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A LOT OF BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 104 / 123
Date: November 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Yeah, sometimes the AI is stupid and sometimes the game doesn't move as fast as some people would like. But to me, KILLZONE is FPS (first person shooter) GOLD. It reminds me of the first TENCHU game. People said it was rough and unpolished, but it turned out to be one of the most amazing gameplay experiences I've ever had. The TENCHU series went downhill from there with analog controls and never lived up to the original. So don't wait for the second KILLZONE hoping there will be big improvements. You may be missing out. Don't listen to professional or jaded Amazon critics. People are just too picky. There are too many game geeks who don't like certain games because they don't live up to the expectations of some other game. Be fair. I don't care if KILLZONE is a HALO killer. IT'S NOT. And I don't care if this game pushes the PS2 to the limits of the hardware. IT DOES. To me, it's all about the gameplay. And I haven't been this immersed in a FPS since playing MEDAL OF HONOR FRONTLINE. THIS GAME SMOKES AND IT LOOKS HEAVY METAL PSYCHO!! BUT BE PREPARED TO DIE A FEW TIMES.

I still play FRONTLINE so it took me a little time to get a handle on the controls. All movement for KILLZONE, like RED FACTION, is done via both analog sticks including side-to-side movement, which is actually more intuitive than the shoulder buttons utilized by FRONTLINE. After some practice with the controls all hell broke loose and those Helghast troops were dropping like flies. Occasionally I throw a grenade when I mean to sidestep enemy fire. Oops. One of the BEST features is the SENSITIVITY SETTING for X and Y axis, or up-and-down and side-to-side movement, which can be adjusted ingame in the ADVANCED SETTINGS during PAUSE. When I first started playing I had to set the SENSITIVITY very low, but as my learning curve improved I continued to raise the SENSITIVITY during gameplay. VERY NICE. ADVANCED SETTINGS are not in the MAIN MENU and are not fully explained in the MANUAL. For example: I turned ON the AUTO-CENTER feature in the ADVANCED SETTINGS and I assumed it was for auto-targeting. If it is, it doesn't work as I didn't notice any difference when it was turned OFF. Maybe another reviewer can enlighten me about this feature.

Some complained about the reloading and grenade tossing animations being too slow and wrong for the game. It's realistic and part of the strategy. And it looks awesome. There's even a counter on grenades for when you're cooking one up. The AUTO-RELOAD feature can be turned OFF and reloading should be done while you are running or in a defilade position. And, if you take a lot of enemy fire your HEALTH BAR respawns after time.

Some complained about the SNIPER RIFLE being too hard to aim. Again, it's realistic and requires a steady hand. Don't forget, like I did, to use the upward directional button after pressing R3 to FULLY ZOOM in on your target. It makes it much easier to get that KILLSHOT. Some of the STANDARD weapons also have a ZOOM feature with a press of the R3 button. It can be a little disorienting switching between ZOOM and NORMAL VIEW, but once you get used to it, it's a welcome feature.

SOME SINGLE PLAYERS MAY WORRY about the ONLINE feature eating up a big portion of the gameplay. NEVER FEAR. KILLZONE GIVES YOU A LOT OF BANG FOR YOUR BUCK. The single player CAMPAIGN contains 11 HUGE levels that you can revisit at anytime after completion. (However, you'll lose your game in progress on a level if you go back.) The multiplayer BATTLEFIELDS contain 6 TEAM ARENAS that can be played ONLINE or OFFLINE, alone or with a friend. If you don't have a friend to play with or you have a friend who spends every waking hour playing and continually frags your sorry behind, every ARENA can be adjusted and played solo with AI bots, spawning, time limits, and more, depending on your skill level. You can also play as ISA goodguys or HELGHAN badboys. Nice, because the different factions use different weapons. So, you can pick-up, sample, and use them all. Even if you don't play ONLINE. (However, you can't play as Helghast in the CAMPAIGN mode.) PERFECT FOR THE CASUAL OR HARDCORE GAMER. Perfect for me, because I'm an older gamer and most of my friends are married with children and don't play video games. Suckers!! THANKS, GUERRILLA. I WAS WORRIED THERE FOR A MINUTE. GROWN MEN SHOULDN'T BE HAVING THIS MUCH FUN. (One of my older friends came by to check out the game and we ended up playing for 6 straight hours.)

