Are all the gamers out there ready for the first-person shooters coming out over the next two months? There are three different titles for each of the major consoles including Halo 2 on the Xbox, Metroid Prime 2 on the GameCube, and Killzone on the PlayStation 2. Killzone is the new contender of the three titles and has a lot of fanfare working against it. Being a fan of the underdog I am writing this preview to hopefully bring a few of you non-believers over to the PlayStation’s first-person shooter franchise. So here are some of the highlights that you can expect from Killzone.
Killzone has been advertised as a Halo killer since it was announced at E3 2004. From what has been seen from the game it looks much better than Halo graphically but it is yet to be seen if its gameplay and control is as solid as the Xbox giant. With Halo 2 reaching over 1 million pre-orders will gamers who own both systems be willing to purchase the less popular of the two titles? The game’s only hope is that people with only a PS2 will pick it up to quench their online FPS fix.
The game is being developed by Guerrilla, who were previously known as Lost Boys. They have been talking it up about just how good their single player campaign is going to be, but the most intriguing part of this game is going to be its online play. When the game is released in November you will be able to play against up to 16 other players. It is yet to be seen if this is going to be as good as some of the other big online titles like Rainbow Six 3 and Halo 2 but I’m willing to bet that PS2 owners will have another impressive title to add to their growing online arsenal. There will be six different online modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Assault, Defend and Destroy, Supply Drop, and Domination. The Team as well as regular Deathmatch are the normal FPS matches and are the same as we have become used to–your objective being to kill as many people as you can. Assault is where the two teams try to complete their seperate goals. During Supply Drop you will try to collect the most supplies that are…ahem…dropped. Domination is where you get to attempt to capture as many areas of the map as you can. They will be labeled on the map as objectives. As usual the most popular type of gameplay is Deathmatch and during the previews, where you got to play the game it seems that everyone was playing Deathmatch mode.
If you have had the opportunity to see any of the videos for this game in action then you know just how good the graphics are. The level designs are great. From what I have seen the levels include a city street that has been damaged from the battle that has been going on around it. It looks gritty, which is great, but that’s just on the outside. You can get inside some of the buildings and see light coming in from the windows and just take in the atmosphere that surrounds you.
The armor of your character and your enemies are quite effective. After taking a few hits you able to take cover and re-charge your shield similar to the Halo shield system. An interesting fact about the weapon system in this game is that you’ll be allowed to carry three weapons simultaneously, so you can have grenades and two alternate types of guns in your arsenal. The game does skimp on ammo so you’ll often be picking up guns from dead enemies and teammates to keep yourself prepared for the challenges that lie ahead of you.
The game looks like it is going to be an online contender but may lack in the single-player mode. I hope that for the sake of the PS2 online market that Killzone does well. Xbox has thrived with Xbox Live but the PS2 has had problems with games that are extremely popular on Microsoft’s service. Rainbow Six 3 received poor reviews because of problems getting online and the fact that you had to sacrifice some players in each game. I’m not saying that the PS2 isn’t doing well in the online market; it still has games like Socom 1 and 2 but it would be a nice for an FPS to take pride of place. Let’s hope that Killzone really is a worthy Halo killer and I hope to be killing all of you who get in my way this November 2nd–unless the game get’s pushed back again.