I finally played this game, and I have to say. I'm surprised at how unique it is as a spinoff to Killzone, in the sense that it attempts to keep the game consistent with the original Killzone, but if anything it does do a better job at having a more satisfying story in comparison to the first game, though it's a shame since they decided that the storyline for 1 needed to end in a spinoff for PSP instead of properly ending the Attack on Planet Vekta Storyline in the first game, and have liberation be something else, though I guess this game somewhat connects to Killzone 2 so there's that. To put it best, if we're talking general story Killzone 1 is 75% of the Attack on Vekta storyline, Liberation is the other 20%, and Mercanary contains 2 levels that place during Killzone 1 so it would be the remaining 5% of the Attack on Vekta.

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The story takes place after the events of Killzone 1, which again... I have to question why they would end the story arcs of the first Killzone in a portable spinoff. Especially because the characters who appear, appear in future games, however 2 characters from Killzone 1 are pretty but M.I.A. after the events of Liberation. Hakha from Killzone 1 doesn't even appear story wise, he's in the multiplayer mode but doesn't do anything cause he's not actually apart of the story. Lugher appears too however now she sports a ponytail. This is her last appearance though as she's not mentioned after this game, there's lore as to what happened to her and Hakha but they never reappear.
Templar and Rico reappear with Templar being the only protagonist you control, however the co-op partner takes control of any characters unlocked.

The story is split into 5 chapters, though I played the PS5 version, so it contains 5 chapters, from what I see based on the trophies, Chapters 1-4 were originally part of the base game for PSP, however 5 was a DLC from the looks of it.


The story is General Armin Metrac under orders of Visari, continues the attack on Vekta after the events of Killzone 1, and essentially Templar is tasked with finding out the secrets of the Helghast as well as taking out General Armin Metrac. You go through the game as templar visiting different locations that look somewhat like locations from the first game, however because this game is a top down perspective, the quality of the graphics isn't as good.
Templar goes through different locations reuniting with Lugher, as well Rico later being captured by General Metrac and the Helghast. This is after an important character named Evelyn (who would reappear in Killzone 2) is captured and tortured by the Helghast along with Rico, however she is rescue by Templar, while Rico is taken to a different location.
Towards the end of Chapter 4, in a artic base, Templar confronts and kills General Armin Metrac in a final fight. In the original PSP version the game ends here, and the 5th chapter was DLC which answers the question of what happened to Rico.
In Chapter 5, Templar and Lugher discover where Rico is, and Templar at first assumes Rico has betrayed Vekta and is working with the Helghast when in reality Rico was looking into the true traitor of the game, that being Dwight Stratson who is a Vektan General that Templar rescues in an earlier part of the story.
Rico and Templar reunite and team up to go an confront Stratson, though the final level has Templar confront Stratson alone.
Stratson uses a giant Exo-Skeleton Mech to fight Templar, but Templar successfully stops him.
Stratson Explains that Vekta needs a strong leader is and that the nukes that the Helghast stole need to be recovered and used against the Helghast, Templar orders the ISA to take him away for court marshalling. The game ends with the ISA successfully repelling the Helghast forces off Vekta, and now plan on taking the fight directly to the Helghast on their own planet. Which sets up the direct connection to Killzone 2.

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Gameplay wise, it's simple and fine overall, nothing spectcular, aiming is god awful as the game needs to you remain still to actually aim. You use a variety of weapons that appeared throughout Killzone 1, in terms of regular machine guns, sub guns, shotguns, sniper, minigun that heats up if you use it too long, Rocket launcher. What's cool is they added a weapon that makes it's first appearance in this game, but would again reappear in Killzone 3, that being the jet back. Except here in Killzone Liberation, the jetback flies for longer, in comparison to the Jetpack in 3, that at best floats.
Because I was playing the PS5 version, the controls were just weird, but just the amount of times you'll accidently throw a grenade is ridiculous cause of the button placment.

