The playstation 3 finally has its killer app
Its been a long time coming, but the PS3 finally has Killzone 2, a game that supposedly is to beat Halo and all other comers to the crown of definitive FPS. That is a lofty claim, and one which sadly isn’t lived up to, but Killzone 2 is a fantastic game in its own right.
You play as Sev, a soldier in the ISA (Internal Strategic Alliance) fighting a war against the Helghast, a vicious bunch of, well space Nazis, who are now fighting to rid their home world of Helghan of you and your comrades. This is a reversal of the first game which had the Helghast invade your world, and adds to the universe by showing that the war has raged between the two games and that the tide is turning in the ISA’s favour.
That is, unfortunately, about as much of a back story as you will get though. The main campaign has enough narrative to drive the game forward, but it doesn’t have the weight of Gears of War 2 nor the imagination of Halo. There are some great design choices, making it feel more like Aliens that anything with its ‘Dirty Technology’ take on space ships and even drop ships, but they don’t add to the narrative at all and when the story does try to ramp up and do a good job, it is simply too late in the campaign.
The campaign itself, though, is fantastic. The weapons are meaty, and fire bullets rather than any form of energy/plasma, and the Helghast are a great enemy. Having to fight ten of them, with their glowing red eyes and gas marks, is an imposing sight, and when they start to intelligently take cover and navigate around you to find the best firing position, you know your in for a hell of a game.
Killzone 2 really is a hell of a game. Everything has weight to it, from movement to firing the weapons to jumping, and it gives the game a distinct feel. The cover mechanic adds to this as well, since it doesn’t pan out to a third person view like a lot of games with a similar feature, and while it can take some getting used to, works really well.
The graphics are top notch, proving there is a reason why this is the most expensive multimedia project ever produced in Guerrilla Games home country of . The frame stays constant, and there were no clipping issues that I could see, letting you know this was a labour of love for the team. The sound too is fantastic, weapons sound like your firing assault rifles and shotguns, and the shouts of your team mates and enemies add to the chaotic nature of all the battles.
The one thing that is strange about battles is that is very rare to get a sniper rifle during the campaign, and as such you have to get up close and personal for each encounter. However, every weapon has an iron site or reflex site so head shots are still possible, and actually preferred, though it may take a couple of shots since the first one has a tendency to remove the targets helmet rather than actually kill them.
There are a few sixaxis controls scattered about as well, though these actually work quite well and don’t show up too often. You tilt the control to turn wheels to open doors and activate explosives, and that’s it, so it never feels shoehorned into the scheme and since it only shows maybe five times throughout the 10 hour campaign, never gets in the way.
Once the campaign has finished, you can move into the multiplayer, which again, while it is no Halo beater, is still a fantastic game. The standard modes are here, death match, CTF, assassination, capture and hold, but they are presented in an interesting way.
All of these modes are present in one over arching mode called War zone. Here you are dropped into a match with up to 32 other players and you a given a grenade and either the basic ISA assault rifle or the Helghast equivalent, and that’s it. No special classes or equipment, just the bog standard stuff. As you play the match, you will be given different missions, which equate to the aforementioned game types, and they play out as such.
The strength in this approach is that you are never stuck doing the same thing for a twenty minute game, there is always a different thing to do every three or four minutes, and with the great game play already in place the matches are a lot of fun. You can turn off the various match types so you only play say death match, but that kinda defeats the point and is best left alone.
As you play the multiplayer, you earn experience points, the more you do the more you get, so by being active and capturing flags or planting explosives and killing enemies you rise up the ranks. The higher you rise the more you can do, so the first rank will let you create a squad, allowing you to be a spawn point, while the second lets you create a clan. Keep going and eventually you will unlock special classes like medic and engineer, which is a great incentive to keep playing.
The best thing about Killzone 2’s multiplayer, though, is that every starts at the same level, and that certainly evens the playing field. Players who constantly play FPS’s do still have a slight advantage, but at least their kit isn’t vastly superior straight off the bat and their knowledge of the classes won’t be of any help for a while.
In all, Killzone 2 is a fantastic game; if they only made the story more compelling and stopped banding about lofty claims then it could be even better. Despite these tiny niggles, and they are tiny niggles, PS3 finally, and deservedly, has its killer app.
