Killzone

"Shooter Fan Says: "I Like It!""

You are a band of four in a recently-apocalyptic warzone against an army of british accents armed with innumerable machine guns and an unmentioned goal to kill all humans. This is Killzone. The story is actually pretty good, and the cinematics impressive; I just needed an intro. Now that I've said that, onwards...!

LOTS OF GOOD THINGS TO SAY
+IT'S SO REAL...+
When I first played Killzone it was on a demo disc. I was amazed at how the controls handled so differently from other FPS's I'd played previously. In fact, everything was different about this game, but all in a good way. When I bought the game itself, I was pleased to see that the rest of the game is as realistic as I had hoped. Now, realism may not matter to some people, namely those who just want a fun time. But don't discount the value of a realistic experience! In this case, Killzone makes you feel like you're in the game, holding the guns, saving the world. I'm all about fun, unrealistic games (Duke Nukem rules!!), but Killzone makes for a thrilling experience in shooting action.

So many things make this game feel real. First off is the sound. Everything is rather loud, but all done the way it should be. The guns sound great and make for satisfying shooting. The voice acting is better than I've seen in awhile. The bad guys (The Helghast) are all british, and though they do often say a lot of the same things, such as, "Quiet..." and "Over their heads!", there are a bunch of recordings they choose to say and they're all appropriate, like, "Covering fire!" or "Reloading!".

I like the reloading animations. You sort of tilt down as if you're looking at what you're doing instead of it being a mindless automation. The guns look quite good with moving parts and all the technology you'd expect out of futuristic weaponry. They sure do take awhile to reload, but I imagine that's how it is in real life, especially in the future! You sort of have to take cover and plan out when you want to reload, which is very realistic.

The graphics are excellent. For a late PS2 release, you'd expect as much, but the in-game graphics are very impresssive. As I said, the guns look great, all very realistic, and they all shine, are shadowed over, and give awesome muzzle flashes. Everything is proportional, which seems redundant to mention in a FPS, but I like to say that the enemies look as tall as humans (or Helghast) should and there really aren't any places where you can say, "That's ridiculous." Does that make sense? Just play the game and observe.

Recently, many games have picked one of two methods for healing your character. The traditional way is medkits scattered about the battlefields or in your inventory. The other, more modern approach is to have your character heal on their own through the passing of time. Killzone kind of does both, but sticks with the modern approach as the primary method of healing. Your character will regain health as you avoid getting shot, the rate of healing different for each character. You can only regain so much on your own however, so there are medkits sporadically placed in your path. It also seems that the more headshots you make, the more health you regain. Kinda like adrenaline, you know? I think that's cool. It's more realistic to me to have health regain over time than strange "Medkits" instantly healing your gunshot wounds.

+HARD, BUT IN A GOOD WAY+
I'm usually the first to complain about a game being too hard or too easy, but Killzone has it mostly right. The first time you play it, and possibly even the next time as well, it's going to be hard. If you've played a lot of shooters as I have, you'll probably expect to be able to get shot a lot and be fine, but not Killzone, brother. In keeping with the realism, your characters can not take too many hits before falling. So you'll want to take cover and strategize if you want to stay alive. Getting to know your weapons is essential, as they all have their own techniques, advantages, and proper uses. The enemies are generally hard to take down as well, so you're more evenly matched than in other shooters where you're ridiculously stronger than everyone. In Killzone, you need to be smarter.

Speaking of smarts, the A.I. isn't bad at all. Not often will the enemy stand in front of you, blasting away in short bursts. They almost always work in teams, use teamwork, and are generally well-trained for bad guys. Speaking of enemies, Killzone doesn't pride itself on its variety of baddies. Your enemy is the Helghast. They all look the same (the suited guys on the cover with the orange eyes), with a few exceptions. I think there are about 5 different Helghast models altogether. They usually carry the same kinds of weapons, too. Still, the enemies are well-done and don't really need to have variety. I prefer one well-made enemy-type over a bunch of hastily done bullet sponges *stares at Doom 3*.

+YOUR HEROES+
At the start of the game, you can choose only one character, Templar. An average kinda hero with average kinda attributes. As you proceed through the story, you get some friends. Your squad becomes four, and it's a rather nice cast of characters, each with their own style of playability. You get to choose your character at the start of each mission, then you play as them for about three levels. They each have their own speed, starting weapons, stamina, and healing rate.

