I joined the community recently, so if I mess up, please forgive me. I also played Killzone 2 recently. I saw there was one review already, but I'm sure everyone will appreciate the diversity of opinion. Killzone 2 isn't the first of next generation shooter's we've seen, but it has set a new standard for graphics design and gameplay in my opinion. The first FPS for PlayStation 3 was Resistance, a mediocre shooter that left a lot of people wanting. Given the lackluster gameplay of other FPS on the console, expectations were as high as the hype for Killzone 2 since it was first shown in 2005 at E3. For a long time, the game's deliverance was in doubt until a few years ago when expanded footage was released. But does Killzone 2 deliver? Is the game just a really nice looking piece of crap shooter? I've played it and have some things to say... Presentation When making a FPS, it's important to keep in mind that player's are playing for action, and that keeping them in that action is a necessity. Breaks in this can shatter gameplay experience. Luckily, loading is almost seamless. When you navigate through the simple and obvious menus, you know where you are thanks to context at the bottom of the screen and a header at the top. When you want to play, it's a short loading screen and then into the level. The loading screens themselves are actually slightly interactive thanks to SIXAXIS motion detection. Loading screens fill you in on what's going on or what has previously happened while you tilt the controller for an almost holographic card look. As a seasoned FPS veteran, I know that the Heads Up Display (HUD) needs to be carefully balanced between necessity and simplicity. Killzone 2 accomplishes this balance with a small removable cross hair, a bar representing current ammunition amount and total in stock, and then available grenades and knife, all with semi-transparency. There's no health bar, like in most common modern FPSs. Health is essentially shown by blood on the HUD with critical condition being alerted with black and white, which can be genuinely disorienting (as it should be, although with low gamma correction, can really throw you off) . Want to know where you're going or what you're doing? Direction to objective comes up as a small arrow once you press the UP button and objectives are available via SELECT. The substance to the player is importance. They need to feel like they're in the shoes of the character. Killzone 2 does this by adding a sense of weight, which most games (as I recall), tend to ignore. There's a noticeable jump lag, as if you're carrying around 50 pounds of standard issue gear. Swinging your rifle in a melee attack has umpf to it. Even the kick back from your guns contributes to the sense of weight. Killzone 2 also tracks almost every statistic you could hope to see and/or compare, both single and multiplayer. You can view them all in an easy scrolling menu. You'll want to keep track of them, especially when trying to earn the myriad of trophies available for unlocking. When your not in the menus, your in the pure, unadulterated action. I just wish the menus didn't move so jarringly. 9.5/10 Graphics It's impossible not to be amazed by Killzone 2's graphics. Even on my crappy little 4:9 20" LCD TV I can tell that Killzone 2 looks phenomenal. The graphics presented in Killzone 2 are a perfect example of what can be produced by a dedicated team on a powerful gaming machine under a publisher that knows that a good product is only ready when the developers say it is. The stunning attention detail is... well, stunning. Suddenly, you notice everything. In the opening cinematic, you take notice of the detail in Visari's eyes and even his pores. The scratches and weathering on Helghast and ISA equipment remind you that you're on an unforgiving planet. The dust you kick up as you run can itself be a tactical tool. When holding a gun, you notice that the but of the gun is slightly out of focus, as though your attention is literally focused elsewhere. In terms of sheer performance, Killzone 2's graphics engine sets a new industry high, just as Crysis did a few years ago. 10/10 Sound I'm going to break this into two categories: Effects and Music... Effects: The sound effects in a FPS help to create atmosphere. Whether its the sound of the pins on your grenades clanging together, the sound of your gun firing, or a massive explosion in the distance, Killzone 2 covers all of those with excellence... I think. Confession time: I'm ADHD, so I hear guns, explosions, and people yelling at me. That's it. Pretty much everything else takes a back seat. If I don't hear something of tactical value, I don't hear it. Luckily for Killzone 2, almost everything is of tactical value. When you hear a gun go off, you listen to hear what kind of gun and begin to formulate your tactics around that assessment. When you hear an explosion, the only thing missing is a burst of air hitting you. When you hear people yelling, it's some one requesting help or some one about to fire at you. I'm sure there's some other effects as well, but like I said, I've got the short term aural memory of a dead crab, so I don't remember. But the stuff I did hear? Awesome. Bad gun sounds are noticeable. Good gun sounds help to create a sense of urgency in combat. You are firing a gun after all... Music: I may not hear much, but I hear music when it cares to be good. In a FPS, music can do one of two things: distract or enhance. Killzone 2's music enhances... a lot. A symphonic/orchestral score with choral accompaniment make Killzone 2 feel epic. Epic is good, really good. When the choir is singing and you're fighting for your life, your heart will race along with the music. You get a good sense of what Killzone 2's music is like through the opening cinematic: Effing Awesome! Killzone 2's sound helps to enhance the authentic experience offered by gameplay and graphics. I just wish I could remember what it sounds like. Effects: 4/5, Music: 5/5 Gameplay Like most FPSs, it's better to break this up into Singleplayer and Multiplayer... with some crossover of course. But first CONTROLS!: Controls: Controls can usually make or break a game. What's the point in playing a game you can't control? Fortunately, Killzone 2 keeps the control scheme simple... at least for your average PS3 FPS gamer. Shoulder buttons take care of firing (R1), grenades (R2), melee (L1), and crouching (L2). Joysticks are the standard Left = Move, Right = Look setup with L3 being "Sprint", and R3 being "Aim Down Sights". The buttons are Jump (X), Action (O), Reload/Drop weapon (Square), and Switch Weapon (Triangle). D-pad contributes as well: Manual Grenade Select Frag (DOWN), Electric (LEFT), Knife (RIGHT), Display Direction of Objective (UP). SELECT = Display Objective and START = Pause. The buttons are pretty much universal these days, but the shoulder buttons are an interesting choice that may take some time to adjust to, but help with seamless control down the road. One of the interesting things about Killzone 2 is the cover system. You can take cover behind almost anything just by hitting L2 while behind it. Holding it lets you remain in cover and move around behind it. However, pushing up lets you peak above the cover to view your enemies and aim, but this does expose you. Or you can simply press R1 for auto-fire and spray-and-pray the whole area. Once you use it, it becomes simple and intuitive. It's a great system and I hope to see more of it. Singleplayer: I didn't play Killzone 1 or the PSP game, Liberation. But I did play Killzone 2. I had only the slightest idea what was going on. Did it detract from what I was doing? Not in the least. In Killzone 2, you're an average grunt, a Sergeant 1st Class I think. Sergeants aren't all that. There's Private, Corporal, then Sergeant. That should give you some perspective on where you stand. You aren't some super soldier (ex. Nathan Hale a la Resistance), and you're not apart of some special elite squad (ex. Soap a la Call of Duty 4). You're the first wave of an invasion force. You're just lucky enough not to catch a bullet on the way down. Since you're in a war, you'll be doing lots of shooting. In some shooters, this can get old. In Killzone 2, you can't get enough. Different enemies offer different tactical decisions. Enhancing your tactics are a selection of weapons ranging from a knife to a lighting cannon. The selection of weapons isn't so large that you never get to see some weapons, and you'll definitely be thinking of what weapon to take with you as you progress through a level. A shotgun for close combat, 3 assault rifles for medium range, a sniper rifle for long range, 2 pistols with infinite ammo, grenade and rocket launcher, a knife, 2 types of grenades, a sub machine gun, 2 light machine guns, a boltgun for stapling enemies to walls, and a flamethrower and lighting cannon for "look at that guy roast" moments to live again and again. A good, balanced arsenal in my opinion. The campaign can seem pretty standard, but the varying locations keep the action fresh. Crumbling cities, abandoned mining facilities, and even a space cruiser keep the environments fresh. There are a few vehicle stages without being redundant or annoying. There's even a small turret section above the skies of Helghast. The final boss fight can be sort of confusing, but when you do it once, you'll be able to knock it out faster each time and achieve the fastest kill-time. Multiplayer: The multiplayer level system in Killzone 2 is more akin to Battlefield 2 than Call of Duty 4 in that it takes longer... a lot longer. In CoD4, you just keep killing to level up and unlock more weapons. However, in Killzone 2, you have not only kill, but kill conditionally as well as use your abilities once you earn them. It can get a bit confusing, but it keeps you on your toes and ready for anything. There's essentially one game type on Killzone 2 MP: Warzone. Warzone is a mix of Team Deathmatch (aka Body Count), Capture and Hold, Search and Retrieve, Assassination, Search and Destroy, and probably something else I can't think of. Of course, you can create a custom game of just one game type, but Warzone changes on the fly. Trust me, the battle changes dramatically when it switches from Body Count to Search and Retrieve. Killzone 2 offers an engaging singleplayer campaign coupled with ambitious multiplayer capabilities brought to you with intuitive controls. 9.5/10 Lasting Appeal As a gamer, I don't stay tied down to any one game. It's both a strength and a weakness. While everyone else may be Lv 45 on Warhammer Online, I'm still Lv 26 because I keep playing other things... and I'm still paying for that. Lasting Appeal is important to me. It's what will bring me back after a year thinking, "This game is sweet! I wonder if people still play it..." or better yet, "I just beat this game for the 9th time... I bet I can do the 10th before tomorrow morning!" Killzone 2 is good, but is it good enough to bring you back after you beat it? I think so. There's intel to collect and icons to shoot, plus the campaign is really fun. And the multiplayer? Addictive. But is it a just a fad or will it keep you playing a year from now? I have different gauges for this. Example: I beat Metal Gear Solid 4 six times last summer, even going so far as to earn the Big Boss emblem. I almost never do that. Example: I still play CoD4 (PC) online because I love huge battles and modern combat. So can Killzone 2 hold MY attention for longer than a month? Again, I think so. Granted, there will be other games to play, but I'll probably pop back in for a few games of multiplayer. And if there's DLC down the road? If I can afford it, I'll be back for it. Killzone 2 has some to offer with auxiliary goals in singleplayer and even more in the ambitious multiplayer. The willingness to stick around for it is up to you, but I'll still pop it in every once in awhile. 7/10 Overall, Killzone 2 is essentially a must have for PS3 owners, much like Metal Gear Solid 4. Don't miss out on this. If you do, I guarantee you'll regret it.When your not in the menus, your in the pure, unadulterated action. I just wish the menus didn't move so jarringly. 9.5/10 In terms of sheer performance, Killzone 2's graphics engine sets a new industry high, just as Crysis did a few years ago. 10/10 Killzone 2's sound helps to enhance the authentic experience offered by gameplay and graphics. I just wish I could remember what it sounds like. Effects: 4/5, Music: 5/5 Killzone 2 offers an engaging singleplayer campaign coupled with ambitious multiplayer capabilities brought to you with intuitive controls. 9.5/10 Killzone 2 has some to offer with auxiliary goals in singleplayer and even more in the ambitious multiplayer. The willingness to stick around for it is up to you, but I'll still pop it in every once in awhile. 7/10 Total: 45/50
Thanks, mate. I didn't know how this was going to received. I really appreciate the positive comment. However, don't let this discourage anyone from contributing helpful, constructive criticism. Thanks again.
I think the review was brill but the picture was a bit too big for my screen, I think I need to see the game in action, before I make a decision about getting it, but yeah the review was great.
nice and complete review althought im not a hard fan of fps i really want to try this.... thank to this explanation greetings adios amigos!! ;D
