PSP - Killzone: Liberation

Format
PSP
Publisher
Sony
Developer
Guerrilla Games
Country of origin
Holland
Release date
October 2006
Genre
3rd person action

DEMO Preview of Killzone : Liberation

By David Rasmussen
5th Nov 06

Wow, talk about bad timing! I had just turned in an updated preview of the game and ALREADY I got myself a demo version to try out… argh.

Sure, I could just recycle that article AGAIN for this but… why make you read that AGAIN!
Ok, long story short (too late) I got ahold of Playstation Magazine 110 (explains my “Whispers“ of Elder Scrolls Travels), and it featured a PSP preview of Killzone : Liberation… and that’s about it. Eh? Sure, I wished there was more than one game featured on the demo UMD, man do I wish there was MORE to this than just the one game, but I guess at least one preview was better than nothing… even if the DEMO was only a few minutes long and one level in length (Oh come on, you couldn’t fit a few more games on this little disc?!? Gimme a break!)

This DEMO sets you down in a harbor area where you have to access a warehouse to end the mission. Along the way you’ll get to shoot a few Helghasts, do one simple puzzle element (reaching a switch to have a crane move a crate blocking your path), and overall get the hang of controlling your character.
Highlights of this DEMO include…

- Picking up and running with the controls was simple, though the game does feature a not so reliable “target lock” ability which I sometimes feel I can’t really rely on (one truly reliable way to lock onto your enemy from my exposure to this DEMO version is you have to crouch with the R button before you can target with the L button). Hopefully the final version of the game makes me more comfortable with the “lock-on” ability that I wasn’t feeling with this version.

- 4 of the 10 available weapons are featured here (one you find in one of the ammo crates in this level), as well as frag grenades (4) which gives you a chance to get the hang of explosives flinging.

- Your first experience with something that might be a mobile mine (little spider droid that chases you down until you shoot it up) and an explosives trap (use your gun or grenades to “disarm”) is also here.

- Explosive barrels and breakable boxes feature the non-combatant things you can go against here.

- The worst threat in this preview is the rocket launcher soldier whose missiles are one hit wonders.

- The overall “mission” is simple. Get into a warehouse in the level, which won’t take long. And with several “checkpoints” strewened about you’ll not have to play the level from the start if you’re skragged midplay.

- No vechiles present to try out the driving option of the game, guess we can’t review that until the game is fully reviewed.

- No soundtrack music (if there is going to be any in the game which I can’t tell) unless we’re talking the menu screens, none of the excellently done cutscenes… this is a bare minimum release. Another reason why I am abit miffed that this game didn’t feature more samples to try out considering the bare minimum content that this little disc seems to hold.
(NOTE - There is actually small bits of music in this DEMO as well as intricate background sound effects like the sounds of the ocean and the water lapping against the docks to the enemy talking and the gunfire, but all of this didn’t really sink in until I wore this headset I got recently with my last Starter Kit I bought for the PSP.)

Overall the demo was short, I couldn’t try multiplayer because I couldn’t find anyone with PSPs and copies of this DEMO to attempt to see if I could get this to work, and I wished there was more on this disc to try out… otherwise this small taste of the game was a tasty one, short yes but also tasty.
Looking forward to seeing what the final version of the game will play like. Stay tuned for Volume 2 and the big review in the future.

And, while I’m at it, here’s to PlayStation Magazine having another PSP preview of a more substantial offering next time out… please.

-- David Rasmussen 5th Nov 06

PSP Killzone: Liberation Images