So, it's finally here. The buzz surrounding Killzone has been phenomenal and it's fair to say that, whilst not quite up there with GTA: San Andreas, this must rank as one of the PlayStation 2's most wanted games. Touted as Sony's answer to Halo, this is without doubt the first person shooter PS2 gamers have been waiting for.

Don't you just hate it when a game opens up with a spectacular introduction movie that's exciting, wonderfully cinematic and full of promise, then doesn't follow it up with gameplay to compare? Well, Killzone has one of the most impressive openings I've ever seen in a game and I am delighted to tell you that the gameplay follows it up by perfectly capturing the frantic feeling of warfare throughout every adrenaline pumping moment of the whole single player campaign.

The story begins with an impassioned speech from the leader of the Helghast, a race of former humans that left Earth and colonised a new world, a world with an environment that caused physiological changes within them. This new race, who come across like the Nazis of the future, are now returning to Earth, not to rejoin their human brethren, but to conquer them. As the orbital defence platforms around Earth fail, their massive fleet is able to land and begin a full-scale assault on strategic locations around the globe. And thus as the character named Templar, you are thrust into the midst of things with the simple mission of staying alive long enough to regroup at an allied base. Of course, the gripping tale is just beginning and a surprisingly strong plot with possibly the most lifelike and realistic, action-movie-style cut scenes I've ever seen, move the story along well with plenty of twists and turns along the way.

Killzone has so many outstanding features to it that it's hard to pinpoint the best one. However, if pushed, I'd say that the best thing about it is the way you are thrown into the most convincing war torn landscapes yet seen in a game. It blows games like Medal of Honor out of the water and from the very first moment, as you are repelling enemy forces whilst retreating through trenches under heavy fire, you really do feel like you're in the middle of a war zone. Not a battle, but a full scale war. The ground shakes and you can hear gunfire and cries all around you. You can periodically see the projectiles of anti-aircraft guns firing into the sky and enemy dropships and attack vessels flying overhead. Explosions are rife, bullets whiz past your head and ricochet off nearby objects and the soldiers around you are more often than not cut down brutally by the relentless enemy fire, their bloody corpses toppling to the ground.

And whilst the scenery changes more drastically than you might imagine considering that most of the game takes place as you travel on foot from one location to the next, the pace of the action never lets up. One of the most impressive levels sees you working your way through a city under siege. Buildings are half demolished, roads are blocked and the Helghast are everywhere. The way dropships fly in and hover, lowering ropes that whip in the wake of their powerful engines, so the troops can slide down, take cover and advance, is excellent. Enemy tanks and armoured cars make an appearance on a regular basis and you'll need grenades and rockets to take these beasts out before they destroy you. Here you'll also be backed up by allied troops, who are helpful to have and it pays to cover them and try to keep them alive as long as possible.

So then soldier, how does this bad boy play? It's fair to say that Killzone is one of the most realistic games ever created. The way the screen shakes as you run is just right; it's enough to seem like you're running without disorientating you altogether. Speaking of running, there is a very nifty feature that gets a one up on Halo straight away, which allows you to sprint for a short time. This is so handy for getting across an open space fast or beating a hasty retreat if you're under fire and your health is low. The one drawback of the movement system is that you can't jump; although ultra-realistic in every other way, you simply can't get any air at all. There are certain obstacles that you can clamber over and when you do this you'll see your hand reach down and jerkily leap over the low wall, which again is a nice touch. However, it's very annoying that you can't make your own decisions to jump over things like a pile of sandbags or a large crate or anything else that you could easily vault over in real life. Whilst on the subject of the realism, there's a slight flavour of Breakdown on Xbox when you climb ladders - you put your weapon away and you see your hands pulling you up the ladder, the camera jerking in a very natural way. It's one of the best first person effects I've ever seen and it's touches like these that help to really immerse you into the gameplay and make you feel like you're actually there.

