When Killzone: Liberation was released for PSP, I tentatively picked it up and began what ended up as a thoroughly enjoyable shoot-em-up experience. The edgy nature of the storyline and the complex and yet playable format moved me from a social gamer (i.e. sticking generally to Singstar and Buzz) on to that of a casual and yet committed platform gamer.
So when they announced that the Killzone franchise was coming to Playstation 3 I was filled with great anticipation, until such time as I saw that it was moving from being third person in style on the PSP platform to a very up close and personal first person style. Now traditionally I haven’t been into these styles of games… what I would call the “Doom” clones. I think it was mostly because I haven’t been that good in co-odinating my movements… I.e. adjusting view with the left hand and moving with the right. So the thought of one of my favourite games becoming too hard for a general gamer like me kind of slowed down my anticipation levels.
Then came the review pack. In went the disc and boom went my mind. From the awesome continuance of the storyline from previous Killzone editions, through to the introduction of new weapons to fight a variety of enemies on a wide range of battlefields. The game begins with a highly passionate speech from the leader of the Helghast Emperor Visari. Visari calls on his people to fight in the face of the coming invasion. An invasion that you (The player) find yourself right in the middle of on the side of the ISA Vektan invaders.
In Killzone 2 you play as the new character Sev, a battle-hardened veteran and a member of the Special Forces unit known as the Legion. A legion that includes previous characters such “Rico”. The storyline unfolds as the legion move towards the palace to take Emperor Visari captive.
As you move through the battles you are surrounded by spectacular graphics and compelling gameplay unlike anything else I have seen in this format. The gritty sci-fi war based storyline moves with great peaks and valleys, so as to draw you into the adventure as you suffer joyous victory and great loss. Not all of the key characters you meet will survive. In between levels there are spectacular High Definition vignettes that are not too long but help move the storyline along at a pace that makes up for the times that you end up spending a little more than usual trying to get past some impressive enemies.
Despite the high quality of the graphics the fast processors of the Playstation 3 console keep things moving along with low loading times. Meaning that you spend more time playing and less time waiting.
One of the most impressive aspects of Killzone 2 is the well designed style of movement and viewing within the first person style. I have never found the first person shooter style to be so easy to play (In action) and yet so challenging in actual gameplay. This of course makes the game an absolute joy to play. So overall, awesome visuals, compelling storylines back with a brilliant array of battle locations, weapons and enemies makes this game one of the best games I have ever played.
But be warned, there is a high level of graphic war violence and a large stack of bad language. This is rated R16 for a reason… It’s not for the kiddies.
Reviewed by: Jon E Clist Platform: Exclusive Playstation 3 Rating: R16 Notes: Graphic violence and offensive language
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