Killzone 2 Reviews

I had heard good things about Killzone 2 when I sat down to play it...About how it was better than Resistance and was one of the best first-person shooters available. I’ve heard the term ‘system seller’ used when people describe this game. I think those folks have been doing a bit of the ol’ boozin’, ‘cause while it’s a solid game, it’s not THAT great...and it has a few frustrating flaws, to boot.

In Killzone 2, you’re a member of a human military squad, Alpha, and are sent to a different planet to kill some Hig alien scum. Along the way, you’ll shoot...And shoot. Not a whole lot of variety here. No puzzles to solve, no really neat boss fights or little gimmicks tossed it, just shooting swarms of enemies...Which is fun at first, but it grows tired by the end of the game. Yeah, there are a variety of different guns, but they all work the same...point and shoot. With the exception of only a couple guns they’re all basically the same tactic, just a different type of firepower coming out of the barrel. After a while, it just feels very old. What’s worse is that the game occasionally teases that you’ll be doing something different, like driving a vehicle, or at least shooting from atop one. But alas, aside from a mission where you very briefly get inside a tank and shoot, one where you briefly get behind a turret inside your military base, and one where you’re in some sort of battle machine for the whole level (which oddly enough, plays almost exactly the same as if you weren’t in it), there’s really no change-up in the missions. You go into an area, you’ll find a lot of Higs that want to murder you, and then you kill them all. That’s it. This makes things feel pretty repetitive pretty fast.



That formula of kill, move, kill some more wouldn’t be quite so bad if it weren’t for some frustrating aspects of the gameplay. Your aim, for example, could be dead-on...But that still doesn’t mean you’re going to connect with your shot. Even when the cursor is red, meaning you’ve got an enemy locked in your sights, it still seems to be a toss-up as to whether you’ll actually connect or not sometimes. At certain points in the game, precise aiming is necessary and it just feels cheap when you feel that you’ve got a perfect shot, and the enemy doesn’t move, but you still miss anyway. Another big problem I had was how the screen changes when you’re close to death. When you’re almost dead, that’s the time you need to be able to see the most...So having blood cover most of the screen as the action turns into a blown-out black and white picture is extremely difficult to not only see where you’re going if you’re looking for cover, but it’s also hard to see where any enemies are. Again, this feels cheap rather than challenging when you’re picked off while blinded by the ‘near-death’ screen. Another problem I have is how you constantly lose your weapons at the end of each level. This would be fine if it were like, say Resistance 2, where each level is a new location. But in Killzone 2, half the time, you’re starting the next level where you left off in the first. I jump on a train at the end of one level with some useful weaponry, and when the next level starts on that same train, I suddenly have nothing. Basically, you’re telling me that this Sev guy is in the middle of a war and just says, “Eh, it’s a train. No enemies here, I’ll just throw my weapons away.” That deserves a one word reply; Dumb. I’m not even gonna get into all of the mysterious ‘instant deaths’ that I got as I played. I’ll just say that you don’t see them coming, you don’t know where they came from, but they happen...And it’s not fun.

Another problem I had, that has less to do with the combat, is that the game lacks a map of any kind. I don’t know how many times I had no idea where I was going, or heard a voice say ‘Over here, Sev!’ and I had absolutely no idea where ‘here’ was. A map with a little marker or something with a dot locating where you need to go would have been nice, even if it was just in the pause menu. Heck, add in some blips for enemy movement while you’re at it since when you’re near death you probably won’t be able to see ‘em anyway. Something useful like that could’ve been added to the game instead of the stupid ‘tilt the loading screens by tilting the controller’ garbage they added to apparently make the loading screens less boring. It doesn’t work, by the way.



