martok2112
October 8th, 2005, 02:55 AM
VIDEOGAME: KILLZONE DEVELOPER: GUERILLA GAMES PUBLISHER:SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AMERICA
SYSTEMS:PS2
GENRE: FIRST PERSON SHOOTER
MULTIPLAYER: YES, ONLINE BROADBAND, or 2 PLAYER SPLIT SCREEN
Graphics: 3.5/5
Sound: 4/5
Control: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Endorphin Factor: 4/5
Frustration Factor: 3/5
Average: 4/5
GAMES IT COULD BE COMPARED TO: Halo, Red Faction
DETAILS: This game was hyped to be the Halo Killer, or at least the equivalent of Halo on Sony Playstation. Alas, I think the SOCOM: US NAVY SEALS title holds that honor. However, this game is very immersive, and has some very interesting environments to play in. The tightly written story of the game focuses on a future in Earth's history when a renegade faction (The Helghast) have split away from mother Earth to form their own colony....and after a time have decided to come back and conquer it. It falls on one Captain Templar of the ISA to recover vital information, to explain how the Helghast defeated Earth's orbital defenses to gain planetfall, and reveal a traitor in our midst. As the game progresses, he comes upon two other soldiers, and a Human/Helghast spy. Templar is a well rounded soldier, knowing how to operate all equipment with ease An honorable and noble warrior, he is quick to try and keep the peace in the motley squad he has assembled along the way. Rico is the ISA Squad specialist, whose prowess lies with very heavy and destructive weapons, and is not given to trusting people very quickly, especially Hehkha. Ruger is one tough lady who is a Shadow Marshall (fancy title for assassin) who specializes in stealth, sniping, and good ol' fashioned Black Op-ery. Apparently, she and Templar had a thing one time, and she tries to forget about it. Very pragmatic and mission focused, she is my favorite character to play. And then there's Hehkhar, the Human/Helghast hybrid spy who has been able to discern much about the Helghast organization, and reluctantly joins the team He has a very acerbic wit about him, when pressed by Rico. He can elude sensors, drones, and bypass mines. As the story goes on, there are very amusing moments between Rico and Hekha as they constantly antagonize each other. You really get to like these folks as the game progresses, and the story itself is worthy of at least a Direct to DVD movie on its own.
The graphics of this game are pretty good, although there is a lot of draw in from objects in the distance. It utilizes the tried and true fog system, somewhat similar to the Silent Hill (survival horror genre) series of games, although with a considerably longer field of visibility. However, in some cases, when you walk up to certain objects, or even characters, the details of the character might be blurry, and then all of a sudden snap into sharpness. This can be mildly distracting. I guess, in their efforts to make this game a true contender for HALO, Guerilla games tried to really push the processing power of the Playstation 2, and kinda fell short. In some reviews I've read, apparently there were also framerate issues, but I have yet to encounter them. Some of the characters' faces look alright, but Ruger (the femme fatale) is not really much to look at, especially up close. Her accent though is very sexy, and reminiscent of Lara Croft. (or Liz Hurley) The character is voiced by Jennifer Lawrence:D
The sound on this game is very good. Gunfire sounds unique enough between some weapons, although there isn't really anything to make you say: "HOLY FRACK, I LOVE THIS WEAPON!" The music is top notch, performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and conducted by Adam Klemens. The music is very epic, right on big screen motion picture quality. I have yet to hear this game on a surround system, but the stereo mix on two speakers is effective enough. Played through headphones, the sound in this game really rocks, and makes it easier to locate enemy sounds and gunfire. The voice acting, for the most part, is top notch, although Rico (played by Tim Clarke Hill) sometimes sounds so cartoonishly tough, it's laughable. The game also features an impressive array of Hollywood actors for its voice cast. Brian Cox (X Men 2, Rob Roy, and Braveheart), Ronny Cox (Robocop, Total Recall), and Steven Berkoff (Rambo: First Blood 2, Beverly Hills Cop, Children of Dune).
Sometimes the levels are singular, but so frustrating that when you get to the end (after several frustrating replays) you think "Wait a minute! This level was pretty short, but damn! I had to go through all that, just to get to this level's end? SHEESH!" Other levels have checkpoints that you reach, because they are so mission focused that I am glad the developers chose NOT to make you start at the beginning of the entire level when you get killed.
Apparently (on normal mode) your fellow soldiers are immune to friendly and enemy fire, although they do bleed heavily when hit by weapons fire. This, I suppose, is to emphasize that every member of your team is expert enough and veteran enough in their respected fields that they are always by your side, and even help you take down a few bad guys...although sometimes their aim is about as expert as a TOS Cylon Centurion's. (And that ain't sayin' much.)
BOTTOM LINE: Not quite the Halo Killer, or even Halo Heir Apparent (more like Halo Heir Presumptive), but this game does hold its own as a fun entry into the massive First Person Shooter market. I'd recommend it for a buy, especially now that it has made Sony's Greatest Hits list, and is available for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart and other more dedicated video game stores.
