Even if it's short and frustrating, Killzone Liberation brings the series back on its feet!
User Rating: 8.6 | Killzone: Liberation PSP
Hey, remember the first Killzone? What was supposed to be "Halo-killer" became "Halo-knock-off?" Well, maybe not knock-off, but I guess it tried... anyway, this game gives the series a bit more hope. Oh, and expect a long review (I'm not too good with short and sweet... sorry!) Well, let's start with the good. This is not a straight out port! FINALLY! That's right, the Guerilla had the balls to try something new, in this case, a top down birds-eye view, and a continuation of the story of the first Killzone. Story is this: The ISA base at Rayhoven is being attacked by the Helghast, a bunch of goggle-wearing bald guys with some killer weaponry, under the eye of General Metrac and Colonel Cobar. You play as Captain Jan Templar, accompanied by Sergeant Rico, and Luger (I forgot her rank), as you fight back the Helghast to stop them once and for all. During your fight, you can get a medley of weapons (2 of which you have to download), and a handful of unlockable abilities. Cases of Vektan dollars (the currency) inside boxes strewn around will help you gather these weapons, which gives a reason to replay levels. Challenge games that you unlock for each chapter of the game you complete will give said abilities. The top down view of the game helps you see everything on the screen and will help you strategize your next move. To help with this, there is a tactical map you can bring up, to command your partner (if you have one) to do certain actions, such as lay explosives or cover a certain area, and it works surprisingly well! You'll need that system to get through most of this game. Which brings us to the enemy, who is tough as nails. These guys aren't mindless graphics, they won't stand around and let you kill them. They will flank you, take cover, and change their strategy depending on the situation. If they team up on you, you better be good with the trigger! Oh, and you will die in this game... a lot... of... times. But there are ways to take them out, namely vehicles. In certain levels, you can take control of vehicles, a tank and a hovercraft (sadly, you only use them once T_T). These machines of death play a big part of keeping your butt alive, and you'll find yourself wanting to keep them in one piece so you can get through. Wait a sec, I haven't covered graphics! This game's graphics truly capture the overall mood: dark and war-torn. Explosions look nice and fiery, bullets that hit their mark will cause the target to bleed, and watching the enemy fly around in a rag-doll fashion is always fun (for more entertainment, throw grenade at dead bodies). The sound is also nice: explosions, gunfire, and people yelling makes this seem alot like a WWII sim... except it's not WWII. Conversation even sounds pretty good, but most will be washed out by the constant firefights. Hearing guy scream "oh s***" when you throw a grenade at him is enjoyable, and even sounds great! But alas, there has to be something bad about this game, right? Sadly, yes. The campaign is too short. 4 chapters, each with 4 missions, which altogether means 16 missions, altogether clocking in at, say, 5 hours, give or take (including looking for all the Vektan dollar cases on your first time through). The challenge games add a bit of extra length, but technically they seem like they're meant to be a tutorial to the controls of the game, so having to beat the first chapter in the game to unlock the first set of challenges kinda defeats the purpose. But since you'll be dieing a few times, that may add the time. Since you'll be dieing alot, that adds to the overall frustration you'll be feeling, leading to the overall swear factor... coming from you. Also, the targeting is a major problem, which could be the difference between life or death for good ol' Templar. There's no lock-on, and the only thing close enough, the strafe-targeting, will lose your target pretty fast, which means the only way to have a bead on a Helghast punk using the strafe, is to move around and shoot as if you were having a seizure. Also in harder modes, the simplest level will increase in difficulty, making boss fights near impossible to accomplish without adequate abilities or weapons. Also, dodging missile is just plain ridiculous, AKA, the A.I. probably has better aim! Sadly, your own allied A.I. (namely partners you can command on some levels), aren't so bright. In fact, they're pretty stupid. If you accidentally shoot them, they might get angry and smack you for payback. THEY WILL EVEN DO THIS DURING COMBAT! They forget about the Helghast, and instead focus on bashing your head in (they'll stop when a Helghast shoots and hits his mark, though)! They'll also shoot you a few times on accident if you're in front of them, but that isn't a problem unless Luger is your ally (you'll see why when you play). There are also rag-doll physics glitches, but those don't particularly do anything bad, unless you want such total realism the someone who gets his leg stuck in a wall or his rear jammed in the ground would anger them. But aside from these gripes, this is an awesome game, and a needed addition to the PSP and the whole Killzone series! If you have the opportunity to get this game, rent it first. If you like it, buy it! With a bunch of downloadables for the game (and for the website which you can access wirelessly), there's more to the game besides the game. I haven't played multiplayer (my Wi-Fi's messed up), but I had fun with this game, and was glad to buy it. If only it were longer... like my review (oh, and thanks to those who slummed through it). 
