“This much I know, the history of these days will be written in blood, by crushing the armies of our enemy, by seizing the weapons they thought to turn against us, we were fighting for our very existence. But if those that deny us peace deny us our rightful place in the universe, we will release such terrible vengeance that generations yet unborn, will cry out in anguish”[/FONT]
[FONT="]Introduction/General Comments[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: N/A[/FONT]
[FONT="]Having endured countless months of hype, Killzone 2, Sony’s answer to the rising popularity of Microsoft’s Halo series certainly had a lot to live up to come its release in late-February. Did it live up to expectations? The answer: yes. Killzone 2 has certainly thrown down the gauntlet and raised the bar of First-Person Shooters and will undoubtedly become a strong contender for Game of the Year 2009. Since the first mention of Killzone 2 way back during E3 2005 Guerilla has had to pull one out of the bag to make up from its lacklustre prequels, Killzone and Killzone: Liberation. You’ll follow the events as Sergeant Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko, and the objective is simple: bring the Helghast steamroller to a halt by capturing their martyr leader, Emperor Visari. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Storyline[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 8.5/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]In a game almost made to perfection, the storyline of Killzone 2 is its Achilles heel and evidently one to forget. It’s apparent that Guerilla were focusing more on the technical side of the game rather than the actual script, it follows that of a standard first-person shooter in that you have one side, in this case the ISA, against another side, the Helghast in which one wants to dominate the world whilst the other wants to stop them. It’s easy to forget that in the modern day in which we live, it is actually important not to overlook the need for a truly great storyline that fans can talk about many years down the line and not to solely focus on the technical and online side of the game, which is where Killzone 2 falls short. By no means is the storyline a bad one, but there’s definite room for improvement as you fight your way through the war-worn capital of the Helghan world, Pyrrhus, through barren wastelands and eventually find yourself stood in the surreal halls of Emperor Visari. Another lacking, and obvious, flaw in the plot is the extreme shortness of it, through a first run through it could take around 6 hours dependant on what difficulty setting you use and naturally, how good you are. But even after taking both of those into account it would be difficult to see where Guerilla were trying to make up for such a lack of depth, and as the storyline is the main feature of this particular first-person shooter, it is something that will need to be addressed if the series of Killzone is to continue in the future. However, a positive point of the storyline, and one many players will be thankful of is that there is no need to play previous Killzone games in order to understand where the plot is going. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Characters [/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 9.0/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]Now, whilst it could be easily adjusted to lower the score, the reason it’s so high is that the characters actually have a likeability factor surrounding them, they aren’t particularly memorable characters with little background, although as far as first-person shooters go, the background of characters is always somewhat lacking, and often unneeded regardless. There is little relationship between the characters other than that of Sergeant Rico Velasquez and Colonel Jan Templar which was due to them serving alongside one another in a previous war. This is again a shortfall and typically sums the story of Killzone 2 up in one, a lack of depth. It would have been fairly easy to have incorporated more emotion and feelings towards one another since the army, and especially individual squads are supposed to represent a brotherhood, fighting alongside and for one another with one mind, one heart and one soul. The lack of emotion is particularly disappointing in terms of the main character, Sev, who basically shows little of it throughout the whole game other than the end scene and the desert wasteland scene when awaiting the fate of his fellow comrades and leading scientist Evelyn Batton in the hands of the Helghast Colonel, Mael Radec. [/FONT]
[FONT="]However, on a positive note, the voice acting and script of what the characters say would be representative of what you would expect in a typical modern day war situation and the constant banter accompanied with the odd profanity here and there – although this again a lacking feature of a game which could be again addressed if the series were to continue.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Gameplay[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]The gameplay is undoubtedly the highlight of Killzone 2, this is what makes the game what it is, this is what had led the hype for months on end, and this is what renders the game almost perfect. First and foremost, Guerilla have to be commended on the way they’ve handled the A.I situation, unlike typical first-person shooters once the enemy, the Helghast are dead, they stay dead. You won’t have the common feature of seeing wave after wave after wave of the same respawning enemies coming towards you, although set far into the future; this is as close to realistic army situation as you’re going to get through a game. You shoot. You kill. You move further ahead. Another of the fantastic features of the gameplay is the ability to use a cover system which enables you to make an advantage out of nothing, however, what is also commendable is that you’re not fully protected; therefore, the realism kicks in that you’re not invincible. [/FONT]
[FONT="]The guns also handle fantastically well and you’ll soon realize that it’s not only your weapon, it’s your friend. The sights enable you to pick off enemies from distance, which had relatively been a problem in previous first-person shooters but also has the same effectiveness from point blank range. The variation of guns is also refreshing, although it includes the standard range of guns from rifles and pistols to snipers and shotguns; it also has a unique selection that you’ll be able to pick up as you progress through the main story. Also, because you can only carry one main weapon and a pistol at any one time, Guerilla encourages the player to test the effectiveness of each individual weapon as the story progresses. What’s also nice is that your ammunition is deliberately limited so that you use your weapon efficiently and that you’ll no longer be able to run towards Helghast blasting them to hell and back, no, you’ll soon find yourself picking out effective shots rather than pointless ones.[/FONT]
