The Halo Killer?
Throughout the PlayStation 3's lifecycle one genre seemed to dominate the landscape more than any other - the first person shooter. Whilst they certainly existed and were popular in the previous generation, it wasn't until now that they seemed to explode.
FPS games seemed more “grown up” which appealed to the aging demographic of core gamers. The genre benefitted greatly from improvements in graphical fidelity and, perhaps more importantly, they were a natural fit in this new era of online console-gaming.
Xbox had found success with its FPS exclusive Halo which transitioned over to the Xbox 360 with ease. Back on the PlayStation 2 Sony had attempted to promote an upcoming FPS exclusive of its own as the “Halo Killer”, that title being Killzone.
Killzone
Killzone was developed by Guerilla Games and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2004. It didn’t live up to the hype of “Halo Killer”. It had an intriguing premise but suffered with bugs and technical performance. Long time contributor to the magazine Alessio remembers:
I was incredibly excited for the release of Killzone. The aesthetics, play space, and promise of additional cooperative opportunities in a shooter had me eager, but my expectations would be dampened by technical issues and overall sluggish controls and game feel.
Killzone was re-released onto the PlayStation 3 as Killzone HD, whose physical copies are very expensive on Ebay. For slightly less money you can also find it in the Killzone trilogy edition which features all 3 games. I have not played Killzone HD but from what I have read online it does address some of the bugs and performance issues that plagued the original PlayStation 2 version.
The original Killzone defined the series lore. Set in the future in a post-nuclear war on Earth, human colonists now reside on a planet called Vekta - an Earth-like haven. But this wasn’t the only planet in this system to be colonized. A group of rebels left Vekta and inhabited the neighboring planet Helghan - a less appealing planet covered in thick smog and radiation.
The Helghan adapted over the years and are now pale, bald and require the breathing apparatus and goggles that gives the enemies their iconic look. The events of the first game have you defend Vekta from a Helghan invasion.
Killzone 2
The PlayStation 3 was already achieving some success with its new exclusive FPS Resistance: Fall of Man but there was definitely room for improvement and when Killzone 2 came along it didn’t disappoint.
Killzone 2 is a graphically impressive game, especially so for a game releasing in 2009 a few years after the initial release of the console. It was massively more well received than its predecessor, gaining many 9/10 ratings and becoming a staple “must play” for any PlayStation 3 owner at the time.
Booting it up today I was reminded of the iconic opening cinematic, with its militarily inspired orchestral score played against a dynamic performance from actor Brian Cox (who would later find even more success in HBO’s Succession) who plays Visari, the emperor of the Helghast and main villain of the game.
Killzone 2 picks up the thread but this time takes the fight back to Helghan. I enjoyed seeing how the designers created a sci-fi world that would exist under a militarism regime.
As I was playing, a memory from 2009 was triggered - Killzone is very heavy. It is not a fast and reactive first person shooter. Movement is slow, gravity feels heavy - grenades don’t launch across the map at a tap of a button. This is deliberate and gives Killzone a unique feel but it is a slightly risky strategy as what can be designed as intentional weight can be perceived as sluggishness for those more familiar with a snappier experience.
I enjoyed revisiting the game and it still feels like a well rounded and polished FPS from this era but the major thing lacking is some unique mechanics. There’s just nothing mechanically that makes this game really stand out.
Killzone 3
Killzone 3 was released 3 years later in 2011 to slightly muted levels of praise compared to its predecessor. It was good, no doubt about it, but it just didn’t quite knock anyone’s socks off.
This entry tried to stand out as a title by leaning heavily into the additional technologies of the time. The game was fully compatible with the emerging 3D capability that PlayStation 3 offered and was compatible with the PlayStation Move.
I looked at the PlayStation Move functionality a few issues back, and whilst it is impressive it was only a gimmick that added to the experience in a novel way but not in a completely transformative way that made this a must-play title.
On the story front the game picks up immediately from the end of Killzone 2 and I mean like two or three minutes after. Which is interesting but also dampens the ending of Killzone 2 a bit for me. That being said, story was never the main selling point of these games.
Mechanically it’s still a middle-of-the-road FPS with no compelling unique mechanics. I noticed that the controls did feel a bit snappier, a bit more modern compared to its predecessor. The heaviness has been dialed back quite some way.
I even felt like the graphics were less interesting. On some level they were clearly better in fidelity but they lost the unique look of Killzone 2 imbued and with it some of the series’ identity.
It’s another solid outing, but when we replay old games here at PlayStation 3 Forever we are looking for a unique experience and out of the two Killzone 2 has more of that than its sequel does.
Legacy
After Killzone 3 was a title for the PlayStation Vita, Killzone: Mercenary and a launch title for the PlayStation 4, Killzone: Shadow Fall both in 2013. Whilst Halo has continued to produce a steady stream of titles ever since, Killzone remains untouched for 13 years and counting.
The development studio Guerilla Games moved on and produced much more successful titles with the Horizon Zero Dawn open-world games that fit better in the modern gaming landscape.
For now Killzone’s legacy remains mostly on the PlayStation 3 with Killzone 2 still being one of the must play games for the system. I think the well may have been run dry for Killzone’s lore. Like Star Wars, how many times can you keep extinguishing the empire for another one to take its place? It starts to undermine the whole premise of the original idea. The gaming landscape moved on and Killzone doesn’t really have a place in it. A “Halo Killer” it was not, but an iconic PlayStation 3 FPS it certainly was.