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The game Playstation 3 owners have been waiting for is now here, from the moment the game was first shown there was much hype surrounding the second part to the Killzone franchise. Although the first game came off with a mixed reaction, I’m pretty sure this sequel will be highly praised as one of this generations best first person shooters thus far.

Story

Although the story is nothing short of your usual shoot the bad guys scenario, Killzone 2 presents it so well that you will have no trouble playing it right through to the end. The guns feel phenomenal to shoot, and much skill is needed to make sure your accuracy is on point. Killzone 2 is not your usual run and gun fps, many people who come from Call Of Duty to Killzone will have a tough time trying to play it like it is Call Of Duty, Killzone requires much more skill and tactics to down your enemies. And what makes the story feel so great is that the presentation makes the battle seem so frantic that you really feel like this is a full scale war. The plot is very simple and what you see is what you get, but its the battles and the situations you are put in that satisfy the experience as you really feel like you have to fight your way out of a situation, there are many ambushes which you have to find your way out of.

They do try to mix up the types of enemies, but however you can not shake the fact that during the majority of the campaign you will be fighting the same kind of Helghast. You do at times encounter heavy enemies who are armored up to the teeth, and there is a key method in which you must kill these types of enemies as shooting them as normal will not work. Little things like that do well to mix up your tactics, but perhaps it is not done enough in the entire 7 hours of the campaign.

Graphics

There is not much to be said here as people have been reminded again and again of Killzone 2’s sheer brilliance when it comes to graphics. It sometimes catches you off guard with how good everything looks, when I first played I was not observing the amount of detail as I was focusing on getting used to how the game plays. But now I often find myself gaping at how detailed everything looks, from the fingernails of your main character ‘Sev’, to the textures of the ground or the buildings. Much work was put in to ensure that Killzone 2 was a sure fire looker.

Sound

Everything sounds great in Killzone 2, and although I do not have any kind of sound system set up I am sure that the sound of gunfire and war in Killzone 2 must sound nothing short of amazing coming through a surround sound system. When you play Killzone 2, the sound indicates that This Is War, and with both the graphical presentation and the sound together it makes you want to immerse and play your part even more whether online or through the campaign.

Gameplay

Killzone 2 is no push over game, it is a game you have to work your way in to. If you go into Killzone 2 acting like your going to be the best from the get go, then you will end up looking like a ‘Noob’. Many have complained about Killzone 2’s controls and aiming, but frankly it is all very stupid to complain. There is nothing stopping you from getting used to Killzone 2’s style and mastering it, Killzone 2 is not meant to be a copy cat of any other First Person shooter, it is truely it’s own game, and if you do not like it then you have to go elsewhere.

The key to getting fast efficient kills here is burst fire, you will save your ammo and you will be more accurate if you play it easy and slow your pace down just a little. I know we are all used to the Call Of Duty style where you can run around and easily lock onto a target before picking them off. But this is no Call Of Duty, you must tread carefully and think tactical.

The AI in Killzone 2 is no joke either, they are not forgiving at all if you make a wrong move. If you get to close they will try to hit you, if you are far they will aim and shoot as well as toss grenades to force you out of your hiding spot. The Helghast are very aggressive, and if you play on the right difficulty it’s not going to be easy taking them down. Also unlike other games, your comrades are actually there for a reason, they will actually kill some of the Helghast forces, but the real impressive thing is that the Helghast themselves wont just come for you, they will actually try to kill your team mates as much as they try to kill you. In previous games it felt like your character had a bullseye on his forehead that told the enemies that they ‘MUST’ kill your character to win the whole damn war.

Although the campaign is over in just 7 hours, the Multilayer online is where Killzone 2 really shines and gives the game more replay value. It gets extremely addictive very quickly as you matches are long and exciting and the ranking system makes you want to keep going until you gain the highest possible rank. There are also many unlockables, including new weapons, classes which allow you to do different and interesting things and ribbons for rewarding the things you achieve during the game. The online has your typical game modes such as search and destroy, bodycount (kill as many of the other team as possible), capture and hold (like capture the flag), etc. What makes it all interesting though is how Killzone 2 merges it all together, you go from one objective to another seamlessly, A full 25 minute game will contain every single mode one after another, and if you manage to get into a game with a full 32 user capacity then the game becomes so action packed and chaotic that you wont want to leave.

Verdict

Its hard to really find any major flaw in Killzone 2 that prevents it from scoring a top mark, people could argue that the alleged input lag is enough. But if I, someone who has never been huge on first person shooters can get the hang of it, then im sure everyone else can with ease. This is not a big enough issue to stop Killzone 2 from getting it’s well deserved merits, and to five it anything else would be crazy. Killzone 2 deserved all the hype and attention it deserved as the game does nothing less than deliver.

Written By Gary A Swaby

Deeper than the words embedded in somebody's wedding ring