[FONT="]What’s also a refreshing feature in Killzone 2 is that the A.I are actually intelligent, long gone are the days where you can burst into a room, take cover somewhere and individually pick off each enemy. The Helghast are clever, they’ll flank you, they’ll throw powerful grenades and electrical grenades towards you and pick you off whilst you’re making your way out of the mess you’ve brought upon yourself. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Finally for the gameplay, comes online play. It will be extremely difficult to find any other first-person shooter that matches the online ability that Killzone 2 has set a new standard for; it even surpasses that of Call of Duty 4. The game automatically puts you into a match of people with a similar rank to that of yourself, therefore, gives everyone an equal opportunity rather than pitting a veteran Killzone 2 player against a novice one. The ranking system is also well thought out, it’s not particularly difficult to rank higher taking a mere 2800 points to reach the second highest rank, although whether you want to earn 97,200 more points to reach the final rank would be completely up to you. The online is also effective as it continuously rewards the player for ranking higher and also completing certain objectives to earn ribbons and medals, which again rewards you. Furthermore, the continuous game mode changing keeps the player on their heels and avoids Killzone 2 online from becoming boring as it allows you to play 5 different types of game mode with a single round (Assassination, Body Count, Search and Destroy, Search and Retrieve and Capture and Hold) each lasting for around a standard 5 minutes, although it’s entirely at the discretion of the host. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Controls[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]In terms of controls, there’s honestly not a lot you can say about them in Killzone 2 other than praise the variation of control settings you can have to make the game and controls easier to use and play, furthermore, the controls of Killzone 2 are pretty standard and are extremely similar to a typical first-person shooter in which you have your fire button, grenade, knife, crouch, jump and so on. Guerilla have taken into account that not everyone will be used to the same buttons to control what you do, hence the variation they allow you to choose from and is therefore, easily playable by anyone, whether you’re a veteran at first-person shooters or a novice. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Graphics[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]It’s difficult to rate graphics on the Playstation 3 system, why? Because every time a new, hugely anticipated and exclusive game is released the bar of the graphics standard is raised just that little bit higher and is therefore going to be difficult to know when the system has reached its peak, as seen in the likes of Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Ratchet and Clank, Metal Gear Solid 4 and so on, therefore, taking this into account, the graphics are rated as to what we’re expecting to see from games released in this period of time, 2009. It is quite possible that Killzone 2 is the best looking game that money can buy so far, even challenging the graphics of Metal Gear Solid 4 that most people believed was the peak of the Playstation 3’s graphical ability. It’s fantastic that great graphics are no longer only seen in one or two cutscenes per game and that it is now intertwined into the main game itself, which Killzone 2 clearly shows. The detail of costume designs and world designs of Killzone 2 is jaw dropping, it’s dark, it’s ugly, and in terms of how far graphics go, it’s beautiful. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Sound[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]A soundtrack comprising of 60 minutes of in-game music and 30 minutes live music, composed by Joris de Man it’s easily to know why the soundtrack of Killzone 2 is rated up there with the best of games, the soft orchestra is some scenes followed by dramatic in the next, Killzone 2 contains a variation of music styles. The voices of the A.I are spot on, they sound as if they’re realistic and overall, they grasp you as the enemy, you know that once you hear one of the Helghast, there’ll be many more to follow. Also, the sound made from the guns and the environmental sounds are amongst the best, if not the best on the Playstation 3 to date.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Unique/Extra Features[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]There’s not really much uniqueness surrounding Killzone 2 other than the odd feature in the multiplayer mode and that you get 5 different types of game mode in one round, nevertheless, it’s rated 10 based on the fact it’s improved on every feature other first-person shooters have used and it could be a long time before any other company can raise the standard that Killzone 2 has set. However, one fantastic unique feature noticed was that when you want to replay a level, you don’t have to complete the whole level, you can pick certain sections from that specific level that you wish to start from. In terms of extra features, trophies can be included as it makes the game a challenge, it makes you want to play more and be rated up there with the best of Killzone 2 players. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Replay Value[/FONT]
[FONT="]Score: 10/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]The main replay value in the main storyline is simply because of the trophies or unless you’re one of these people that like to complete the game as much as possible by finishing all modes of difficulty, destroying all the Helghast symbols and collecting all the intel. However, as previously mentioned, trophies are a main reason for replaying the main story due to the fact; chances are you’re not going to collect all the storyline trophies first play through, hence the reason for replaying. As mentioned in the uniqueness/extra features section, the replay value of the main storyline is that you can complete each level in individual sections rather than having to complete the whole level from beginning to end. Whilst I could mark the score down for having little replay value if all this is taken away, it’s not going to be. As for the online replay, simply put, it’s addictive. [/FONT]
[FONT="]Overall Score[/FONT]
[FONT="]9.7/10[/FONT]
[FONT="]Whilst yes, the main storyline and characters didn’t set the world alight, overall Killzone 2 is a fantastic game recommended to Playstation 3 owner and also that Guerilla managed to avoid falling into the trap of a game being hyped up then falling short, dramatically. They approached the production in an appropriate manner and perfected almost every aspect of the game whilst raising the bar as a first-person shooter, if not the Playstation 3 in general.
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