Killzone

"With Ps2's Power, Its crazy how Guerilla Pulled it Off..."

Killzone is set in a futuristic universe where wars between the Earth Decendants; the Vektans and the Helghans. This game has been in the making for 4 years and I can honestly say , Guerilla doesn't disappoint. Lets get to the Reviews.

Graphics/Presentation-9/10

The game starts off with an awesome introduction that sucks you into the story. The planet Vekta is being invaded by the brutal merciless Helghasts from the planet Helghans. You start off as Jan Templar, an ISa RRF soldier at the front of the defense to fend them off. The Graphics in the cut-scenes are ludacris, their freaking awesome. Facial animations and every little detail is their, complete with voice-overs. For Every level that you complete, you are rewarded with cut-scenes that help unfold the story. So far, I have not experienced any slowdowns or frame rate drops. However, sometimes the ps2 have a slow reation time to load the faces, so when you zoom in the face, the graphics are bad then suddenly the ps2 catches up. Killzone has one of the best graphics in Ps2 right now. Guerilla has really pushed the ps2 to its limits. The level design are very detailed complete with fogs fire and life-like trees and ponds. One cool feature is the grenade throwing. When you throw the grenade, your screen shakes to make it realistic, also when you look at the explosion, you screen goes white and you are blinded for seconds, very well done. When you fire you bullets into the water, it will make splashes just like in action flicks, the weapons are well made and completely detailed. My only problem was the death animations. Guerilla should take note! of Area 51 demo, can befound in MK:D. The death animations are amazing with Area 51, running on ps2. Killzones, death animations are average, when they die, it seems like they fall down and twist their bodies all over the place. ALso their legs,arms, and heads sometimes go through the ground or even get stuck unto trees...they seem like when they die, they become part of the level. Overall, the graphics are one of the best for the ps2. You will die alot of times because you'll spend time just looking in awe around you.. and saying WOW.

Sounds-10/10
If you got your ps2 hooked up to a good system...jack it up. Killzone makes you feel like you are really involved in the action. The gun fires and bomb exploding are what keeps your adrenaline pumping. The orchestrated music during the cut-scenes..well. they fit them perfectly. My favorite sound is when you load a grenade into you rifle or grenade launcher.

Controls-10/10 The Controls in this game are tight and responsive. You can customize your controls to your personal fit. The first level gives you a quick introduction about the controls and what each button fuctions.

Gameplay 10/10
The gameplay of Killzone is not your average FPs. The battles range from close to medium to long. The battles in single and multiplayer can take from 60 seconds to as long as ten minutes. In Killzone, you really have to fight for your ground. The A.I is smart and agressive in Normal and hype up in hard mode. They will use team tactics to wipe-out your squad. They would take cover and retreat if necessary. If you go in the battle field gun-blazing like Rambo, you wont get far in the game. You also have to take cover yourself. Since your life bar is small and it doesn't regenarate fully, you will be taking cover a lot of times in killzone, but always hiding will not always save your life, The Helghans will move in and attempt to surround you. You will also have teamates to help you out and 3 other playable characters that you can play as when you progress farther. You will have access to 25 weapons; 21 hand-weapons and 5 stationary anti vehicle weapons. Killzone's gameplay is extremely fun in Single player and Multiplayer. Although there is no co-op mode and no 4-player split screen. ONly 2-player split-screen with 14 bots. Multiplayer has 8 maps and 6 modes to play with. You choose whether you want to be a helghast or an ISA. You can also play Killzone online with broadband internet with up to 16 players. The Levels in Multiplayer are the levels in the single player. Some of them range from a jungle , to a D-Day invasion type of levels. Well-done Guerilla. Up to this day, I can still get lost in the Delta Creek Level because theirs so many places to hide in. The gameplay is the heart of the core and Guerilla did an awesome job with that. You will have to play the game yourself to see what i'm saying.

Replayability: 9/10 If you have friends, the offline will keep you busy on months end. And with 4-playable characters, you would want to keep coming back to story mode. The Online mode, if you have broad band, is heaven. Killzone is up there with Socom 2 for online gameplay. There are growing numbers of players logging on, its lag free, and the developers are patching the game up to satisfy the gamers. There is also a ranking system so you can go up against the best and get you but handed to you.

Conclusion: Guerilla did what they said they'd do. Killzone turned out amazing. After keeping in touch with the progress of the game since summer 2004, I can honestly say, that Killzone is one of the best FPS for the PS2 right now. The story mode rocks and the multiplayer is addicting. This game is easily worth 50 bucks, go out and get it.

Rent or Buy?: A must Buy!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/15/04