While it would be nice to say that Killzone is a diamond in the rough, that's simply not the case. To say that would be leading you astray, because a diamond in the rough would indicate that behind the exterior is a great game. While this sci-fi first person shooter provides plenty of thrills, some poor execution holds it back from being as excellent as it was expected to be.

As a first person shooter, there are a lot of things Killzone does right. Developer Guerrilla crafted an extremely good-looking game that has more style than most. The enemies are not just some random soldiers running around looking to take you out. These Helghast are brooding beasts in battle, as their bright orange eyes exude hatred. Of course, that just makes them easier to shoot at night.

Also, the idea of having a trio of comrades to control is really great, but it just doesn't work out too well. Instead of being able to issue commands, you're basically just waiting for them to help you out, which can be a pain when you can use some covering fire. It can be rather annoying at times, especially when their AI isn't good enough to realize basic things like covering you 100% of the time when you're taking the point. However, when they're on the ball your teammates do a decent job and prove to be more than just human shields.

You also get to control different characters, which makes the gameplay experience somewhat different. There's Rico, the heavy weapons expert, Hanka, the Helghast double agent, Luger, the stealthly spy, and Templar, the standard issue soldier. This gives you different ways to play, as you can opt to take different paths through the levels. For example, if you enjoy the hard earned and chillingly silent stealth kill, Luger is a great choice.

Despite the diversity in character choices, the combat tends to suffer due to poor level design. You'll start out thinking you're almost done to wondering when you'll be finished with this ridiculously long level. It's that kind of frustration that should be nonexistent in a game and is really the result of scenario setup than anything else. This problem isn't too frequent, but it's prevalent enough to earn mention.

A quick remedy to this is hopping online to test your skills against other players. While there are some oversights, such as the inability to play as different types of characters, forcing you to choose between ISA and Helghast, it's still a lot of fun. Also, once someone gets a grenade launcher, it can be difficult to take them down.

Gameplay-wise, Killzone is pretty solid. There's a large selection of weapons, and most of them have a secondary fire, so it's possible to unload clip after clip of machine gun fire onto enemies then follow up with a shotgun blast. In addition to the pistol, various machine guns, and rocket launchers you'll find in your travels, you'll also get to man turrets, which can easily take out a gang of Helghast in a few seconds.

Graphically, it appears the developers have pushed the PS2 to its limit. Killzone looks great, but because of the high level of detail the game chugs along. It's not terrible, but compared to other games in its genre, the speed at which it plays is somewhat of a disappointment.

If you're looking for a mediocre single player campaign, great online play, and a style that's different than every other first person shooter on the PlayStation 2, give Killzone a try. However, if you can't deal with the fact there are some graphical issues, oversights in the development, and poor idea implementation, then it would be better to steer clear of this game.