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Killzone review
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Well it's both, if Sony was hoping to shake off those Halo Killer descriptions of Killzone this wasn't the best way to start. Yet to see Killzone as some kind of Halo copy, or to draw too close comparisons is unfair. Guerrilla Games' first-person shooter tries hard to offer something unique and while a failure, it's a noble one at that.
Mr Spielberg's shakycam
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Battle commences in the dusty outskirts of a city, here it's a matter of trench warfare and we are taken through a control tutorial while playing out a variety of scenarios. It's clear right away that we're not in Halo, there's a realistic gritty look to proceedings, calling to mind games such as Medal of Honor and the original PC Call of Duty.
The shaky camera work, a muted palate and frantic action are a clear nod to Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers. Killzone may have a sci-fi setting but the influences are recent war movies such as Black Hawk Down. The first-person view has been taken to extremes to fulfil this Saving Private Ryan look, with the view swinging down when reloading a gun and moving realistically when running – it's a nice enough effect but can be distracting.
30 seconds of hel(ghast)
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So what we have is a gritty first person shooter in a sci-fi setting, combining the elements of the best World War II shooters and with a few knowing references to a certain Xbox shooter. It must be great, right?
Unfortunately Killzone fails in a number of ways. The biggest problem is that of repetition. If you thought some of Halo's lazy cut-and-paste levels were dull then you'll curse some of the later sections of Killzone. Guerrilla clearly believes in the Bungie mantra of 30-seconds of fun over and over, but hasn't got the implementation right. It's often 30-seconds of frustration over and over.
Saving Captain Templer
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Those gunfights are a real mixed bag. The whole attack/defend structure of the game is rather odd. Much of the time the player is attacking in the sense of moving through Helghast territory. But is more often than not, defending a certain point against waves of enemy troops.
Sometimes the enemy troops do show a good level of intelligence, trying to outflank the player, taking up good hiding spots. At other times they behave like the most stupid of drones. More than once I ducked behind a crate to reload a gun, worried that the troops who had been just shooting at me not ten yards away would rush me. But what sporting chaps they were, waiting there unmoving until I'd finished reloading my weapon.
Weak weaponry
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But the Dual Shock joysticks are not very accurate and combined with a very poor frame rate this makes precise aiming rather difficult. At longer ranges, with cover, the shootouts work pretty well. But there all too many places in the game where ISA and Helghast bump into each other and have a Police Squad-style comedy shootout almost touching toes.
It's these moments that will have you cursing the save game system, the sometimes bugged and indestructible enemy troops, the weedy weaponry and the slow-to-recharge health bar. I'm all for games that offer a challenge, but the challenge should come from intelligent gameplay – not the poor implementation of a save game system or a lack of balanced weaponry.
Need a bigger gun
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Yet the design and artwork is letdown by hardware that just isn't up to this kind of task, meaning the frame rate is often very poor. Rather than being an advert for PS2 it makes you wish the game was running on a more powerful rival console.
There's a good soundscape on offer, the weaponry sounds meaty and there's some good acting on show. Sean Pertwee is particularly good in his role of Hakha and the impressive cast even features notorious thespian-for-hire Stephen Berkhoff. The Helghast troops are a boring bunch though, from the school of shouting a lot. You always know where they are by their monotonous shouting; at times I almost expected them to launch into some Vogon poetry.
Battle report
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Ultimately Killzone is a failure, but a noble one. Many of the problems with the game are hardware related; the game is just too ambitious for the aging PlayStation 2. The frame rate, control and save game issues make the game a hard unforgiving slog rather than fun at times. But despite that there's a lot to be admired about the game.
If you want to play Halo 2 you'll still need an Xbox. But if you have a PS2 and fancy a gritty first-person war game, than you could do a hell of a lot worse than Killzone.
| Rating | |
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Graphics: A great gritty recreation of war hampered by a poor frame rate. |
8 |
Durability: You'll probably play through the game more than once and there's the multiplayer to dable in. |
8 | |||
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Sound: Some good acting and sound effects, but annoying Helghast shouting. |
7 |
Gameplay: A harsh checkpoint system makes the game more frustrating than it should be. |
7 | |||
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| References to other articles | |
Screens: Killzone 2 (PS3)What do you make of the latest shots from Sony's much-hyped sequel?
Killzone 2 this year?Sony's mega-hyped FPS might get a sequel later this year.
| Related downloads | |
Call of the righteous man
Needs a reason to kill man
History teaches us so -SOAD
I honestly can say that Killzone is my favorite game at the moment. No other FPS delivired such a good atmosphere of war. The gameplay is linear, but very good. 9/10 is my opinion.
UK Editor
Coming Soon - a whole new Boomtown!
To compare a console with a PC is pointless, after all the latest pc graphics cards alone cost as much as a ps2.
Next, the checkpoint system, its not that bad, you said u wanted a game thats intellectually challenging? You gotta be smart and good to not to die. Also if the AI is so bad, why are you dieing?
The AI is pretty good, if u think is stinks play on HARD.
The weapons aren't weak, play Halo on Hard and see how many shots it takes to kill a Brute or Elite, nevermind Legendary.
The "police-style comedy shoot outs" are a good NPC seeing a bad NPC at close range, them shooting eachother and one dieing. Which takes a whole few seconds.
The shakey-cam is much more realistic than in Spectrum Warriors.
The levels in Halo are much more repetitive than Killzone.
The whole glitches thing? I agree with hezz, I don't know what you mean. The only glitch I have noticed is ONE bad NPC stood there while I shot at him and did nothing. Later I died and the next encounter he moved, got cover, etc. Also the frame rate is very good. I haven't had any problems with that.
The Helghast shouting, its a war, would you not be shouting orders if you were a captain? And you say its annoying, its a WAR, you shout orders over and over to be heard and have them carried out to survive.
The single-player campaign is the most important part of any game for the story line. I found that Halo and Halo 2 story lines were VERY similar. Covenant attack, you attack back, find a Halo, and have to destroy it (basic out line).
This game has not once frusterated me because I love the challenge. I would sat this game easily beats Halo 1 and is a bit better than Halo 2. Mainly cause there seems to be more action and variety in Killzone.
I was sucked in from the opening cinematics. There is much more detail in this game. In Halo you can see too many polygons.
This game is nowhere near a failure, it is one of the best FPS I've played. I say it is one of the best because of Goldeneye for the N64. That was the very best FPS EVER.
I would give Killzone a 9 or 9.5 out of 10.
U say that the camera is bad, that's wrong.
U say that the grenade and gun sequenses are annoying cause of the camera, that's wrong.
U say that Socom2's graphics and gameplay is better, that's wrong.
I say u're wrong, I'm right. Waylander too.
92% from me.
BTW:
Killzone's for men who like realistic games.
If u want to kill green-shining-alien fuckers with a pink plastic gun, go play Halo (2).
.
----Edited by user 06/03-2005 23:39
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