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Killzone 2: The Review

Posted on 25. Feb, 2009 by Freak_c in News, Reviews

Wow, where do I begin? This game has been in the news for as long as it has been in development, give or take a few, be it good news or bad news. Ever since that first E3 trailer way back when, people have believed and people have said it was an impossible task. Well Killzone 2 will change every one into believers, I guarantee. Besides it being one of the most hyped and most anticipated games for the Playstation 3 since the consoles launch, I personally see it as one of the most technically advanced games and a sheer marvel for the Playstation 3 system. This shows off exactly what the system can do and what more it will be able to do in the future as this game is now the benchmark for first person shooter on the PS3 console. This game is EPIC in almost every way for a console game, Guerrilla Games have surpassed what they set out to do.

The Game
Before I even get to the amazing stuff like graphics, gameplay, the technical achievements etc I will tell you a little about the story. So I’m sure most of you know that the game continues on from the last two games, you don’t have to have played the previous games (I didn’t) in order to understand the story, though there are some references to it which fans will pick up, but nothing to get you all confused. If you have been living under a rock or have just been born heres a quick recap; The Helghast have been invading your (Sgt. Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko) home world called Vekta. The ISA has decided to take it to the Helghast on their own planet and believe that their spirit is broken from the victory on Vekta. ISA launches a “revenge” invasion against the world of Helghan with the goal of capturing Emperor Visari and forcing the Helghast to stand down.

The ISA and you soon find out that the Helghast’s spirit is as strong as ever and are really pissed that you are on their home world, they are going to fight you till the very end and with extreme force. As most of you know from the demo you start right in the middle of a war, during one of the invasions and it sure feels like it. This is an invasion of massive scale and a war of the same account, with so much happening at once, bullets hitting you in all directions , explosions all around you, team mates dying, everything draws you into the game and you soon realize this is one major epic war that you are apart of.

This brings me to the AI and gameplay / controls of the game. I’ll start with the controls, firstly I saw a lot of people complaining about the controls: too many buttons, sluggish, heavy feeling, hard etc. were just some of the terms I’ve seen. Well there are a bunch of configurations to suit anyone and you will soon find what makes you comfortable. The ability to up the sensitivity of the X and Y axis separately is nice but I would have liked to have fully customizable controls, but oh well, the option I choose fitted close to the Call of Duty control scheme (Alternate 2). After the first 10mins of the game the controls felt right at home and the movement and feeling of the game is great, very realistic.

I can’t stress this enough this is a realistic type first person shooter and cannot be compared to Call of Duty 4, as many have been doing, that is mode of a arcade type FPS. The cover system has been getting some slack and I have no idea why, it works really, really well. After the first ten minutes of the game you are used to the cover system and the game even makes sure you use it as you cannot run an gun on every stage. In Killzone you are drawn right into the game experience as they never break from the first person view, running jumping, helping your team mates up a ledge. Especially the use of the sixth axis, it has to be the best implemented i’ve ever come across. Turning valves, planting explosives and while using the sniper rifle, all implemented extremely well done, everything is in first person view and done so brilliantly.

Now for the AI both enemy and your squad mates are excellent. The enemy AI is brilliant, one of the most intelligent I have ever come across in a game, and I have only experienced them on the medium setting. They work together in squads, they take cover with what they can find, they blind fire. I saw a few even run out from cover to another cover and as I fired upon them they ran back to where they were before, almost as if they were thinking screw this! I found myself flanked on a number of times and every time it happens it always surprises me. Your squad mates can handle their own, dishing out attacks and taking care of some of the Helghast. They saved my butt a few times as well. Every now and again then do go down and they make damn sure you know they are down and if you leave them for to long you will hear their cries which make you feel pretty bad. All this adds to an excellent and amazing FPS experience.

MultiPlayer
Well I cannot test the multiplayer section yet as the servers are off and well, there wouldn’t be anyone to play against in any case. I can say that the graphics are just as good as the single player, the controls are lighter then the single player campaign to allow for a fast pase feeling, you can toggle the crouch action so you don’t have to hold to crouch. All the guns from the game are there and even more. I have so far only played the skirmish mode which allows you to play a game with up to 15 bots, which can be set according to the same difficulty settings as the game. On elite these surely give you a run and a good fight. I’m sure all of you know that the multiplayer system looks to be a great in-depth experience, check out this post and this one to get a taste of what’s in store. I will do a multiplayer review as soon as we get to go online and when my internet connection gets sorted at home (really strange issue).

The Graphics
WOW, WOW, jaw dropping OMG WOW. These graphics are the best on any console I’ve ever seen. Right from the beginning of the intro right through every cut scene and every level. The details from the scratches on the guns to the surroundings to animations of the enemies when being shot. This game still makes my mouth drop every time i load it up, more so than Metal Gear Solid 4 did. The technical marvel of this game is that there is absolutely NO install of any kind. Everything is loaded once at the beginning of the level and then streamed from the disc. For me its a technical marvel because of the amount of things loaded at once, the graphics, the amount of stuff and effects happening on the screen at one time is mind boggling (and towards the end the levels get bigger and more epic). There are little loads during a level but it takes literally a split second to load, after the first 2 you forget about them and don’t even notice. This is the new game to benchmark what the PS3 can do, and a standard for what the graphics should be like for all games to come, especially on a HDTV.

The Sound
Another amazing part of the game. If you have a 5.1 system, this game will put your system and it’s speakers through its paces. You are in one major battle and you know that from the sound starts, explosions happening all around you, your squad mates dying and calling out to you. The surrounds of this game are used brilliantly, crisp clear awesome sounds. The guns sound like they should, the environments give off the correct feeling, everything is just great. The score of the game is excellent, rising as the battles get more intense, just another way the game draws you in. Oh and on a side note, there is custom in game music for the multiplayer option so you can jam to your own sounds while you duke it out online. Some of the voice acting isn’t top notch but that was one or two scenes that I saw, the rest is outstanding.

Conclusion
Brilliant, amazing, epic game are some of the words that come to my mind. Even just for the single player campaign, get it. This game will be the game all other FPS will be compared to. It’s like MGS4, everyone wants it, no-one wants to sell it and everyone will use it to show off their system. I can only say that this game is epic in almost every way and one of the best First person shooters I have ever played. So when you get it dim the lights, crank the sound and be prepared to be blown away, as this is a game you have never experienced before or the likes there of. Guerrilla Games congratulations and well done. I cannot wait to experience this over again!

The game/single player – 10
The Multiplayer - (cannot score yet)
The graphics - 10 (would be 12 if I could go higher)
The sound – 10

Overall – 10 Brilliant!

by Claudio Cecchi (Freak_c)

A big thank you to Ster-Kinekor for supplying the game.

Tags: killzone 2, Review