Now, while I have a lot of complaints, that’s not to say that this game doesn’t have any good to it. While a gun feels like a gun in that they all require you to aim and fire, there are different ones to find, like machine guns and shotguns...And you’ll often find gun racks laying around with two or three weapons for you to choose from. I liked this since it allowed me to choose what weapon I wanted to use rather than be stuck with one I didn’t want. There’s also a neat gun called the electricity gun that’s kind of like a flamethrower, except it shoots out electricity...And it has infinite ammo. Once you get ahold of one of those, the game almost becomes ridiculously easy...Perhaps they made that weapon a little too good. Also, the Higs aren’t all exactly the same, different ones carry different weapons and use different attack patterns...It’s a nice little variety that slightly helps prevent boredom from kicking in when you’re just shooting everything in sight. I also enjoy the intelligence of the computer. They don’t just stand there and wait for you to shoot them; they’ll duck under cover or try to get out of the way of your line of fire. Again, this helps to prevent boredom since it adds some challenge to the game.

The online aspects of Killzone 2 are alright. It’s fun shooting other players from around the world, but Killzone 2 makes you work for the best weapons in the game when playing online. You have to basically unlock weapons, which is fine and good, but when you’re stuck playing against folks who have had the game for months and have the deadliest weapons unlocked, and you’re stuck with the basic supplies, it just gets a tad frustrating. So, while I enjoy the idea of unlocking and earning what you get, it just doesn’t work when battling other folks online...It just puts a severe handicap on all newcomers, who already have a handicap in getting used to the controls. And while the game is multiplayer online, it’s not multiplayer during campaign mode...Which just plain doesn’t make sense since you’ve got an AI partner fighting alongside you during the vast majority of the game.



As far as graphics go, Killzone 2 is up there as amongst the best of the Playstation 3 library. The opening cutscene looks pretty good on a high-def screen and all those explosions and smoke effects look quite lovely as well. The audio for the game feels more like a soundtrack you’d hear in a war movie. It’s nearly all instrumental, with the exception of a few vocals, and sounds like an orchestra is playing. It fits the battles pretty nicely...But you likely won’t be able to remember a note of it once you shut the console down. That’s not to say that the audio isn’t good or that it doesn’t do its job well...It’s just not very memorable. Likewise, all the sound effects and voice-overs are all top-notch. Cosmetically, Killzone 2 got a lot of love.

Overall, Killzone 2 isn’t a bad game by any means...It just seems like it’s missing something to make it great. It doesn’t really have anything within it to make it stand out among all of the other first-person shooters of the current generation of consoles. The story is decent, but not great. The gameplay is decent, but not great. The game itself is decent, but not great. With no real innovation and multiple flaws, Killzone 2 is a decent game to play if you love first-person shooters, but everyone else may be scratching their heads as to why people were thinking that this game was going to be a ‘system seller’ for the Playstation 3.

Going into a local GameStop one day to trade in some items, I began chatting with one of the employees manning the register. He asked me, after applying credit to my account for the items I had given him, if I was going to reserve anything that night. I responded with a rather dry, "Not reserving, but looking into buying Killzone 2 when it's released." He said, and I paraphrase, 'you may want to reserve it now, it's going to be the Halo killer.'

Excusing the gruff business tactics - practically begging for a reserve or pre-order through rather shrewd phrasing - as I do understand how GameStop works; I was employed there for a while myself. But to have a fellow gamer tell me that a first-person shooter was going to be the Halo killer was either: A) very stupid, or B) incredibly smart. You can assess this situation from one of two ways. I've come to the conclusion that there are Halo fanatics who have the Master Chief collectible statuettes, 360 controllers, custom skins for its respective console, posters, replica Warthogs, and whatever-the-hell-else they make to coincide with each respective release. Telling these fans that some random FPS will topple their beloved shooter franchise is equivalent to blasphemy. And then there are ardent non-fans, such as myself.

