Leon: D’aaaww Killzone. I just sort of want to ruffle your hair and send you off to play in the garden you little scamp. There’s an almost childish enthusiasm for pretend war here that’s hard not be won over by. This portrays combat in a far more innocent way than more modern shooters, like a playground mess around. “No! Johnson! He was only a boy!” shouts someone at the start. I don’t know who, I wasn’t looking the right way at the time but I can’t help imagine Johnson falling to the floor in flailing, melodramatic death throes – milking it for all it’s worth – before getting up and running off be someone else who gets killed later. “Stephens, nooooooo!”
PlayStation Beat: Killzone Shadow Fall is launching with the upcoming PlayStation 4. Now is a good time to remember the original Killzone and what it achieved.
Killzone was a victim. A victim to a phrase that must have struck fear into the hearts of any developer back in 2004, a phrase that must have been the bane of any over-enthusiastic PR team and the cause of many headaches at Guerrilla games. Halo killer! Back in the mid noughties the game scene was settling in with the new king of console shooters, Xbox was taking off which was probably due to the Master Chief alone, and his second outing was on the horizon. Sony needed a competitor, something to quench the FPS thirst of its seventy million strong PS2 owners club.
There are plenty of things surprised me in Killzone, the fact that both have managed to evolve from the first game and the sequel, although between entities have also gone Liberation for PSP that despite the change in perspective is a very good title, something that is beyond shows the amazing support we received from Sony Guerrilla despite the failure of the first in the criticism. Another thing that surprises me is related to the first and it was possible to have received even a Killzone sequel, when budgets reach a certain value risk is not something you see normally and put Guerrilla very concerned in betting on a sequel, but thankfully it did because Killzone 2 is one of the best shooters for PS3 and the games that gave me more enjoyment playing in recent years.