Killzone

 PlayStation 2
  • Publisher: SCEA
  • Release Date: Nov 2, 2004
User Score
7.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 269 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 160 out of 269
  2. Mixed: 66 out of 269
  3. Negative: 43 out of 269
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  1. Mako5
    Feb 26, 2012
    7
    Killzone, to me, was great because of the story and the characters. The gameplay was a bit wonky, and the graphics were decent. I liked the plot twist, the conflict between Rico and the Hakha. I enjoyed how the ending of the game differed on what you chose and who you chose. At the time, there was not any game like this game and it was unprecedented. Overall it was fun, and enjoyable.Killzone, to me, was great because of the story and the characters. The gameplay was a bit wonky, and the graphics were decent. I liked the plot twist, the conflict between Rico and the Hakha. I enjoyed how the ending of the game differed on what you chose and who you chose. At the time, there was not any game like this game and it was unprecedented. Overall it was fun, and enjoyable. Nothing above average, but still a good, decent game.… Expand
  2. Antemiz
    Mar 19, 2016
    7
    killzone was ok just the gameplay was very hard when i first played this back in 2004 when i was 16, it wasnt too bad im glad sony bought a fps to compete with halo, killzone levels looked good and the story mode was pretty dull
  3. DrNo0
    Dec 25, 2011
    5
    Looks like it could have been a good game but they failed. The first thing you will notice is the framerate i lags so much I thought it was just my game but it wasnt thats what ruins the game. The story dont care multiplayer is impossible with the frame rate.
  4. samael21walter
    Oct 9, 2013
    7
    Killzone is an odd game to review. On one hand, you have a good variety of weapons with two firing modes, a lengthy single-player campaign, online multiplayer, local multiplayer, great sound design, and great visual style. On the other, you have a poor framerate, imprecise aiming due to said framerate, dumb as bricks AI most of the time, and a game that looks too good for the PS2 to run,Killzone is an odd game to review. On one hand, you have a good variety of weapons with two firing modes, a lengthy single-player campaign, online multiplayer, local multiplayer, great sound design, and great visual style. On the other, you have a poor framerate, imprecise aiming due to said framerate, dumb as bricks AI most of the time, and a game that looks too good for the PS2 to run, meaning you will spend most of your time watching the uglier models turn into the good looking ones when you're right up on them.

    The story starts as the Helghast army are invading planet Vekta due to resentment built up from an age old conflict. Vekta's defenses go offline just moments before the invasion, and all hell breaks loose. You start the game as Templar, holding off a Helghast invasion on an outpost. After repelling the invading force, you are then sent on a mission to rescue a Helghast spying for the ISA (guys you are with), and find out what went wrong with the air defense systems. It's not exactly the most original tale, but it works. The acting is actually pretty good, and the script has enough humor to keep from being overbearing. All in all, the storyline is a highlight due to its personality.

    Where the storyline shines, the gameplay falters a bit. The game just looks too nice to run smoothly, leading to very frustrating framerate drops, which hinder the gameplay a lot more than they should. Aiming is a chore due to this (and the PS2's stiff analog sticks). Aside from the aiming issues, the AI in this game is borderline retarded. Every now and then they will throw grenades, flank, and everything they should. More often than not they will just stare you down while you unload bullets. Other times they will stand there and shoot while you unload bullets. No matter what the case, it's usually just them standing there, waiting to die. That doesn't mean the difficulty in this game takes a large hit, though. There's enough enemies that even though they are stupid, they can still take away large chunks of your health. When you are shot, your health regenerates up to a point. The further your health goes down, the further your overall health does too, until you pick up a medkit. Sounds forgiving, and it is to a point, but in the later levels this game can really get tough. One well placed grenade from a Helghast will kill you, and there's plenty of them going off in the later levels.

    One unique thing about Killzone's gameplay is the character selection. After a few missions, you will eventually have four characters to play as. Templar, Luger, Rico, and Hakha. Templar is your standard soldier, good all around, with missions that have a normal amount of enemies. Luger is a Shadow Marshal, which is basically a spec op. Her levels revolve around stealth, and her life goes down much faster than everyone else's. The worst part about being Luger is that the level design can get pretty pathetic at times, since the AI is almost ALWAYS facing away from you, making it easy to just walk up and stab every Helghast in the entire level. Rico, on the other hand, is a heavy weapons expert. You'll start his levels with a heavy machine gun, and most of the levels are just walking around blowing away hundreds of Helghast. Simple, fun, but monotonous after a while. Hakha is about like Templar, but since he is a Helghast, he knows how to use the weapons better, leading to less recoil among other things.