Get to the weapons already, I hear you cry! The weapons in Killzone are quite simply some of the finest ever created. Whilst not wanting to make too many comparisons with Halo, they are in some respects more impressive. There is a wide range of weapons and every one of them feels sturdy, looks incredible and handles realistically. The recoil as you fire a machine gun is just enough that you have to concentrate on keeping it on target, the controller rumbling in your hands. There are a couple of pistols on offer, the Earth variety being the one I prefer, which give you pinpoint accuracy when going for those very satisfying head shots. There are a couple of assault rifle style weapons. The Earth variety has a good zoom but has significant recoil and is a little tricky to use. The Helghast version doesn't zoom so far but is much more stable, easier to get those head shots with and has a lovely secondary function that blasts the enemy with a shotgun style barrage that is lethal at close range. The actual shotgun is one of the most satisfying weapons to use, both for the way you see its scatter shot hit the enemy and the resultant spurt of blood on impact!

Moving onto the bigger guns, the rocket launcher is very nice to use and accurate to fire. There is a pistol that fires grenade shells and a larger version of this that holds six shells at a time - both of these guns are quite tricky to judge at distances but once you get the hang of them, it's incredibly satisfying to land a grenade in the midst of enemies and watch those bodies fly. There are heavy machine guns that can fire 100 rounds before you need to reload, perfect for mowing down a group of enemies caught out in the open and then there's a super heavy machine gun with 800 rounds that doesn't need to reload - it does overheat, but not enough that you can't go on a very satisfying killing spree with it. Every weapon not only looks incredibly detailed, but the reloading animations are outstanding, looking and feeling totally realistic.

On the stealth side of things, there is a nifty little silenced automatic pistol with a good zoom, perfect for getting head shots. The sniper rifles are actually quite difficult to use at first; you will get the hang of them but the way they zoom in and then you move the target around within the viewfinder is a little off-putting to begin with. You can also use a knife for the ultimate in stealth kills and when you sneak up behind your foe, you grab them and slash their neck brutally, hearing that stifled gurgle as the blood wells in their throat and they exhale for the final time; it's a very tangible and ruthless kill that's almost uncomfortable to carry out!

The weapon system is spot on - you can carry three weapons at a time, of any combination. So if you want to get three heavy guns, say a grenade launcher, machine gun and assault rifle, you can. Or you might want a ranged weapon in the mix; have a sniper rifle for long distance kills. It's entirely up to you and you can swap for any gun you find as you progress. The only downside is that some of the time ammo for Earth guns is scarce, meaning you'll often end up with Helghast weapons whether you like it or not. You can also carry up to five grenades and you can throw them straight in or cook them - hold them as the fuse counts up to five and release nearer the time of explosion. Judging grenade shots is not easy to begin with, but by the third level I was placing them with pinpoint accuracy. The way the screen shakes as you see your hand lob the grenade is another superbly realistic touch, if part of the reason it's hard to judge at first. It really is most pleasing to place a grenade in the midst of the enemy just as it goes off, so they don't have a chance to scatter first.

Speaking of the enemy, the AI is some of the finest I've come across in a shooter. The enemy draws a great balance between storming your position in force and spreading out to seek cover. They'll run from a grenade as it lands, they'll back off and take cover and wait, only to come out guns blazing and then duck behind the cover again to reload. They'll advance on you whilst you're reloading too, so be sure to have some cover to hand yourself. Indeed, even on Normal, if you just stand in the open shooting you'll be gunned down pretty fast. There aren't that many medikits to find, although it's very helpful that your health partially regenerates with time, as long as you're not taking fire. The AI of your teammates is brilliant too - they are very effective at providing cover fire, they stick nearby, pick off the enemies and advance, all without a single command from you.

