Review: Killzone 2 Review, Scatta Grenade!

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February 28, 2009 -

Game: Killzone 2
System: Playstation 3
Publisher: SCEE
Developer: Guerrilla Games

Players: 1
Online Players: 32
Genre: First Person Shooter
Release Date(s): February 27, 2009

Following the now infamous E3 trailer the hype for Guerrilla Games’ Killzone 2 has been off the charts. With so much hype surrounding any title it’s difficult to live up to expectations. While the single player does have its share of problems especially during the first half of the game, Killzone 2 is one of the top notch experiences on the Playstation 3.

Throw in the addictive multiplayer which will have PSN gamers hopping onto the service for months to come and it’s a sure fire bet that Guerilla, Sony, and the PS3 all have a hit on their hands.

Following multiple invasions by the Helgeist on the ISA home world of Vetka, the story of Killzone 2 follows the ISA’s counter invasion of Helghan. The ISA believes it now has the momentum in the conflict and hopes to put an end to it all by capturing Emperor Visari. However like the ISA’s own efforts on Vetka, the Helgeist prove early they will not roll over for the ISA.

The presentation in Killzone 2 from the opening cinematic and title screen set the tone. There is a grit to the game that is evident even outside it. There are slight glitch interference effects on the menus that give you a sense of the hellish war zone you are about to enter. The game’s cinematics are extremely well done and watching your team free fall to the surface from the New Sun in one of the opening scenes is absolutely amazing. Like many of the other games in its genre, the overall story of KZ2 is a bit shallow. In general, the story follows the battles the ISA encounters on their trek to Emperor Visari’s palace.

However, the actual elements of the story seem a bit disjointed. For example, in one sequence you finish pulling down a bridge for your convoy to cross and in the next scene the story quickly jumps to a massive attack on your mother ship, the New Sun. And at least for the first half of the game the levels themselves felt as though they could be placed in any order and it wouldn’t have made a difference as you plowed through barricade A or cleared zone B to get your convoy moving. While we don’t play these types of games for RPG level story elements some extra polish would have been nice.

Guerilla has successfully made Killzone 2 one of the visual powerhouses of the generation. The environments are gritty as it gets adding to the sense of immersion on Helghan. There is a fantastic use of particle effects in the game. The smoldering effects on the battlefield as dust rushes through is truly amazing to see. From cover, I could tell when I was about to be hit by enemy fire based on the amount of dust being kicked up by bullets hitting the environment near me. I’ve never been one to gush about smoke, but if you are going to make a gritty war game the on the battlefield ambient effects achieved in KZ2 are remarkable. Toss in the destructible combat environments and excellent explosion effects and it’s easy to see why KZ2 is pure eye candy.

Level after level of urban warzone may lull a player into a stale feeling early game. But push through the seemingly everlasting convoy escort missions and you will be treated to some very ingenious level design among a speeding transport train, the downed ruins of your own ship, and Visari’s palace itself. It’s the true test of a developer in these types of games level wise to throw in variation to keep a player interested and KZ2’s second half delivers in spades. During outdoor levels take a moment to admire the draw distance as well. Killzone’2 frame rate remained constant without any noticeable dips however there were constant loading between areas. The overall art direction of KZ2 isn’t anything new or revolutionary but for an FPS it’s always nice to see such quality work. The wheel doesn’t always have to be reinvented visually.

KZ2 did produce some notable visual negatives. Player and enemy models did not seem as detailed as their environment. The majority of the Helgeist enemies look exactly the same or almost the same which made shooting the same enemy over and over monotonous. I know the game features themes of fascism and this went along with that, however something could have been done to change it up a bit. Your character allies themselves also looked a bit behind what other titles on the PS3 such as Metal Gear Solid 4 have achieved.

However, the cut scenes in Killzone 2 are mind blowing. Similar stories of interstellar combat have been told before in games, but not presented cinematically quite like this. KZ2 has it all from troop drops from miles above the battlefield, to massive space ships crashing into the ground, to high tech electricity wielding anti air guns shooting down your allies, and a nuclear explosion. All fantastically done prior to each level that give the player the edge of your seat feeling we’re looking for.

The over all gameplay in KZ2 is a cross between Call of Duty and Gears of War. To be successful you must use cover often as going run n gun quickly draws enemy attention and it doesn’t take very much to die in KZ2 even on normal difficulty. Killzone 2’s gameplay in a general sense is solid. Unfortunately, while crossing elements of the above named titles Guerilla was unable to pull it off in a cohesive manner which left a lot of the gameplay a bit awkward.

