Killzone has always been… troubled. Having never really achieved the standard worthy of the hype which surrounds it, fans of the series would be forgiven for feeling rather despondent over the whole affair. There is one title, however, which many believe to be the crowning achievement of both the PSP and the Killzone franchise. Liberation is played with a top down, almost isometric viewpoint as opposed to the 1st person camera which the series is known for. Its tight gameplay and original approach to level design garnered Liberation with a very positive reaction and is one of my favorite games on the PSP.

The approach to game design for the PSP was always limited by the technology, and this lead to major PlayStation franchises being scaled down and squeezed to fit onto the machine. Liberation was a fresh approach and a worthwhile risk that showed how great games could be produced using currently existing IP that didn’t involve slicing chunks off unsuitably complex franchises.

This item was originally posted on the Thunderbolt Blog on Friday 13th January 2011