I play a lot of Resistance 2 and COD4 & COD:WAW. Resistance for its massive battles & COD for the great graphics and super tight play. Killzone 2 is a great blend of each.
There are a lot of complaints about the controls, but none from me. The guns are weighted and recoil as you would expect. The characters move like heavily armored soldiers carrying heavy artillary might. I could see it as an issue if it wasn't equal, but everyone is playing at the same speed and after a very short amount of time, I can say without fail that I am pretty quick with the M82 and plenty of online players that are far superior to me will light you up as quick as any game of Halo or COD.
As far as the graphics, online there is no dropoff compared to the single player. This is the best looking game I can remember playing. I had a difficult time going back to Resistance because it looked terrible after KZ2.
The single player game is ...about like every other signle player FPS that I can remember. Follow a line shoot guys, etc. I only played for a couple of hours to get familiar with the controls before playing online so I can't really speak as an authority on the single player.
The online game has all of the usual suspects as far as game modes go. The new exception is being able to string any of the five together that plays as single game. If you have a squad that you enjoy playing with, this is great. If you jump into a 25 minute game and get stuck with a team of half-tards, prepare to be frustrated that you have to wait 25 minutes to get credited with your experience. It's also worth noting that KZ2 has a similiar level up / xp system that unlocks various items like COD 4. It's about what you'd expect.The battles are awesome and where KZ2 really takes the cake for me is the whole package with 30 people at a time. My biggest complaint with COD4 is 12 player battles on medium sized maps. It is too easy for people to camp and the middle of the screen remain empty for extended periods - especially in hardcore modes where you are playing 1 shot kills.
Killzone 2 doesn't reinvent the wheel and doesn't really offer anything new in terms of gameplay. A similiar thing has happened with the fighter genre. You can only "play guns" in so many different ways, so the next logical step is perfecting the genre, and right now, Killzone 2 is at the top of the heap.
UPDATED:
I purchased the downloadable map packs, Titanium & Steel. One takes place on a moving train, the other in the cruiser shown at the opening of the game. The train is a sight to behold and a snipers dream come true as the action funnels to visible choke points and the map is very narrow. The Vekta cruiser is multi-leveled and circular in shape. It's a stark contrast to the rest of Killzone with bright lighting and vibrant colors. The pack cost $6.00 and both are fun to play. The only problem is not many people appear to have purchased. It is common to find lobbies with the new map pack OR the originals. They're great to see in motion, espcially the train, but not a mandatory purchase at all.
I have such a problem with connection, that I've found myself going back to COD4 & WAW despite preferring Killzone 2's gameplay. Not only am I frequently disconnected, but it logs the PS3 offline and occassionaly locks up the system and requires a hard restart. I've even found myself having to restart my router becuase it locks everything up and I have to reboot my connection. It is exceptionally frustrating to play partial matches and get kicked (especially the longer games) and pop in COD or Resistance and have no issues.
Finally - Clan battles. Ugh. Oddly enough, COD felt like you had to be in a clan to enjoy the game. In fact, it's almost mandatory (log into a match with just a bunch of guys versus a party and get ready to die...a lot, no level balancing). KZ seems to be the opposite. Clan battles have rampant cheating and cheapness you just don't see in the big open matches. I played in a couple clan matches and virtually every negative I'd heard about them was evident(not respawning in deathmatch, hiding the the radio in your base, etc.). I've had a much better time just going from game to game until I find a group that is competitive on both sides. The good rooms are typically set to automatically balance, so a room with a few good players on both sides can be as much fun as any clan battle.
Killzone 2This review is a unbiased, non-fanboy review that will simply state what the game is on it's own, in my opinion. I have a lot of experience in the FPS genre, including competitive play in games such as Counter-Strike, etc.
Killzone 2 is a good game. It's exceptional in some areas, and average in others. It's difficult to describe the gameplay, because it's mixed within itself and some people may get different things out of it; some say it's sluggish, others will say it's fast-paced. It's right in the middle, in my opinion.
The game is very realistic, and I don't just mean graphically. The way you move, the way your gun takes up a good chunk of your screen, the way your character moves; it's no wonder why they have a seizure warning at the start of the game. It's extremely realistic, and it can get very nauseating to play for long periods of time. The graphics are contrasted so well, that often running very quickly through the cities or wasteland areas can cause confusion, especially when you're fighting very up close, you can get disoriented quickly, and often have to back up a bit to see where you are and get your bearings. This is NOT a game like Counter-Strike or Halo, where you can see the entire level, area, and never get confused whatsoever. It's such a far leap ahead of games like Halo that comparing Halo 3 to this game is nearly impossible.
