LTTP: Killzone 1 In Honor of Killzone 2

I decided to finally play Killzone 1 to prepare myself for Killzone 2.  I had heard that the game was average at best, and that technical issues really held the game back.  I had also read countless times that it looked good for a PS2 game, but again that came at the cost of a good framerate and a whole host of other technical issues. 

I honestly believed that I would play this game and probably not agree with the general consesus that the game was a technical disaster.  Usually with console exclusives like this, they tend to get bashed harder than is fair.  Not this time. 

Reading the reviews, I think people went way too easy on this game.  I'm only starting the 3rd chapter right now, but this game is a technical disaster so far.  Am I the only one that thinks this game actually looks bad for a PS2 game?  Even if the game ran at a solid 30fps, the game is still ugly.  Sure, it's got a few cool effects, and it does smoke decently, but the textures and geometry are unimpressive to me compared to other PS2 games. 

That said, I am actually enjoying the game.  So far it's a good FPS that I'm enjoying more and more as I get into it, but I can't understand why they shipped it in the terrible shape it's in.  There's constant slow down, constant chugging, and you can see white dots outlining the seams on the textures very often, which is totally inexcusable.  Comparing this even to MGS2, which came much earlier, MGS2 outclasses it in every regard technically speaking.  I even think Ico is a nicer looking game than this, and that's a game that's artistically gorgeous, but technically unimpressive. 

Maybe I'm sitting too close to the TV?  So I'm asking for opinions here from people who have actually played the game.  How could anyone say this game is impressive looking if you removed all of the technical flaws?  It's downright ugly IMO.