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I want someone to remaster Killzone 2 to kickstart enthusiasm for the franchise

EvB

Member
Yes.

Critically speaking: It went from elite status (90+ KZ2) to high-quality (84 KZ3) to just slightly above average as compared to ALL games (KZ SF 74), and just slightly better than than the widely panned original (KZ1 70). And that's for a launch game, when pickings are slim, and less than excellent games tend to still get some sympathy. That is brutal by the standard of the series. A 74 is way down in the dumps.

I don't really think that you can easily compare metacritic scores over such a long timeframe because lots of publications have changed the way in which they review games since KZ2 came out, which produces a far less granular and varied result than of days gone by.

Also, go have a look at the Killzone 2 reviews, the first review that appears on that list is from Official Playstation Magazine, who scored it 100.

And again, in a 4 year period the genre has moved on, what have the subsequent Killzone games brought to the table that are original that might score them brownie points?
I personally feel that the graphics have become less impressive relative to their release window. KZ and KZ2 in-particular were both benchmark titles.

There are lots of interesting conversations that can be had around how reviews are measured and how subjectivity can be measured with a number.
Videogames inparticular are interesting as a media because they are technology driven pieces and that is a constantly shifting bar.
 

alt27

Member
I'm all for new IP, but new IP are commercially very, very risky. Making another FPS basically means Killzone is dead-dead, which from Sony's perspective is like giving up a core of people that would buy it due to the KZ name.

Of course, I can already predict the responses to this:

- The core KZ fan base is now so small as to not matter.
- Horizon was a new IP, and look how successful it is!

Valid points, of course, but to these I say:

- It has been battered by Shadow Fall, but it is still there, and a even a few hundred thousand people is better than zero.
- Past success is FAR from a guarantee of future results... especially when it comes to new IP. Horizon did it, but that was in a fairly wide-open genre and at a perfect time for it. Making a successful new FPS might just be the toughest thing to pull off in the entire industry.

Very fair points.

I just think KZ has reached its end and Sony is in a position to take a few risks . And your super right on the FPS brtualness of starting a new IP, its 3rd party dominated .

Maybe a pubG copy with polish or something . Who knows , but probably every publisher doing it now , lol
 
I would love a KZ2 remaster, but ain't gonna happen.

Well, I can almost guarantee you're wrong about THAT. Of course it'll happen. Every noteworthy game gets some sort of remaster eventually. Ugh, even KZ1 got one already.

The question is when, and how much effort is put into it. I'm lobbying for rather more than just your average boom-1080p-60fps-single-player-only-and-done type of deal here.
 
I don't really think that you can easily compare metacritic scores over such a long timeframe because lots of publications have changed the way in which they review games since KZ2 came out, which produces a far less granular and varied result than of days gone by.

Also, go have a look at the Killzone 2 reviews, the first review that appears on that list is from Official Playstation Magazine, who scored it 100.

And again, in a 4 year period the genre has moved on, what have the subsequent Killzone games brought to the table that are original that might score them brownie points?
I personally feel that the graphics have become less impressive relative to their release window. KZ and KZ2 in-particular were both benchmark titles.

There are lots of interesting conversations that can be had around how reviews are measured and how subjectivity can be measured with a number.
Videogames inparticular are interesting as a media because they are technology driven pieces and that is a constantly shifting bar.

(I don't fully understand the point regarding the OPM 100 score. Those mags were perfectly legitimate. They scored games fairly. OPM doesn't mean Sony publishes it or anything like that; it just means it focuses only on PlayStation games. Plenty of brutal scores given out by pubs like that.)

Anyway, without getting into the weeds of review scoring trends - which is somewhat off-topic - I think for the purposes of this topic here, it suffices to say that Shadow Fall showed a rather brutal fall-off in quality, according to pretty much anyone you might care to ask. I gave some numbers as evidence, but even without that, if you paid attention, you pretty much felt the same thing.

---

I actually don't think war FPS campaigns have particularly moved on or improved since 2009, to tell you the truth. The only reason I made this thread is that other than the trappings of the PS3 -- the deferred rendering causing the input delay (I think I recall some connection), the annoying controller -- KZ2 stands up very very well against the best campaigns today. It has atmosphere and visual flair to spare, and it has a level of intensity that feels like a labor of love rather than the cookie-cutter explosion-fests that one got used to after seminal games like Halo 1-3 and CoD 4 came out and set the formula. Plus there is the unique feel of weight and those violence animations IMHO still pack a punch that most games since haven't.

But I don't know. It could be nostalgia.

Brush all this philosophizing away, and I'd simply love to play this campaign in coop.
 

black070

Member
I don't really think that you can easily compare metacritic scores over such a long timeframe because lots of publications have changed the way in which they review games since KZ2 came out, which produces a far less granular and varied result than of days gone by.

Also, go have a look at the Killzone 2 reviews, the first review that appears on that list is from Official Playstation Magazine, who scored it 100.

And again, in a 4 year period the genre has moved on, what have the subsequent Killzone games brought to the table that are original that might score them brownie points?
I personally feel that the graphics have become less impressive relative to their release window. KZ and KZ2 in-particular were both benchmark titles.

There are lots of interesting conversations that can be had around how reviews are measured and how subjectivity can be measured with a number.
Videogames inparticular are interesting as a media because they are technology driven pieces and that is a constantly shifting bar.

Barring the first Killzone, 2 & 3 still hold up incredibly well to this day.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Killzone 2 was a good game but also a product of its time with weapon limit, linearity etc. Its another one of those classic CoD campaigns. Although it was better.

I'd rather see a Killzone game with more freedom and better world building. The theme of Shadow Fall, a divided planet, was excellent on paper. Just shit execution.
 
Hmmm, I always prefer a weapon limit. It adds realism and forces some difficult decisions. To each his own, of course.

Killzone 2 also kept ammo a factor. In Killzone 3 they decide to take that out of the equation by placing full ammo caches all over the place. Still not sure why. I guess it made level design that much easier. In general, I was surprised just how much less vertical and more obvious/corridor-based Killzone 3 was in most places.

I suppose it's just time constraints. The jump from Uncharted 2 to 3 was similar: crazy vertical levels gave way to linear chases and arena wave battles.
 
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