You have the british assassin girl, Luger, who acts as the "Sex Appeal" I guess, and has a rather pleasant voice. She's almost unbalanced in her sniper weapons' sheer usefulness. It can zoom rather well and is can kill most enemies with one hit, silently. I took down a whole squad of Helghast with less than ten bullets and without being spotted. Maybe I'm just good. However, Luger can't take much damage, making her exclusively stealthy. But she's also the fastest character and can climb wires and crawl under stuff. She also is the only one to use the square button in the entire game, which activates her night vision, which looks rather impressive, graphics-wise, but not entirely useful.

Then there's Rico, who is the easiest to use. He's slow, can't climb ladders, and has a negative personality, but he can take large amounts of damage, and best of all has a ridonculously powerful chaingun that needs no reloading. He's a walking tank, basically. And he looks like a big baby.

Hahka is my favorite character because of his personality and voice. He's a Helghast/Human hybrid, has a british accent, and has a pleasant demeanor. He's got average attributes, but is more accurate with the Helghast standard-issue, which makes him better than average in my book.

+AN IMPRESSIVE ARSENAL+
I've already mentioned how much I like the realism of the weapons, but they're also quite fun to shoot. The gun that most of the Helghast use is a rather inaccurate machine gun that's not entirely useful in anyone but Hahka's hands. However, there's ammo for it everywhere, so you'll never have to look too far for an emergency weapon. Many complain about the sheer inaccuracy of this gun like it's the only weapon in the game, but it's really not that bad. I've killed plenty with it.

Most weapons have a secondary fire, which is always cool. That machine gun I just mentioned has a shotgun built-in, which is certainly unique. Others may have grenade launchers, missiles, or stealth shot capabilities. It all adds to the fun of the game.

You can only carry 3 weapons at a time, which is usually all you need (and is somewhat realistic). You start with your best gun at the beginning of each mission, and the pistol is next to useless, unfortunately. You can also use melee attacks on your foes if you're in a pinch, though it doesn't always connect, just like in real life. Also, most of the guns carry a large amount of ammo, which means you'll be firing a lot, which is fun. The heavy machine gun has a 100-bullet clip, making it one of my favorites. The pick-ups are generous as well, with lots of bullets scattered about.

NOT PERFECT
-WHERE AM I GOING?-
This game has the unfortunate problem known as Whatsnext syndrome. Too many times, on my repeated playthroughs, I find myself wondering what I'm supposed to do. I'll be wandering aimlessly looking for a switch or Helghast or whatever my objective may entail to get on with the game. By pressing select, you get a non-detailed list of your objectives, which rarely helps. There's nothing like stopping all the action to spend 5 minutes looking for something that may or may not be there. There are also a few times where you can't get past a machine gun turret without getting blown away. You have to take a few hits, in the face (!) before you take him down. Not often, but still.

Also, the occassional glitch doesn't help either. In one instance, I simply couldn't complete the stage. I'd reached the exit, but it didn't move to the completed screen. I had to do it all over again, which is quite frustrating. Another time, I had destroyed all the sentry bots when my objective was to press a switch to disable them. That objective was never marked as completed, so I couldn't finish the level. These glitches may be rare, but they're awfully bad ones to have.

-YOUR DUMB TEAM-
Despite what I said earlier about my likeness toward the heroes you play as, when they are playing as your comrades, they're somewhat lacking. As you may expect, you do most of the killing and are the primary target to all the Helghast, which is okay, but I hate having to listen to my teammates getting blasted while I'm trying to reload or get a good shot. Often times, they'll be prancing around the middle of the corridor while I'm trying to be stealthy, only to get us all spotted. Your team doesn't die, fortunately, so I guess I can't complain. The whole team dynamic could have been more well-done, for sure. You can't instruct them and they're all kind of automatic. It really stands out from the rest of the realistic gameplay. I do like some of the things they'll say to you, though. "Right between the eyes!"

-WHAT REPLAYABILITY?-
Aside from the ability to pick different characters for each mission, the game remains the same each time you play it through. Sometimes the paths will alter slightly if you pick a certain character, but these alterations are few and far in between. There aren't any secrets or extra features to unlock. This makes the game kind of short and can be beaten in a few days. This is unfortunate because at the end, I'm left wanting more. So I usually just start again and just pick different characters than I did before. It's not a defeating flaw, the lack of replayability, but could certainly have been improved with perhaps different scenarios or endings.

LETS WRAP THIS UP
Killzone was to the the "Halo Killer" as the advertisements boasted. I think it's a good game, above-average even. I'll play it when I want a realistic, non-cartoony, shoot-a-lot-of-bullets frenzy. Or when I'm angry at british people for whatever reason.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/06/08

Game Release: Killzone (US, 11/02/04)