Hi there, with Killzone shadow fall out and looking amazing, I want to go back and play the other killzones so I can get some of the story/lore wrapped round my head so I can have more enjoyment for the game. Seeing as I have never played through any of the others, we'll I have giving both 2 and 3 a try and thought they where fantastic but never put in the effort to finish them as I've wanted to properly know the story because I thought I might get more enjoyment out of them, do anyway to the main concern dose anyone think it is worth going all the way back to the first game or just start from the second, mainly want to know if the story is good enough to go back to the first, thanks I look forward to hearing from peeps! :)

Are you getting a PS4 and Shadowfall on Friday? If so, I would just read up on the lore, it's not like the voice acting/cutscenes of the Killzone games add a ton to the story. If you're not getting a PS4 on Friday, I would absolutely recommend at least going back and finishing Killzone 2. The end sequence is awesome! I don't have an opinion about 1 or 3 though.

@upsidedownace: Thanks, yea I wont be getting a ps4 on release, otherwise I probably would just read up on it, so I was thinking of playing through all of them seeing as I will have the time before getting a ps4

I never played the first game and I don't regret it. I'd start at 2, I guess, but I would rent it if I could or find it somewhere cheap.

Eh, Killzone's world is not that interesting, to be honest. I would say you aren't missing much, but yeah, start at 2.

I played KZ1, 2, and 3. Missed on the PSP game Liberations and the Vita game Mercenaries. Still, I think I can pass off judgement and say that playing through the series for the story isn't worth it. The single player campaign for KZ1 is god awful. KZ2 was average for its time and KZ3 was more of the same. I doubt either have gotten better with age.

Also, there really isn't much character development and progression that you have to be aware about. The only thing about the characters in the KZ universe that stands out is that Rico is an unbelievable dick.

Killzone is a great series. The stories are dumb, pulpy, melodramatic, sci-fi video game nonsense, but I kind of think they're great. I remember the speeches before the menu of 1 and 2 being phenomenal (the Helghast leader is voiced by Brian Cox) so make sure to watch those before starting the games.

The multiplayer is also pretty solid in Killzone 2 and 3. There's more variety than other multiplayer shooters and the 'points sound' when you get a kill online is one of the best. I love it.

Killzone gets a bad wrap I think. They're really good shooters. The campaigns are a lot better than most shooter campaigns. Take that how you will. It's not hard to beat a CoD or Battlefield campaign.

The first Killzone is probably the most interesting because they were trying different things but it's really hard to go back to. It hasn't aged well and if you get angry when you play games there's a good chance you'll want to throw your controller at the wall at some point.

The other two are both great but they're pretty much just copying what other people have done although the weapons, especially in two, feel great.

That being said I don't think you really need to play them for Shadowfall. More than likely all you need to know going in is that there is a human faction and a pale human faction that don't like each other.

The first Killzone (the only one I played and am qualified to comment on) was pretty... rough. It was the HEAVIEST controlling of all the Killzones, grenades were pretty much a big game over, and the checkpointing was ROUGH from what I remember. Interesting game and idea, but I was not a fan.

@davidwitten22: Yeah, I remember some brutal checkpoints too.

Killzone is an underrated shooter. I can't say much about it's multiplayer stuff since I never play it but the campaigns in the main three games we're all really good, except maybe 3 that one was decent enough though. Also the PSP game Liberation is fantastic, don't skip that. It's not a FPS so don't worry about shitty PSP controls.

The first Killzone is might worth playing for a bit just to get some context for the series. It was a really ambitious game for the time and hardware, but it's also not very good.

I don't think there is any reason to play the other Killzone games for any kind of story/lore reason. You would be much better off just heading to the wiki if you are interested. None of the interesting things about the universe are ever touched in the games.

That being said if you are a big fan of FPS games 2 and 3 might be worth playing. I really enjoyed 3 for some reason, maybe it was the novelty of the move controls or something.

I tried to play through all of them this year. I got through Killzone 1 and Liberation and burnt out about half way through 2 because I didn't give a fuck about the characters. Why didn't they continue with Templar and Luger!?!?!? :(

Just skip it all. Guerrilla doesn't give a shit about their characters and neither should you.

The first Killzone was a straight-up bad game and the next 2 were intensely overrated, probably because critics were eager to call it even between the 360 and Playstation 3 on the exclusive-first-person-shooter front (Resistance also benefited from this bizarre guilt). The new one is so far getting the middling reviews that the previous entries deserved and as reviews continue to come out, we will likely see the overall tone from critics become more negative.

So, yeah, if you haven't played the series yet, I recommend that you reconsider spending hours and hours steeping yourself in Killzone's lore because I'm positive you have better things to with your time, if not your money. Killzone's story is one of the worst things about it, so if you've just gotta have Killzone Shadow Fall because you want some hot graffix on your new video game console, then read a wiki and thank me later.

squad cannon squad cannon squad cannon

You know, I actually really liked the first Killzone game, although, to be fair, it hasn't aged all that well. Specifically in terms of AI and checkpointing if I remember rightly.

It did do some cool stuff though, with the different characters doing different stuff throughout the missions and having slightly different playstyles. I thought the characters were pretty well imagined too, albeit they are all pretty generic militaristic fodder. And the feeling of shooting those guns are still some of the most satisfying guns in video games, in my opinion.

Story was alright, I guess; though I will give it credit for having decent reasons to get to each set piece, at least.

Put it in on easy and blaze through it.

I enjoyed 1, LOVED liberation! they need to do another one like that! skipped 2, i have tried to play 3 but i don't think its very good.