Author: Game Infliction

Over a decade after the last Killzone game came out, Sony has reminded fans that it was once a thing via The Last of Us 2 Remastered.

Guerrilla’s sci-fi first-person shooter series, once seen as a Halo killer, last saw a release with PlayStation 4 launch title Killzone Shadow Fall in 2013. But we haven’t seen a new game in the series since, with Sony shutting down Shadow Fall’s servers in 2022.

Now, with the release of The Last of Us 2 Remastered, we have a reminder of Killzone’s existence via an in-game T-shirt — and it’s fair to say fans have noticed. While The Last of Us 2 Remastered references a number of dormant PlayStation franchises, such as Resistance, The Getaway, Twisted Metal, and WipEout, it’s Killzone that’s sparked the most vociferous reaction. Here’s a snippet:

as a killzone fan we’ve been LONG, LONG overdue for a new game. Just boggles my mind that of all the ways for sony to remind themselves that Killzone DOES exist…it’s in the form a TLOU ll t-shirt. No new game so far, nothing.

Just a freaking t-shirt.

Ugh…. pic.twitter.com/lrRzwLOPlt

— Steven A (@SwitchbackSpeed) January 18, 2024

Sincerely wish Guerrilla would make an FPS game in the future. Killzone was PEAK! pic.twitter.com/Yx1SBOVzxT

— macha (@neonmacha) January 18, 2024

For the first time in 10 years, they have acknowledged Killzone.

But in the form of a freaking T-shirt in a game that doesn’t even need a Remaster.#TLOU #TLOU2Remastered pic.twitter.com/aQX3XHXMOV

— Nicola Polito (@N7Necromorph) January 18, 2024

Killzone mentioned??? Bro Sony you cowards do something with your goated IP please don’t let it rot ｡⁠:ﾟ⁠(⁠;⁠´⁠∩⁠`⁠;⁠)ﾟ⁠:⁠｡ https://t.co/dHVAncYXR6 pic.twitter.com/GUk4k8Kn6J

— Ducky ♱ (@duckyle2nd) January 18, 2024

That killzone shirt kills me inside https://t.co/HqDxo03PYt pic.twitter.com/8QMtuJIVQv

— Kapitan-Hussar - Exia princess (@HussarKapitan) January 17, 2024

they give us helgan shirt but no new killzone
its hellghover https://t.co/Vb0uIdabVR

— xavier fuentes (@mechagodzull569) January 17, 2024

That Killzone shirt is just dumping a gallon of lemon juice on a deep wound. https://t.co/WHQbx5vAqj

— Hayden (@haydentrib) January 18, 2024

In the 10 years since Shadow Fall’s release, Sony has given no indication that it’s ready to return to the Killzone franchise. Guerrilla instead followed Shadow Fall with 2017’s blockbuster hit Horizon Zero Dawn, which went on to sell over 20 million copies. It comes as no surprise that the studio has focused on Horizon ever since, with Horizon Forbidden West coming out in 2022 and PlayStation VR2 launch title Horizon Call of the Mountain coming out in 2023. A multiplayer Horizon game is currently in the works, as well as a third mainline Horizon game.

In July, Guerrilla studio director Jan Bart van Beek said the Horizon franchise will be around “for a very long while”, with plans for Aloy and friends way beyond a Forbidden West sequel. There’s even a Horizon 2074 TV series that will seemingly retell Aloy’s story from a new perspective.

That doesn’t leave much room for a Killzone revival, unfortunately. “Sons and daughters of Helghan let us cope for a Killzone come back,” said redditor alefava99.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Two of PlayStation’s big hitters have recently dipped their toes into the roguelike waters, albeit with different philosophies driving them. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return plants its feet firmly in the camp of “gameplay is king”, offering a showcase for its tense stealth combat with no narrative dressing. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, on the other hand, is a much more story-focused experience, and one that I gained a lot more satisfaction from as a result. That’s not to say Naughty Dog’s attempts are by any means bad – I’ve enjoyed a good few hours playing No Return – but for me, there’s only one clear winner here, and he has a big beard and a massive axe.

