Killzone HD Review

Bullshot

As an Avid fan of Killzone 2, it’s sort of hilarious how much I have lost interest in this franchise after playing Killzone 3, and now this–a remaster of the game that started it all. I’ll be honest here, I didn’t play the one on the PS2, because there was no interest. The franchise basically started with Killzone 2 for me and I, for one, was very excited to play the first game in HD.

A mistake… it was.

I thought Guerrilla Games were tech wizards. So what happened? Why does this game look rubbish? It’s not like my standards have changed drastically, I still play old, crappy looking games. But this, however, managed to offend me, and in a way I am sort of glad I didn’t play the game on the PS2.

It does do a lot of things right, however, with the weapon weight being portrayed accurately, and you also don’t see Sev anywhere. So no bad characters! (I like Rico). Sad thing is that, the Helghasts are less cooler here than they were in Killzone 2, and the game as whole was made by very inexperienced developers. No you don’t have to see the studio’s portfolio to tell this, the game tells you all that you need to know.

Brown recycled levels, some random levels with plants, and awful level design sometimes makes me think that Guerrilla just didn’t want to do this. Remaster this. Could have ported to a competent studio like Blue Point maybe?

Yeah, that’s how it looks

You know the Halo: Combat Evolved remake by 343 Industries? That’s what these guys should have been targeting, because Guerrilla is basically the best studio Sony has when it comes to tech.

So what went wrong with this? This game is the perfect definition of the word generic. It might have been decent to look at half a decade ago on the PS2, but for a PS3 version it’s an abomination. It feels like you are just playing the PS2 game again, and when you compare it to the work 343 did, it’s highly disappointing.

You take control of characters that are very cool, I might add. Shooting the Helghast is a blast as always; the guns are quite satisfying to use and there are some unique ones here; the reload animations are amazing. So there’s fun to be had if you can tolerate the overall mediocrity that is presented before your eyes.

The AI is quite disappointing too. They, you know, the Helghasts, come and fall at your feet like, say, your cute doggie? Don’t go d’aww here though, obviously.

Best. FPS. Ever. (Yeah, “IMO”, and it’s my review.)

The levels are your standard FPS far with varied environments, and there’s one or two which looks significantly better than the rest. But having to dig a massive hole just to find water seems a bit stupid, doesn’t it? Yeah, I think that’s a perfect analogy for what you are getting here.

There are people who will dig the hole, while the majority i.e. 97.25% won’t. And yeah, that’s what the game is going to sell as well. Here’s a bold prediction, only 2.75% of people who own a PS3 are going to buy the game. I may seem overly harsh here, but there’s simply no excuse because Guerrilla Games is capable of much more. So what went wrong, again I ask? Did Sony give them $100 to finish this remaster? Or were their minds and hearts clearly somewhere else?

I wouldn’t recommend this ‘HD’ version even if you are a fan. But you already bought it, didn’t you? Yeah… like me. You can’t possibly be a bigger Killzone fan than me, though, and even if you are, coming from another Killzone bro, avoid this game.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.