Killzone sticks out visually on PS2, but clearly not as much as other shooters thanks mostly to it's upsetting issues
Killzone was an awesome idea and it turned out to be a really cool one during development. PS2 gamers were stoked about finally having their own Halo beater, or at least a game that matched the quality of the Xbox shoot em' ups. Everything looked good about the game was set to take PS2 owners by storm...
...But it didn't....
People now look at Killzone with mixed feelings. It was buggy, unfinished and the game simply did not live up to the hype it was receiving for all those months. There was a feeling that many features of the game were not as fine tuned as they could have been and overall it affected every ones experience from the game. Although, despite this, Killzone is a game worth trying and I'll explain why.
For example, the graphics, they're some of the best on PS2. The detail is tremendous for PS2, with characters all have textured clothing scarred weapons and wrinkled, realistic skin textures. The screen effects like blur also help present the wondrous atmosphere of war on terror, something Halo failed to present on Xbox. Killzone really does give other shooters a run for their money and the game plays seemingly smooth and realistic in its animations and movement in the game also.
Another feature that makes Killzone stand out on PS2 is how brilliant the game's voice acting and music in comparison to other shooters. Each character is realistically voiced in Killzone and is presented even better in the game's cinematic cut scenes. The music also helps the cinematic feeling Killzone tries to create using an orchestra which helps the game feel more genuine and immerse.
The gameplay of Killzone itself is hardly something to complain about as it stay linear as opposed to over games with the typical FPS weaponry with a few unique touches of its own. Killzone also has online play and splitscreen multiplayer with AI bots so it also delivers well in multiplayer like many other FPS games.
While Killzone doesn't have vehicles like Halo, it has turrets and other interactive weapons not normally found in an FPS game. Combined with multiplayer and it's linear story, Killzone isn't the longest game ever but it is still a lengthy game that can be enjoyed by many gamers. Despite these good points however Killzone has a variety of issues that really stops it from becoming a game of distinction.
The graphics are inconsistent and unreliable with clear bugs. For example, the pop up is extremely poor in Killzone, almost unacceptable in fact with textures not normally loading in time for the player to see and character models loading very slowly. It is a huge burn, because they look horrendous and take a huge toll on the graphical quality the rest of the game presents. The animation can also seem quite stiff and unresponsive in non playable characters and sadly, we expect a little more as gamers. The frame rate also suffers at times during the game, even in 60Hz, going from incredibly smooth to an erratic and slow speed.
Sound also has a few bugs, feeling a little unfinished at the same time. The sound quality is just all over the place in Killzone and while it sounds good for the Helghast (your enemies throughout the game) it is weak on the soldiers that are your team mates. The game also can be worryingly quiet at times with few sound effects or even music to help accompany the levels. This is a huge disappointment because it makes poor use of the talent Killzone clearly uses in terms of voice acting and music.
Finally the gameplay itself has a few minor issues that developers could have changed or approached differently. The weapon balancing is just beyond ridiculous in Killzone, which is shown at its worst during online play. Most of the time you will be toying around with the rocket launcher or some kind of explosive because no other weapon matches that gun in terms of damage. Not even the standard heavy machine gun does as good as a job in taking down soldiers.
It is also odd in single player that you get given weapons that prove ultimately worthless, such as the Knife and the mini machine gun that you find very little ammo for. There are also a few thing Guerilla could have done to make the multiplayer experience better for Killzone like co-op, although no one ever seemed to mention that during development of the game.
So ending this review, Killzone is a good game just as long as you can accept that it is also a buggy and unfinished game that lacks the polish other shooters have also. It is nice that the PS2 has a shooter that sticks out from the rest of the pile but clearly not as much as other shooters like Halo or Unreal Tournament, thanks mostly to Killzone's upsetting issues. Killzone may disappoint, but it is still worth trying nether the less, it can be found fairly cheap now, so grab it while you can.