Killzone: New Hands-On Preview

We get some quality hands-on time with one of the most talked-about PS2 games in recent memory - have Sony and Guerrilla been able to pull this off?

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But by far this build's most egregious gameplay flaw is in balancing the difficulty level. The second level, titled Vecta Evacuates, takes place in the headquarters of your faction, the ISA. Helghast stormtroopers have infiltrated the base, and you need to thread your way through wave upon wave of enemies to a research unit to retrieve a security key. While coping with the enemy AI is vexing enough when you're up against dozens of them and your fellow ISA squad members are wholly ineffectual, the complete dearth of checkpoints during the extended scene means that you're doomed to repeat this opening sequence until you get it right. While there's nothing inherently wrong with this approach, providing too much of a challenge on even the easy difficulty level might go a long way towards scaring of would-be completers. It's clear that there's a checkpoint or two missing in this level though, as major elements are traversed with nary a milestone in sight, so this will more than likely be addressed in the final build.

The first two missions - Helghast Assault and the aforementioned Vecta Evacuates - both star the lead male character, Templar. He's the archetypical space marine with a penchant for hard-hitting machine guns and a gung-ho approach to enemy engagement. The third mission, aptly titled New Allies, introduces the second playable character, Luger. She's cut from the same cloth as Metal Gear Solid's Raiden, with a lithe physique echoed by her lightweight weaponry and stealthy moves. She can shimmy under low-openings - her equivalent of Templar's ability to vault over low-level objects - and she generally reacts more effectively. Notably, her weapons don't suffer the bucking recoil that Templar's do, which make enemy encounters generally more enjoyable fare. Luger also has night-vision gear, allowing her to make out enemies and mission objectives in near-total darkness.

The four levels on show in this preview build are representative of the 11 set to appear in the final game, yet they still showcase the considerable variety insofar as locales are concerned. The opening level, Helghast Assault, takes place right on the battlefield, replete with foxholes, bunkers and copious amounts of debris from destroyed buildings. The texture quality varies considerably but still manages to aptly recreate the rubble and buildings reduced to dust.

Vecta Evacuates takes the action indoors to the ISA base, providing more in the way of closed environments. Offices and cubicles - adorned with all manner of day-to-day office accoutrements - sit side by side with upended foundation, visible after the destructive Helghast blasts. These explosions continually rock the base, jostling the camera around as you run from corridor to corridor, although the current lack of sound effects dampens the level's ability to absorb your attention.

More enticing is Luger's introductory level, New Allies, which takes her and Templar - they work as a team, though there are no squad commands - through deserted malls and around blossoming cherry trees in a park surrounding a lake. Nuances like street signs that accurately direct you to landmarks help solidify the experience somewhat.

The last level shown off in this limited preview build is named Strange Company, and again it serves as an introduction, for the third playable character Rico. Just a glimpse of his no-neck build and surly visage tells you that Rico is the no-nonsense, heavy artillery-wielding member of the ISA team. Spewing hot lead at a laughable rate, Rico leads the ISA team deep into subterranean city catacombs lined with grimy green-tiled walls and teeming with enemies as they head towards the obliterated subway tunnels.

Each of the four main characters - the fourth, Hakha, wasn't selectable in any of the missions we played - are highly detailed and rounded out with solid, if unspectacular, voice acting. The roster allows all the necessary checkboxes for character design to be ticked, and their unique moves and arsenals allow for distinct experiences on the various levels. Some levels are obviously tailored to favour certain characters, which will make playing the final game that much more interesting. The idiosyncrasies of the quartet will also considerably lengthen the shelf-life of the game, as varying approaches to mission objectives will be required should you decide to play through the full campaign with all four characters.

Intrinsic to the four characters are their specialized weapons. Each character has at least one unique weapon suited to their brand of action. Rico has a heavy chain-gun, while Luger has a light, quick-fire machine gun. As an all-rounder, Templar carries a standard space marine-style automatic rifle. Most of the weapons have both zoom capabilities and secondary fire, either in the form of shotgun-type blasts or projectile grenades.

If the ISA weapons aren't good enough for you, then perhaps the variety of Helghast weapons are more your style; enemy weapons are freely available and the high number of Helghast troops result in an almost inexhaustible supply of ammunition. Each character can carry four weapons at a time, and should you run out of ammo - not impossible on some of the longer missions - you'll be able to tackle enemies head-on using melee attacks. Weapons are well designed and fit in perfectly with the overarching production design.

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