Here's why: Liberation makes great use of the PSP hardware and its capabilities - all of them - to establish its place as one of the best games on the system. Even stripped of its technical achievements, Liberation is simply a very fun action game. It has the kind of accessibility required of a kickass portable title, to start. At the same time - and just as important - it offers the kind of depth missing from most PSP offerings. Liberation has its share of annoying quirks, but even these pale in comparison to the entertainment value evident in the rest of the package.
That's the review in brief. For those who want to know a little more, keep reading. Liberation comes from developer Guerilla Games, the same folk who made the first Killzone title for the PS2. The story for Liberation starts shortly after the conclusion of the original Killzone, with the heroic ISA dealing a massive blow to the sinister Helghast. The ISA offensive slows the Helghast, who occupy much of the planet, known as Vekta. Like any good villainous organization, the Helghast regroup and launch a counterattack, kidnapping several VIP members of the ISA party in the process. A new Helghast general by the name of Metrac is also making things difficult for the ISA.As Templar - the same guy from the first game - you must infiltrate enemy territory and rescue the hostages. Along the way you get to blast through hordes of enemy soldiers and sabotage a number of enemy installations. You also pilot a variety of craft and generally dismantle anything with a Helghast logo on it. None of which matters if not incorporated into the game well. Fortunately, Liberation nails it. Part of what makes it so rewarding is how it controls and how easily you interact with everything. Navigating the post-apocalyptic gameword as Templar feels refreshingly intuitive. Most actions, for instance, whether planting explosives or healing comrades, are context-sensitive.
This lets you perform a number of tasks in the middle of heated firefights without breaking the flow of battle - a spectacularly good thing considering the intensity of the missions. This level of simplicity extends to basic combat, as well. You can freely aim wherever you please, but the game automatically fine-tunes your aim to account for the location of enemies. Here's an example: say you need to shoot an enemy standing on the second floor of a building. All you need to do is face the building and start firing. The game handles the angle of your shots so you hit the target, regardless of its elevation in relation to your character. It miscalculates sometimes, but not often -- still, it's a little annoying when it happens. Overall, it If this sounds like a very hands-off approach to action, don't worry. When facing targets on multiple planes of elevation with half the environment laced with mines, you really won't mind. In fact, this brilliant setup keeps the action going at a brisk pace. Not only that, it turns you into a multi-tasking death machine. You can engage multiple foes while disabling machinery and mines, as well as ordering your NPC comrade. Combat flows beautifully, in other words, and Liberation brims with it. Speaking of NPC comrades, the game makes great use of the feature. You don't get them every mission, but when you do, it's always a treat. Usually your help comes by way of a gruff soldier named Rico. Fortunately, he's neither annoying nor incompetent.
Rico is smart enough and tough enough to handle himself, but you need to order him around to use him best. Just like everything else in the game, the interface to issue commands is simple and elegant. You access the tactical screen by pressing up on the d-pad. This slows on-screen action to a crawl and overlays a series of options over the environment. You can order Rico to take cover, place explosives, attack specific targets or to follow your lead. Each of these actions pops up over the target, so a shield icon will appear over a crate to let you know Rico can take shelter there. The system works remarkably well and to looks downright cool to boot.
Mission objectives range from escorting members of the ISA to exploring swamps in armored hovercraft. Along the way, you will face opposition constantly, whether through persistent spider-mines that follow your movements to enemy soldiers with grenade launchers. They all look and behave differently, so you need to adjust your strategy accordingly. As much as Liberation looks like a frenetic action game, there's a fair bit of strategy and skill involved. Running into battle will invariably lead to your death in certain situations, forcing you to stop and think about how best to exploit the environment and the weaknesses of your enemies. It's a perfect blend of action and strategy that keeps you engaged constantly.
In addition, you can customize certain aspects of your character by earning special character points. These let you upgrade everything from the number of grenades you can carry to the amount of damage you inflict with standard weapons. You select up to three of these upgraded abilities before starting each mission, so it keeps the game balanced and deepens the level of strategy a bit. Certain levels may require you to carry more mines or smoke grenades, for instance, while others may call for increased health. You can unlock all this stuff by finishing Challenge Games - timed sequences that test everything from your shooting skills to how quickly you can disarm a set of mines. Depending on the medal you achieve for each game (bronze, silver or gold) you receive a few of the aforementioned character points.Liberation also has a deep and thoroughly groovy multiplayer component. Developers put every facet of the PSP's multiplayer functionality to good use here. You can choose from four different Ad-Hoc modes, including Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Assault. You can also choose from a list of well-designed maps and define a number of parameters, such as the time limit for each match. There's also game sharing, which lets you beam multiplayer scenarios to a friend's PSP. And just so you know, the intensity of single-player multiplies when playing against live opponents. In fact, to say playing Liberation's multiplayer modes is fun would be a severe understatement. Woe to the person who buys this game and fails to find someone to play with. If Sony packaged the multiplayer component of Liberation by itself it'd still be one of the better games on the system, and that's saying a lot.
And the experience doesn't end there, since the game will let you play online and download new maps and modes in the future. IGN couldn't test any of this, unfortunately, since the servers and downloadable content will debut when the game ships later in the month. Currently, you can access the Liberation website from within the game and download videos, screenshots and other digital doodads, but that's about it. As such, all anyone can say is that the online plan sounds great and has tons of potential. Again, even if nothing came of it, the included multiplayer content will more than satiate the cravings of any action fan.Verdict
It seems wherever Liberation can go the extra mile, it does. It delivers on all fronts, from a thoroughly engrossing single-player campaign to an addictive multiplayer component. Liberation also shames most other PSP offerings through its presentation, which blends excellent visuals and sound with a clean and user-friendly interface. It has a few quirks, but in the end, they seem almost negligible. Definitely recommended to fans of the action genre, but also to anyone who dislikes bad games.