Both modes are love letters to the characters and worlds established by their parent games with clear fan service paid throughout, whether that be the sights and sounds of Kratos’ Spartan roots resurfacing or the chance to finally play as some fan favourites from The Last of Us Part 2. But only Sony Santa Monica pushes the boat out on what to expect from a roguelike spin-off mode.

Fundamentally, God of War’s gameplay is just much better suited to the roguelike genre, thanks to its many different runic abilities, accompanying skill trees, and a greater variety of enemy types. That much larger set of varying factors can only benefit a mode where randomisation plays such a huge part, especially in comparison to The Last of Us’ limited arsenal and handful of enemies. Each run of Valhalla feels distinctly more fresh than anything No Return can muster, and it regularly treats us to new arenas to fight in, as opposed to No Return’s recycled venues from Part 2’s story. While mods to these levels can genuinely affect the way you need to approach an encounter, whether that be heavy fog shrouding Scars and Clickers or enemies dropping explosives upon death, No Return simply doesn’t have the underlying design structure that can make the most of the roguelike ethos.

In terms of pure combat, both systems are well-tuned to being a roguelike. There’s something deeply satisfying about the systemic puzzle box nature of The Last of Us’ stealth action as you skulk through long grass picking off your prey. The lack of variety restricts the randomness, and on the upside, this makes for a more methodical experience that allows you to set your strategies in concrete. But for me, the song of ice and fire that Kratos’ axe and blades create makes my heart sing. It’s a brutal rhythm that lets you slice through enemies and the pot-luck approach to new upgrades and runic abilities makes each run of Valhalla feel genuinely different to play as you choose which weapon to specialise in and which destructive rage mode to unleash.

But while Valhalla makes excellent use of God of War’s gameplay fundamentals, it’s not the thing that makes it special. That’s found in its use of the modern PlayStation’s mantra, which has moulded itself into a seamless hybrid of cinematic spectacle and layered storytelling. Narrative is what drives both The Last of Us and God of War series and every run of Valhalla adds new, intimate layers to Kratos’ story. But in No Return there is no such dedication to story. For Naughty Dog to strip its best-known quality out of the mode completely is a bold move, and one that I don’t think pays off.

Although glimpses of extra story can be seen in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s Lost Levels – a collection of cut sequences that offer insight into a previous draft of Part 2 – I couldn’t help but feel I’d rather be playing through a new chapter of Abby or Ellie’s story, akin to something like the original’s fantastic Left Behind DLC. But No Return has no such ambitions. It’s perhaps a little unfair to expect such a thing when Naughty Dog’s version of a roguelike is so clearly based around the thrill of combat as opposed to the thrills the studio regularly treats us to. But still, the mode can’t help but create a philosophical dissonance between the core themes and message of The Last of Us Part 2 and its meditations on the cyclical impact of violence. Even if the mode is undeniably fun, its existence feels at odds with its story.

No Return asks you to detach from the story, whereas Valhalla invites you to dive deeper in. No Return reduces its nuanced characters to killing machines, whereas God Of War asks further questions as to why violence follows Kratos at every step.

This is the key factor as to why Valhalla is the much more successful experiment – it never once feels at odds with what has come before it, instead serving as an epilogue to Ragnarok and an essential chapter of Kratos’ evolution. And that’s even before treating old-school fans to some truly spine-tingling moments that feature familiar faces and places from earlier in Kratos’ journey. It smartly uses the live-die-repeat nature of a roguelike to steadily tell its story in a way that perfectly reflects the pages of Norse mythology.

Even upon death, you’re rewarded with new dialogue and details from the likes of Freya and Mimir as you move further on your quest of uncovering the secrets of Valhalla, all while reframing Kratos’ past and hinting at his future. Of course, God of War isn’t the first game to do this and the mode appears to be heavily influenced by the Gods of a shared pantheon in Supergiant’s phenomenal Hades, which previously mastered marrying storytelling with roguelike mechanics. The genre lends itself to these fantasy or sci-fi settings, such as those seen in Returnal or Deathloop, in which it’s easier for us to suspend belief and allow for linear narratives to progress despite time seemingly repeating itself.