THE GRAPHICS ARE AMAZING. While answering a phone call, after just starting this game, I was watching the DEMOS on the MAIN MENU (I never pause my 41" SONY XBR TV ingame for long periods of time for fear of phosphor burn on my tube), and sat there slack-jawed. The graphics almost looked CELL-SHADED. INCREDIBLE. LIKE A HEAVY METAL OR ANIME CARTOON.

Also includes a WIDESCREEN SETTING, DTS PRO LOGIC, and full CONTROLLER CUSTOMIZATION. SWEET.


MOST PARENTS DON'T CARE, BUT HERE'S A WARNING: KILLZONE IS LOADED WITH FOUL LANGUAGE, ALTHOUGH THE VIOLENCE IS NOT GRAPHIC. THE BLOOD IS VERY SUBDUED. NO EXPLODING HEADS OR DISMEMBERED LIMBS. SO ACT ACCORDINGLY. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO LIKE THAT SORT OF THING: BUMMER. MAYBE NEXT TIME.

IF YOU LOVE FPS's, THIS IS A MUST HAVE. I DON'T HAVE BROADBAND, SO BE SURE AND READ OTHER REVIEWS FOR ONLINE PLAY. KILLZONE WILL MAKE A GREAT HOLIDAY GIFT FOR THAT HARD-TO-BUY-FOR KILLER ON YOUR LIST. ENJOY.

Reviewed from the beta test

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 28 / 34
Date: August 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I along with probably 10 thousand others are beta testing this game right now, and I'm here to tell you it kicks butt. It's been dubbed the "Halo-Killer", but that name doesn't do it justice. It's simply not comparable to Halo. Killzone is a FPS, which I'm sure you already know the storyline so I won't get into that. The weapons range from regular handguns to machine guns to missle launchers. When you fire off any of these there's this realism to it, the sound, the kick of the gun, it's just brilliant. This game is very gritty. The colors aren't bright and obnoxious, they actually make you feel like you're in a possible warzone. The control is tight, comparable to other FPS.

The one thing me and many others have commented about already is how severly addictive this game is. Get online, join an ISA team or Helghast team and just try to put the controller down. Wether you're in a deathmatch or another form of play, you simply can't stop playing. So good. I'll definitely pick this up when it comes for PS2, and I advise you do the same if your a FPS gamer.

Great realistic FPS for serious soldier fans

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 23 / 30
Date: February 05, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Killzone is a futuristic first person shooter, where you are defending the civilized world from an attack of angry mutant rebels.

This is very mmuch a combinations of WW2 trench warfare combined with spaceships and advanced weaponry. You start out in a brown-grey combat zone, hiding behind bunkers and shooting away at the incoming attackers. The game does a good job of really immersing you in this world. The sounds of war are all around you, the moke and blasts obscure your vision. You duck down as you reload, and your hands shake as you shoot. Bullets actually hurt you, compared to games where you seem to have a Terminator-like ability to absorb barrages without harm.

Your environment has a good eye to detail - and is about as detailed as the PS2 can handle. Bushes have leaves, barbed wire has spikes. The people you meet really do seem like realistic individuals. The smoke clouds and fog are quite impressive. Yes, it's not photo-realistic, but you quickly get drawn into the world that surrounds you.

The AI is reasonably good. Sure, the characters make some stupid decisions sometimes, but people do that in real life too. If the computer actually played every enemy as a top-notch super intelligent, super fast being, humans would rarely have a chance to win :) If your side was full of super-strategic people, why would they need you? Even with their faults, your squadmates each have their own strengths and weaknesses and it's up to you to deploy them properly.

There are a ton of details in the game. When you climb a ladder, you can actually look around from where you are and it feels like you are at that spot. When you reload, you actually look down at what you are doing.

