Comment
To say there is pressure on Killzone 2 to deliver is an absurd understatement. The subject of endless hype, speculation, and derision by detractors, the game has all but become a PS3 savior or pallbearer, depending on who you ask. Why a single game has become the symbol of a system's worth is anybody's guess, but we'll have to blame those early previews of the game, with their too-pretty-to-be-real graphics, as a main cause. Of course, with the PS3 receiving more quality exclusives this past year and in the year to follow, the game has become less of a make-or-break undertaking. Beyond that, first-person shooters have become for this console generation what action-platformers were for the 8 and 16 bit eras' - the genre by which we judge a system's quality. Expectations, however, can drive an endeavor to either failure or success. Fortunately for shooter fans, Guerilla has pulled this one off.
The first Killzone was decidedly mediocre. We've established that. Forget Killzone 1. Forget the unintuitive levels, which always felt like you were playing a map, not fighting in a real environment. Forget its loose, unresponsive FPS controls. Forget its moronic AI. Killzone 2 fixes all of that. And, as I'll probably mention a few more times, this game is damn pretty. Pretty in an apocalyptic, soot-smeared, hopeless kind of way.
The game opens with all of the noise and destruction you'd expect of top-flight shooter. You'll step into the jackboots of new protagonist Tomas 'Sev' Sevchenko, just as he and his ISA comrades begin an all-out invasion of the Helghan home world. For those who aren't up to speed, the Helghast are the gas-masked, red-eyed, off-world invaders who attacked the ISA's planet Vekta in the last game. If you haven't been keeping current on your Killzone mythos, you probably won't feel lost. This series isn't known for its storytelling. The goal of the main campaign is to fight your way to the palace of Visari, the Helghast's tyrannical but impassioned leader, and attempt to capture him.
Once on the ground you'll be thrown directly into the action as Sev's squad tries to establish a foothold on surface. The invasion plays out with the ferocious chaos of a futuristic Normandy. Lightning blazes across the blackened sky, while tracer-fire from Helghast troops positioned above rains down on the squad. From the violent frenzy of these opening moments, the action only becomes more intense. There is never much of a break in the single-player campaign. You'll go from one epic battle to another, each one becoming more harrowing. There are weapons facilities to be explored, small Helghan villages to be shot up, and a few vehicle sequences, one of which throws you into the cockpit of a walking tank. The 8-10 hour campaign even features an epic (and a bit frustrating) final boss battle, something that other shooters have shirked on recently.
Killzone 2 plays like you'd expect a shooter would. That sounds like a lazy way to characterize the game play, but it's true. Guerilla has taken the good from just about every other console shooter out there and thrown it in the mix. The two-gun loadout is straight out of Halo. The cover system and deliberate pacing of the battles take a page from Gears of War, and the multiplayer adds in some of the better features of Rainbow Six Vegas. Sure, it's derivative. There's nothing new here, but what the game lacks in innovation it makes up for in execution. Using the best parts of the competition's games is actually a wise strategy. The aiming controls can still be a bit imprecise, but I'll reiterate - this is a console FPS.
The story, as mentioned earlier, is a yawner. Ham-fisted, pro wrestler-style dialogue laden with frequent strings of profanity is what you get here. It might be impressive; to a third grader. At least the writers don't ever pretend to go for subtlety. In fact, you could perform quite a drinking game based solely on every instance where a squad mate uses an action movie cliche like 'Incoming!' or 'We've got company!' That said, the graphical rendering of Helghan is quite the feat, from both an artistic and a technical standpoint. The use of totalitarian iconography in tandem with a bombed-out post-apocalyptic look creates the picture of a world torn apart by war and crazed ideology. And of course, the visuals, like I said, are downright phenomenal. This is one of the most impressive titles available on any platform. Whether it is the character models, the lighting engine, or the physics, most every single aspect is remarkably well executed. Nothing beats putting a single bullet in a propane tank, and then watching it skid about the room, knocking over other objects and eventually catching fire and exploding. The only noticeable fault within the visuals are the rendering of shadows. Sometimes it's like the game forgets to show them. Most of the time they exist and appear properly, yet sometimes, even when your character is facing an obvious light source, the shadows will be mysteriously missing. Sound design is also impressive, with all of the cacophony of war flawlessly rendered in full surround sound.
While the single player campaign packs an abundance of thrills, Killzone's multiplayer experience is going to have to deliver in order for the title to achieve elite status. All the right tools are here. There are 8 maps on the disc, all of which are fairly large and feature a diverse assortment of Helghan architecture. The levels have a lot of verticality to them, as well a combination of open spaces and narrow corridors. The variety in each level is a necessity, as the multiplayer matches run a medley of game types in each single match. Available options include assassination, team deathmatch, and capture-the-flag type matches. While Guerilla doesn't bring much new to the table here, the ever-shifting mode mechanic provides a balanced sample of gameplay in each match. You won't be able to win by dominating a single game type. The idea is that this device may in turn make online games more enjoyable, as the constantly shifting objectives will force players to adapt and implement new strategies on the fly.
Also included is Skirmish Mode, which grants a single user the option to experience multiplayer with bots filling in instead of human teammates or opponents. This allows for much needed practice in the multiplayer arena before taking the battle online. You can gain substantial experience with the maps and the numerous game types, which may in turn make you a bit less likely to get schooled during online sessions. The AI in Skirmish Mode, like in the single player campaign, is actually quite serviceable. Enemy bots use cover, flank, and flush much like real opponents would. Unfortunately, the AI controlling your allies never seems to posses that same level of effectiveness. It often becomes more reasonable to simply freelance rather than rely on your computer-controlled teammates to get the job done.
In the final calculus, Killzone 2 is solid game, well worth the sixty dollars for any PS3 owner. Does it surpass the exclusive shooters on that other HD console? The answer is not easily obtained, as everything the developers get right in this title has been introduced in others. Yet, such a strategy is no doubt a respectable way to create a game. Guerilla is willing to borrow from the greats, and their latest game bears the benefits. Killzone 2 may not be the best title ever made, but it has a legitimate chance to contend for FPS of the year, and represents a vast, vast improvement over the original.
