"Killzone just may be the best FPS ever on PS2"

It's something special that everyone should at least look at once in a while in themselves. Too many games these days have such high production values, but fall flat on their face (see: LOTR: Middle Ages) that will probaly sell a boatload of copies versus games that have great production value and gain little exposure outside of online reviews and magazine reviews (see: Beyond Good & Evil or ICO). So where does Killzone fall into this whole mess of PS2 gaming?

This is where the review starts, by the time we finish we should have that answer.

1. Graphics:
Wow! I have never seen the PS2 pull off some of the visuals that some of the games recently released can. Killzone pulls off some of the most amazing visuals ever imagined for a war time setting. Every thing looks just incredible from the PS2. It's got excellent lighting, a gritty atmosphere, and looks to die for. It appears that Guerilla Games knows a few tricks on how to push the PS2 to it's limits. However it's also a down fall for the game as well. Killzone pushes the PS2 and the PS2 will push back at times, creating some pop-in and choppiness, but when it looks this good, it's easy to ignore.

2. Audio:
The audio overall is very good. Sound effects sound just like real weapons going off (and I'm speaking from experience). The voices aren't too bad for basic voice overs. The only real down side is that every Helghast troop sound exactly the same, but when your kicking the tar out of them, who cares?

3. Gameplay:
Typical FPS gameplay stuff here folks, it's your basic run-of-the-mill FPS, with a few nice tweaks thrown in. In my life I have never, I mean NEVER, have played a FPS that actually required you to actively seek out cover and duck behind while reloading in an intense fire fight! Way to go Guerilla for making one hell of a gameplay idea there, I LOVE IT! Killzone also copies a little from the HALO series by limiting you to only three weapons at a time and a regenerating health bar. This may be all wash, rinse, reapeat game fare here, but it works well for the game. The enemy AI is also killer, and by killer I mean they will seriously lay the smackdown on your roody-poo! These guys actively seek out cover, will gang up on you, and hide out until you make your presence known. They also take more than a few bullets to down, witch must be due to the fact that the Helghast are a further evolved form of homo-sapiens.

4. Multiplayer:
All sorts of fun can be had in the games multi player mode. All your typical MP games are present, with a nice take on the good ol' standby of CTF. Instead of a normal CTF, Killzone ups it a notch by giving us “Supply Drop” which is a version of CTF in where there are various “drops” on a map that a team must collect, however you can steal your enemies “drops” like it was their flag! Plus Killzone has some decent bots for you to play around with in both off and online MP! Great stuff here!

5. Story:
Killzone has a decent story here to play through in the campaign mode. I don't want to spoil it, so I'll give you the basics. You are stuck in the middle of an invasion by the Helghast, you got missions to perform that are essential to human survival from the fallout of this war, and it's loaded with some pretty good plot twists that surprised even me!

6. Intensity:
Wow, is this game ever intense! I don't even think that I've ever played a game with combat as intense as Killzone's. Great firefights will mess with your mind for days, if you win, you'll be telling yourself how lucky you were, and when you lose, you'll be cursing like Rico! Talk about being outnumbered in a game, it's constant 6:1 if not more at times! And if you want to know what the Axis felt like on D-Day, just play the first mission!

All in all I must say that Killzone is a must buy for any PS2 owner in the world, Great Graphics, presentation, gameplay, and intensity will blow your mind for days, and you'll never get bored with it. Plus the re-playability is there with 4 playable charactors as well as a Battlefield mode which is great for fine tuning your MP skills with bots. So why you reading this still, go buy Killzone NOW!!!

Now on the question at the top, does this game live up to the hype?
In my opinion it does! Does it live up to being a "Halo" killer, once again it does, but maybe not Halo 2.......... thats a battle for a different day!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/04