You start off alone, but soon you are reunited with an old colleague (and an old flame), the British female assassin known as Luger. A little later in the game you're helped out of a tight spot by a grunt called Rico, who sports seriously heavy weapons - that 800 round machine gun, which also fires rockets as a secondary function! The three of you are on a mission to rescue a Helghast spy that's working for your side and this character, Hakha, makes up the fourth member of your unlikely group. Rico really, really hates the Helghast and so this makes for plenty of friction in the group, which is always a good thing. The cut scenes are well scripted, if a little clichéd at times and the voice acting is excellent all around. Hakha is particularly memorable, voiced by the distinctive and talented Sean Pertwee. I'm sure I recognised a few other voices too. Every character is acted superbly, making for a group of people that you grow to care about, whether it's because you love or hate them and this serves to further immerse you into the story.

Somehow I've got all this way without praising the wondrous graphical feast that constantly assaults your eyes throughout Killzone. This game features the best graphics in a PS2 game ever and you simply won't believe your eyes. It's easy to forget you're on PS2 and think that it's an Xbox or high spec PC game you're playing. Every environment is beautifully rendered with a tremendous amount of detail and a soft focus effect that somehow removes the dithering you often get with PS2 graphics. One level takes you through a park full of trees with blossom on them and they look so intricate. Another level takes you across a storm swept harbour and the rain effect is one of the best I've ever seen - combined with a very convincing rough looking sea, the bleak howling of the wind and the sound of the raindrops pelting down, this is one of the most atmospheric levels I've ever played in any game. Another level sees you deep in misty swamp territory and the attention to detail on the jungle and the individual plants is astonishing. You get out of this and up a mountain path, where again the vegetation looks luscious. Each level brings you wonderful new sights and the game pushes the PS2 to graphical heights that to be honest I never thought it could reach. On top of this, the faces of your team mates look amazing and in the cut scenes they are some of the most lifelike animations I've ever seen.

Yet the sound somehow manages to almost upstage the visuals. Every weapon sounds throaty and authentic as you fire it. Explosions boom and shake the screen. Bullets ping and whiz. The first time you shoot a water cooler and the water drum falls to the floor and bounces, it sounds real. Glass shatters, buildings collapse, enemies cry out as they fall down dead. The ambient sounds too are outstanding - in the swamps you hear the swish of the water as you walk through it, the swamp life chirping and croaking nearby, and as I said the sound effects of the harbour level really make you feel like you're in the midst of a storm. The music is dramatic, rousing and adds to the excitement, in the game when it features but particularly during the cut scenes, which graphically blow Halo 2 out of the water. The directing style and the look and feel of the cut scenes is very distinctive, like a dark, gritty, modern day Hollywood blockbuster and it works beautifully.

The huge levels of the campaign can be played through as any of the four characters (as they join your team) and each character gets a slightly different route and different approach, making it worth playing through with each one. Luger has to be stealthy, knifing and sniping, as she's quite weak and dies easily, whilst Rico can just charge through, cutting down all opposition in his path and blowing up enemy tanks with ease. Hakha and Templar take a route somewhere in between these two extremes but either way, adding in this variety increases the lifespan. Although that isn't really needed, because there's an extensive multiplayer mode with a number of huge maps, for up to 16 players and you can have bots (computer players) too, something that Halo is lacking. There's full online support for this one and it's without doubt the biggest online game to hit the PS2 yet. Mark my words, this is going to be big online and it's going to last for a long time too. Indeed, like Halo, whilst there's an outstanding single player game to work your way through, this game's real beauty lies in the multiplayer. I don't feel it's got quite the depth and longevity of Halo in this respect, but nothing comes close on the PS2 (other than Timesplitters 2 and surely it's time for a change!)

Killzone is a crowning achievement that pushes the PlayStation 2 further than anyone thought possible. It's graphically stunning, the sound effects and music immerse you into a tense and exciting atmosphere of total chaos, a strong story compels you through a long single player campaign full of variety and challenge against tough enemies and the fully online multiplayer mode can be played split screen with a bunch of bots for those without a network adapter. Quite simply, this is the finest shooter yet to grace the PS2 and one that every gamer needs to look at. Whether you're a fan of first person shooters or not, just let Killzone show you what they're really all about.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).