Killzone 2

Pros:

-Amazing visuals; some of the best ever made

-Campaign is intense and fun

-Multiplayer is deep, addictive, and very fun

-Guns feel and shoot great

-Enemy AI is highly intelligent and provides a great challenge

-Cover system is unique and solid

Cons:

-Weak storyline and forgettable characters

Killzone 2 is quite possibly one of the most technically stunning games ever created, but great tech and visuals alone doesn't make a game good. Fortunately, Killzone 2 plays as amazing as it looks, and it offers one of the best multiplayer experiences around. You could not ask for a better shooter!

Killzone 2 puts you in the role of Sev, an ISA soldier who is about to leave for the violent planet of Helghan with his annoying comrade Rico in order to stop the fascist Helghan Dictator Vissari. If you played the first Killzone some faces will be recognizable such as Jan "Templar", but for the most part they don't make a very big impact on the story and act as mostly just side cameos. The storyline for Killzone 2 is forgettable, and none of it's characters really standout, not even the main character Sev who seems just like another generic military guy. Sev's main partner, Rico, is very annoying at times as he constantly yells and throw's out F-bombs in every single line of dialog. I don't know what they writers were thinking, but whatever it was they sure missed the mark.

The campaign it's self is a very solid experience, it provides intense action throughout it's 8-10 hours (on Normal) and it's one you will certainly enjoy playing through again. The levels put you in intense fire fights from huge all out trench warfare, shoot outs through crumbling buildings, bloody battles in a dusty wasteland, and more. The campaign also offers some pretty great aspects such as being able to use a gun that shoots out a beam of raw electric voltage, pilot a mech and lay waste to your enemies, fire a harpoon gun, take down a large, machine gun wielding armored Helghast , and other memorable moments. Killzone 2 delivers a campaign that is robust and action packed. Another great aspect that makes the campaign even more enjoyable are the Helghast enemies themselves, thanks to superb enemy AI the Helghast provide an excellent challenge and you'll definitely enjoy fighting them on the harder difficulty settings.

Visually Killzone 2 is drop dead gorgeous, with impressive tech and art style. The graphical details are stunning, and the lighting is powerful and dynamic. The art direction also brings Killzone 2 to life with intense depictions of war torn environments. When it comes to graphical prowess, Killzone 2 is in a class of it's own.

However there is far more to Killzone 2 than just good looks, it's gameplay is top notch as well. The guns all shoot and feel powerful, you really get a sense of their weight and kick when you fire. Control wise Killzone 2 is a little slower compared to other shooters on the market, but this isn't a bad thing, it gives Killzone 2 a style of it's own and you really feel the power in your movements and combat, everything feels immersive and engaging. Killzone 2 also boasts an impressive cover system, something that most first person shooters fall short of, it's quite easy to take cover behind an object or wall and pop in and out, it's a flawless mechanic and something that other first person shooters should adopt.

When it comes to multiplayer, Killzone 2 also delivers a powerful experience. There are 2 multiplayer modes of Killzone 2, Skirmish and Warzone. Skirmish allows you to play offline with very intelligent and skilled AI bots, this is a good way to practice and learn the maps or just brush up your skills a bit, and the bots are no push overs and make for formidable opponents. Then there is Warzone, Killzone 2's online mode. Warzone pits a total of 32 players into a single match as they fight and compete over various objectives that change on a constant basis. For example you may begin a Warzone match where the objective is body count (team death match) then some time later it will suddenly change to a different objective such as assassination, search and destroy, search and retrieve, or capture and hold. Warzone is basically a giant mix of several multiplayer modes into one, and it works amazingly well.

The maps are quite robust and large, each one offering it's own unique style and flare. One will have you fighting in a giant run down market place with large buildings you can enter, another will pit you in intense building-to-building conflict as you fight from room to room and floor to floor, another is set on a war torn bridge and the two teams fight for control over it, there are a total of 8 maps in Killzone 2 multiplayer and you'll love every single one of them. They are very large, very well designed, and each one is vastly different from the last. Each map has it's own set of side ways, open areas, high rises, and more, each map offers a bit of everything.

Killzone 2's multiplayer is class based and team focused much like several other shooters, however this is not a bad thing by any means and Killzone 2 does it so well you'll love it! There are 7 different classes; Medic, Rifleman, Tactician, Assault, Engineer, Saboteur, and Scout. Each class offers a totally unique gameplay experience from the others, for example playing as a Medic forces you to play more defensively and focus on your group, where as playing as a sneaky Saboteur has you donning a disguise and going behind enemy lines, working to sabotage their operations. The multiplayer experience of Killzone 2 has great variety and it's also insanely deep, with hours upon hours of class based unlocks and an excellent clan system. Another good element of Killzone 2's multiplayer is the squad system, allowing you and several other players to form a squad and spawn on each other and back each other up while completing objectives. You could say form a squad of Saboteurs that work behind enemy lines together, or a squad of Snipers that communicate locations of targets and take them down, or a squad with a bit of everything.

Final Verdict:

Overall Killzone 2 is a pretty conservative shooter, many of it's elements are already standard fare in other shooters, but this is by no means a bad thing and what makes Killzone 2 stand out from the pack is how well it does it. With it's jaw dropping visuals, great gameplay, and one of the best multiplayer experiences to date, Killzone 2 has earned it's place among the top tier, first person shooter elite. If you are a shooter fan in any way whatsoever, you owe it to yourself to play Killzone 2.

Killzone 2 get's a 5/5