Also I find it stupid they made SQUARE the shoot button, I get in context for PSP they made it so L and R could do different things and it didn't have joysticks and instead the analog slider so they had to limit aiming to a certain way. This part mostly goes to Sony's laziness of not updating controls for the PS5 version. 1 Big thing the game barely uses even though it SEEMS important, is the order commands. Pretty much you're able to order soldiers and main characters in terms of Rico or Lugher to attack enemies you can't necessarily hit or destroy objects to progress. The game developers either forgot to implement reasons to actually use said commands, or just didn't care to actually flesh it out and make it important cause legit you can go through most of the game, and forget about user commands up until say the second last chapter in chapter 5, that's how little you'll use it.

Going back to the issue with aiming, the fact they made enemies attack from high areas is really annoying. Because you can still hit them but it's really difficult to because the developers made it to where you gun sometimes hits the platform they're on instead of the actual enemy unless you a sniper which occassionally works.
The game also features vehicles to drive including a Tank, a Humvee/Machine Gun Car, and a Airboat with Missles, they all control somewhat fine, turnings a bit weird, but for the most part it's doible. Again the problem with this game is the limited control, I get that for PSP it had a limited amount of buttons, but there's no reason they couldn't updated the PS5 version.

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Criticquing then story I think in general the story here is a lot more interesting than the first game, however it's stupid they decided that the true conclusion for the KILLZONE 1 events, end here, instead of in a more proper game. Not to say a spinoff can't end a storyline, just the fact they decided to save a villian for this PSP spinoff that takes place after the events of the first game, as well being the last game for the character Lugher, it's disappointing to say the least. Though at the same time the main villian of chapters 1-4 is pretty much overshadowed by the second in command Cobar who's alot more interesting than Metrac.

I'll be fair, I do think storywise I think it's more satisfying than say Killzone 1 since in Liberation does contain a double villian twist. However it suffers from the same problem as 1, where the villian they highlight on the cover, barely appears up until the end, and even then his other appearances are in cutscenes where he barely says anything, he just happens to be an evil helghast commander. The Dwight Stratson twist was a good one, I like how the developers were trying to show that it's not like 1 side is truly evil and the otherside isn't the Helghast are retaliating against their treatment in the past, but their modern means of revenge are horrible to innocent people. The ISA though is no better, since people like Stratson and Grey (Killzone Mercenary) are just as evil because they want to commit mass genocide to the Helghast instead of finding a different way.

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I will say on PS5 it's an easy platnium, I will also say even if the game is short, it does drag on a couple of parts. I especially don't like how the game has collectibles scattered throughout the levels, just for the sake of you collecting them, for the sake of unlocking all weapons for load outs and abilities like faster hacking, or being able to hold more grenades, or Infinite Ammo, but it's pointless because by the time everythings unlocked you already 100% the game, it's not like you're going to replay it, unless you plan on doing so in the future.

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To summaries: Story - it's fine better than 1, disappointing since it ends the events of 1 in a portable spinoff.

Gameplay - The fact they kept some of the controls the same is astounding because of how bad they are, it's passable for the PSP version probably, but for the PS5 it's ridiculous they didn't bother updating them a bit.

Characters - Just as bland as in 1 except Templar and Rico are fleshed out though Lugher stays generic;

Villians - Cobar the Second in Command is more interesting as a villian / General Armin Metrac is an animated cardboard moustache twirling villian that's as interesting as watching paint dry / Stratson in terms of story is a good idea as a villian but context to the story it comes out of no where, not saying they couldn't do this twist just it feels like they wanted a twist villian but didn't know who to choose so just went "eh Stratson just for the sake of showing the ISA isn't all good," doesn't mean it was a bad idea just wish it had hints towards it and set ups.

