There are two things that we hate in this universe: product hype and space Nazis. Basically, your enemies (the Helghast) are a bunch of fascist, planet invading, Darth Vader-fetish-having bastards - and we think that hype is part of the same fun-wrecking axis of evil.
No one knows this last fact better than developers Guerilla Games, whose hotly anticipated title, Killzone 2, sits at the centre of a violent hype hurricane. A perfect system war shit storm, if you will. Ever since it was unveiled to the world at E3 2005, the game has been flypaper for naysayers and nitpickers in large idiotic droves. Worst of all, it has had the stupidly subjective, utterly amorphous Halo killer expectation placed upon it by diehard fans (or haters) of the PlayStation 3. Make no mistake people, there is a LOT riding on the quality of this title.
But enough dramatic build up. As youve no doubt guessed from the superlative score overhead, Killzone 2 totally delivers on the promises it made way back in E3 2005, and it is a very early contender for game of 2009. On that bombshell, lets find out what its all about, shall we?
The events of this particular sequel take place two years after the attempted invasion of planet Vekta, peaceful colony of the ISA (the good guys in Killzone 1). The campaign here details a retaliatory counterattack against the evil Helghast (we hate these guys), who live on the less than touristy planet Helghan. Playing as ISA Special Forces operative Tomas Sev Sevchenko, its your duty to drop behind enemy lines and eliminate the threat posed by Helghast leader, Scolar Visari (a.k.a. bald space Hitler).
Is it real purty lookin?
Speaking plainly, Killzone 2 is one of, if not the, best looking console games money can buy. From the second it loads, Killzone 2 will grab your eyeballs and make sweet love to them down by the fire. There may even be times when a cutscene will make your jaw involuntarily drop, and then detach completely from your skull when you realise the movie has seamlessly given way to in-game action.
All of this eye candy is possible thanks to Guerilla Games employing special deferred rendering techniques which allow for extensive post-processing effects, including high dynamic lighting in complex geometry environments, and Multisample Anti Aliasing. What does all that borax mean in practical terms? It means Killzone 2 marches other console shooters to the existing benchmark, and unceremoniously bends them over it.
That said, when it comes to colour palette Killzone 2 does seem to favour two distinct tones: metallic greys and moody blues, or dark and earthy. Now for some Interweb folk, who judge finished games on pre-release screenshots, this colourisation is seen as a glaring fault. We dont agree. You see, 95 percent of the campaign takes place on the surface of planet Helghan which, according to Killzone canon, is the most inhospitable environment since the toilet in Trainspotting.
Its meant to be gritty, its meant to be a touch ugly. Those of you purchasing Killzone 2 expecting the Swiss Alps, with green fields full of skipping Helghans making daisy chains youre going to be sorely disappointed. In fact, pretty much the only vibrant green seen in Killzone 2 is through the sexy tinted scope of your trusty M82 assault rifle which is all the green youre gonna need.
What the levels lack in massive colour variation, they more than make up for in size, scope, and meticulous attention to detail. The course of your adventure will whisk you from the nightmarish industrial sprawl of downtown Pyrrhus, to the windswept mesa of a quasi-abandoned mining outpost, to jaw dropping battles in the stratosphere, and beyond.
Wherever you look, the levels are awash with masterful lighting, and a variety of sensual environmental effects, including sand storms thatll make you wince, electrical chaos as massive Tesla towers discharge, and some truly sweet flame tech that gets put in the palm of your hands later on in the campaign (in sweet flamethrower form).
Youve got everything from guns to sharp sticks
Speaking of flambéing facists with flamethrowers, Killzone 2 sports an impressive cache of firearms that will keep the no laser weapons gang happy. Along with your basic ISA/Helghan assault rifles you get to wrap your mitts around the usual suspects; the space shottie, the sci-fi M1 Garand, the melon popping sniper rifle, the LMG mush maker, etc, etc.
On top of those you also get to meet the meatier favourites; the corpse pining Bolt gun, the electricity spewing supercannon, and the obligatory grenade and rocket launchers. As you would expect, each weapon has its own distinct positives and negatives and youll need to learn them quick smart, because to be effective in Killzone 2 is to think strategically and use the iron sights religiously. Failure to do either of these things, at any range beyond spitting, will earn you a one way trip from the killzone to deadsville.
Make no mistake, this is not a mindless run and gunner, and the most telltale evidence of this truth is in Sevs movement speed. From the first time you nudge the left stick forward youll notice a palpable weight to the character a realistic attempt to replicate the kinetic motion of your virtual body. After a minute of kicking about, this will feel quite slick and natural, but every once in a while it may prove to be a slight hindrance. Some of us in the office felt a bit hampered by this heaviness when we needed to make sharp precise movements (like snap shooting a head shot at close range, or wheeling about to prevent a flanking enemy from gun butting us).
Now, at this point the logical among you would argue just turn that aim sensitivity up, but that is just a stopgap solution that shifts the problem rather than solving it. Boost your look speed to crackhead ninja and youll then have your work cut out for you when you need to fine tune a ranged shot. Dont get us wrong, this isnt a fault by any means. After some adjustment we viewed it as different, a cinematic approach to player movement like how Gears of War feels different to most other third-person shooters out there. In the end it didnt hinder our experience too much, we only mention it here to pre-prepare those twitch killing Call of Dutiers among you.
Get tactical, keep it practical
The next big indicator of tactical depth in Killzone 2 is the way the game deliberately limits your arsenal and keeps the bullets scarce. As mentioned before, every gun is tailored towards a specific range and purpose and youll need to constantly switch your weaponry.