Little did this employee know that he immediately sparked even more curiosity in me when he labeled it the "Halo killer" because, well, I have a certain amount of distain for that game anyway. But the more I read into Killzone 2 and the more video clips I saw, I became confident that it was going to be the big PS3 system seller that Sony has been needing for going on three years now. Sure, Sony has both the critically acclaimed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune & Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots currently available, but those games have become largely niche titles that I reckon few people have actually purchased the pricey console to play.

The current comparisons being made between Bungie's Halo and Guerrilla Games' Killzone 2 are flawed and, above all else, unfair. Despite a homosapien/alien war played through a first-person perspective, Killzone 2 is an altogether different beast. It approaches first-person action less surreally and with more emphasis on squad combat, tactics, and an acute reliance on pseudo-realism. An example being its cover system which is one that must be put to use systematically in order to survive. It is accessed by maneuvering next to large, obstructive objects like road blocks, pillars and walls, then holding down L2 to "dig-in." In this mode, which is still presented in the game's almost non-stop first-person perspective, your character (Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko) can lean out and around said cover, pop-and-shoot, or simply recover from taking too much damage.

There have been many complaints made about the controls and overall "feel" of Killzone 2. Granted, it certainly doesn't feel as "light" as recent shooter fare like Call of Duty: World at War or the other big PS3 exclusive, Resistance 2. But rather than presenting itself as a fast-paced run and gun actioner, KZ 2 is obviously meant to be played more methodically and, because of that, will definitely take some getting used to. “Wading” through dim corridors and massive firefights with all the speed and agility of a sloth is a refreshing change of pace over every other shooter where marathon running and loose aiming mechanics seem to win out. In fact, the default X and Y-axis sensitivity is so tight it can feel downright ruthless. Thankfully, it can be adjusted, but I give credit to Guerrilla for attempting something different amidst a genre overcrowded with redundancy.

As an action game with some of the best presentation and production values around, you really can't fault the game for being an FPS that wears its heritage boldly on its sleeve. Its this reliance on a tried-and-true formula, coupled with amazing presentation, that places KZ 2 above most of its (stiff) competition despite being relegated to genre limitations.

This is not, however, a game that you'll cling to after the end credits have rolled, wanting to replay over and over again, and somehow hoping to recover the true meaning of life from. But it does offer up incredible action sequences, furious battles, and brilliant visual and aural presentation to tie these moments of exquisite action together. Enemy AI is stupendous; different types of units attack with unique patterns, weapons, and tactics. Being flushed out with a grenade by certain breeds of Helghast is not uncommon, while others find comfort in full-on assault. I can't say the same for friendly AI exhibiting any sort of intelligence as they will die... a lot. Reviving them is an option offered to the player, but it gets to be an old hat after the same guy goes down for the 5th consecutive time.

Not only is this an action lover’s dream come true, but Killzone 2 is one of the most visually stunning games I have ever played. I have no qualms saying that this is one console game that certainly gives PC favorite Crysis a run for its money in terms of pure visual prowess. The Deferred Rendering engine encompasses beautiful landscapes, spectacular lighting, the best motion-capture ever put to disc, and character models & textures that will literally floor you; all of which are presented at insane resolutions with the help of excellent framerates. Killzone 2 is basically a high-end PC game under the guise of an ordinary console FPS. It is a game so utterly beautiful that, quite literally, no other console shooter is even coming close to its visual excellence.

Although Killzone 2 won't be winning any awards for originality, the experience in its entirety is a highly enjoyable/rewarding one. Despite some minor issues inherent in the game's design, as well as awkward, if refreshing controls, this still remains one of the most impressive shooters released thus far on the current-generation of consoles. Xbox 360 fanboys won't find the brass to admit that Killzone 2 is one hell of a game, but PS3 owners and those soon-to-be are in for a one-of-a-kind experience. Showcasing the true power of its hardware, this PS3 exclusive is an entertaining, altogether excellent action game that is not quite a great one, but only because its ideas are something FPS lovers have been playing through for some time now. Nevertheless, I still wouldn't miss the chance to grab this one off the shelf as soon as possible.