The biggest problem is that the controls felt a bit slow especially in movement. Some battles in Killzone 2 will be against massive amounts of enemies on screen and as your screen turns that pale shade of white letting the player know death is impending you sometimes have to squeeze off those last few rounds to survive and yet you cannot. It’s a good idea to raise the control sensitivity to something a bit higher right off the bat. This is especially an issue when facing a few sequences such as the boss fight against a ATAC which will quickly zoom around your screen firing missiles and a machine gun all at once. The player doesn’t have enough time to properly react unless the control sensitivity is set higher than the game’s default.

Guns themselves for the most part seem to be woefully inaccurate and weak as well compared to other games and there is definitely a learning curve. It sometimes appeared to take far too many shots to take down an enemy. Sometimes enemies would go down after a barrage of gunfire only to get back up moments later after you presumed it dead. It’s almost as if KZ2 didn’t know if it wanted to be a war sim or an arcade shooter so it decided on something in the middle and it came out a bit strange.

The next issue with KZ2’s gameplay is the cover system itself. Holding down L2 you can crouch down and if you are near an object that can be used as cover you automatically do enter cover. However, some times levels are set up awkwardly and things that look like they can be used as cover cannot be. The Helgeist are also supreme marksmen and some cover will leave your head above the line of sight causing you get shot even though you are supposed to be in cover. Other times enemies will be able to still hit you from small crevices in your cover.

Many firefights themselves also seemed to drag on longer than they had to. This issue I believe was only enhanced by the monotony of your enemies. Wave after wave of the same drone looking Helgeist got boring quickly. Guerilla does break up the action by allowing you to mount stationary rail guns to finish off the final waves I take it as a reward but even that is repeatedly used and even that gets old. The best mix up of gameplay occurs toward Killzone 2’s ending where the player is charged with mounting an AA gun inside the New Sun followed by a sequence in full exo-skeleton. Unfortunately, these welcome changes of pace are lumped too closely together near the end of the game. There are also a few boss fights throughout which range from forgettable to control throwing difficulty (Hello Colonel Radec).

The moral of the Killzone 2 story again is to hang in there through the early levels. The overall gameplay is still solid for what we can confirm by two separate editor play throughs amounts to about a 6 hour campaign and there are some sweet ass weapons later in game such as the flame thrower, the lightning gun, and the sniper rifle.

Killzone 2 boasts beautiful 7.1 sound that sounded fantastic through my speaker system. Bullets flying past my head, gun fire, and explosions all sounded accurate and immersive. The soundtrack fits the game and is extremely well done. The only downer sound wise is the incessant cursing by seemingly everyone in the game. The voice acting overall in Killzone 2 is sad to say on the weaker side.

The KZ2 multiplayer servers have only been up and stable for approximately the last 24 hours. So while in a general sense we can safely say that we are having a blast with this game’s MP Reece Heywood will be giving the final verdict on the MP in the coming days.

Presentation : 8.5
Killzone 2 does a fantastic job of sucking the player into the gritty warzone experience of the ISA and Helgeist. From the opening menu to the first landing the game is all about the grit of war and it delivers on this experience in almost every conceivable way.

Visuals : 9.5
After E3 cut scene gate, Killzone 2 had a lot to live up to in the visual department. It’s easy to see that Guerilla did successfully deliver visually from an environment and visual effects standpoint. The only major downer is the monotony of your Helgeist enemies.

Gameplay 7.5
Solid gameplay FPS design that doesn’t introduce anything new. Unfortunately, there are a ton of problems that could have been polished by Guerilla that were not. Slow controls, awkward cover scheme, inaccurate weapons, and a lot of the shooting one enemy and hundreds of his closest twins put a damper on the game. Hold on through hours 1 thru 4, cause 4 through 6 are definitely worth it.

Sound : 8.5
Beautiful 7.1 surround sound will have you ducking for cover in your living room and turning around to look for that next wave of Helgeist. Voice acting could have been much better.

Lasting Appeal : 9.0
Expect many hours from the addictive multiplayer, offline and online you will receive competitive matches leaving you wanting more and more. Online ranking system is available but for the majority will reach top status in a few weeks.

Overall Score (Not an average)
8.0/10 – Very good (High recommended)