Killzone

[marcus]

Liking it after half hour or so's play. Gritty atmosphere, a cool opening level which pits you right in the middle of a believeable warzone, and the most abusive language you will hear this side of GTASA. Whilst far too early to form a proper opinion on this, it does at least have promise. Comparisons to Halo 2 are inevitable, especially since it was billed as a Halo killer in some departments pre-release, but whilst it may not be of that magnitude it could well stand up as a decent game in its own right. Controlwise its a little awkward for me at the moment, espectially sprinting which is achieved by pressing L3 inwards and moving forward, which isnt entirely accurate for me at least. Only being able to pick up one gun (Ive played too much Halo..) can be frustrating, for example I needed a sniper rifle that Id ditched back in the level to get past a snipers-alley type area and so had to backtrack. Still, at least thats more real than dual-weilding (!!). Enemy AI could be a problem, most of the ones Ive seen so far are just cannon fodder and some stand there waiting to be shot. Love the sniper rifle effect though and the weapons thus far in are impressive.

So far so good, will post more on this after extended play.

[Concept]

Sounds good - But Killzone is an odd one. It got a poor response from IGN and Gamespot (by their usual standards), and they're hardly the greatest of sources when it comes to evaluating a game based on a middle average opinion/score. On the other hand, the game has received quite positive reviews amongst the PlayStation 2 press. But then I suppose that was to be expected.

Hopefully, the game's standard will be maintained beyond these first impressions. If so, I'll have to keep an eye out for this.

Is it me, or these days, are potentially great games splitting opinion down the line as never before?

[Ian(not Ian)]

Well I'm going to buy it anyhoo. The whole style of it looks good to me. I though the recent demo version was playable enough.

How'd you get it so soon? It's not due out until the 26th AFAIK.

[marcus]

Videogamesplus.ca is your friend

Ive not read reviews elsewhere, to be honest I never do, but will be sure to play some more and let you know what I think today. Several people have been online testing this for a while now also, and reception seems to of been lukewarm.

[Mr Ono]

I quite like what I have played at the moment. Very very scripted and the framerates could be a lot better but there is something quite menacing about seeing these dark Stormtrooper like figures coming through the mist with "Kill them all!" being shouted in the background. It has a better feeling of actually being in the midst of a battle than many similar titles. Only really got to level 2 (just past the sniper level) but will revisit once I complete Halo 2.

[Mad Gear]

I think its pretty good for a PS2 FPS but i get the feeling it would've been a fair bit better on more powerful hardware.
Get close enough to your PS2 and you can actually hear it creaking under the strain.
I do find the constant bellows of the Hellgast rather anoying, somewhat spoils what otherwise is a great sounding game.
Only a couple of levels in so far, will post more after a few more hours play.

[Ian(not Ian)]

Videogames.ca is indeed a friend of mine, but only for GC + GBA as I have PAL PS2 and XBOX. Must get a US PS2 one day.
Still, HALO2 and LotR 3rd Age will keep me going until the 26th....****ty death! Metroid Prime Echoes comes out on the 26th!

[Olympichero]

On the other hand, the game has received quite positive reviews amongst the PlayStation 2 press.

Its a Sony game and their 'Halo beater'.

[Mad Gear]

Man its much harder than most other console FPS's, not helped by the pad's anolgue control.
Some save points also seem a bit unfair.
It does feel like your'e in some sort of war though, very atmospheric.
Some fantastic animation on the gun reloading too.
They seem to have made the helghast tougher to kill to make up for the shoddy AI.

Marcus what you on about only being able to carry one gun dude? I got three.

[marcus]

Yeh... Ill put that down to not reading the manual.. o_^

The game makes you use cover well doesnt it, agreed on the atmosphere its very convincing, I have to tread carefully at all times, stray too far and you get picked off by a sniper. I too find the control awkward, particularly when Im trying to aim using the sniper rifle, Im forever losing the lock, being heavy handed I often press the analogue in when Im not meaning to.

[Magnakai]

The enemy are called the Helghast?
HAHAHA!!!
Someone check if there's a guy called Joe Dever on the design staff...
That's the name of a shape-shifting monster from the Lone Wolf gamebooks written by him. They're also where I pilfered my username from.

[fishbowlhead]

the multiplayer bots are much more inteligent that the singleplayer AI. completed the singleplayer on second night, it was good but not amazing. However its the bots that bring me back. Oh and watch the warmaps or warzones, in the extras section, which really shows off the AI in multiplayer.

[anephric]

I quite like the dreich look of this... really dour. That appeals to cynical old me. I could do without the naff glowy red eyes of the helghast, tho. Really, really hackneyed.

Are there probs with invisible walls and such as intimated in previews etc? Is the reloading a chore?

I may pick this up but prolly not full price. I am intrigued tho.

[Balou]

So, is the framerate really as bad as it is mentioned in many reviews? (close to unplayable, impossible to aim properly, ...)

I really like the setting and the fact that there are only bullet weapons weapons, and the sounds etc. ... but I know I will not like it if the framerate doesn?t allow for smooth gameplay.

[fishbowlhead]

No framerate problems what so ever in any of the game anywhere, not even when theres 14 (yes count them) 14 bots on the same screen at the same time in multiplayer. The animations are really quite good on the reloading when you get used to them as well and really add to the atmospere of being in a battle.

All in all a great package in my opinion and the single player even has different routes for the different characters for completists which change the level structure and gameplay to suit that character.