Copying unapologetically from the original Killzone review from 5 years or so back I’ll start by saying that if you ask any PS3 owner what their console needs, they’ll probably say a first person shooter of the calibre of Halo 3 on Xbox 360. In every other genre the PS3 seems to be pretty well covered, but despite some noble efforts, a top-quality ‘triple A’ FPS with first-rate multiplayer options is still missing from the PS3 line-up. Killzone 2 movies showed a game so visually impressive that many thought that the game engine couldn’t possibly look that good, well it’s here, and yes it does, sort of.
Killzone 2’s story happens two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA are taking the fight to Helghan, the Helghast home planet. Their goal: to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. You assume the role of Thomas 'Sev' Sevchenko, a battle-hardened veteran and a member of the Special Forces unit known as the Legion. Sev is occasionally part of a larger squad or fights along with squaddies Garza or Rico, and they’ll frequently genuinely help out in fights, open doors for you and only rarely get in your way. They will occasionally get downed and cry for help though, and getting to them and healing them can be difficult. This one character treatment comes as a distinct change to Killzone’s novel and interesting approach, in which you played as 4 different characters during the campaign. The Helghast are once again clearly modelled on German World War II stormtroopers (in fact the whole Helghast war machine has a distinctly Nazi look to it), their stylised uniforms are heavily armoured, meaning that headshots are the quickest way to kill them. They come in a few different varieties; the basic soldier who tends to be fairly dumb, poorly armed and easy-ish to kill, the light soldier, who is quicker but carries little armour and the dangerous Elite soldier who has massive thick armour and tends to carry a flame thrower or grenade launcher.
Killzone 2’s visuals are very smooth and the Helghan planet and its crappy weather (wind, lightning storms, dust) and the bombed-out or on-fire nature of most of the locations gives a grim and ominous nature to the game. Frequently you’ll be glad that those dumb Helghast troops still have their standard issue glowing red goggles as there’s just so much dust, smoke and debris flying around that without them you’d have a job to pick them out from the murky backgrounds. Sev’s movement has a similar feel to the original Killzone’s, in as much as it feels quite loose well... vague even. I’ll say that I think this is definitely intentional on the developer’s part but I’m not sure I like it. “Realistic” movement is one thing but when put together with the game’s sloppy aiming (partly due no doubt to the PS3 joypad) K2 has a fuzzy, inaccurate feel to it that makes lining up with some distant targets akin to trying to thread a needle with a piece of rope, and there’s not a hint of aim-assist to help you out either. Even on the easiest difficulty setting (there are 4; Recruit, Trooper, Veteran & Elite) the Helghast will take a lot of rounds before dropping and this results in everyone I’ve seen playing K2’s campaign usually resorting to running up and blasting them at close range (with accompanying blood splatters to your visor) or meleéing enemies to death (L1 button) or using the knife attack (right on the D-pad) rather than trying to shoot them. All this up-close-and-personal fighting, a total lack of any laser, plasma or gauss weapons together with the Nazi-like Helghan architecture and militaristic styling means K2 often feels like more like a WWII shooter than a futuristic sci-fi one. A rather ineffectual and clunky duck & cover mode (L2) combined with sluggish response to the aim zoom (click R3) also means that ducking and covering isn’t as sharp and instinctive as it could be. I investigated a few other button layouts but it seems to be a problem with the fuzzy response rather than the button itself that’s the trouble. You’ll get used to it, but K2’s movement and aiming rarely makes you feel like an elite Space Marine, and more like a slightly boozed-up raw recruit.