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Overall I think you play this if you want to have a more satifying end to the Killzone 1 Attack on Planet Vekta storyline done and also for an easy platnium. I'd still put it below Killzone 1 on the fun factor. I think it's fine for a 1-&-Done.
Do I recommend it? If you care about Killzone's story then yeah, if you don't, I don't think there's an issue with you skipping if you don't care.

Thanks for reading.

O Killzone top-down do PSP!

É.. bom vamo la, eu nunca joguei nenhum killzone na minha vida e esse é o primeiro que cheguei a encostar a mão, então não posso opinar se esse aqui é melhor ou do mesmo nível que os FPS principais la do PS2 e PS3, só que assim, eu achei esse aqui bom.

O tamanho dos capítulos combinam bem com o estilo de jogo, suas fases tem algumas variações aqui e ali que da pra tirar aquele arzinho pesado de repetição e o mapa é bem tranquilo de se achar, então nada de ficar perdido por aqui KKKKK porém killzone liberation sofre com algumas coisas técnicas que chateam muito qualquer um que vai jogar.

Controle dele é um tanto lento, duro, sua dificuldade é desequilibrada, a IA dos companheiros é pique IA de Resident Evil (mais te atrapalha do que te ajuda) e pra mirar nesse jogo aqui é uma COMPLICAÇÃO, cara sério não sei o que as empresas que faziam jogos pra PSP tinha que NENHUM jogo de tiro desse console consegue ter uma mira decente, são todos uma mira cagada, impressionante.

A historinha do jogo até que vai, não é nada tão mirabolante e não é uma bosta também, acho que a história dele é como aquela empada de massa seca que quando você come fica com um pedaço colado no céu da boca e só desce bebendo suco, então é, pode ser um lanche nota 5 mas ainda da pra comer

Unica coisa que eu realmente gostei demais desse jogo aqui foram os gráficos e jogo de cores dele, combinou muito com o cenário e com o PSP em si.

Versão jogada: PSP
Tempo de jogo: 7h e 23m
Trapaças usadas: Infinite Ammo em algumas áreas
Dificuldade jogada: Fácil

Bit of a lackluster game imo, played several hours of the main campaign and found the top down perspective too small for the PSP's tiny screen, the controls were ok but again the PSP held it back, no dual analogue pretty much eliminated strafing and aiming independently, meaning it's back to the days of walking towards your opponent to shoot them or standing still and getting blasted yourself. I feel like much of the hype from this game is as a part of the larger killzone series, but to me it just felt a little poorly implemented on the console

I've mildly enjoyed the Killzone games throughout the years: the PS2 original didn't impress me at all, but Killzone 2 and 3 were solid FPS games that had just enough personality to make it feel memorable, particularly in its heavy gameplay feel. Shadow Fall was pretty average in comparison, sadly. But before I played any of these games, there was Killzone Liberation, which is my entry to the series. I enjoyed it back then on the PSP, but never got to finish it. After finishing the PS5 port, I can say that it actually holds up quite well.

The most obvious difference in the gameplay from the mainline titles is the isometric view. It plays like a twinstick shooter, except it's single stick, since the PSP only had one. Moving and aiming are one and the same, but you can lock to a target you're currently aiming so you can strafe around said target. You can also lock on objects in the environment, like an exploding barrel, but only when you're crouching. Crouching is also used for hiding behind cover, and you can roll forward to dodge some projectiles if needed. With all of these mechanics in mind, its a heavy, relatively slow paced shooter that is more about executing a plan you thought of in the moment rather than just fast reflexes. The most flawed part of this is that the targeting system can be a bit flimsy and awkward sometimes.

The gunplay experience depends on the weapon you have, like being forced to get close to enemies if you use a shotgun. There's good enough enemy variety to make you want to change weapons before/during the gunfights, which I thought was a fun way of pushing the player to be more adaptive. You can only change weapons at specific weapon caches throughout the level. You also don't have regenerating health so you have to find medkits. Even when you have a lot of ammo and grenades, its not that easy to properly defend yourself, so the game always keeps a decent level of challenge.

