Killzone 2 is finally out!
Its amazing to think that a trailer shown in a video montage at Sony's E3 2005 Press Conference would be the biggest subject of controversy before the current generation would even begin. But despite the mass amounts of pressure put on the development team, Killzone 2 would be destined to be that game everyone got excited about when that first trailer hit. In short, Killzone 2 is quite possibly the most intense, and thrilling shooter you will find on the market today. Is it the best? Probably not, but the best is usually described on what you perceive it to be.
Killzone 2 offers an intense single player campaign that will probably last you around eight or so hours. While there is definitely some action to be seen here, the campaign falls short in a lack of memorable characters and an interesting story. I wouldn't say that the story non-existent, because there are certainly some decent story elements to be found here. It's disappointing because the Killzone universe is one of the most interesting seen in a first person shooter and it would have been great to really dig deep in the struggle between the ISA and the Helghast.
You will play as Sergeant Tomas Sevchenko, who will go simply by the name of "Sev." Accompanied Sev are three other members of the Alpha Squad, one of which a returning character from the first Killzone, Rico. The game starts out with you and your squad simply landing on the Helghan surface ready to do business. From there the story is told through a few cinematic’s, but its mostly just getting orders on the fly to head out to certain locations to get stuff done. Because of the short comings in the story, about half way through the story trys to get all "touchy" with you. And because of the lack of memorable characters, or really a good enough reason to justify why this war is going on, it’s kind of hard to really care what’s happening.
But not to dwell on the story to much, the action is the real show here. Killzone 2 offers a unique cover system that with a click of a button will attach you to a wall to protect you from incoming fire. From here you can simply pop out, take some shots, and go right back into cover. The cover is crucial to your success. The enemy A.I. is phenomenal. You will notice that the helghast will take cover as well. The fact that they take cover is not what’s amazing though, if the cover their using starts to deteriorate, they'll take note of it and find new nearby cover. With that said, if the helgast notice your behind the same piece of cover over an extended period of time, they'll attempt to flank you out with grenades. A tactic mind you, that you will come to find works. The A.I. at times will also try to rush you and your squad. Making for some on the fly decision making on what action to take. It's also great to see that the enemy will not just attack you, but your whole squad as well. This is something that we don’t get to see very often in shooters.
Throughout the campaign you'll also have opportunities to jump into tanks, drive a fully armed mech, and man a flank gun hundreds of feet in the sky as you try to defend the ISA fleet in an all out Ariel war. These moments make for some thrilling and incredible gameplay you soon will not forget.
One thing too also note about Killzone 2 is yes, the visuals. Killzone 2 offers probably the most impressive display of lighting ever seen in a video game. From the sun light peeking through the clouds, to the flare your assault rifle lets off as you unload a magazine on some helghast. But it’s not just the lighting, the game simply looks incredible. The character models are top notch, the environments vary and are a sight to see. What’s even more amazing is how these visuals don't hinder at all during the full scale, 32 player multiplayer action.
Killzone 2 offers probably one the most addicting and rewarding competitive multiplayer experiences we have seen in a long time. It's not that it does anything different from what we have already seen. Its how its presented that makes it worth spending time on. Instead of just playing one game type per round, Killzone 2 will through several different game types in ONE round. You may start the match off with bodycount, your standard team deathmatch. From there it can go to assassination. Were a player gets selected and the opposing team has to "assassinate" as the name implies. There’s capture and hold, which is your standard territories type mode. Search and destroy, were you plant C4 on a particular location and make it go boom. All of this while simply never leaving the match.
The multiplayer will offer player classes to try out. These classes are a medic, who carries a gun that will bring people back up were they have already fallen, an engineer, who can set up turrets but is limited to a shotgun, assault, your heavy type class that carries a missile launcher, The tactician, which can create spawn points for other players to spawn at, rather than all the way back at the team base. There's the Scout, which uses a cloaking ability that renders the player nearly invisible. Saboteur, who can take the identity of a player on the opposing team. But the interesting part about all this is that everyone starts off as a basic rifleman. Who carries a standard assault rifle and few grenades. From here you must earn points to unlock the different classes. This isn’t a bad thing at all as it gives the player a basic understanding on how everything works before giving them all these unique ability's. The longevity on the multiplayer comes in being able to upgrade the classes to newer abilities.
The multiplayer also features a rank system, and awards players with ribbons and medals for accomplishing certain goals. All this while playing on 8 different maps that alternate per round. Again, most elements we've seen before, but its presented in a damn good way. It's fun, its addictive, you'll simply love it. Hopefully all the crazy killzone 2 talk can be put to rest . If you have a PS3, then you owe it to yourself to try it out. Killzone 2, after such a long development cycle is out. Go get it.
