Link's Update - 03/05/2009 - Ongoing Impressions!

Hey all,

A funny thing happened today.

In a rare instance, I was able to get up early, play some games before work (Killzone 2), go to work, play some more on my lunch (My re-play through of Killzone 1), and then get back home at night with enough left in the tank to make this post.

As I was playing on my lunch break, I noticed something. I actually started really liking Killzone 1.

On my first play through way back when, I thought to myself, "eh, just another shooter that doesn't feel right".

Now it's more like, "did I miss something, or did Guerrilla actually produce a shooter that was slightly ahead of it's time"?

Looking at games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Call of Duty: World at War, and even Killzone 2 itself, I might be able to say "Yes" now.

The level design feels similar, the way the AI reacts and feels more familiar now, and even the then clunky controls feel ok after adapting to COD's and Killzone 2's. (Although the change from 'triangle' reload in the first Killzone to 'square' reload in the second in it's default controls is irritating.)

Now don't get me wrong, Killzone 1 is by and should not be raised to some almighty place to reign over FPS games for all time, I just am saying that I may have overlooked Guerrilla's vision of how FPS games should and could be made for consoles.

It's nice to get sucked in to the world and the story. As campy as the characters are, it's also nice to care about them, and what happens to them. (Something that carries over very well in Killzone 2, when you're helping out Rico when he's close to being gunned down.)

Even though the level design as far as looks didn't play out very well on the PS2, at least the cover points made sense and helped the player through the map easily, and gave a clear path to follow, instead of just being some random killbox that displays little to no reason. (Again, further refined in Killzone 2.)

Man, for all that Guerrilla got bashed for in the original game, it sure would be a trip to see them go, "Hey, you guys hated Killzone 1, and now love Killzone 2, too bad that this game is really only a refined version of the first game's original idea!" (Meaning nothing but love for both games mind you, not that Killzone 2 is bad in any way, because it surely isn't.)

It's interesting what some time and a fresh perspective will do for a piece of entertainment, huh?

Boiling this long story to short, if you like FPS games, and you've got yourself a PS2 and and PS3, have some fun like I did, and give both Killzone games a go. You'll be glad you did.

Night!




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