Killzone: Liberation

Don’t go in expecting a rehash of the PS2 game that precedes Killzone: Liberation. Firstly, the perspective has shifted, where instead of a first person shooter players are given a third person perspective (almost top-down, but not quite) of the battlefield. This completely alters the gameplay, but works for the PSP.

Instead of rehashing many of the same things, I’ll point you in the direction of our preview in order to get a sense of mission variety and story. Chances are though if you are familiar with the story, you may be picking this game up anyway unless it really sucks, which it doesn’t.

There really aren’t many complaints to be made against Killzone: Liberation. This just goes to show that the PSP can deliver a top-notch gaming experience equivalent to the PS2 (sounds almost like I’m being paid by Sony to say that) and that changing a franchise’s core gameplay isn’t always fundamentally bad.

While there aren’t many, there are a few complaints. The first is with the visuals. Not with the quality, because they are done quite well. Instead I found myself getting tired of looking at the same type of environments after several levels. It’s all nicely detailed, but just too much of a good thing is still too much.

The sound seems “hit and miss” with good quality when it shows up – particularly with regards to the music. Mostly a hardware limitation I’m assuming, but music, voices and sound effects aren’t all present at the same time. Not a major complaint, really, but more of an observance that I’ll be trying to pay attention to in future PSP games.

With 16 levels, that may seem like a lot, but it isn’t. Unfortunately the levels are all rather short (comparatively speaking) for a game of this type. Most players will be able to get through this game in a weekend. That’s not a lot of value for the money. There are however a number of other options to bring this up. Players can go at each other or play co-op which significantly raises the value of the game, but not quite enough to offset the $40 price tag.

By now you’ve decided whether or not to get the game. Incidentals such as footlockers placed throughout the battlefield with health packs and grenades to pick up won’t be swaying your decision. Essentially it comes down to whether or not you’re looking for a decent PSP game.

There are two types of gamers Killzone: Liberation is geared towards. The first group being fans of the original PS2 title looking to continue the story with the other group PSP owners wanting to play through a decent action title. Both groups are well served here.