Respectfully,
Martok2112
SYSTEMS:PS2
GENRE: FIRST PERSON SHOOTER
MULTIPLAYER: YES, ONLINE BROADBAND, or 2 PLAYER SPLIT SCREEN
Graphics: 3.5/5
Sound: 4/5
Control: 4/5
Story: 5/5
Endorphin Factor: 4/5
Frustration Factor: 3/5
Average: 4/5
GAMES IT COULD BE COMPARED TO: Halo, Red Faction
DETAILS: This game was hyped to be the Halo Killer, or at least the equivalent of Halo on Sony Playstation. Alas, I think the SOCOM: US NAVY SEALS title holds that honor. However, this game is very immersive, and has some very interesting environments to play in. The tightly written story of the game focuses on a future in Earth's history when a renegade faction (The Helghast) have split away from mother Earth to form their own colony....and after a time have decided to come back and conquer it. It falls on one Captain Templar of the ISA to recover vital information, to explain how the Helghast defeated Earth's orbital defenses to gain planetfall, and reveal a traitor in our midst. As the game progresses, he comes upon two other soldiers, and a Human/Helghast spy. Templar is a well rounded soldier, knowing how to operate all equipment with ease An honorable and noble warrior, he is quick to try and keep the peace in the motley squad he has assembled along the way. Rico is the ISA Squad specialist, whose prowess lies with very heavy and destructive weapons, and is not given to trusting people very quickly, especially Hehkha. Ruger is one tough lady who is a Shadow Marshall (fancy title for assassin) who specializes in stealth, sniping, and good ol' fashioned Black Op-ery. Apparently, she and Templar had a thing one time, and she tries to forget about it. Very pragmatic and mission focused, she is my favorite character to play. And then there's Hehkhar, the Human/Helghast hybrid spy who has been able to discern much about the Helghast organization, and reluctantly joins the team He has a very acerbic wit about him, when pressed by Rico. He can elude sensors, drones, and bypass mines. As the story goes on, there are very amusing moments between Rico and Hekha as they constantly antagonize each other. You really get to like these folks as the game progresses, and the story itself is worthy of at least a Direct to DVD movie on its own.
The graphics of this game are pretty good, although there is a lot of draw in from objects in the distance. It utilizes the tried and true fog system, somewhat similar to the Silent Hill (survival horror genre) series of games, although with a considerably longer field of visibility. However, in some cases, when you walk up to certain objects, or even characters, the details of the character might be blurry, and then all of a sudden snap into sharpness. This can be mildly distracting. I guess, in their efforts to make this game a true contender for HALO, Guerilla games tried to really push the processing power of the Playstation 2, and kinda fell short. In some reviews I've read, apparently there were also framerate issues, but I have yet to encounter them. Some of the characters' faces look alright, but Ruger (the femme fatale) is not really much to look at, especially up close. Her accent though is very sexy, and reminiscent of Lara Croft. (or Liz Hurley) The character is voiced by Jennifer Lawrence:D
The sound on this game is very good. Gunfire sounds unique enough between some weapons, although there isn't really anything to make you say: "HOLY FRACK, I LOVE THIS WEAPON!" The music is top notch, performed by The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus, and conducted by Adam Klemens. The music is very epic, right on big screen motion picture quality. I have yet to hear this game on a surround system, but the stereo mix on two speakers is effective enough. Played through headphones, the sound in this game really rocks, and makes it easier to locate enemy sounds and gunfire. The voice acting, for the most part, is top notch, although Rico (played by Tim Clarke Hill) sometimes sounds so cartoonishly tough, it's laughable. The game also features an impressive array of Hollywood actors for its voice cast. Brian Cox (X Men 2, Rob Roy, and Braveheart), Ronny Cox (Robocop, Total Recall), and Steven Berkoff (Rambo: First Blood 2, Beverly Hills Cop, Children of Dune).
Sometimes the levels are singular, but so frustrating that when you get to the end (after several frustrating replays) you think "Wait a minute! This level was pretty short, but damn! I had to go through all that, just to get to this level's end? SHEESH!" Other levels have checkpoints that you reach, because they are so mission focused that I am glad the developers chose NOT to make you start at the beginning of the entire level when you get killed.
Apparently (on normal mode) your fellow soldiers are immune to friendly and enemy fire, although they do bleed heavily when hit by weapons fire. This, I suppose, is to emphasize that every member of your team is expert enough and veteran enough in their respected fields that they are always by your side, and even help you take down a few bad guys...although sometimes their aim is about as expert as a TOS Cylon Centurion's. (And that ain't sayin' much.)
BOTTOM LINE: Not quite the Halo Killer, or even Halo Heir Apparent (more like Halo Heir Presumptive), but this game does hold its own as a fun entry into the massive First Person Shooter market. I'd recommend it for a buy, especially now that it has made Sony's Greatest Hits list, and is available for 20 bucks at Wal-Mart and other more dedicated video game stores.
Respectfully,
Martok2112