Why? Because along with your knife, an infinite ammo pistol (known in some multiplayer circles as the everlasting knob stopper), and a pocketful of grenades you can only lug around one main boomstick at a time. Going in, we were totally against this particular design choice. By the end credits, we really didnt mind it at all. By doing things this way, Guerrilla successfully encourage you to adapt and experiment with all the weaponry at hand. This creates some much appreciated desperation to some of the single player firefights and well talk about the multiplayer ramifications of this later on.
The game also employs a unique first-person cover system. Holding in L2 makes you attach to the cover in front or beside you. Once in this position you can strafe along the object, pop out to take shots, and at all times youre given a peeking view of what is beyond you.
While not a mandatory mechanic to the game, its a very useful option that will save your arse on Veteran difficulty. Therell be no spamming of this cover system either; youll need to be constantly aware of the enemy position lest they flank you. Also, enemies intelligently use grenades, so it is never a case of walk into a room secure cover, and never leave it until the enemy gets picked off.
So what kills the mood in the zone?
To Guerrilla Games credit, all of the abovementioned elements combine to make a true blockbuster first person shooter experience. The AI of the various Helghan infantry types is expertly tuned and never skips a beat, and the campaign is sprinkled with some wow-factor rollercoaster rides, breathtaking on-rail events, and even a few memorable vehicle sections to keep the pace lively.
There are only a few things that mar the single player adventure. The first is the less than awesome voice acting by your AI teammates. Rather than being a tight knit group of elite special op professionals, your squad consists of Natko the obnoxious, homophobic, henpecker - Garza, the introverted, tech savvy henpeckee - and Rico, the squad Sergeant who tries (and fails) to sound bad ass by punctuating most orders with muh-fucker. When we encountered the more emotional scenes later on in the story, they lost some of their intended impact because we didnt give a space crap about the people involved.
Last but not least, Killzone 2 issues some very noticeable hitches whenever it has to load a section of the level. The in-game pauses where it initiates an auto save we can totally understand and forgive. But there were times on the tail end of a shootout, as we capped the last enemy only to have the brakes slammed on for a load. Its a minor annoyance (like a layer change halfway through a DVD movie), but it happens a bit and is counterproductive for a game that prides itself on recreating a cinematic experience. Obviously were hoping this issue can be patched into oblivion.
Earning the I killed 100 Higs merit badge
When it comes to hooking into online and busting random heads, Killzone 2 ticks yes on the boxes marked mayhem, longevity, and perk-a-licious. Luckily, we had the benefit of several 32 player fragfests with other writers and some (muted) Guerrilla staff, and the resulting carnage was grin-worthy indeed.
Without a doubt, the jewel of Killzone 2s multiplayer crown is Warzone, a class-based, specific role mode that pits the goody two shoes ISA against the hellish Helghast. Rather than being a straight up (i.e. boring) deathmatch affair, Warzone randomly alternates between several different objectives. This is an awesome way to keep the sessions fresh, as both teams will have to scramble to adjust their tactics from capturing flags, defending hills, assassinating key players, and even periods of just piling up the body count.
Speaking of strategising, the sixteen classes available offer something for every playing style, be it: the bossy-boot air strikers (Tactician), the Florence Nightingales (Medic), the auto-gun mechanophiles (Engineer), the duplicitous bastards (Saboteur), or the near-invisible snipers (Scout) to name but a few.
In addition to selecting a class that compliments your usual M.O., you can also earn badges and attach them to your character to further augment your combat abilities. These enhancements can mean increased movement speed, extra grenade slots, or the badges can manifest themselves as beefier weapons/armour or special secondary abilities. There really is a staggering degree of tailoring options and perks to unlock here, and if you want to practise your skills the game even supports sixteen, surprisingly intelligent bots running about.
But like the single player campaign, there are a few tiny issues that we need to draw your attention to. For one thing the cover system doesnt feature in multiplayer. The experience works quite well without it (in fact, we played several rounds before we even noticed it was missing), but it does strike us as an odd omission the weaker combat classes in particular could have greatly benefitted from it.
Other multiplayer concerns arise when you compare Killzone 2s maximum player count to its PS3 contemporaries. Here are some quick comparisons, Killzone 2 maximum players: 32, Resistance 2: 60. Co-op modes in Killzone 2: none (yet), Resistance 2: eight players online.
Only time will tell if the lower competitive numbers will negatively affect the game, were quietly confident that the depth of the more complex class system, and the massive maps alone will make up for this short coming. That said, the lack of a co-op mode, in this day and age and in such a competitive genre, will undoubtedly be seen as a bit of a downer for some people.
Closing comments
Killzone 2 is a stunning game best suited for FPS aficionados, rabid graphics whores, and all proud Ps3 owners in general. Guerrilla Games have stepped up to the plate and delivered very comparable results to that preview video that blew our collective minds in 2005. Using Guerrillas proprietary deferred rendering engine Killzone 2 squeezes a lot more juice out of the Ps3 than anything weve seen thus far.
Despite scoring an A - on voice acting and sorely lacking co-operative options, Killzone 2 bounces back with a very well realised competitive multiplayer mode. This icing on the cake successfully maintains the visual fidelity of the single player campaign, while including an addictive class/perk system that will keep Ps3 owners happily in the kill zone for a long time to come.
In our opinion, Killzone 2 has managed to avoid becoming a victim of the hype, but we still think itll be bashed by the same narrow-minded naysayers all the same. To those people, we say: experience it first (play, not YouTube), express your amazement afterwards.
