Killzone: Liberation

Dec 5, 2006

Just about two years ago, a little game by the name of Killzone waltzed onto the PS2 and proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that first-person shooters were not only possible on the system, but could be positively astounding. Flaunting a gritty, battle-hardened tone that skewed to a decidedly mature demographic, the first Killzone was a potent and surly opponent with art direction that was rough around the edges in the same way immersing yourself in a shower of broken glass is, while still looking extremely polished.

The theme of Killzone lives on in this newest chapter for the PSP, but in an ironic twist to the gameplay, it's presented in a three-quarter view. All of the old trappings of Killzone are here, with a few new additions (most in the realm of controls, but some new weapons as well). The only problem is that the shift in perspective has damaged the fantastic controls that made the original so much fun to play.

The Story So Far…

Kicking off shortly after the events of the first Killzone, Liberation puts you back in the shoes of Captain Templar, waging a brutal last-ditch defense against the dreaded Helghast forces. The Helghast (not content with chilling on their resource-rich home planet of Helghan) invaded an Earth-like planet called Vekta that Captain Templar and a number of other people inhabited. Of course, a big fight broke out, and over the course of the previous Killzone, the tide was turned and the Helghast repelled… sort of. Liberation begins with the Helghast forces regrouping and attempting to sweep once more over the planet Vekta under the command of the evil and tyrannical General Metrac. These guys just never learn.

The biggest change (aside from the move to the handheld platform) is in the viewpoint of Killzone: Liberation. As opposed to the riveting first-person perspective of the PS2 title, this game takes a slightly off-kilter three-quarter view of the action. While the PSP is fairly renowned for its difficulties with the FPS genre, this move to a canted perspective comes with its own set of issues. The biggest change to this series in general gives rise to the biggest problems with Liberation in particular: the controls.

Control Freakout

See, one of the key troubles with Killzone: Liberation comes from how the viewing angle interacts with the lock-on mechanics; or, how it totally does not. When jogging around in the three-quarter perspective, it is extremely challenging to target things, and the built-in targeting system (accessed by pressing and holding the left shoulder button) simply doesn't work as consistently as it needs to. One of the major issues with the targeting system is that the left shoulder button doubles as a strafe button, locking your tiny warrior in whatever direction he's currently pointed. This strafe/target interaction drives a huge wedge in between what you expect to happen and what actually ends up happening.

Here's an example: as you run upwards into a big open area, you're confronted by a bloodthirsty Helghast soldier a little to your left, so you tilt the analog stick a wee bit to the left while still holding up and hit the left shoulder button to lock onto him -- except you haven't locked onto him. You've only succeeded in locking your weapon into a diagonal position that has no hope of ever firing bullets anywhere near this Helghast guy. Meanwhile, he has no problem putting round after round into your delicate, meaty midsection. It's very frustrating, especially as the game progresses and becomes increasingly more difficult.

It is in this way that the challenges of Killzone: Liberation feel more like a cheap shot perpetrated by the controls that you have to wrestle into submission than genuinely tough hurdles. Unfortunately, these issues also collide with the cover feature that enables you to duck behind objects by pressing the right shoulder button. While you pretty much have to take cover as frequently as possible in order to avoid getting perforated, Liberation's system only allows you to "prairie dog" from whatever you're hiding behind, making vertical walls pretty useless as cover. Hence, only specific waist-high debris and boxes can be used effectively, and even then, they don't always fit the bill. If your enemy happens to have a little altitude on you, you're screwed and should brace for some bullets in the face.

And the camera doesn't seem to want to help either. Even though the camera is fixed at a static angle, it doesn't always pan to give you a good view of where you're going. There were a few occasions where I'd run to the edge of the screen to shoot at some Helghast off-screen and the camera would stubbornly refuse to budge, leaving the Helghast invisible.

Enough Griping; It's Not All Bad

If you can forgive the crud-ball controls, Killzone: Liberation isn't ultimately too bad. The graphics are positively astounding for the PSP, and the same gritty intensity of the original Killzone's art direction shines on that buttery screen. The detailed animations of the soldiers (both Helghan and Vektan) are smooth and lend a realistic feel to the action. The the Helghast AI is extremely advanced, and they are tough and intelligent opponents -- in fact, they're probably the biggest reason you'll keep coming back for more. What, are you going to just let them walk all over you? Hell no! You have to restart from the checkpoint and show those jerks what you're made of.

The multiplayer is of the fast and frantic variety, stocked with the familiar mode flavors we've become accustomed to: deathmatch, team deathmatch, assault and capture the flag. While the modes are fairly run of the mill, there are plenty of maps that all feature well-rendered and diverse environments, from industrial factory to swamp. There is even a co-op option for playing through the campaign that lets you bring a friend along.

And bringing a friend along is probably not such a bad idea, because Killzone: Liberation will sprain your thumbs with its difficulty level. Just turning it down to "easy" won't help that much -- this game is hard and that's all there is to it. Still, the profound difficulty and gorgeous graphics are Liberation's best features, so if you can wade through the baffling control bog, there is a decent game waiting for you. It's certainly not a game for everyone, but if you hunger for a serious challenge out of your PSP and are willing to forgive a few bumps in the road, you can't really go wrong with Killzone: Liberation.