KILLZONE 2

[nemesiswontdie]

dammit i want 2 play kz2 now

[Vector]

I just beat it...took a shade over 6 hours. It's a very good game. 9/10. The final boss battle is pretty cool. The cover system was very nice. Graphics are the best on a console yet. The characters were pretty colorless, I wanted some more out of them. The gameplay was varied, lots of fun. I haven't tried multiplayer yet...but I will after I get some dinner.

[Skunky]

6 hours?! Wow man, you must be good!
It took me about 11 hours (I'm no FPS expert). The last level was F**KING HARD (but still fun) and the last boss fight took me ages. I died SOoooo many times!
The game is a masterpiece!

Yeah, the characters were not very inspiring but they did the job. Rico was sometimes amusing, sometimes just damn annoying but it was good they included someone from the first game. Do you know if there is an alternate ending?
Spoiler:

show spoiler

I kept Rico alive during the last boss and he was the one who shot the Helghast leader at the end. If I let him die, I'm wondering if the ending would have been different?
btw, I thought the ending was great!

I've read a few reviews which said the story was weak or nonexistent but I really liked it. It draws a lot of parallels with not only the Nazis/Helghast (similar uniforms and symbolism) but also America's invading of the Middle East/ISA invading of Helghan.

The action, graphics, artistic style and atmosphere, are beyond anything else created in a video game (IMO). Anyone not impressed with this game, is not being fair or has ulterior motives.

@Shellshock 2
Yep, I've heard the game is terrible. I read one review say it's possibly the worst game of this generation. But on the plus side it has zombies in it and it's violent enough to get banned in Australia.
Guerrilla made the first game but they have nothing to do with the sequel. Shellshock 2 is made by 'Rebellion'. One promotion I saw, shamelessly tried to link the games by stating, "A sequel to the game, from the creators of Killzone". See, if you read that fast, without really thinking about it, you'd get the impression it was made by Guerrilla.

[Vector]

I just tried a few games of multiplayer...it's a lot of fun when you have a team that isn't full of absolute fucking morons. Like on most PS3 games, no one uses their microphones. They had them, but they weren't using them. We were playing Search and Destroy, I planted the bomb about 6 times, each time saying "I'm planting a charge, get ready to defend it," only to have someone walk right up from behind me, murder me and defuse the bomb each time. At one point I started SCREAMING into the microphone at the idiots on my team, only to hear nothing but environmental feedback come through on these assholes' headsets.

I'm taking a break until my clan gets up and running. I can't stand playing with idiots like that. They ruin the experience when I'm the only person doing well in the game, and the rest of them are horrendous...I hate having to carry a team. I like being the 2nd or 3rd best player, and in my clan(from COD4) I should be just that.


EDIT: I just wrote a quick review for my school's newspaper. It's pretty shitty, I need to write an article a week for the arts desk...but I think it sums up my thoughts on the game pretty well:


Killzone 2 delivers on its hype
By ChrisRedfield29(lolz u don't kno my real name n00bz)
Staff Writer
When Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled the PlayStation 3 at E3 2005, the one thing everyone was talking about other than its awkward ‘Boomerang Controller’ prototype was the teaser shown for a future first-person shooter called Killzone 2.
The graphics were unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. Keeping in mind that this was before the launch of the current generation of consoles(Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Sony PlayStation 3), everyone who saw it was blown away. Skeptics thought there was no way it could be real. “That’s pre-rendered!” shouted the critics. And, eventually, we found out that they were right. The trailer shown at E3 2005 was in fact pre-rendered, and wasn’t comprised of footage from the in-game engine. People were disappointed.
Almost 4 years after that trailer was revealed, Killzone 2(the sequel to the PS2’s 2004 title, Killzone) launched this past week on February 27th, with a tremendous following of expectations and (for the PS3) unmatched hype. Although that infamous trailer was indeed pre-rendered, the gentlemen at Guerilla Games created a visual experience as close to that trailer as humanly possible.
And that’s a good place to begin: the graphics. Killzone 2 is far and away the greatest-looking game ever to be seen on home gaming console, hands down. Lightning cracks across the sky, causing unbelievable shadow and lighting effects in the areas surrounding the player. Explosions flourish with incredible realism as they destroy the surrounding destructible environments. There really is no other way to describe this beauty without seeing it for yourself. The game is visually stunning, both technically and artistically – blasting the head off of an enemy has never, ever been so gloriously beautiful.
As far as gameplay is concerned, Killzone 2 is very good…that’s about it. The gameplay isn’t nearly as groundbreaking as the graphics. The game simply doesn’t do anything new. It is a very fun FPS(first-person shooter), but there’s nothing in the game that we haven’t seen before. There’s a cover system, which is rare for FPS’s, and it adds to the singleplayer campaign, but it can be clunky and annoying at times. The gameplay is varied – you’ll spend most of your time on foot, but you’ll also fight the enemy on mounted turrets, anti-aircraft cannons and even a bipedal tank which makes for one of the most rewarding and fun segments of the game’s singleplayer campaign.
There is a lot of replay value to be had in Killzone 2. The campaign can take anywhere from 6-10 hours, although an experienced gamer can probably clear it in a shade under 6 hours. Trophies reward the player for going back into the campaign and playing through it on different difficulties. You can find pieces of intel, shoot destructible enemy logos and more to unlock a bunch of different content on Killzone.com, where the amount of integration is something never before seen for a PS3 game.
The place where Killzone 2 really shines, and the place where the consumer will get the most bang for their buck is in the game’s multiplayer mode. Appropriately titled “Warzone,” the player can jump into a game type of their choice thanks to filters, making the experience as customizable as possible. You can join a game based on map, game type and the amount of players allowed in each room(anywhere from 2-32 people can play). The game types of Body Count(team deathmatch), Assassination, Search and Retrieve, Capture and Hold and Search and Destroy aren’t all that revolutionary as they’ve all been seen in many other games, under different titles…but the way they are combined is what makes Killzone 2’s experience different than the others. For a set period of time, you can be playing Body Count. When the time expires or the kill count is achieved, the game type switches, seamlessly and quickly to anything else. One minute you’re trying to slaughter everyone you can, and the next minute you’re trying to defend a base that you’ve captured. These fluid changes in game types are considered ‘rounds’ in the scoring of the game. Whoever wins the most rounds, wins the game.
The game within the game is the leveling-up system, which is a new staple in multiplayer shooters. With each kill and objective achieved, medals and ribbons are earned which helps level your character up, unlocking new weapons and abilities. This makes the multiplayer experience even more rewarding. There is also extensive clan support, tournaments and direct connectivity with Killzone.com. On the Web site, you can view your own statistics, your clan and its members, and even watch simple, top-down replays of matches you had just played.
Killzone 2 is a damn good game. It’s not groundbreaking aside from a graphical and technical standpoint, nor is it the ‘savior’ that many people believe the PS3 needs…but it is a very, very good game, and one that is recommended to anyone who owns a PS3. And if you don’t have a PS3 and have been considering one, now is the time to go and pick one up.

Score: A-

[nemesiswontdie]

thanks 4 the review chris29, im pretty sure im gonna buy this game now

[Skunky]

Not a bad review ChrisRedfield29.
Personally I'd disagree about the gameplay being nothing new or groundbreaking. Sure, it's not doing anything radically different to previous FPS but I think it does it better. The attention to detail in everything from the weighty feel of the movement to the realism of the character models and their reactions, really is quite groundbreaking. I've certainly never played anything with the same level of immersion.
But yeah, those graphics, lighting, environmental destruction etc. are probably still the star of the show.
It's just an amazing technical achievement!

ps, why aren't more of you bums talking about this game?