    Graphically, Killzone is simply stunning if everything loads correctly. The animations in the game are even great by today's standards, and environments ooze atmosphere. Everything from a broken building, to the Helghast, to the weapons looks very detailed, with great textures. This is simply one of the best looking PS2 games. There are a lot of annoyances, however. The pop-in is terrible. The death animations are awkward. Character animations for teammates and enemies are a little jerky.

    Overall, Killzone is a fantastic shooter held back by hardware limitations and a few bad design choices. The PS2 simply can't handle the detail. The AI is braindead most of the time. The missions can be a little monotonous. But, despite all of that, it still manages a great story, with great weapons, great graphics, and fun shooting sections.

    +Good weapons, with two firing modes for each.
    +Great storyline.
    +Great sound effects.
    +Great atmosphere.
    +Great graphics (when they load correctly).
    +Fun shootouts.
    +Fun multiplayer with a lot of game modes and maps.
    -Framerate.
    -Jerky, glitchy animations for allies and enemies.
    -Slightly monotonous levels.
    -Stealth sections can be a little TOO convenient sometimes.
    -Difficulty spikes towards end.
    -Terrible AI

    Overall: 7/10    … Expand
  5. MikeT.
    Mar 9, 2007
    7
    Ah, Killzone. The game that Sony promised would be a Halo killer, and never was even close to that. It has bad level design, iffy controls, bad framerate, empty levels, and many other noticeable problems. People who say this game is better than Half Life or Halo are either blind or are HUGE fanboys of the PS2. It does have many redeeming features however, the most obvious of these is the Ah, Killzone. The game that Sony promised would be a Halo killer, and never was even close to that. It has bad level design, iffy controls, bad framerate, empty levels, and many other noticeable problems. People who say this game is better than Half Life or Halo are either blind or are HUGE fanboys of the PS2. It does have many redeeming features however, the most obvious of these is the amazing reload animations. It feels metallic and heavy to reload any weapon in this game. Good Luck to Gorilla Games while they make Killzone 2, because the first one was not a memorable title. I hope they fix some of the glaring gameplay problems instead of just bringing pretty visuals.… Expand
  6. CovenanatMustDie
    Nov 6, 2004
    7
    I was going to get a PS2 for this game so that after extremely long sessions of Halo2, I would have something else to play for a while. I was doing this cuz since Halo 1, I've had nothing else on XBOX that comes close, except for GR and other military shooters, which ARE NOT anything like Halo. I'm glad I waited. It's bad enough to get a console for 1 game, but when the I was going to get a PS2 for this game so that after extremely long sessions of Halo2, I would have something else to play for a while. I was doing this cuz since Halo 1, I've had nothing else on XBOX that comes close, except for GR and other military shooters, which ARE NOT anything like Halo. I'm glad I waited. It's bad enough to get a console for 1 game, but when the game is Shellshock in almost every way, except FP view, there is no reason to waste the money on the game or console. I can't believe they used the same graphics engine as Shellshock. Limited draw distance, huge texture swapping 5 feet in front of you, not to mention the A.I., which Killzone really has none of. It's the best FPS on PS2, but not by much. Mace Griffon actually looked and played better, but had the stupid flying missions that fudged up the flow of the FPS parts. Try that one out if Killzone kills your spirits about FPSs on PS2. It looks better, plays better, and the only complaint is the flying parts. Those complaints aren't as bad as ALL of Killzones major problems. Not a system seller, not Halo 2 by a very, very long shot.… Expand
  7. JarodXG
    Apr 6, 2004
    7
    I read at a cover of a magazine (PSM?) that this will be the PS2 version of Halo.

    Microsoft's too proud not to make a PS2 version of the game. In fact, me thinks Microsoft really doesn't have any plans in pursuing marketing goals for the Sony console. Well, if they don't want to, fine with me. But know this: somebody else will. Right now, I'll give them a    I read at a cover of a magazine (PSM?) that this will be the PS2 version of Halo.

    Microsoft's too proud not to make a PS2 version of the game.

    In fact, me thinks Microsoft really doesn't have any plans in pursuing marketing goals for the Sony console.

    Well, if they don't want to, fine with me. But know this: somebody else will.