Graphics: --
As I've stated before, the graphics are outstanding. The environments look so very good that when in the dark undergrounds, outside, or running through a ruined city, you feel like you're truly walking through. There's so many objects, areas, and such great atmosphere that it feels like you'll never be able to explore it all; even though in reality it's somewhat linear. The lighting and graphical display in this game is easily the best on any console available, period. Even comparable to some PC Games. I wouldn't go so far as to say the graphics are better than Crysis, but this is the first console game that comes close to contending with it.
Gameplay: --
This is where a major con for me is introduced: The aiming mechanics.
Unlike in other games such as Counter-Strike, Halo, Call of Duty, or whatever you'd like to bring up, Killzone 2's aim, sensitivity, and mechanics feel difficult to control. It feels like you're forcing yourself to turn; the sensitivity, even at the highest level, is slow. For some it may be fast enough, but for veterans, it's slow. On top of the X-Y axis sens. is the fact that it does NOT feel smooth. It starts out slow, and then becomes fast; often making it extremely difficult to keep your aim on an enemy or object that's moving in front of you. For some this may not be a problem, but for me, coming from a mouse; something flawlessly smooth, I noticed it dramatically. Even compared to other console FPS's.
I didn't particularly find the gameplay in itself sluggish, as others have mentioned. If anything it is fast paced, but because the game is so realistic in so many areas, it FORCES you to go slowly because of the way they game is made, and because of how your point of view is close to your surroundings. Often the lighting in the game is so real that you have to stand still for a second and actually see what's going on in detail, this is especially true in the underground, darker levels. It's very unique in that area, but often distracting.
In the game, you walk slowly, but run very fast. Because of how the levels are designed, you don't run very often; in multiplayer I'm sure this is different. In campaign, you don't run often; because it's hard to navigate the twists and turns at such a speed, so the battles may often seem slowly paced. It's small things like this that affect how people view the game as a whole.
Overall the gameplay, in my opinion, is done well, with a few flaws that may be actually very big to certain players. It depends on who you are, what kind of gaming background you have, and how you play.
The aiming mechanic I mentioned is not something to detract from the game as a whole, just the biggest personal con for myself.
Sound: --
Sound is what you would expect. The weapons don't have any special sound to them, nothing that would grab your attention, which isn't a negative thing, just a static fact. The commentary is average, typical war-talk and yelling, cursing, and what you would expect from in-game partners that are supposed to be rough and tough. The explosions, and the surroundings in the larger fights and boss battles are fine; there's really no negative points here for me.
Storyline & Characters: --
I haven't played the previous Killzone, so I don't know the specifics of the story. Picking up the game from a cold standpoint, I can understand what's happening, with a few questions here and there, but overall it's pretty basic. The characters are just fine; men from the army: some loud, obnoxious, with only the desire to blow things up. Others are more selective, and you have the woman for your Intel and lab analysis, and commanders, squad leaders, etc. Standard stuff.
The game itself plays very well mechanically speaking on the PS3; I've played the game for hours, left my PS3 idle, and never had a single slowdown or freeze. So far, no game, not even KZ2, has made my PS3 freeze. The game saves and loads fairly fast, and you rarely ever think about anything other than the action you're in.
Multiplayer: --
I'll only briefly touch on the multiplayer; which I haven't played much of. The maps are very large, which can take some getting used to. It may take you some running to get back into the action, but worth it. Maps are gorgeous as expected, and laid out well as far as what I've seen. Could be balance issues, not sure.
Overall Fun Factor: --
This game is well worth the money spent on it. The graphics are unbelievable; the lighting is some of the most realistic I've ever seen, and the gameplay has a very realistic feel to it; things move slower, there's motion blur, and different things that pull you into the game, and forces you to pay attention to be able to get through it.
The gameplay has some issues, like any other game on the market, but these ones are far inferior to some larger issues with other popular games.
Killzone 2 makes the PS3 shine, and it brings out the best in it. Great gameplay, the best graphics you may see for a good while, a half-decent story for an FPS, a campaign that has a good length, a variety in environments, and a wonderful atmosphere, and multiplayer with good potential and replay value.
Do yourself a favor and pick this one up, but if you're skeptical, at the very least rent it.
(I didn't rate the game 5 stars because no game is absolutely perfect, so don't think there's something gigantic that ruins the game, but it has small flaws. It's one of the best games you could be playing right now; but does not justify a perfect score, no game does.)
::::(UPDATE):::: I may be slow on this update, but I haven't been around much. Although to my surprise, they added the "High Precision" aiming feature in the options menu, which apparently takes away auto-aim, and virtually eliminates the aiming issues I mentioned earlier in my review. Because of this, many things are more smooth and fluent. *****'
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