I used to think of Killzone and the first word that came to mind was "suck". Enter Liberation.
-Beautiful graphics, makes good use of PSP's hardware
-Guns sound great and give a satisfying "pop" when you kill a Helghast
-Camara Angles are very nice with a Bird's Eye view of everything
-Action is always intense
-Plenty of weapons to choose from
-Most of the weapons are worth using
-HUD is intuitive and innovative
-16 Missions to choose from in addition to quite a few challenge missions
-Controls are tight and responsive, enhancing the game play all the more
-Very nice level design varies from Swamps to an Artic Base
Cons:
-No online Multiplayer
-Overly challenging at points, in the unfair way
-Short Campaign mode over all, even after 16 missions
-Story is virtually non-existant (not that it's important here really)
Killzone for the PS2 was an utter dissapointment. The supposed "Halo-Killer" had some unique inspirations but ultimately left a lot to be desired in terms of gameplay and story. So when you hear about a new Killzone game, you can't help but think "the old one sucked and I hope the new one actually taps it's potential". Enter Killzone: Liberation for the PSP.
This game is, in a word, amazing. Personally, the moment I played it I knew right then that it was a good game. Very rarely have I been able to say that about a game (the only others that really come to mind are Halo itself and Ninja Gaiden). The controls are tight and for the most part, responsive and use the PSP's layout quite effectivly. I would go as far to say that I would play more PSP shooters if the layout were the same as in Killzone. Each button has a specific use and the beauty of the camera angle is that you get an amazing view without the camera getting in the way. Gameplay is well thought out, but in terms of fairness, it can leave a bit to be desired. In fact, the only complaint I had about this game was that the checkpoint system could totaly screw you over. Come on guys, what happened to the quick saves we used to see on the PC Shooters? And of course, there are some things that need to be omited or in the very least, you should be given a better chance to counter, namely enemy rockets. Enemy rockets have a tendancy to lock on to you and seek you slightly making it hard to avoid. And to make matters worse, getting hit by one hurts! Even worse, the enemy can hold up to 3 rockets per clip so when you get up after getting knocked down by a rocket, you're likely to just get hit again because you couldn't move out of the way. We can live without rockets or at least give us away to defeat them without getting killed 52 plus times.
That said, if you use a bit of strategy, the game becomes a bit easier. This isn't a game where you can run and gun instantly and expect to get out of every mission. Sometimes the game will force you to take cover and pop up and fire. And always remember: Frag Grenades are your friends (at least when you're the one throwing them).
Visually, this game shows off the powers of the PSP quite well. You have sharp looking visuals that seem to be on par with the PS2 graphics. Some of the cutscenes don't use the potential of the PSP (Prerendered Cutscenes would have looked better) but the visuals in game is really nice.
Sound is well done with the constant sound of gunfire comming either from you, your ally, your enemy, or the AA gun encampment you're supposed to be destroying. Explosions can sound kind of small on the PSP, but that's almost to be expected due to the size. The sound of a Magnum firing is quite nice though.
All in all, the presentation of this package is quite nice. I think it would have been better if you knew that after you got killed a few times in Campaign, you could log online and duke it out against a bunch of other people. But sadly, we're stuck with just LAN. Oh well...
In closing, I would recomend this game. If you enjoy shooters or are looking for a bit of variety for your PSP, you should pick this up (though really it could be considered an action game for all intensive purposes). Is it a must have? No, the lack of Online Multiplayer prevents that. If you can live with that however, then you should pick this game up. You may just find your self hooked.