Tawkn.com Review: Killzone 2 | Written by Josh Rai Published at 2009-03-29 03:47:45
| 32-player First-Person Shooter for the PlayStation 3.
Developed by Guerrilla. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment America. Released 2009-02-27. Rated M (Mature). Saved game data is copy-protected. |
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First let me state that the game looks amazing, sounds amazing, and overall has a very high presentation wow factor. This is all very impressive and obviously would take a lot of time and money just to come close to the level Killzone 2 has set. Now the question becomes does Killzone 2 have the gameplay underneath the eye and ear candy?
The answer is a yes.
The single player is linear, you travel from A to B and there are not many places that you could get lost, but if you do get lost there is a handy "where do I go" button. The level design funnels you to each major set piece quickly so you are not wondering around the corridors. While each set piece is usually in an open area I found that there was only one way to effectively solve each encounter. While you could brute force your way through these set pieces the way that you want to, the design of them encouraged you to do it the way the developers wanted you to.
The only major battle that had me frustrated was the last boss. This fight just poured enemy upon enemy at you all to accumulate to the last person who has a special ability that leads to extremely cheap deaths. I will not detail the fight, but suffice to say I am tired when a human can take 20 shotgun shells and still live. Other boss fights feature various heavy infantry, an automated flying combat devise, and tanks. They never feel out of place and for the most part are balanced with the rest of the game.
Killzone 2 gets the two most important things in a first person shooter right, the controls and making the guns satisfying to use. The controls at first feel unresponsive compared to Call of Duty 4, but I quickly adapted to it and successfully conveyed the feel of weight. Moving in Killzone 2 has momentum, which can be unsettling at first for people who are used to twitch based shooters. My only complaint with the controls is the cover button, it seems misplaced on the L2 button, and with out a toggle option resulted in me fighting the cumbersome placement just as often as I fought the Helghast. As a result I tended not to use the cover mechanic but rather just hide behind pillars. This really broke the game because it seems the developers wanted the player to rely on cover but the button layout did not allow me to use cover comfortably.
The story is basically just an excuse to have your character shoot stuff. In the last quarter of the game the developers wanted you to have an emotional experience however they never set any of it up so there is no pay off. I have a feeling had I played Killzone and the PSP game Killzone: Liberation I may have had a stronger response to the emotional climaxes. But I did not so these scenes only made me yawn and want to get to the next fight, there was a missed opportunity to have a strong emotional story.
Now for the guns, it is very important to have a satisfying feel to all weapons in a FPS. Call of Duty 4 does it, Halo does it, and Killzone 2 does it. Each weapon has a unique feel and you will quickly fall in love with the standard assault rifle. The problem with this is that you can carry only one main gun so you will never be compelled to try new weapons. If your pistol actually packed a punch this would not be a big problem but it is just too weak to have any real worth. You can basically use any weapon in any fight and you will not feel handicapped however you will quickly realize that the RPG is pointless for you to use because of the limited ammo, long reload times, and only the pistol to use up close. It would have been better in the single player to have had a main weapon, a heavy weapon, and a side arm just so you do not feel neutered when carrying the RPG. This complaint is outweighed by the rest of the arsenal especially the one hit kill sniper rifle.
The best part to Killzone 2 is the multiplayer. It is class based and experience driven; while not unique it is executed very well here. The first thing you will notice is the lack of a cover system, which along with the sped up animations make the multiplayer a faster game compared to the methodical single player. The catch to the multiplayer is the lack of modes, which there is only one. This may sound like a travesty but is actually amazing since in this one mode is several styles in which the game changes them on the fly. One minute you can be hunting down a VIP then suddenly you have to switch to defend a location. The change ups keep the team on their toes and the need for quick strategy is always present. This feature will be copied in future games because it is innovative and is fun to watch how people react to the changing objectives.
If you do not like playing with people or want to get some experience with the maps before jumping into the multiplayer try the bots. Killzone 2 includes bots which is amazing since most games have dropped this feature. What is even more amazing is the bots actually act like humans. While it may not be exactly like a multiplayer match it is a very good recreation and a great way for a noob to get some experience in and upgrade to a real multiplayer match and be competitive right away.
Overall Killzone 2 has a lot to offer and if you are big into multiplayer is a must to have. If you are looking for the singleplayer only you may have a few gripes but is definitely worth a look. As a complete package you can not find a better PS3 exclusive FPS and I highly recommend Killzone 2.
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