    Right now, I'll give them a score of 7 for effort, but I will later change my score when the game's out.    … Expand
  8. Chainsawleatherface
    Feb 17, 2005
    7
    Cool game, gets a bit dull, keeps repeating the same old stuff...yawn.
  9. DiatrexV.
    Jul 29, 2006
    6
    Killzone was an ok game. Many things could have improved though. The multiplayer is fun and the campaign mode needs work. this game is not good. The A.I. is sometimess useless. This game could have been better. It dissapointed me.
  10. M.Alex
    Jul 2, 2007
    7
    Its OK. Graphics nice, but could have been better, controls are not as good as they should be (when you zoom in to aim the weapon it doesn't slow down, so its irritatingly wobbly). Nice story.
  11. JasonM.
    Mar 21, 2008
    5
    70 is very generous... They paid too much attention to graphics and forgot to make the game good.
  12. MarkK.
    Aug 15, 2008
    7
    It tries too much to be Halo on Playstation and falls short of the hype with iffy AI, muddled graphics and awkward controls. Still, it is quiet entertaining to play.
  13. K.Dog
    Nov 10, 2004
    5
    At least this game gives better control, a larger variety of weapons, and generally more to keep your interest. It's just too bad that the PS2, with a 233Mhz processor, can't handle the higher end graphics this game needs to be great.
  14. MatP.
    Nov 29, 2004
    5
    Nice selection of weapons, poor aiming ability and takes a little short of a decade to reload... everything seems like it hits in the gut with an occasional headshot(and don't even get me started on the sniper rifle). Great graphics, poor frame rate... found myself wizzing around trying to get a good shot on an enemy and never really finding one. How many shots does it take from a Ma Nice selection of weapons, poor aiming ability and takes a little short of a decade to reload... everything seems like it hits in the gut with an occasional headshot(and don't even get me started on the sniper rifle). Great graphics, poor frame rate... found myself wizzing around trying to get a good shot on an enemy and never really finding one. How many shots does it take from a Ma Deuce to take down an enemy anyway(providing that you can actually aim at one)? Fun game but very linear... enemies: if you've seen one, you've seen 'em all and I can't even jump for Christ's sake!… Expand
  15. JoaoM.
    Dec 3, 2004
    7
    I've played it to the end without much truble, the IA is bad, inumerous bugs and your teammates are always behind you making them not much help... It's a good effort though but it's one of those games that shows the development team is good but it lacks an exceptional brain among them to make the difference, like Kojima is to Metal Gear... Portugal Rules.
  16. KlausF.
    May 25, 2006
    7
    At first I was going to give this game a ten but than I played halo. After that I was going to give it a 9 But that was the day I got Far Cry. After I played those games 24/7 I felt like playing killzone. When I did Killzone seemed so lifeless and sucky but the reason why I gave it a 7 instead of a 5 is beacause of the offline battlefield mode.
  17. ChrisS.
    Sep 11, 2006
    6
    Compared to Classic shooters on the PS2 like, Red Faction and Time Splitters, KillZone plays like big budget shooter on a PC with an old graphics card. It's nice to see the game try to put it's stamp on the FPS genre but fails to nothing more than an average yet forgettable experience.
  18. AnonymousMC
    Jan 28, 2009
    7
    The frame rate is awful and makes the already clunky aiming mechanic unbearable at points. Still, I did have fun with it, and especially toward the end it gets really good. There are a couple levels in the middle that I found to be bland and horribly dull, so much so that I think the game would have been a much better game had they just cut those sections out (swamp/jungle).
    I would    The frame rate is awful and makes the already clunky aiming mechanic unbearable at points. Still, I did have fun with it, and especially toward the end it gets really good. There are a couple levels in the middle that I found to be bland and horribly dull, so much so that I think the game would have been a much better game had they just cut those sections out (swamp/jungle).
    I would have rated this an 8 if the game ran smoothly at 30fps, but I could just have easily given this game a 6 instead of 7 because it's a technical mess.    … Expand
  19. KyleK.
    Nov 6, 2004
    7
    This game was over hyped cause i thought it would be heaps better and take this in mind, some of the games do glitches and some dont mine doesn't same with gta san andreas frame rate. sorry but u got a bad copy. killzone is alrightNOW FOR HALO2 BRING IT ON.
  20. RobW
    Jan 18, 2005
    7
    Definitely worth a rent, but doesn't live up to the hype. If you're going to commit to a purchase, get San Andreas or Mercenaries.
  21. MicD.
    Nov 8, 2005
    5
    Could be much better.
  22. SamuraiSlice
    Feb 15, 2005
    7
    I don't know what everyone is going on about the backgrounds for. Up close everything is jagged and pixilated, practically nothing is interactive; no switches, levers, documents, nothing. And NO MAP!? Are you kidding me? As for sound effects, the word monotonus comes to mind. It's an endless loop of the same crap, "kill himmmm" , I need backuuup, etc. It starts to drive you I don't know what everyone is going on about the backgrounds for. Up close everything is jagged and pixilated, practically nothing is interactive; no switches, levers, documents, nothing. And NO MAP!? Are you kidding me? As for sound effects, the word monotonus comes to mind. It's an endless loop of the same crap, "kill himmmm" , I need backuuup, etc. It starts to drive you insane after w while. The guns are way cool though and shooting them is a true pleasure. Even the sniper rifle is awesome. Yes, it's unsteady