There's a solid selection of weapons available, and more are introduced as you go. All the weapons offer their own style of approach, and that's cool, but there's just certain weapons that are obviously better in most scenarios (looking at you, Helghast Chain Gun). I particularly take issue with the sniper rifle, which is not very fun to use because of how slow it is. But hey, it's real fun to blow up enemies with explosive weapons and see them fly around in classic late 2000s era ragdoll fashion.

You can pick which weapon to start a level with, but you need to unlock enough collectibles in the levels to do so. There's also unlockable extra perks if you do well enough in the challenge missions. I'll say that these side objectives are worth doing for the rewards. Unloading my 8 bullet hard-hitting upgraded revolver with unlimited ammo makes me real happy.

I think the biggest weakness of this game (other than the boring story) is the variety of the missions. The level design are usually decent, but there's a few missions early on that backtracks through previous levels, and when that is over, the missions are usually still along the lines of finding an item that allows you to move on, like a C4 or a keycard. But the last chapter does have more interesting objectives and level structure, which is nice to see. And I do appreciate the relatively short length of the missions, which fits the intended portable experience.

Playing this makes me appreciate these kind of portable spinoffs more. Back when portable systems had limitations other than just a lack of power, the difference in designing a game for handhelds compared to console/PCs were much more obvious. Liberation is a good example of a spinoff that respects the best qualities of the mainline games, but succeeded at being a good handheld game first and foremost.

Well this was the 1st Killzone that I played and for knowing less of the lore, it gave me very good moments the gameplay is the best for the PSP console I mean wish there is more games like this that system kinda like Isometric and 3rd person shooter it's the best way to mantain a player like me stick to the console, the story it's not bad XD, well it's kinda like it's own story but just more than the usual ISA vs Helghast and there is a traitor, but besides that a jewel for the PSP.
PS: It's not hard to play the last episode, heck there is plenty of tutorials with the archive linked.

Interesting take on killzone, the only one who is not an fps, its first half is not a huge challenge, the second one is .... inconsistent, the boss fights are a huge pain, they are accurate with nearly zero cool downs to their attacks, it does not help that the controls and auto aim were made for the slower rhythm combat in the first half.
you need to download the 5th chapter dlc if you want to see the real ending of the game leading to killzone 2, look for it on google it was free and easy to install.
i wouldn't call it an essential play, but an entertaining distraction. 6/10

Solid game. Better than the original on PS2 I'd say. Story is basic, but gameplay is fun. Above average challenge, but nothing you couldn't handle with some perseverance (at least on normal). The challenge mode itself turned out to be surprisingly engaging, which is not always the case for me. There's a lot of trial and error in general. Mostly in a good way, but it can get a little frustrating at times. Vehicular combat in particular was the worst part for me. Graphically, it still looks good on an actual PSP, but there are more impressive games for the system. The Havok implementation for ragdoll is quite entertaining. Overall it's a good game and worth playing.

In between the mediocre Killzone and the self-sabotaging Killzone 2, there was this: a disaster.

Guerrilla games isn't new to baffling design decisions that completely suck the fun factor out of their games, but here they went above and beyond: there is not an ounce of entertainment to be found in Killzone Liberation, as every single one of its mechanics is botched on a fundamental level. None of the guns are fun to use, none of the enemies are fun to fight, none of the levels are fun to explore.

We are talking about a game where you are constantly contending with the worst autoaim system since Drake of the 99 Dragons, wasting your very limited ammo while trying to hit bullet sponge enemies with your painfully inaccurate and low damage weapons, often having to babysit friendly AI characters who do almost nothing in combat, need to be ordered around and healed with dedicated limited supply stimpacks, because it's game over if they die, and get in the way of your movement.

