Killzone

"A Great Game Despite Minor Flaws"

Once upon a time there was a little company named Guerrilla. This nice new company decided to make a game called Killzone. Unfortunately, they became a victim of the media, and there nice new game was dubbed the "Halo Killer." How could a nice new company compete with Bungie? They did a damn good job making Killzone especially for one of their first games, but it didn't hold up it's competition. Sure they had experience, but it was their first time the team worked together and such. So it compared to Halo and put up a good fight against Halo. Of course that whole "Halo Killer" thing sparked interest in some of the less mature Halo fans who did start trolling that "Killzone will get killed", and such things. Though I'm 100% sure 99.9% of Halo fans are nice, reasonable, mature people. So the game released on November 2nd, 2004, and holds some unique game play qualities. So let's get started.

Gameplay(8/10): The game play in this game isn't anything revolutionary, but it hold it's own. Whether it be playing online or offline this game will be sure to grab anyone's attention for some amount of time. The story itself concentrates on a war in the future of Earth when it has expanded it's domain to other planets of the universe. One group however decided to separate, and went to the planet of Helghan where they later waged war against Earth. They lost, but 10 years later they declared war again this time against one of Earth's new colonized planets. The planet of Vekta as it happens to be , and that's when the game starts with the first wave of Helghast against the city of Vekta. If your worried about the game being futuristic with laser guns, and Star Wars like buildings you shouldn't be. Although the guns are made up they aren't too futuristic looking(Most of them aren't). The building's look much like present day buildings which is what the developers tried to do in order to give a feeling of fighting for your own planet. That front isn't too strong, probably because of the names which some of are more futuristic like Jan(Pronounced Yon), and Hakha (Pronounced Haka), although some like Rico are quite recognizable.

The game play at it's barest is basically run and gunning with some ducking involved. It's not anything like SOCOM, but not like Medal of Honor, you'll die easier than that. The guns are really quite balanced in the game, and you can only carry 3 at a time which adds to the realism. However a Rocket Launcher does not take up extra space, and knife still counts as a regular sized gun. The missions are more or less blasting your way through hordes of enemies overan over, occasionally trying a new approach such as sniping. The battles are varied though, and action packed. The game includes 11 missions which are divided in to about 4 levels which take 10-25 minutes each for the average gamer. In each mission you can play as either Templar, Rico, Luger, or Hakha, although there not all available from the start. The game play isn't terrible, but not Halo level yet. The developers had some great ambition, but it was held back by themselves, and a little by the PS2.The game is great in singleplayer, and offline, however it is flawed some.

The most noticeable flaw you'll see is with the Ragdoll physics(The game has Ragdoll by the way). The ragdoll physics will blow enemies in the air, and make them go flying well enough. The problem starts though when you have an enemy die near a wall or railing. Sometimes when this happens they will get stuck in the wall part way, but it is ignorable. Another problem the ragdoll makes is some weird positions that you or the enemy will land, and occasionally you'll see an enemy's or your leg twitching for about 4-8 seconds after you or he dies. The next problem is you probably have heard about is the slow downs. For me at least I have experienced no slow downs in single player, and only a few in multiplayer when there are a lot of players on the screen at the same time. So the problems you'll find can be ignored easily.

There are 3 game modes you can play in: Single player, Online, and multiplayer.
So sadly there is no Co-op single player which is partly why I docked points for game play, however the developers said there would be quite some slow downs if they had it. Besides you can play with 1-2 players in offline multiplayer with up to 16 bots. The multiplayer is just like online with all the same game modes, and maps. Of course the AI is not as intelligent than human players. The single player as I said before is 11 missions long with 3-5 sublevels. It is a bit too linear although some levels like the park one isn't really that linear. The online is hard to describe since I have only played Madden, SOCOM I&II, and MOH:RS online. They really did a great job with the modes. (Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Domination, Supply Drop,Defend&Destroy, and Assualt), and it has 8 maps based on Single Player missions. The online game play is really nice, it involves a great amount of strategy especially for a respawn game. If you don't like to respawn you can turn it off so don't worry. It's up to 16 players so that means broadband only, and it's compatiable with the headset.

Replay Value(5/10): The replay value of this game is really docked since there are no unlockables or things to find in the game. No skins, movies, interviews or anything to unlock except characters who are all unlocked after the 4th level. No your probably thinking it deserves a 0 then, huh? Well, you can play as 1 of 4 characters as I said before which increases the value, sort of. Each character has a slightly different path through the game, and different abilities to get through the levels so it makes it a more fun to play through again as a different character.

Graphics(8/10): Graphics are great in this. Better than most PS2 games, and on par with Xbox graphics. Part of the reason for the slow downs in fact. Perhaps the graphics and action combined are bit too much for the PS2. Not that there are many slow downs like I said before. Back to the graphics, they are pleasing to the eye, and terrific looking. However the game uses a system of loading graphicswhere the closer you get to an object or model the more detail loads, but sometimes the graphics load slow and you'll be looking at a PS1 level face for a second or 2 until the face is loaded. Although it's ignorable it happens maybe 3-4 time out of 10.

Sound(7/10): The voice overs in this game are beautiful, and clear. However the distance you are from a person doesn't matter much, and they sound like they are right next to you(At least when that person is talking directly to you). There aren't many things the enemies say, and they will be repeating often, but you can turn them off if you want. Your team mates are really the ones who do most of the repeating, especially Rico who can get annoying sometimes.

Overall(8/10): Overall, this game is slightly above the average shooter, but slightly above a superb shooter. A great addition to shooter fan's collections, and worth a rent for any one unless your the anti-violent type. The game is rated M for blood, violance, and strong language BTW.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/04