and difficult to master beut that's the great part. Once you get it, YOU GOT IT! All the weapons look great and the reload animations are unbelievable. I like the way each weapon recoils, it's very realistic and said action is unique to each specific weapon. The amtosphere is what works for me here. Even in consideration of my earlier complaints, the game on a whole is an intense, war-is-hell-like, gloom and doom atmosphere paints a grim picture of war, during any time period. It's character interactions are like scenes from Dawn of the Dead. They look off into the distance, eyes glazed over and recite lines as if they were on drugs. BUT, you see, again...that adds to the creepy-as-fudge experience. It's cold & clamy, loud & bangy, tromping, romping, ugly harsh WAR and that's what I want in a video game, an exciting ride and an experience to remember. Even if you end up with post traumatic stress syndrome (shellschoked) it's worth your while. Go get 'em, war dawg!!… Expand
  23. AaronH.
    Jul 24, 2005
    7
    Some games are fun despite the problems. I really liked this quite a lot.
  24. BillD.
    Mar 28, 2006
    7
    This was hyped as a Halo-killer, and I'll at least give it that because Halo was garbage. Pretty fun even though quirky aiming systems and some major slow down stop it from being a great game.
  25. Mr.Orange
    Dec 4, 2007
    5
    Boring and repetitive? Check Laggy and uninspired multiplayer? Check Bad Controls? Double Check Generally ugly graphics and numerous technical glitches? Check Over hyped? Hell yes
  26. BobD.
    Dec 15, 2004
    5
    It was supposed to be a "Halo-killer", but does not even come close. Halo 2 owns this game so bad.
  27. MarvelGamerBR52
    Oct 9, 2016
    6
    When you look at Killzone franchise today it is hard to swallow that the franchise began with a game of this level. When it was announced by a British publication already called '' Halo Killer '' is that the game has not received even half of Microsoft game marketing. Beyond that it had not been Sony and yes the British publication said he had spoken this months before the game´s release.When you look at Killzone franchise today it is hard to swallow that the franchise began with a game of this level. When it was announced by a British publication already called '' Halo Killer '' is that the game has not received even half of Microsoft game marketing. Beyond that it had not been Sony and yes the British publication said he had spoken this months before the game´s release. plus the damage was already done and many expected something they could butt heads [ and who even knows CRUSH ] Halo. Finally criticism: on ambiance and art direction is a positive thing in the game to show well the horrors of war both claustrophobic scenes of fighting when the destruction of sites. without wanting to mention it again [ more being needed ] the nickname '' Halo Killer '' gets to be ironic seeing how many elements the game took his '' victim of death '' as a limitade number of weapons,rifle butts able to overthrow enemies and strategic combat with small troops [ to name many others ] show inspiration. the system is more functional to not delay or 2 phases and is repetive and surprise either do not help improve the situation [ not to mention the terrible artificial intelligence ]. the gameplay is hard and forced many parts and other sensitive targeting system that will make you get annoyed and frustrated in no time. even the ambiance is something positive happen problems as objects appearing out of nowhere and details polygons connection problems are some [ up many problems ] for the chart that the game has. the history of the game has even more thanks to the potential problems of gameplay and sights [ and the lack the charismatic characters and potential of history thrown away ] do not be a campaign more TOTALLY forgettable. the game also has multiplayer that can give a better interest more failure for lack of creativity. It´s even more fun there are much better options on the PS2. in brief Killzone is just another generic shooter that '' Halo Killer '' has nothing. the way the game is [ that talking about it at launch ] isdifficult to know what that Britannic publication saw the months before the game out of '' Halo Killer ''. Furthrmore if you see the previous history to this game of Guerrilla Games was not to espect much seeing that the studio [ that was not Sony at the time ] could be called fifth-studio by well forgettable games. then we are talking about a studio [ until then of course being that the studio was great after ] fifth grade playing the game with not much marketing is expected as a '' Killer ''. Fortunately Sony gave a second chance to series and from Killzone Liberation of PSP,Killzone 2 and 3 of PS3,Mercenary and Vita and Shadow Fall of PS4 franchise got quality games turning the FPS Playstation and Guerrilla in a large studio Sony. even having importance in the emergence of the series, the first Killzone game is a disposable [ even the biggest fans of the series ]… Expand

Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Most Discussed PS2 Game of 2004
2
#2 Most Shared PS2 Game of 2004

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 67 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 38 out of 67
  3. Negative: 3 out of 67
  1. The Sydney Morning Herald
    60
    The innovative controls for the sniper rifle don't allow the player to pull off precise headshots when they're needed most, which leads to rising frustration.
    Read full review
  2. Gamers' Temple
    74
    If the gameplay matched the atmosphere, Killzone would be a real winner.
    Read full review
  3. PSM Magazine
    95
    Killzone was worth the wait, and matches the hype. It hits the mark in so many ways, it's baffling; they promised us we'd experience fugture war, and we have...and come away shaking. [Holiday 2004, p.70]
See all critic reviews »