So last week (or somewhere around there) we left off with my having just finished Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, and the possibility of me jumping back into the Killzone 2 campaign. I have, and I have a few things to say.
1. The story is pretty lackluster.
I'm assuming that the glowy electrical stuff will turn into some big "reveal" about what the world was like before it was populated by the Helgans, but I have a feeling that its going to come far too late for me to care.
2. The characters (actually, just your squad) suck.
Gruff talking, badass dudes with North American accents vs. British space nazis. OK, fine, that is actually kind of cool.
The biggest issue I have with the characters, are the people in your squad. They're assholes. "Get back into cover!", "place your shots!" bla bla bla! all the while they are running around in a god damned circle barking orders at me, getting shot in the face repeatedly instead finding their own fucking cover, and placing their own fucking shots! If the amount of damage they can take diminishes at higher levels of difficulty, seriously, fuck that. Being that their AI is already dumb as mud in certain spots, I hope they don't make their damage levels the equivalent of a wet cardboard box as well.. As is usually the case, the two more interesting characters in the game are the villains: Scolar Visari, obviously cause of that awesome speech in the into, and Mael Radec - because he looks like he would just fuck you right up in a fist fight.
First, I dont have too many friends in the military, but from what I understand, loosing your issued weapon is a big fucking nono. Then why the hell am I still running around with all of this Helghast bullshit? I want my damn ISA pinpoint sight back dammit! (Although the Helgan sniper rifle and machine gun is pretty nice)
The ISA magnum is the equivalent of a pea shooter later into the game. As you progress through the later levels, enemies become much more armored and way tougher to kill if you aren't scoring headshots. In earlier levels, the magnum seemed pretty beefy, and could take down guys relatively quick, but after a certain point, this weapon is no longer viable. The Helgan pistol is a far better weapon simply because while the damage is less, the fire rate more than makes up for this. Its pretty much no contest, yet for most of what I have seen, they force you to take along that crappy magnum everywhere you go.
The shotgun is quite puny ( an issue I have with any FPS's because, ever since DOOM, I love me a good, solid shotgun). FIrst, unless you're right up in a guys face, the damage is garbage. Second, the sound it makes when firing off a shot is akin to an airsoft gun, or perhaps a wheezy fart noise. Given that most combat is done from a distance that is far out of the weapons affective range, and the low total ammo count in comparison other weapons, the gun is just a mess - not viable at all ( at least in single player)
Lastly, the whole rule about only carriying one main weapon. I wish the they would have at least changed this rule when it comes to the rocket launcher. This weapon only carries 3 rockets at a time, so its not really like you can spam the thing. Now, in its defence, you only really need to use it at specific points in the game IE tank sequences. But the problem comes in when you need to deal with a tank, usually they have infantry support. Forcing you to throw away your main assult file, or whatever you are using, in favor of the rocket launcher, leaving you with your shitty pistol as your only anti - infantry solution. More of a pain in the ass than its worth. When faced with these situations, I found myself dropping my assult rifle for the rocket, shooting one off at the tank / weapon emplacement, dropping the rocket for my rifle, capping any dudes that are rushing my position, rinse, repeat. All the while listening to the obligatory - "SEV GET BACK INTO COVER" dogshit while my squad mate it getting capped in the ass running around like a dick.
4. The game is instense, which makes up for it's shortcomings.The ISA magnum is the equivalent of a pea shooter later into the game. As you progress through the later levels, enemies become much more armored and way tougher to kill if you aren't scoring headshots. In earlier levels, the magnum seemed pretty beefy, and could take down guys relatively quick, but after a certain point, this weapon is no longer viable. The Helgan pistol is a far better weapon simply because while the damage is less, the fire rate more than makes up for this. Its pretty much no contest, yet for most of what I have seen, they force you to take along that crappy magnum everywhere you go.
The shotgun is quite puny ( an issue I have with any FPS's because, ever since DOOM, I love me a good, solid shotgun). FIrst, unless you're right up in a guys face, the damage is garbage. Second, the sound it makes when firing off a shot is akin to an airsoft gun, or perhaps a wheezy fart noise. Given that most combat is done from a distance that is far out of the weapons affective range, and the low total ammo count in comparison other weapons, the gun is just a mess - not viable at all ( at least in single player)
Lastly, the whole rule about only carriying one main weapon. I wish the they would have at least changed this rule when it comes to the rocket launcher. This weapon only carries 3 rockets at a time, so its not really like you can spam the thing. Now, in its defence, you only really need to use it at specific points in the game IE tank sequences. But the problem comes in when you need to deal with a tank, usually they have infantry support. Forcing you to throw away your main assult file, or whatever you are using, in favor of the rocket launcher, leaving you with your shitty pistol as your only anti - infantry solution. More of a pain in the ass than its worth. When faced with these situations, I found myself dropping my assult rifle for the rocket, shooting one off at the tank / weapon emplacement, dropping the rocket for my rifle, capping any dudes that are rushing my position, rinse, repeat. All the while listening to the obligatory - "SEV GET BACK INTO COVER" dogshit while my squad mate it getting capped in the ass running around like a dick.
Firefights are the games strongest suit, no question. The enemies are smart enough to use cover, and throw grenades when you are camping a bit, and when they do have numerical superiority, are smart enough to pin you down with just enough fire to allow some of their buddies to gain better position. When using the ISA, and especially the Helghast assult rifle, accuracy is rewarded over spray and pray. And cover is essential - standing in the middle of nowehere will get you killed pretty quick. Its fun to flush out enemies with your grenades, and blast em while they are out in the open after having jumped out of the way.
I haven't even given the mutiplayer a try yet, but the game, I can safetly say, is a lot of fun. While the game has some overall story issues, the environments look dirty as hell, the combat is satisfying, and engrossing. Despite the fact that most everything I have stated above would make you think that the game is mostly doggy poo - the stuff that we don't like is uasually the stuff we talk about the most. Barring that, its a satisfying game overall - if you're curious, give it a rent. But I'm having fun taking in the campaign nice and slow. As far as first person shooters go, I have seen far, far worse than Killzone 2.
I probably could have made this a review, but I haven't jumped into the mutiplayer yet, and this post is already way longer than I had origionally intended, so I'll probably post another blog letting people know what I think about that when I sink some time into it.
Good hunting everyone.
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