The game takes place in an era of space colonization. Planet Earth, after a serious nuclear war between it's nations, formed a major government of the richest surviving governments and industries to explore space colonization, eventually settling a solar system outside of Sol. Alpha Centauri is a system with two planets, the lush and blossoming Vekta, the other rich in energy supply but inhospitable; Helghan. These two planets were purchased by the Helghan Corporation after the UCN (United Colonial Nations) decided to auction them. However, after Helghast's economic policies threatened to undermine the UCN's financial system the UCN invaded Vekta and removed the Helghast after failing to impose financial sanctions. This forced the Helghast to colonize Helghan, a harsh and brutal planet, and deeply resenting the loss of Vekta. The planet's harsh environment forced the Helghast to adapt and mutate so much that they can no longer be considered human. They are stronger, faster and more resilient than their human cousins, and possess a burning hatred for humanity. Except for a small number of half-breed Helghast and trained troopers, they require a gas mask and air processing tank.
Plot. The Helghast are a faction of human descendants that were banished from the planet of Vekta to the brutal and harsh planet of Helghan many generations ago. The Helghan Empire recovered from it's defeat in the First Extrasolar War and were united under the leadership of their nation's Emperor, Scolar Visari. Under the guidance of Visari, the Helghast launched a blitzkrieg campaign against the neighboring planet of Vekta. An ISA soldier named Captain Jan Templar fights against the Helghast invasion, but the ISA suffers heavy losses with the imminent invasion. As Templar and the rest of the ISA retreats, he meets up with other allies such as Shadow Marshal Luger (a female special ops assassin), Hakha (a half Helgast half Human spy) and Ricardo "Rico" Velasquez (a trigger happy ISA soldier), and together they set out to repel the invasion. However, there is a traitor in the ISA who actually let the Helghast into Vekta.
Concept. In Campaign Mode, Killzone is divided by 11 levels, you'll be outgunned and outnumbered fighting against the Helghast army, which has invaded Vekta. In certain levels, you'll encounter Luger, Hakha and Rico. These three become playable once you encounter them. After beating the game, you can either play as the other three apart from Jan Templar and beat the game with any of them, or, to take a break from Campaign Mode, you can play against friends and other people in Battlefields, an online multiplayer mode.
Design. The graphics during gameplay are pretty much like other PS2 games, however, the intro has a CGI scene which would later be seen on PS3 with games such as Killzone 2 and 3 with updated graphics and more gore. Movie scenes during the story of the game are also cool, like a movie. Developers would call this game a Halo Killer, however it failed to live up to it's expectations.
Music. Though there is no music during gameplay unlike in later games, the music only plays when beating the stage, failing a mission, and during scenarios. Joris De Man is the main composer of the Killzone series, and I really enjoyed the epic music of many scenes, and the themes are even MORE epic in the other Killzone games such as Liberation, 2 and 3. Joris De Man is like the Nobuo Uematsu of the Killzone franchise.
Sound. The sound effects are amazing such as explosions, shooting, and the voice acting is pretty cool. The funny thing I found about this game is that almost every ISA trooper has American accent, while ALL Helghast have British accent.
History. The Killzone franchise began with the release of the original game in 2004, when video games at that time did not have that much of online multiplayer. This game on the PS2 was also capable of playing in the PS2's NetPlay. The original game met with mixed to positive reviews, due to at times a being tough in some stages. Two years later, Killzone: Liberation was released on the PSP, however, this one was not a first person shooter but a third person with a top isometric view, but still it was a good game. Three years later after Liberation, Killzone 2 was released, featuring updated graphics, and new forms of gameplay. Killzone 2 was also promoted on Sony's reality show, The Tester. And finally in 2011, Killzone 3 was released, also promoted on the second season of The Tester. Killzone 3 is seen to be the best out of all three games. The Killzone franchise will continue with Killzone: Mercenary on the PSVita, and Killzone: Shadow Fall on the PS4.
Rantings. Now, things I have to rant about this game are the following: Assault Soldiers and Squad Leaders. They're the ones that constantly pissed me off at times. And as for trying to stealth attack them, it can be really hard and you have to learn to master it. For some weapons reloading can be very slow at times even with the StA-3 Light Machine Gun, which is my favorite. Assault Soldiers pissed me off whenever they had a Grenade Launcher, the jerks. Also, the story was very well written, but the levels were excruciating the more you advanced no matter which difficulty setting you played.
Good Aspects. The story was very well written, but failed to become as what developers called it, a "Halo Killer". Still the game is very cool. Also, I was impressed that even though foul language in video games was still very rare in the early to mid 2000s, they dropped the F bomb in many scenes. You can purchase the Killzone Trilogy collection on your local Best Buy or Gamestop, or you can purchase the very first game on the PSN.
Overall. My final score for the original Killzone is a 7 out of 10.
God Bless and Play Hard Gamers!