With some polish, this could be THE game PS2 owners simply cant miss
Yet Halo was made for the Xbox/360. This is Killzone. If given more production time, this would definitely be Halo... on your PS2, I mean.
THE STORY for Killzone isnt hard, yet isnt that richly exciting. The human race began to colonize planets across the galaxy. We know one set controls Vetka, the other Earth... the other, Helghan.
Helghan isnt friendly. It's harsh atmosphere has altered it's inhabitants, the Helghast, for the worse. They later get angry, attack Vetka, lose, attack again, and break through security. This is where you begin.
You play as one of four characters to defend Vetka, but also to locate an ISA (your team) operative with a 'key' to survival. Go figure. There's a minor twist that unfortunately came too early in the game to make it less exciting to care about the story.
GAMEPLAY is what keeps things goin. Like I said, you can play as one of four characters, which changes dialogue and tactics, which adds more insentive to replay.
The ability to customize your controller layout is also very welcoming, and you'll basically get all the abilities found in most shooter games. Interestingly, you dont zoom with your scopes. You just zoom as if you're squinting.
The Helghast aren't hesitant to kill you. They'll come in swarms on many levels, and you cant simply go gun-ho on them. You must proceed with caution. You're aloud three weapons, which involve some experimentation and strategy. All the weapons here are great, from basic assault weapons to greneade launchers.
There's online, and I havent tried it, since getting my PS2 hooked up is a pain in the @#$, so I cant tell you about that. It has online, at least.
THE PRESENTATION is what brings Killzone down. To begin with, the art direction is nearly perfect. It's comparable to God of War to some extent, since you're really sucked into this whole world of total war and destruction. Everything looks very great, the guns sound excellent, the way character actions go (throwing grenades, climbing ladders) look uber realistic, the cutscenes are good, and in the end you should applaud Guerrilla for this game's looks and feel...
That's it. Everything else about the game's presentation is a saddening mess. You CANT ignore it's inconsistent pop-up issues, at ALL. Everything from environments to characters, it all looks ugly until its original looks POPS up at you. Either it's the game, or the PS2's attempt to pull off the game's graphical attempt, either way, it's bad.
The audio and dialogue is also a mess. Almost 90 percent of the game will have you playing with only the sound of wind. This is war, right? Right? Helghast and ISA shout dialogue are repeated over and over. You'll just want them dead so they dont say what the last guy said.
Invisible walls will make you mad you can only go from point A to B, and B only. There's also no friendly fire. You can waste your damn ammo on your squad, and they wont pass over, not even for the Helghast. You alone have a health bar. Grenades also dont have an exploding feel, they just 'pop'.
The presentation falls flat, with artwork as its only saving grace.
MY VERDICT is simply this: This is an excellent game with clear issues. It's not Halo, but it well could be if given more time. If you can get over its obvious issues, you'll find a LOT to love from Killzone.