To make it even quirkier to play early on the weapon of choice often seems to be your stock sidearm (it has unlimited ammo), what is basically a six-shooter revolver! For the most part you’ll be swapping between the ISA and the Helghast assault rifle – there’s nothing wrong with either but they do get savagely overused, and this means that despite some attempts at varied levels, the combat is extremely samey. There are heavy machine guns, emplaced weapons, a rocket launcher and a flamethrower to play with too, but the sniper rifle, and the way it sights and tracks SO darned slowly is also worth a mention all on its own - it's bloody awful! Fortunately you’ll only need to use on a couple of occasions, especially as it has very limited ammo and as in many games since Halo, you can only carry your revolver (there is an automatic pistol that’s available, albeit briefly later on) and one other weapon, so you’ll quickly discard it and pick up something more useful instead. K2’s campaign isn’t the longest (a little over 6 hours and I do like to explore) but even so I was hoping for some variation in the gameplay; if you’re regular Gamecell reader you’ll know we love our military vehicles and when you finally get to jump in a tank and let the Helghast have it, it comes as a welcome respite. But amazingly you can only trundle this beautifully modelled and designed piece of hardware round an area about 200x150 metres, and once the nearby Helghan troops are dispatched you get turfed out and it’s on to the next level! Later on there’s an EXO (exoskeleton power suit) level that you get to stomp through and zap everything in sight with, but I was hoping for another ride in that tank... A few token efforts at using the Sixaxis tilt function to turn levers and prime breaching charges don’t really add anything to the gameplay either.
Killzone 2’s sound is atmospheric and varied too; with background ‘battle-in-a-big-city’ noises done really well, and the weapon and weather effects all do the job admirably. The many explosions and weapons also sound great and look great too, although as with the original Killzone, the detailed reload sequences take so long that they will probably get on your wick. There seem to be a surfeit of explosive objects on each level that Helghast will often helpfully take cover near, so blowing the enemy up is frequently an easy option. The music is too dour and ‘Helghan’ for my liking, but the voice actors got well into the job led by notables like Sean Pertwee and Brian Cox.
Killzone 2’s multiplayer mode (called “Warzone”) has really had a lot of work put into it and now has its own support network at killzone.com, no doubt Sony and Guerrilla hope it picks up the same kind of following as Halo or Call of Duty, and good luck to them. Online it supports up to 32 players and allows you to play a varied game of what is mostly out and out shooting, grenading and melee fighting over 8 levels themed on locations from the campaign. There are lots of overlooks, nooks and crannies but if you don’t keep moving you will get nailed! Warzone multiplayer games are always interesting, the games always seem to be full and the maps allow for plenty of intense, objective-based battles. I can almost hear the groans from straight deathmatch fans when I say “objective-based” but fear not, you won’t have to spend hours reading the manual, verbal announcements and on-screen icons let you know what you have to do, where to go – all you have to do is stay alive and kill the enemy – a lot. Get non-mortally wounded and you may get saved by a team mate if they find you quick enough, so ‘buddying-up’ is always a good idea, and will make you a lot more successful. This also highlights what shame it is that there’s no campaign co-op mode, especially as it leans towards it when you’re playing solo. I thought the weaponry, the sloppy aiming and the gritty feeling of close combat that K2 gives you worked better in the multiplayer game than the campaign, and really enjoyed it, despite the relentlessly depressing surroundings.
Thanks to a cool “Skirmish” mode all of the multiplayer maps can even be played on your own offline with 1 to 15 pleasingly intelligent and aggressive bots that will kick your ass even on 'easy' if you aren’t careful… Their AI is adjustable too with Recruit, Trooper, Veteran & Elite settings. If you wish, all of the levels can be explored and the various objectives (Body Count, Assassination, Search & Retrieve, Capture & Hold, Search & Destroy) can all be learned and understood here before you go online.
So just as its predecessor wasn’t the “Halo beater” that Sony zealots might have hoped for, K2 isn’t quite as awesome a game as we’d hoped for, and is certainly no “Halo 3 beater” either. Its campaign might not be anything to write home about and its visuals - impressive as they are - are downright miserable and depressing to look at, but its online modes will likely keep PS3 clans looking for something other than Call of Duty to play happy for a while.
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