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.
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.