It’s a graphical behemoth that really showcases how beautiful Vita games can be, and while some silly mechanics like touch screen melee kills may turn off some people, they’re not forced. You can easily avoid melee combat with some tight gameplay that has that familiar weightiness that Killzone is known for.
Multiplayer gives us six maps that all look great on the OLED, and have many nooks and hidden spots that you can use to your advantage against others online.
The game allows for many different playstyles, thanks to the VAN-Guard capsules that drop periodically throughout the match. You can equip your own VAN-Guard in your loadout, and then upon successful hacking one of these pods, you will be able to deploy the one you selected. They have a variety of effects, from a tiny rocket-launching drone that hovers around you, to one that cloaks you entirely, allowing for a more stealthy way to play.
There are three game modes to make use of as well. The first, Mercenary Warfare, is a free for all and forces you to trust in your own skill. Guerilla Warfare is the team based variant, and teamwork is highly recommended due to the realistic damage on the weaponry. The last variant is Warzone, which presents players with five unique missions that have their own rules and objectives. This last mode is definitely the most enjoyable, but all three are a blast to play.
The gunplay itself works very well, but there are definitely some balance issues that need to be addressed when it comes to multiplayer. The stock rifle is incredibly useful, both in close combat and can even snipe people effectively if you’re a crack shot. That’s not to say the other guns are terrible, as they all do their job quite serviceably. Shotguns, SMGs, Sniper Rifles, Pistols and Assault Rifles all have a satisfying “chunk” to reloading and firing, and I highly recommend trying to find the type of gun and VAN-Guard that works best for your style of play. Be it stealthy marksman or close quarters juggernaut, there is something for every style of FPS player.
The most interesting mechanic they introduce in this series is the metagame itself, Valor system.
Valor is recalculated based on your play from the previous day, and you are issued a new Valor card. The Valor system goes a bit deeper. You can change suits by performing various feats such as a killstreak with a certain weapon type. These cards are also collected in the single player campaign, and by making “hands," you can gain significant cash bonuses, helping to expand your armoury. Be sure to keep in mind that you can slide back if you do poorly online, but it’s a good incentive to keep playing and improving to ascend the ranks.
Some encourage stealth, some encourage tackling objectives in ways you didn’t before, and some are an alternate option to what you can do in the mission before. The best example would be with the first level, one of the contracts encourages you to use a smoke grenade to force a key NPC out of hiding, instead of muscling your way in like you do the first time you play it. They also reward the player with large cash rewards, encouraging the player to tackle these unique missions in order to go ahead and beat them in order to expand their armory.
Overall, Killzone is indeed the best the Vita has to offer in regards to those itching for a good shooter, but there is still room for improvement overall, and I hope that Guerilla’s next effort eclipses this one.
- Scott Sullivan
The Good:
- Robust Multiplayer that is a blast to play, despite some weapon balance issues
- Single player, while weak story-wise has very high replay value thanks to the Contracts that get introduced.
- Killzone’s gunplay is in fine form. Weapons are satisfying to use, and all have their own merits
- The graphics are easily the best the Vita has achieved, showcasing what this tiny console is really capable of
The Bad:
- Story tries to present an interesting moral dilemma, but falls flat on its face
- The assault rifle is a little TOO good in multiplayer
- Touch screen controls are still gimmicky in some applications, such as melee kills.
- Game is a beefy 5GB, make sure you have that memory card space!
Score: 8.0 / 10
