This one kinda came out of left field. While Killzone, developed by Guerilla-Games, has apparently been getting hype for some time in Europe, it wasn?t until fairly recently that the North American front has heard much about the game. It seems various entities have poised Killzone to be the Playstation 2 response to Halo 2. I actually have a pretty funny story about that.
While I was playing the game, and talking with one of Guerilla-Games? senior artists, I turn to my left and who should be staring me in the face but Jenny McCarthy and a dude with a huge camera. She began to interview me, asking me questions about the game. Since she had been a part of the Microsoft press conference three days earlier I should have anticipated what came next. She began to ask me questions comparing Killzone and Halo 2. The questions were obviously slanted towards Halo 2, however, since the folks behind Halo 2 thought they were so cool they didn?t need to let me play their game, I couldn?t really give good answers. The moment I said I wasn?t familiar with Halo 2 the camera shut off immediately. Oh well, at least she was gracious enough to thank me for my time.
After getting some hands-on time with the game I can say that such a comparison really isn?t accurate, fair, or warranted. If the original Halo is any indication, the two are as different as Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda. While Halo 2 is more of a frag-fest, run in with your guns blazing, style of First-Person Shooter in the vein of Quake or Doom, Killzone is more of a thinking man?s FPS.
As the artist told me while I played, if you run in with your guns blazing in this game, you?re going to find yourself dead rather quickly. While there will undoubtedly be ?gun-blazing? moments, for the most part you have to use your head and think through situations a little bit. This isn?t a strategy game though, and the game is still focused on running around and shooting people.
Also, unlike most typical FPS? out there, all players are not equal in Killzone. You will have access to 3-4 different characters in the game. Some are focused more on stealth and sneak attacks, others come equipped with huge mini-guns, and some find a nice balance in between. The graphics are also extremely nice, for a Playstation 2 game.
One thing the team seemed proud of was that they have a very interesting story woven into the game as well. The premise is simple enough. Four members of an organization known as the ISA must fight to protect their planet, Vecta, from a race of humans called the Helghast. While they are technically humans, the Helghast are from a different colony and have evolved differently. As far as what those differences are exactly, I guess we?ll have to wait and see. We won?t have to wait too long though. Killzone is slated for release sometime in November, 2004.