For those looking for a quick-fix arcade blaster, this game might not be a great fit. It is grey and dingy, not bright and colorful. Aiming takes skill, not button mashing. You have to be strategic and look for appropriate cover to take out your enemy, you typically can't just run-and-blast and expect to survive. Also, the language is pretty foul. These are hard core soldiers who aren't very PC.

But if you're willing to put in the time and build up your skills, and if you're looking for a serious combat simulation that rewards patience and planning, you really should give Killzone a try. I know many people who are completely addicted!

FPS with a new feel

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This was unexpected. I had been reading about this game for some time, and I didn't know it was coming out before the end of the year. Now I also have a xbox and yes I did pick up halo 2. I was a bit upset with halo 2. It didn't feel like much was changed. I pay a lot of attention to the story of the game, and halo 2 was a little bit of a repeat. With killzone I got what I was looking for. There are frantic fights on every level of this game. A lot of skill and patience are needed. Each playable character (4 total) has a different style. One is the basic soldier. The only woman is good with percision and accuracy. Another is a crazy all-out-war nut with high powered wepons that rip through the enemys, and the last is a spy that use the enemys wepons with higher accuracy. All in all, I love this game. I dont have a network adapter, so I can't participate in the online experience, But another thing this game has that halo doesn't is the ability to play bots, or A.I. so if you want to play one of the many multiplayer games, you dont need to have another person. Just play it. You'll see what I'm talking about

Not your average FPS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: November 18, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Having seen the average reviews in the various game magazines (both on-line and in print), I was not expecting too much, though I felt compelled to check it out because of the incredible art design that was evident in the demo. I was led to believe that this game occasionally looked pretty good, but the game-play was pretty standard as far as FPS's go. I'm in my mid-thirties, and started playing FPS's when Castle Wolfenstein came out so many years ago. Having only played a little of both Halo and Halo 2 (both of which do not particularly interest me), I can't make a fair comparison, so I won't bother. I only played the game on "Hard", and I recommend turning off "auto-reload" in your options. I did not play Killzone long enough on-line to make a fair assessment, so I'll only cover the single-player game.

To begin, the art design is simply incredible, and is easily among the best that I've ever seen in a game. The level of detail is simply astounding, and the rich environments really create a sense of time and place. It seems that an awful lot of effort was put into thinking about how everything in the environment has a logical place in this virtual universe. On the downside, the presentation of this environment is marred by an unsteady frame-rate (10-15 fps as a guess in some cases) and plenty of fogging- neither of which significantly affect the game-play.

I found the game-play to be rather innovative precisely because of two things: long reload times and the ability to sprint for short periods of time. You cannot fire or reload while sprinting, so this ability is used primarily for running out in the open while you are trying to reach some cover. This can make for some incredibly intense moments as you make a mad dash to get out of range of grenades and machine guns. Enemies will advance on you without suppressive fire, and they also hide behind cover, so they may not be easy to hit. In fact, you may not even know where they are at times. Getting close to enemies usually results in quick death, so you are "encouraged" to neutralize enemies at range. This forces the player to slow down somewhat and think about how to eliminate threats. I much prefer this to mindless running around and blasting everything in sight, and repeating this until you get the pattern down for any particular level. Almost every time I played through a section, I found myself approaching the problem slightly differently. As has been stated elsewhere, level structure is fairly linear (think Medal of Honor) , with some variation available by playing a different character (there are four). The game-play described above prevent this from being a repetitive annoyance, so the linear aspect is not a downside.

What is a downside however is the so-called "glass walls" that you will occasionally run into and the knee-high obstacles that you cannot climb over. Additionally, some levels do not look as good (I'm thinking of the jungle) as the rest of the game. The enemy animations often look awkward, though I think they took the correct approach by using rag-doll physics- they just didn't have the time to refine these things before the holiday rush. These are minor complaints, and along with the presence of a few annoying bugs suggest that Guerrilla needed a few more months to iron everything out.

Overall a very enjoyable experience, certainly something that is worth having as part of your game library. The inclusion of on-line play adds a lot of value to this title.

