multiplayer progression in Killzone Shadow Fall isn’t based on XP, but on Challenges. Completing a challenge adds a point to your rank, and rewards you with weapon attachments as well as enhancements to your abilities and visual identity. There will be more than 1500 challenges available when the game launches, ranging from straightforward (“Destroy 1 Turret”) to very specific (“Kill 1 enemy player with Laser Tripmine while they are carrying a Beacon”).

Combat Honors

Combat Honors are temporary bonuses that can be activated by earning enough points during a round. They’re stackable, and you can unlock as many Combat Honors as you put points into. They only last as long as your play session, however, meaning you’ll lose all combat honors when you quit playing. Of course, you can disable Combat Honors in your own Custom Warzones if you like.

Weapons & Attachments

Weapons can be augmented with up to two different attachment types at once. The number of attachments available for each weapon varies – for example, some guns won’t have room for a grenade launcher attachment, while others will be compatible with a range of grenade launcher attachments and ammo types. All weapons are skill-based – there will not be recoil-less or auto-aiming firearms.

Shields

As glimpsed in the Gamescom multiplayer trailer, players can now select the ability to deploy a smart nano-shields that block enemy attacks while allowing allied projectiles through. The nano-shields can be destroyed or knocked out with EMP weapon attachments, or simply deconstructed when no longer needed. As with all class abilities, players have the option of disabling nano-shields in their custom Warzones. We’ll cover the classes and their available abilities in more detail in the coming weeks.

Spotlight System

The Spotlight System allows you to celebrate your victory in style. At the end of each round, players are presented with a brief scene featuring the three top players from the winning side and the top player from the losing side. One of the winning players gets to select a Spotlight move to celebrate his victory over the losing player. If he fails to execute the move in time, the losing side has an opportunity to perform a countermove. The game ships with a wide selection of Spotlight moves, and more will be released after launch.

Warzone Leaderboards

In Killzone Shadow Fall, each warzone will have its own leaderboard. This doesn’t just apply to official or featured Warzones, but to custom ones as well. You can even choose which stats you want the leaderboard to be ranked on when you set up a custom Warzone, to encourage a particular form of play.

Online and Offline Bots

You can add bots to online matches for any Warzone you create. Human players can replace bots during the match, to ensure that there’s always a consistent amount of players present in the Warzone. You can even add bots to only one faction, to allow for ‘Bots vs. Humans’ type Warzones. In offline mode you can still create your own Warzones and play against bots, but you don’t have the ability to complete Challenges.

No Exoskeletons or Jetpacks

Owing to the decision to ensure that custom Warzone presets work on all multiplayer maps, there will be no Exoskeletons or Jetpacks in multiplayer when Killzone Shadow Fall launches. Their inclusion would introduce a wide number of new variables and exceptions to account for, and we want to focus on offering fair, reliable and consistent Warzone customizability.

The challenged-based leveling system sounds fantastic, as is the fact that all the weapons are unlocked from the beginning. So far I’m seeing nothing but good things about Shadow Fall’s MP, after the abysmally-unbalanced KZ3 this is shaping up to be what the series was always capable of: quality FPS action.

Of what’s been detailed so far what are you most excited for? The customizable game modes? The alt-fire weapons? Something else? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Part 1 – Source