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Killzone: Liberation is the stand in sequel to Killzone developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation Portable. It is a follow-up to Killzone, taking place two months after the original game. Killzone: Liberation was released on October 31, 2006 in North America. An updated version of Liberation was released on June 20, 2023 for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

Story[]

Watch out while reading this, or don't at all, until you know what's coming.
This article contains heavy spoilers. Read ahead with caution.


"Set two months after the events of Killzone, most of southern Vekta is still under Helghast control. The rules of war have been cast aside with the Helghast General Armin Metrac, employing brutal measures in order to seize the initiative and strengthen his position further. Returning as Jan Templar, players will be sent on a covert mission to save hostages captured by Metrac, while ISA troops continue the fight for liberty."
―Description of the game


There are 4 "chapters" with 4 levels in which players eliminate the Helghast resistance (a fifth chapter was made available to download).

Returning as Jan Templar, players are sent on a covert operation to save hostages captured by Metrac, while ISA troops continue the fight for liberty. Rico Velasquez, Jan's friend on the battlefield, often assists him on his way through the enemy lines. Shadow Marshal Luger, another of Jan's partners, also helps him. In campaign co-op, Gregor Hakha will also appear to help Jan Templar in gameplay, disappearing whenever a cutscene starts.

As Metrac captures ISA Minister of War Heff Milcher, scientist Evelyn Batton, and ISA General Dwight Stratson, Jan is sent on the rescue mission. After a set of military operations, Jan Templar is closely following the trail of hostages and pursues Cobar, who has taken Milcher and Stratson. Milcher is then killed by Cobar, but Jan is nevertheless successful in defeating him, even though Cobar was piloting a personal walking tank. Cobar reveals that there is a traitor in ISA command who is helping the Helghast, but is finished off by Dwight Stratson before he can say who the traitor is.

The next step for Jan Templar is to assault Armin Metrac's mountain fortress and rescue Evelyn Batton. Shadow Marshal Luger, Templar's longtime partner, aids him on the mission. There, he fights many of Helghan elite warriors (including a giant cybernetic unit) before encountering and killing Metrac in a final showdown.

Afterwards, Templar locates Evelyn and escapes with her just before the fortress is destroyed.

In the fifth, downloadable chapter, Jan is sent on a mission to Sedah City. Even though Metrac is no more, the enemy forces are still coordinated and fighting well. ISA believes that the unknown traitor is supplying Helgan with information. The only suspect is Rico, Jan's friend. Battling his way through war-ravaged city, Jan finally finds Rico, who reveals that the traitor is, in fact, General Dwight Stratson, who not only sold the planet to the Helghast, but has become the shadow commander of remaining Helgan forces. Jan proceeds to the Royal Vektan Palace, where Stratson is located, battling hordes of Helghast and even Stratson's personal elite guard on his way. There, he engages the general in combat. However, Stratson is well-prepared and uses a Exo-Skeleton against Jan, but is ultimately defeated.

Before Stratson is arrested, he tells Jan that the Helghast already have the nuclear weapons taken from Rayhoven. Jan is then reunited with Rico and Batton. Rico express his contempt with dealing with another ISA traitor. Jan swear to take the war to Helghan in order to preserve Vekta's freedom.

The game's outro marks the beginning of Killzone 2, as Scolar Visari publicly announces to the Helghast people that their invasion of Vekta had failed, but have obtained ISA nuclear weapons which he intends to use on ISA forces when they will come to Helghan.

Levels[]

Campaign Levels of Killzone: Liberation
Chapter 1 Counter-Attack · Retreat · Evacuation · Sabotage
Chapter 2 Approach · Diversion · Assault · Breakout
Chapter 3 Reconnaissance · Ambush · Catastrophe · Pursuit
Chapter 4 Infiltration · Revelation · Confrontation · Liberation
Chapter 5 (DLC) The Hunt · Defection · The Invader · Resurrection

Gameplay[]

This game features a top-down isometric view in contrast to the rest of the Killzone series, which are first-person shooters. The resultant game can be seen as a mixture of a shooter and a dungeon crawler or a top down contra type game. The missions are presented in groups that can be chosen in any order by the player, but completing certain missions first does have effect over other missions.

The player can only control Jan Templar, although he can board and control several vehicles and weapons: heavy machine gun turrets, a tank, a hovercraft and a jetpack. During some levels a 'buddy' can be ordered around (although some are unarmed). These 'buddies' are normally teammates (Rico and Luger) or people that have to be rescued (The three VIP's in the third mission, first chapter and Evelyn in the third and fourth mission, fourth chapter).

By collecting various pickups in the form of money cases, the player unlocks new weapons to use in the game. These weapons can be found in various weapons caches in certain levels. After enough money is amassed, the V2 upgraded weapons become available. The weapons in the caches are also converted into the V2 upgraded versions. Some of the unlockable weapons are: The StA-52 Assault Rifle, the IvP-18 Tropov Machine Pistol, the StA-52 SLAR, the M13 Shotgun, the M3 Revolver, the Crossbow and theVnS-10B Scylla Chaingun (The M82-G Assault Rifle is the default weapon). After downloading the chapter five update the VC1 Flamethrower and the BLR-06 Hadra MRL are available to unlock.

The player can also unlock upgrades to Templar's abilities by completing challenge games within certain limits (Such as shooting a certain number of "enemy targets" without shooting the "civilian targets"). These are ranked in bronze, silver and gold. Upgrades come in the form of carrying more items, hitting harder in close quarters combat, performing actions faster or upgraded health.

Reception[]

Killzone: Liberation got 7.5/10 in Game Informer. Gamespot gave it 8.3/10. Liberation received IGN's award for Best PSP Offline Multiplayer Game of 2006 and gave it 9.0/10.[1]

Gallery[]

Artwork[]

Propaganda[]

Trivia[]

  • Killzone: Liberation is presented as a third-person shooter and is the only of that kind in the Killzone series to date.
  • Liberation is the first and only game in the series to be released on the PSP, and the only game in the series to be rated T for Teen.
  • On 20 June 2023, an updated version of Liberation was made available to purchase from the PlayStation Store and play on both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles. The updated version is enhanced with up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters, and includes trophy support. Additionally, the game was added to the PlayStation Plus "Classics" catalog for Premium tier subscribers, who can download the game at no extra cost.

References[]

Killzone Series
Main Games Killzone · Killzone 2 · Killzone 3 · Killzone Shadow Fall
Spin-offs Liberation · Mercenary
Expanded Universe Killzone: Ascendancy · Killzone (comic) (canceled) · Killzone manga
Special Editions Killzone 3 Helghast Edition · Killzone Trilogy
Other media Killzone: Intercept
Non-Fiction Killzone Prima Official Game Guide · Killzone 2: Collector's Guide to Campaign and Warzone · Killzone 3: The Official Guide · Killzone Visual Design
Soundtracks Killzone 2 Original Soundtrack · Killzone 3 Official Soundtrack · Killzone Mercenary Official Soundtrack · Killzone Shadow Fall Official Soundtrack
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