Killzone 2: "Halo Killer" ?
Way back in mid 2003 the world first heard about a little game by the name of "Killzone." The word on the internet was that this was Sony's "Halo Killer." We were soon all showed this amazing video of the game, which looked too good to be true. However Sony assured everyone that the video was not pre-rendered but rather the in game engine. It was not and was in fact pre-rendered. And when the game finally hit store selves on November 2nd 2004 it was met with lukewarm reviews. It was not the "Halo Killer" Sony was expecting. Now more than 4 years later "Killzone 2" has hit the shelves. Can it accomplish the daunting task given to it's predecessor and finally "kill" Halo?
"Killzone 2" takes place after the first one and it's PSP incarnation. You play Sergent Tomas Sevchenko, Sev for short. After fending off the invading Helghast as they attempt to raid your home planet of Vekta, the powers that be decide to invade the Helghast planet of Helghan (creative name huh?)and capture their leader and end the war for good. Alright let's face it the story is really not that important nor good. This is a first person shooter after all. The only purpose of the story is to drive you to the next point of interest and let you start killing Helghast. The story is really thin but then again if you play a first person shooter for the story please go have your head examined.
Now that the story is out of the way let's move on. The game looks amazing. If you didn't know better you might even swear that it's a live action movie rather than a game. The environments are all various shades of brown and gray, which don't sound too fantastic on their own. But trust me the game looks great. The various locals from city centers to soldier training academies each feels unique. The hallways and alleyways feel claustrophobic and the city feels both familiar and alien at the same time. When the sand blows across the screen you can almost feel the grit. It has a Gears of War vibe to it. It really is a visual marvel. The game finally delivers on the graphical promises of it's predecessor albeit on a new generation of console.
The gameplay is pretty much your standard affair for a first person shooter. Killzone 2 doesn't really take any chances. It follows the tried and true formula for a shooter. At first the movements of your character will feel clunky and sluggish but you will quickly get used to it so it's not really an issue. The gun variety is pretty standard as well. There are your assault rifles, sniper rifle, pistol, rocket launcher, etc. The only really unique weapon is the lighting gun. The game allows you to basically carry a single gun at a time along with your pistol, which you cannot drop. This may seem like a downside but honestly when a certain gun is called for the game will have it at hand for you. The standard issue assault rifle is good enough that you could viably get through the game exclusively using it. The one main gun mechanic is actually something I like about the game. It gives it a sense of realism. I mean come on who can carry like 5 different guns at one time? I also absolutely love the little gauge on the grenade that tells you how far along it is to exploding. It allows you to "cook" the grenades just right, which is a very good thing in regards to multiplayer, which I will get to shortly.
The AI in the game also works rather well. Your squad will actually take out enemies and advance at a decent pace on their own. The enemies will take cover and fire at you from it. The final boss is really a testament to the wonderful AI of this game. His tactics are almost that of a human player; it's pretty remarkable. It's nice to have AI that isn't useless *cough* call of duty world at war *cough*.
The single player campaign is a decent length clocking in at about 8 hours. However the real meat of any first person shooter is the online play. I mean come on let's face it no matter how good a game's AI is, nothing is more satisfying that killing another human player. KZ2's multiplayer does not disappoint. It supports games of up to 32 players, which is pretty standard. The servers are very stable and the games never lag (for me at least), which is always a plus.
The game has 8 mulitplayer maps and 5 different game types. The game types are pretty much your standard set. There's assassination, which has one team trying to protect a specific player and the other team trying to kill him. The capture and hold a point, kill as many opposing players as possible, plant bombs and defend them until they explode, and finally bring a "propaganda speaker" to a specific point. The thing that really sets KZ2 apart from other multiplayer shooters is the way these different game types play out. Rather than start a new game type when a new round starts,KZ2 can play all 5 types in one match. If your team fails at assassination the game will quickly give you a new game type. The team that wins the most game types wins the round. It's pretty interesting. Another good thing is that every single map works for every game type and gives no team any unfair advantage. There is also the benefit of forming squads, which allows you to spawn on top of your squad leader, which can save precious time when you're trying to defend a point or rush the enemy base.
The game has a leveling system for the online component. You get points based on how many kills you receive during a match and you rank up when you get a certain number of points. This is basically a page right out of the "Call of Duty" book. Each new rank offers new weapons and various other perks like different character classes. As you'd expect the higher rank you are the better weapons you get. But it never feels like the higher ranked players are unkillable. This ranking system can get a bit tedious but if you like playing the game it will rank up on it's own and won't feel like a chore. I have to admit that at higher ranks when you level up there really is this sense of achievement.
As with any online game you can expect that there are people who can't shut up on the mics and the small whiny children. That can get really annoying after a while but in the frantic firefights their voices are drowned out for the most part. It is a console shooter (I'm partial to the tradiational keyboard/mouse combo of the PC) so the aiming cannot be as precise as a PC shooter. The game has a sorta auto aim. When you aim near an enemy the crosshairs will turn red and assist you a bit in the aiming. It is not as unfair as you'd expect because the assistance it provides is pretty minor but really works well.
Killzone 2 is a well rounded package. The single player campaign is satisfying and the online component is pretty fantastic. The online alone will give you hours of replay value but if that's not enough the single player campaign has intel to collect and Helghast emblems to destroy which will net you some trophies if that's the thing you're into. Yes this game has trophies too, which honestly I don't see the appeal nor the need for. But people seem to love it.
