So I finally got the Killzone Liberation demo

I ended up picking up the original Killzone for the PS2 (owing largely to the phenomenal PS3 trailer at E3 ’05) in November last year and was surprised at just how cool the story, art direction, weapons and atmosphere were. It struck me that had the game been given say… six more months of development time to allow the team get the game running smoothly on PS2 hardware, the “Halo-Killer” moniker slapped onto it by various press outlets would have been better deserved. All in all it was a solid experience that was let down by sub-par technology, whether that’s on the software or hardware side is not for me to judge, bottom line is the game had potential.

When I head a Killzone game was in the works for PSP I had mixed feelings, more so when it was confirmed the game wasn’t going to be a first person shooter, I wasn’t certain that Guerrilla had the chops to switch genres fluidly. I needn’t have worried though, because if the demo disc that arrived in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon is any indication, the guys in Amersdam know exactly what they’re doing.

Just to be clear, this is the same demo that was sent out to many members of the PlayStation Underground the Sony‘s Gamers Advisory Panel, so I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts on the demo in the comments below, but here’s my two cents.

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I ended up picking up the original Killzone for the PS2 (owing largely to the phenomenal PS3 trailer at E3 ’05) in November last year and was surprised at just how cool the story, art direction, weapons and atmosphere were. It struck me that had the game been given say… six more months of development time to allow the team get the game running smoothly on PS2 hardware, the “Halo-Killer” moniker slapped onto it by various press outlets would have been better deserved. All in all it was a solid experience that was let down by sub-par technology, whether that’s on the software or hardware side is not for me to judge, bottom line is the game had potential.

When I head a Killzone game was in the works for PSP I had mixed feelings, more so when it was confirmed the game wasn’t going to be a first person shooter, I wasn’t certain that Guerrilla had the chops to switch genres fluidly. I needn’t have worried though, because if the demo disc that arrived in my mailbox on Saturday afternoon is any indication, the guys in Amsterdam know exactly what they’re doing.

Just to be clear, this is the same demo that was sent out to many members of the PlayStation Underground the Sony‘s Gamers Advisory Panel, so I’d love to hear your opinions and thoughts on the demo in the comments below, but here’s my two cents.

Demo Content and Length

Wow this is a short one, it seems to be just one mission from a single level that basically involves you taking on about 10-15 armed guards at the docks in order to get into a warehouse. It’s fun, just very short and over far too quickly, good thing it’s got replay value. And no, those aren’t my fingers there (–>) the image was provided by that raging rapscallion and fellow QJ blogger, Josh J.

Gameplay and Controls

Might as well mention before I forget that load times are pretty darn quick, roughly 10 seconds or so. There isn’t a save anywhere feature, Liberation uses a checkpoint system that auto-saves at short intervals (at least in the demo). It is a little strange that if you leave the game on pause or in the map screen for about 10 minutes the demo quits to the game start-up screen, fairly certain that won’t be in the final product though.

The games controls are surprisingly easy to get the hang of, and they’ve been tuned to perfection. The analogue stick moves your character around, double clicking the “L” trigger while running lets him do a little roll or dive (holding this down while moving lets you strafe) the “R” button lets him crouch, square is the fire button, triangle reloads, “X” is the action button and circle can be used to lob grenades. Nothing feels clumsy or unresponsive, you always feel like you’re in control, even when aiming, there’s a generous amount of aiming assistance but that’s required (and appreciated) considering the nature of the PSP’s analogue nub.

There’s a generous helping of weapons in the demo as well, including Helghan and ISA automatic rifles, a machine gun pistol, two kinds of grenades, a shotgun and an awesome crossbow with explosive tipped darts.

Sound

Surprisingly good, even without headphones! I never really liked the original Killzone’s sound design (though the music was great) the atmospherics just felt a little odd, horrible repetitive Helghan screams just about drove me round the bend. The atmospherics in the demo are much better, you can hear the waves crashing into the port around you, guns sound hefty, and explosions suitably beefy.

Graphics

Pretty good, the screenshots we’ve seen show some more interesting environments, but the one the demo’s set in is a little plain. Don’t get me wrong it all looks great, with tons of little detail, very little aliasing and a smooth frame rate, it’s just a little cold and not that visually interesting. It’s the Killzone look, which worked in the first game… maybe the switch to an isometric viewpoint is the culprit? That said the animations are absolutely top-notch, you can make Jaan sprint or just gently push the nub to make him creep along, explosions from barrels and grenades send dead bodies flying through the air and smashing into walls with some of the most realistic ragdoll effects since Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror.

There are lots of nifty little environmental touches all over the place that really give the game life, like wonderful flowing water, swaying overhead cables, breaking glass and explosion effects. The total package comes together to deliver one of the best visual experiences seen on the PSP since Daxter and the above mentioned Dark Mirror. Needless to say, this impressive technical display bodes well for Killzone PS3.

In the end the demo pretty much sold me on the game, I was on the fence but now I’m pretty sure I’ll be getting it once it comes out. As for the multiplayer portion of the game, I don’t have any friends with PSP’s (Ad-Hoc only in the demo) so I couldn’t test it out. I’d like to hear what you guys think about KZ:L, especially if you managed to get your hands on the demo.