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PRE-GAME

The ISA, a confederation of colonized Earth loyal planets, is being invaded. Seemingly out of nowhere, the militaristic Helghast forces have begun their attack. Motivated by revenge, they will stop at nothing to destroy the ISA and fulfill the "Helghan Dream." Behind enemy lines and cut off from reinforcements, a squad of four brave soldiers fight against impossible odds to cripple the Helghast attack and save the colonies from total annihilation.

EYE-SPY

THE HOOK: Dubbed "The Halo-Killer" (a title bestowed upon it by the ravenous media), Killzone finally arrives on scene, with less than impressive results. Was it just me, or did anyone else miss the memo stating that Halo needed to be killed?

HOW IT LOOKS AND FEELS: War is a terribly bleak place, and Killzone is incredibly true to that statement. Sporting a bleak color palette of grays, muted greens and browns, Killzone does an incredible job of recreating a war torn environment. Frankly, I wasn't aware that the PS2 was capable of delivering graphics of this caliber. Crisp, sharp textures have a lot to do with the impressive graphics.

The levels themselves are nicely varied. From bombed out office buildings to the seething jungles, you'll come across most every environment you can imagine. While they are visually impressive, they suffer slightly in that they are extremely linear. There is very little chance, nor encouragement, to explore an environment. I hope you're pleased with the formula of "move from Point A to Point B and shoot everything in your path" because it's about all you're going to get.

As with most console-oriented first person shooters movement is with the left analog stick and aiming control is through the right analog stick. Killzone plays exactly like any of the more recent console FPS so if you're comfortable with games like Halo or Timesplitters, you'll feel right at home. You can remap most any of the buttons so control shouldn't be much of a problem.

One thing that should be noted with Killzone is how your view behaves. In most standard FPS games, you're playing with what amounts to a floating gun. It feels like your character has no body or real place in the world around them. Killzone does something entirely different. Take reloading as an example. When you reload a gun your view will not stay in one point. Instead, you will look down at your gun, insert a new clip, cock the gun and then return to your previous view. What this 'effect' creates is a very strong sense of your surroundings. You are in first person with this character. You have a body below you and a sense of mass. It can be extremely disorienting at first, but it's a small touch that adds so much to the genre.

HOW IT SOUNDS: Nothing stands out as entirely fantastic in the sound department. Music is minimal during the levels, if present at all. Cut scenes and menus exhibit what appears to be a very nicely done orchestral soundtrack that portrays the war and battle going on around you. It's something you might find playing in the background of a movie like Saving Private Ryan.

Sound effects are just what you'd expect them to be; gunshots, explosions and a lot of screaming enemies. Though if anything should be highlighted, it would be the voice acting. While not award winning, it is believable and the characters are unique.  

EXTRAS: Pretty light actually. You can watch the trailer for the game (oh joy) and the introduction movie, but there isn't much in the way of unlockables. One odd addition is the "War Scenes" extra which is basically a rolling demo of game footage during multiplayer combat. It's like something you'd see playing on a TV at your local Gamestop. Useless, but sort of fun to watch for about 5 minutes or so.

CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE: You can tell that the developers spent a considerable amount of time planning out the cinematics. They are rendered, for the most part, using in-game models so characters can appear blocky at times. However they look good enough for me. What one should notice however is just how cinematic the movies are. The camera is almost always moving; panning, trucking and zooming in and out. It's like you're watching some professionally created war film, not just an average cinematic.

BEST PLAYER: Surprisingly, there is a choice of characters to play as in Killzone. Even more impressive is that they each show distinct strengths and weaknesses. It will depend on your playing style, but I would give Rico the nod as the best choice for most players. Killzone is a first person shooter after all, and the ability to wield some seriously heavy firepower gives Rico the upper hand in most battles. Plus his name is Rico. I dare you not to say Rico Suavé in a smooth latin accent after scoring a good kill. He is unlocked after passing mission 3.

CHEAT CODE YOU NEED: None that I could find. And I looked...for hours. Anything to bring a little joy into the game.

CHEAT CODE YOU WANT: Speed Up Reload Time. You know, if this were a real war any and all of the players would have been shot long ago while they sat around fiddling with their guns. Reload times in Killzone are long and pointless. Clips empty quickly and it can take a good 3 or 4 seconds to reload a gun. This may not sound like much initially but it can be extremely frustrating in a heated firefight.

OH MAN! MOMENT: Truth be told, Killzone isn't really that hard. I never got very frustrated with it. A good friend of mine did shoot me in the face at point blank range with a shotgun during a multiplayer match. He was on my team. That was extremely frustrating. Incidentally, I've decided that he is no longer a good friend of mine. Either that or I'm just going to banish him to the opposing team.

GLITCH ITCH: I didn't run into any problems. Clipping issues were non-existent and I never had a crash.

FAN SERVICE: Seeing as Killzone is an original intellectual property, there isn't much in the way of back story or homages to other things. Likewise, unless you're a big fan of creepy orange-lenses gas masks, you're not going to see much traditional fan service.

END GAME:

Killzone is a curiosity when it comes to games. Sony took great pride in hyping it up to almost legendary proportions. They gleefully called it the Halo-killer of its time and stated that it would be the dominant shooter on the PS2. Maybe next time they'll bother hyping something that holds your interest for more then twenty minutes.

What is disappointing is that Killzone could have been one of those diamonds in the rough. A fairly decent FPS with a strong multiplayer component. Maybe I expected to much from it, but whatever I was looking for, it never manifested itself. There is strong potential somewhere within this game. Killzone patterns itself as a realistic future/sci-fi war game. Imagine a science fiction Medal of Honor. It's an idea that hasn't been explored nearly as well as it could be.

The problem is that at its core, Killzone is just plain boring. The single player campaign is monotonous and the story just isn't that interesting. Likewise, any fun that could be garnered from the weapons is sucked away as you wrestle with their reload times and overwhelming inaccuracy. These guys couldn't even shoot themselves in the face without emptying an entire clip.

There is one saving grace however; the multiplayer. Given enough time and interest, Killzone could rise as a very popular online shooter for the PS2. The multiplayer is extremely fleshed out and the attention to game modes, level design, and customization in the multiplayer may explain why the single player is so weak. Modes such as Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Assault, Supply Drop and King of the Hill should keep most people happy for a long time. There is even an offline mode present for those of you who don't have an online network adapter or are just afraid of anonymous socialization. It includes the ability to play any of the game modes using bots (which I might add are pretty tough at times).  

Even without all the hype, I don't think there is much that can save Killzone. If anyone asks you how fun Killzone is, the most appropriate response would be "It's alright." It is worth a rental though. I had fun in sporadic moments and fans of the FPS genre will be able to find more enjoyment in it then I did. If you own an online network adapter for the PS2 and you regularly play online, I would suggest giving Killzone a try. This game is geared towards online play and it sports some extremely strong features.

And Sony, next time you proclaim a game is the next "[insert popular game name here]-killer" make sure it has the goods to backup the claim.

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