The firmly grounded nature of The Last of Us inherently doesn’t lend itself to such storytelling techniques and so Naughty Dog smartly doesn’t attempt such a thing. But that lack of a story sets it apart from God of War’s take, and is where it unfortunately pales in comparison. The Last of Us Part 2’s stealth combat is fantastic and is up there as some of the best since sneaking around as Snake in The Phantom Pain, but it was never what carried me through its story.

Ellie’s journey and what thrilling moment lies around the next corner is what makes that game so special, and without it, No Return is “just” a very good action-orientated mode that rewards your efforts with new character and weapon skin unlocks. Valhalla, on the other hand, is the complete package, and could reasonably be considered its own game – which makes it even more impressive considering we got it for free.

Valhalla dropped out of nowhere and the true extent of its ambition was pretty much undersold as it arrived to a relatively quiet fanfare. No Return on the other hand has gone through the traditional hype cycle of multiple trailers and hands-on preview beats, leading it to be much more anticipated than its effectively shadow-dropped cousin. In some ways, then, it’s unfortunate that Valhalla launched before Naughty Dog had the chance to release No Return, as Santa Monica’s stab at the roguelike genre is an altogether different beast and one that may have set unreasonable expectations for its Sony stablemate.

Evidently, God of War had more story to tell when The Last of Us isn’t quite yet ready to move onto its next chapter. It’s understandable that Naughty Dog wouldn’t force an epilogue of sorts in for the sake of it, and a roguelike mode wouldn’t necessarily be the best lens to see a new Abby or Ellie chapter through. But that lack of storytelling means that when placing these two experiences side-by-side No Return ends up feeling slim and safe next to the comparatively complete Valhalla. Both are great fun in their own right, but in this round of the battle of PlayStation heavyweights, Kratos comes out on top.

Simon Cardy thinks Ellie wouldn’t last two minutes in Valhalla. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.

With the acquisition of Call of Duty maker Activision Blizzard, Microsoft can now be a “good publisher” across all platforms, including rival consoles, the boss of the company has said.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said: “We love gaming. In fact, Flight Simulator was created before even Windows. But, we were number three, number four. And now with Activision, I think we have a chance of being a good publisher — quite frankly — on Sony and Nintendo and PCs and Xbox. We’re excited about that acquisition closing and I’m glad we’ve got it through.”

Nadella’s comments echo those he made last month, when he similarly said Microsoft plans to release games across all platforms: “We think that now we have the ability to do what we always set out to do, which is build great games and deliver them to folks across all platforms, which is Xbox and consoles, the PCs, and now even including mobile gaming and cloud gaming,” he said at the time.

This comes amid reports Microsoft plans to release some of its exclusives on the Switch and PlayStation 5. Both Tango Gameworks’ Hi-Fi Rush and Rare’s Sea of Thieves are said to be considered for launch on Nintendo and Sony consoles after a period of exclusivity across Xbox consoles and PC. Microsoft has yet to comment on the reports.

Last year, Xbox chief financial officer Tim Stuart set the cat among the pigeons by suggesting Microsoft planned to launch its Game Pass subscription service on rival consoles, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer denied that was the case.

Stuart did, however, strongly indicate Microsoft’s cross-platform publishing plans: “It’s a bit of a change of strategy,” he said. “Not announcing anything broadly here, but our mission is to bring our first-party experiences [and] our subscription services to every screen that can play games. That means smart TVs, that means mobile devices, that means what we would have thought of as competitors in the past like PlayStation and Nintendo.”

It’s worth noting Microsoft has committed to releasing Call of Duty on PlayStation consoles as part of a decade-long deal, as well as promised to bring the shooter to Nintendo consoles. Question marks remain over other Activision Blizzard games, however.

This week, IGN sought to answer the question of whether Microsoft was leaving Xbox exclusives behind in the report, How Xbox is changing the nature of exclusivity.

Meanwhile, Microsoft will host Xbox Developer_Direct January 2024 today, January 18. Expect a first look at MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game as well as Obsidian’s Avowed, among other reveals. The recently announced Marvel’s Blade is in development at the Microsoft and Bethesda-owned Arkane Lyon, but platforms are yet to be confirmed.

Image credit: Bloomberg Live

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.