[missvalentine]

@Shellshock 2
Yep, I've heard the game is terrible. I read one review say it's possibly the worst game of this generation. But on the plus side it has zombies in it and it's violent enough to get banned in Australia.
Guerrilla made the first game but they have nothing to do with the sequel. Shellshock 2 is made by 'Rebellion'. One promotion I saw, shamelessly tried to link the games by stating, "A sequel to the game, from the creators of Killzone". See, if you read that fast, without really thinking about it, you'd get the impression it was made by Guerrilla.

damnit, well it's not made by Guerrilla so i wont bother with it then, but i was really hoping that it would be good.

and wow Killzone 2 looks pretty awesome, my friend at school has it and was telling me about it all day today, it sounds great. if RE5 wasn't so damn near to release and i wasn't in the middle of playing the MGS series id go out and buy KZ2 right now.

[Mr. Spencer]

Just about right, CR29. I would describe Killzone 2 as "war in a box". Nothing more, nothing less.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I've not written about it yet because Halo Wars was also released yesterday and I love that game. It's on my to play list though and I'll probably give it a spin at some point today.

[Mr. Spencer]

Like a black man walking in to a Ku Klux Klan meeting, Emma.

[Alexia_Ashford]

I'd like to think the majority of members here are adult enough to not turn a small comment about which order I play my games into a fanboy war. I like both games and I'm not biased towards any of them.

[Vector]

Not a bad review ChrisRedfield29.
Personally I'd disagree about the gameplay being nothing new or groundbreaking. Sure, it's not doing anything radically different to previous FPS but I think it does it better. The attention to detail in everything from the weighty feel of the movement to the realism of the character models and their reactions, really is quite groundbreaking. I've certainly never played anything with the same level of immersion.
But yeah, those graphics, lighting, environmental destruction etc. are probably still the star of the show.
It's just an amazing technical achievement!

Trust me, I had to take a lot of content out of this review. I left a lot of stuff out. As it was for my school's newspaper, The Spectrum, we're limited to 3600 characters for reviews. This one has about 4200 characters as is, and I trimmed it down a lot. I took out a few paragraphs about the story, and even a few sentences about the realism. I tried making it as basic as possible.

[hellrizer]

pardon me is everyone forgetting about crysis i mean "Best looking game of all time" the graphics are super good and every thing but crysis is like 3 killzone 2 mix together. I have seen people say that a ps3 and a pc is different but its not ,a ps3 is basically a friggin pc. Its has a pc chip, GPU, Video card, ect. I wouldn't be saying anything if they put "the best looking game of 2009" but the best looking game of all time now that is different! Is every one forgetting about other games? There is nonthing anyone can say about this. The damage is done and everyone need to go do their research more. GOD!!

This is why i hate critics.

[Vector]

Multiplayer is really starting to piss me off. Fuckin' bots. BOTS?! I hate shit like that. It should be me against them, I shouldn't have to worry about someone planting an automated turret right outside of my spawn-point. Take bots out of the equation and I'd like the game a whole lot more.

pardon me is everyone forgetting about crysis i mean "Best looking game of all time" the graphics are super good and every thing but crysis is like 3 killzone 2 mix together. I have seen people say that a ps3 and a pc is different but its not ,a ps3 is basically a friggin pc. Its has a pc chip, GPU, Video card, ect. I wouldn't be saying anything if they put "the best looking game of 2009" but the best looking game of all time now that is different! Is every one forgetting about other games? There is nonthing anyone can say about this. The damage is done and everyone need to go do their research more. GOD!!

Did you notice what I wrote?

Killzone 2 is far and away the greatest-looking game ever to be seen on home gaming console, hands down.

NO ONE is saying Killzone 2 looks better than Crysis, because Crysis is still the best there is, but the capabilities of a suped-up gaming PC are still more advanced than any of the current-gen consoles. Either that, or no one's really maximizing these systems out to their full potential.

[hellrizer]

yeah you are right sorry about my last comment but i just hate when critics forget about other games like that have you seen the gamespot review of killzone 2 ? the guy say "best looking game of all time" he really needs to do his research and i love killzone 2 as much as the next guy but at least be smart about it (not you chrisredfield29 you are completly right about no one not really max the systems potential and good review by the way) they should get a real gamer review about games not these wannabe game reviewers like gamespot. you know what i mean?