RetroDEX: My experience with "Killzone 2" & "Killzone 3"

I had no interest in Killzone on the Playstation 2; I only played it, because I had the sequels and I needed context for the series. The game was underwhelming, but ultimately kept me entertained enough. It was still forgettable and it seemed like a rough "first draft" of a series still in its infancy.

I was sure the next two games would be infinitely better. The consensus was that Killzone 2, in particular, was one of the best games on the Playstation 3 and with Sony's backing, developer Guerilla Games would have spent a lot more resources on the series past that original attempt.

I rushed through both Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 and I've had diametrically opposed experiences with the two games.

RetroDEX: "Killzone" (2004) should have been more

Whenever I go back and play Playstation 2 games I missed the first time around, I view them as little oddities; most of them don't play like the PC games I'm so accustomed to and those that do are still outdated in terms of mechanics and core design. It's a process I usually go through for "encyclopedic" reasons, so to speak. I get in, play a couple of hours to get a sense of what the game is about and then lose interest and switch to a different game.

There are the games I already love (e.g. Metal Gear Solid 2 & 3) and will see through to the end, of course, but there are other exceptions as well. When I purchased the PS2 Classics version of Killzone on the Playstation 3, I knew I'd stick with it. Part of that was because I intended to go through the entire series for the first time and I needed context. Primarily, however, I've been trying to get into console shooters, seeing how the genre flourished on those platforms in the last fifteen years and there's a lot to see.