My awesome review

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 14, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I can not belive the reviews this is getting. its the best shooter out there to me, along with Halo 2. The US is an xbox country, but just because a game tried to stand up to halo doesnt mean that everyone needs to rip on it without playing it, or just playing the demo (which i hear is sucky)RENT THE GAME AT BLOCK BUSTER OR SOMEWHERE ELSE. Thats what i did,and it was worth every god damn penny. for my review i list pros and cons

Cons
-The game isnt the gigantic war i expected.
-AI can be sloppy,
-your team mates do kill people, but stay back sometimes doing nothing until you go out farther into the battle
-sometimes there are glitches, but not often

Pros
-The game is really kick ass with enough action to leave you trembling
-there are no plasma gay rays or ion cannons,there are loud, gritty bullet loading guns that kick serious ass
-The AI can actually can get pretty good if you set the game on hard mode. I actually stopped and thought, "wow, why dont other games have AI like this?" They move in on you as a team, and also provide covering fire, and if you shoot at them they try to take cover as best they can.
-The game is MUCH more realistic than halo, you get a sense of war and tragedy when you walk through the levels
-The graphics are the best ive seen in the november game season so far.
-the sound is INCREDIBLE

Most people who played the demo have reviewed this game, but i bought it and its great. dont let all the bad reviews mislead you, rent it, check it out, and decide. Halo is fun, but to me, its xbox's only game, PS2 has Socom, Metal Gear, GTA, KillZone, and many other games that are really good, all the xbox fans who are writing bad reviews can just go back to the colorful midget alien shooter hole they call halo.

Relax

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: November 04, 2004
Author: Amazon User

well I've been reading up on this game for six months now and its definatley not the disappointment from guerrilla that shellshock '67 was....I think some of the reviews for this game need to relax and don't think there should even be a comparison to Halo.....its like comparing Halo with a game like Red Faction...yeah they're futuristic but this game is far from being as mechanized....and if you go out and rent this and aren't impressed I don't know what to say....if there are limitiations to the game its due to the platform and what they have to work with....I am a huge fan of the early Medal of Honor series and all of the Socom series and if you like those you will love this game...it is dark and definatley gritty, the AI at times is a bit lazy but they can also be very tricky,they will regroup and attack you on both flanks if your not careful...I picked up the game last night and by the end of the night my teeth were grinding from all the lead I had been pulling.

Sony's Halo killer.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 17
Date: July 19, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ok, here's the layout on Killzone. It takes place in the near future where 2 groups of people are warring, the ISA and the Helghast. You play the leader of an ISA commando squad. You fight through 11 levels of intense action set in jungles, urban cities, and forests. Killzone is a mission based squad shooter. You can take command with any of the 4 characters in your team before you start each level. With 26 weapons at your disposal, the ability to command your team (via headset), a 2 player co-op mode, and 12 player online vs, this looks to be the best fps on the ps2 (and way better than Halo). The graphics are visually stunning and some of the best there are. There are multiple ways to complete each level, depending on the character you choose to play out of your team. Nope, no goofy aliens, your fighting humans and robots. And, if your key team member gets taken out, then you have to start the level over again. Well that's Killzone for ya'. So far that's pretty much all that Sony has released. I'll write more once I get more info.

Not exactly a Halo Killer/ But good enough for me

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: March 19, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was a skeptic about the hype of Killzones "Halo Killer" campaign. But I can see why. Killzone has very realistic gameplay (It would have been niceto jump) With dust, Debree and jaw dropping effects.The AI of the game wasnt quite as advanced as the legendary Halos though, as in level 3 I would always see the same pattern so I would draw it out to see what would happen. This game was suprisingly Dark, unlike Halo, This game really got me juming with enemies popping up from out of nowhere, and just staring into those yellow eyes in the darkness, I only got this feeling on the "Sacred Icon and "Oracle" levels of Halo 2 and "The Maw" of the classic Halo.Killzone is a war game of a diffrent breed, t is to be respected, even if it isnt quite the " Halo killer" it said it was.

Pushes the PS2 to the limit, NOT a Halo killer though

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 5
Date: May 07, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Be sure to understand that Killzone is not a Halo clone. Killzone is about a handful of average soldiers being forced into working as a team as they fight through a war-torn world, often engaging in street warfare just to get to the next location.