Years after that infamous pre-rendered "Killzone" video we are finally given the game we were promised. The wait was well worth it. Sony finally has it's very own good first person shooter franchise.
I'm going to give "Killzone 2" a 9.5/10. I would have liked to see a better weapon variety and possibly a longer campaign with a better story.
"Killzone 2" takes place after the first one and it's PSP incarnation. You play Sergent Tomas Sevchenko, Sev for short. After fending off the invading Helghast as they attempt to raid your home planet of Vekta, the powers that be decide to invade the Helghast planet of Helghan (creative name huh?)and capture their leader and end the war for good. Alright let's face it the story is really not that important nor good. This is a first person shooter after all. The only purpose of the story is to drive you to the next point of interest and let you start killing Helghast. The story is really thin but then again if you play a first person shooter for the story please go have your head examined.
Now that the story is out of the way let's move on. The game looks amazing. If you didn't know better you might even swear that it's a live action movie rather than a game. The environments are all various shades of brown and gray, which don't sound too fantastic on their own. But trust me the game looks great. The various locals from city centers to soldier training academies each feels unique. The hallways and alleyways feel claustrophobic and the city feels both familiar and alien at the same time. When the sand blows across the screen you can almost feel the grit. It has a Gears of War vibe to it. It really is a visual marvel. The game finally delivers on the graphical promises of it's predecessor albeit on a new generation of console.
The gameplay is pretty much your standard affair for a first person shooter. Killzone 2 doesn't really take any chances. It follows the tried and true formula for a shooter. At first the movements of your character will feel clunky and sluggish but you will quickly get used to it so it's not really an issue. The gun variety is pretty standard as well. There are your assault rifles, sniper rifle, pistol, rocket launcher, etc. The only really unique weapon is the lighting gun. The game allows you to basically carry a single gun at a time along with your pistol, which you cannot drop. This may seem like a downside but honestly when a certain gun is called for the game will have it at hand for you. The standard issue assault rifle is good enough that you could viably get through the game exclusively using it. The one main gun mechanic is actually something I like about the game. It gives it a sense of realism. I mean come on who can carry like 5 different guns at one time? I also absolutely love the little gauge on the grenade that tells you how far along it is to exploding. It allows you to "cook" the grenades just right, which is a very good thing in regards to multiplayer, which I will get to shortly.
The AI in the game also works rather well. Your squad will actually take out enemies and advance at a decent pace on their own. The enemies will take cover and fire at you from it. The final boss is really a testament to the wonderful AI of this game. His tactics are almost that of a human player; it's pretty remarkable. It's nice to have AI that isn't useless *cough* call of duty world at war *cough*.
The single player campaign is a decent length clocking in at about 8 hours. However the real meat of any first person shooter is the online play. I mean come on let's face it no matter how good a game's AI is, nothing is more satisfying that killing another human player. KZ2's multiplayer does not disappoint. It supports games of up to 32 players, which is pretty standard. The servers are very stable and the games never lag (for me at least), which is always a plus.
The game has 8 mulitplayer maps and 5 different game types. The game types are pretty much your standard set. There's assassination, which has one team trying to protect a specific player and the other team trying to kill him. The capture and hold a point, kill as many opposing players as possible, plant bombs and defend them until they explode, and finally bring a "propaganda speaker" to a specific point. The thing that really sets KZ2 apart from other multiplayer shooters is the way these different game types play out. Rather than start a new game type when a new round starts,KZ2 can play all 5 types in one match. If your team fails at assassination the game will quickly give you a new game type. The team that wins the most game types wins the round. It's pretty interesting. Another good thing is that every single map works for every game type and gives no team any unfair advantage. There is also the benefit of forming squads, which allows you to spawn on top of your squad leader, which can save precious time when you're trying to defend a point or rush the enemy base.
The game has a leveling system for the online component. You get points based on how many kills you receive during a match and you rank up when you get a certain number of points. This is basically a page right out of the "Call of Duty" book. Each new rank offers new weapons and various other perks like different character classes. As you'd expect the higher rank you are the better weapons you get. But it never feels like the higher ranked players are unkillable. This ranking system can get a bit tedious but if you like playing the game it will rank up on it's own and won't feel like a chore. I have to admit that at higher ranks when you level up there really is this sense of achievement.
As with any online game you can expect that there are people who can't shut up on the mics and the small whiny children. That can get really annoying after a while but in the frantic firefights their voices are drowned out for the most part. It is a console shooter (I'm partial to the tradiational keyboard/mouse combo of the PC) so the aiming cannot be as precise as a PC shooter. The game has a sorta auto aim. When you aim near an enemy the crosshairs will turn red and assist you a bit in the aiming. It is not as unfair as you'd expect because the assistance it provides is pretty minor but really works well.
Killzone 2 is a well rounded package. The single player campaign is satisfying and the online component is pretty fantastic. The online alone will give you hours of replay value but if that's not enough the single player campaign has intel to collect and Helghast emblems to destroy which will net you some trophies if that's the thing you're into. Yes this game has trophies too, which honestly I don't see the appeal nor the need for. But people seem to love it.
Years after that infamous pre-rendered "Killzone" video we are finally given the game we were promised. The wait was well worth it. Sony finally has it's very own good first person shooter franchise.
I'm going to give "Killzone 2" a 9.5/10. I would have liked to see a better weapon variety and possibly a longer campaign with a better story.
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