Killzone Liberation Review (PSP)

Age rating: 16+ (PEGI)

What is it?
3rd person (isometric projection) shooter based in the Killzone Universe.

Is it fun?
Yes, while it lasts.

Is it worth the money? £29.99
No, but it is worth renting.

Why?
Short and “occasionally fist-eatingly frustrating” (Keza MacDonald – Eurogamer.net) and very enjoyable. How about that for quick review? Oh, you want more?

Ok, to be honest I wasn’t expecting this game to be any good, just another generic, boring shooter on the PSP I thought to myself. But then after finishing the first level it had me in a must complete, must play more kind of way.

The game consists of extended periods of truly fantastic play composed of engaging battles with semi-intelligent AI enemies. Couple that with a sense of real satisfaction when you finally complete each of the tough levels and you have a great game. Each level has its own fairly large map which you slowly traverse on foot. One level sees you driving a tank (great fun) and another has you causing all sorts of mayhem with a hovercraft (plus mounted minigun – hehe).

Killzone Liberation looks and sounds beautiful. It really is quite impressive. It’s a great demonstration of the power hidden inside the PSP and the developer has actually added some game play to the mix as well and not just relied on visuals to entertain you.

The save system is composed of a number of checkpoints at regular intervals during each level with the opportunity to restart at the last checkpoint when you die (which is often). This system works pretty well adding a sense of tension when you’re try to get to the next checkpoint without dying.

Mixed in amongst all this excellence and carnage are really, really, really annoying sections. I’m talking trial and error type of annoying here. Why ruin a good game with multiple instant death moments like hidden mines or more hidden mines just after an intense firefight? You die and have to do it all over again. Grrr. Also, why make the boss battles so damn hard? Challenging I can handle, bloody annoying I can’t. Damn you Gurrilla Games! Ok, so the bosses aren’t totally impossible as I did completed the game in about 4 hours, but it’s not much fun battling against them.

However, it’s a testament to the game that I actually wanted to keep playing and complete it. It’s been a while since this last happened to me with a PSP game (probably LocoRoco come to think of it). Ok, so now you’ve finished the main game, what’s left? Well, there’s some challenge levels which place you in various scenarios (e.g. trap all the spider mines, blow up 4 targets as quick as possible) all set on existing – and played to death – levels. There’s also a bit of multiplayer action available as well.

In summary, rent it. Have 4 hours of fun. Take it back.

Firmware version: 2.60 and above.

Screenshots:

Update 06-Jan-06: You can now download a 1 level demo if you fancy trying it out from www.killzone.com.

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