The weapons are all terrible: you'll be lucky to manage to down a basic Helghast grunt with an entire magazine, and sometimes that's not even enough. High enemy health pools aren't a new thing for the Killzone franchise, but never like this. Usually the special weapons can at least dish out some punishment, but not here: it takes four (four!) sniper rounds to kill any enemy and three shotgun shells at point blank range, which is even worse considering the shotgun can fire twice before needing to reload, meaning you will typically hit an enemy once for 48 damage, wait for him to stand back up, fire again for 48 damage, reload, then finish off the remaining 4 HP with a third shell. Every single time.

The game seems to know this, which is why the loading messages tease upgraded V2 versions of your guns, which are unlocked with cash found around the levels ("feeling underpowered? Upgrade your guns!" go fuck yourself). The thing is, they are unlocked at specific points in the campaign, because even if you collect every single money pickup in every level, you won't get your first V2 gun until the second to last level, only, by that point you will have unlocked an infinite heavy machine gun that does high damage with the same accuracy as the other guns.

Now what would you rather do: 1) keep using your infinite heavy machine gun, or 2) downgrade to a V2 weapon that does the same damage, needs to reload and you need to find ammo for? Result: you will never use the V2 guns you unlocked. Not that the infinite HMG is any fun to use, mind, as it overheats far too quickly, meaning a full trigger pull isn't even enough to down a single enemy and you'll have to awkwardly fire in quick bursts. it's still leaps and bounds less aggravating to use than the rest of the arsenal though.

Shall we talk about the landmines? Invisible until you get close and which kill you where you stand? Shall we talk about grenadiers, who lob explosives with pinpoint precision which deal 80% damage? Shall we talk about the (fortunately rare) shield enemies, who are virtually invulnerable from the front and force you into Benny Hill chases as you try to get behind them to deal some damage?

A final mention for the bosses, which are horrendous, especially the final boss, who bombards you with explosives with a massive explosion radius and is almost impossible to hit, unless you trick his pathfinding into standing somewhere your terrible autoaim and accuracy can do some damage, usually trading damage with him.

Just about the one good thing is the fact the enemies are smart enough to shoot exploding barrels when the player is near them, and the fact their homing spider mines can't differentiate between friend and foe, leading to absolutely hilarious moments where they go after the Helghast instead of you, blowing them to kingdom come.

Needless to say, that's not even remotely enough to salvage the frustrating mess Killzone Liberation is. Don't play this game.

Honestly, apart from Killzone 2, it's one of those games I think about a lot. It's a pretty unique feeling game even today. Who would have thought a cover shooter could work this well in a top down format?

It's definitely not perfect. The terrain can sometimes be a pain and the auto targeting frustrating and lead to some bullshit feeling deaths, but I'm overall very surprised how well this held up years later.

The levels are tightly paced, combat is a great balance between challenging and action packed, the AI is surprisingly pretty decent and will try and flank you or keep you moving. It's weird, but it reminds me a lot of older metal gear games when you decide to gun your way out of an alert phase.

Be forewarned though, there was a free chapter 5 that was release for the game via the killzone website that you can't download anymore. There's archives out there that are easy enough to get running on an emu or a PSP, but apparently it's impossible on Vita. It's not THAT crucial, but it's a real fucking bummer that's basically lost by any official means.

The fact you can't carry more than one gun at a time basically breaks the game. At best, it slows the pace down to an absolute crawl as you have to constantly backtrack from chest to chest whenever you run low on ammo or decide that a different weapon would better suit the situation.

The fact you can't freely aim grenades is also quite baffling and I found myself lamenting it whenever confronting an enemy turret. For some reason I was convinced that there was a way and I simply forgot how. (Mandela effect?!? lol) But nope, your targeting will always snap on to the turret itself when you'd obviously want to the grenade to land directly behind the turret, not in front of it. I suppose that would make things too easy, however. I suppose the devs wanted to inject some challenge to these encounters, and the challenge comes from wrestling with the unintuitive aiming controls.