The game begins after the Helghan invasion of of Vetka. ISA forces have been vainly in heavy combat on Vetka, but the powerful Helghan forces has left a brutal impact on the populace. The game begins with the players taking on the role of Captain Jan Templar, who fights his way back to where General Vaughton is stationed. The General sends Templar on a mission to rescue a spy, and during the process of said mission, Templar picks up three additional playable team members. From this point, this mini-squad must take on missions in reaction to the events that play out in the story.

Over the first few areas, you're only in control of the standard trooper, Templar, but as you pick up more allies, you'll get your choice of team member at the beginning of each mission. The four team members play differently and have various bonuses and detriments. Luger has heat vision, Hakha can sneak up on Helghast, while Rico is the all around heavy gunner who can take additional punishment. The action in Killzone is broken up into levels, which are further separated into sublevels. While each level features the occasional checkpoint, players can only save at the end of each stage. Rather than a seamless gameworld, Killzone's stages are broken up by lengthy load screens.

The core gameplay of Killzone is your standard FPS fare, though you will find more of the game will be spent fighting behind cover to minimize your damage. A lot of running from cover to cover should be expected. To this effect, you have a sprint button that will lower your weapon and allow you to run a short distance. You'll have primary and secondary fire (on most weapons) and even grenades to your disposal. If you get in close, you can perform a melee attack to disarm and take out your opponent.

While there is no ability to jump, you will find the occasional barrier that you can leap over. Along your path, you'll often find gun and cannon emplacements. With the tap of a button, you can use that firepower to your own. But, considering the legions of Helghast that come after you, the most heavy ammo you can drop, the better.

While Killzone does feature a variety of weapons, there is some imbalance in terms of stopping power. With only three weapons a player can have on hand, it won't take long for players to figure out what they should keep on hand. The assault rifle is pretty solid, but never has enough ammo. On the other hand, the Helghast assault rifle takes way too many bullets to drop an enemy. The shotgun has a long reload time, which almost negates it's usefulness. Of course, there's heavy ordinance to be found and abused, including grenade launchers and a rocket launcher.

Along with the main story are both online and standard multiplayer modes. Both provide extra enjoyment, but are dependent on the quality of your opponents. Fortunately, there's more of an arcade-like element to the multiplayer, allows for faster, more furious gunbattles. Of course, you can always try to play it more like the story missions, but with so many good weapons being spawned, why bother?

Visually, Killzone has a wonderful art direction that works to deliver a solid and believable gameworld. The Helghast are successfully presented as an intimidating Nazi/Jin-Roh hybrid that the player must push on through. The game world does a fine job at setting up real world locations, whether they be war ravaged streets, a park, a swamp or soldier-infested docks. Levels are laid out in such a way that most of the scenarios provide both challenge and a certain level of intensity. From a technical standpoint, though, Killzone is pushing the PS2 for all it can get and still could use more power. While there is a lot of minor details, the limited color palette and repetitive and low-res textures wash out many locations and even leave some areas feeling quite repetitive. You'll also find a serious lack of enemy variety will leave you feeling like you're killing the same foes over and over again. I have to wonder if Killzone was on a brawnier unit, would the levels have more visual detail and larger? Would there be more enemy types and would the draw distance be longer?

The audio portion proves to be a solid augment to the visual portion. Music is nicely done and works with the futuristic military theme of the story. Sound effects have a good bit of variety and range, especially in the gun sounds and explosions. In the story sequences, the voice cast (including Kal Webber, Tom Clarke Hill and Brian Cox) does a good job with the script they're given. During gameplay, though, their comments are limited and can get old pretty fast. Even worse is that the Helghast have even fewer comments, so killing them by the score isn't made better by the the repetitious comments.

Is Killzone a bad game? Not really. There is certainly a good time to be had here, but it really depends on what you have available to you. If you have access to a PC or Xbox, Killzone pales in comparison to other titles already available. If all you have is a PS2, then Killzone is likely one of the best games the genre will offer you right now. With a little more power for the engine and more refinement, this could have been a great game, but there is still a good time to be had here.

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