It shows a pleasing degree of adaptability from Guerilla and Sony, to take such a big new franchise and completely transform it, whilst making a canonical entry in the game’s universe. Looking back at Killzone: Liberation is quite a fascinating little study. I actually got almost completely stuck at the start of one of the chapters, and it was only through sheer determination that, several months later, I eventually made it through. Some of the boss battles were particularly tricky under this scheme, and when the game send AI and grenades at you from lots of directions, it gets very difficult. Without a recharging health system, it could put you into some incredibly tricky situations, and if you hit a checkpoint with little health you might have found yourself with something near impossible to complete. However, at the time of release, it was the difficulty which was most criticised. It’s impossible to play this chapter on a Vita. Time has taken its toll on the story too, where the 5th chapter came as DLC, but if you want to play it, you’ll need a PSP and a bit of patience, to figure out how to install it. The online servers are dead, with ageing graphics from the old hardware featuring a dull and uninspiring colour palette. It’s hard to pick a worst bit, because the game did so much right at the time, and it’s only because of its age that things have come undone.
Interestingly, it also features a kind of precursor to Killzone: Mercenary’s weapons black market, as you can find briefcases with cash stuffed in them, used to unlock better equipment and weaponry on your way to the next mission. This is usually Rico, who couldn’t hit a barn door with his machine gun in this game either, but you could tell him to move to certain locations, shoot at a particular target, and so on. Throughout the game, you’ll be pushing through enemy lines, much as though it were an FPS, but you will often do so with a buddy AI, who you can order around. It quite simply let you crouch behind cover on one trigger, before popping your head out and trying to lock onto a target with the left. It brought with it a first crack at a cover system, and one which certainly laid the foundations for the first person attempt with Killzone 2.
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