As the title says, tell me about Killzone 2, mainly for the PS3.
I know it is getting rave reviews but I’d like to hear from actual players, anybody on the SDMB playing it. I’m a fairly recent player on the “next gen” platform, so, not a lot of experience, how difficult is it to play.
Obviously, I did not play the original Killzone, would it be a disadvantage?
What about online play, or is it still too soon, are players still doing the single play?
Thanks
I never played Killzone 1, but thought Killzone 2 was garbage. Keep in mind that I’m not a fan of most shooters, by virtue of the fact that 99% of them play identically. And Killzone 2 is no exception. It’s a very average shooter that does nothing new, gameplay wise, and suffers from some annoying control issues, such as actual input lag–something I haven’t seen in a game for decades.
Purely out of curiousity - Killzone 2 came out yesterday. How on earth have you had enough time to judge it so?
I play games for a living, as I’ve stated before on this board. I’ve has Killzone 2 in my possession for several weeks now. I should also add that K2 came out several days ago in Europe and Australia.
Cool, didn’t know that.
I got Killzone 2 yesterday and I spent about an hour in single-player and an hour-and-a-half in online multiplayer. I’m not God’s Gift to FPSes, but I thoroughly enjoyed both modes. I didn’t notice any input lag whatsoever and had absolutely no lag or trouble at all when I played in the online matches (some of the games I played in had the max of 32 players participating). It doesn’t do anything new or ground-breaking but it’s worth it to me.
I also had the first Killzone, and it was one of the few multiplayer games on the PS2 that my friends and I kept coming back to play. Of course, that’s the only sore point I have over Killzone 2: they removed local multiplayer completely. Kind of annoys the hell out of me since none of my friends that I enjoyed playing the first Killzone with have a PS3.
I like it.
The controls are simultaneously excellent and horrid. Movement and aim have a certain sluggishness that can be frustrating. Aiming in particular is made more difficult with a system similar to “mouse acceleration” on PC FPS where you turn more slowly in the beginning of the turn, and speed up the rate or turning the longer you hold the stick. This can make minute adjustments difficult, and makes it easy to overshoot your target if it’s angle is in the “acceleration zone.” Some people will like it, but I’m still adjusting to it. It would be nice if that was optional.
Your target can often be obscured by dust, smoke, and your own muzzle flash making it difficult to line up your target. Recoil, wounds, nearby explosions, and bullet ricochets all throw your aim off as well. Firing in quick bursts is essential. Just like in COD4, you will center on a target if you enter aiming mode when pointing (very) near a target. This helps a lot, mitigating the turn acceleration without making it too easy.
The cover system is almost perfect. It functions just like the system in Rainbow Six: Vegas and Gears of War, except that you always keep your first person perspective. This makes it difficult to find targets while keeping your head down. You can’t use your magic third person view to line up your shots before exposing yourself, making combat more challenging.
As usual, the enemy AI is adequate, but doesn’t pose any real tactical challenge against a human. The enemy’s strength comes in numbers, fortification, and armament. There have been several times where my squadmate(AI) and I were facing at least 8 enemies. They easily could have flanked and destroyed us, but everyone held their position, firing at our covered positions, allowing us to take several minutes to whittle them down.
Perhaps one day we’ll see a game where the AI can figure out how to use the environment to it’s advantage, but Killzone 2 is not it.
Weapon selection is an important decision in Killzone 2. You can carry only one weapon and one sidearm, and the effectiveness of the different weapons varies drastically depending on the situation. You aren’t screwed if you have the "wrong weapon, but having the best suited weapons makes a big difference. Weapon variety is also encouraged by ammo being somewhat scarce. You’ll always be able to find something to shoot, but you usually won’t find enough ammo to use one weapon all the time.
Gameplay-wise, the firefights in Killzone 2 are among the most intense and exciting gaming moments I’ve ever experienced. The presentation really pays off here, with top notch visuals and excellent sound. The weapons sound great, and they all have their own subtly unique kick you can feel through the dualshock controller. The relative difficulty of aiming feels very realistic. Hitting a small, distant target when taking enemy fire should be difficult, and it is. Kills are very satisfying.
So far, the game has presented a good challenge on hard, without becoming very frustrating. I die plenty, but I haven’t had to try one part more than a handful of times. I think they really hit the sweet spot on difficulty.
Overall, it’s a fun shooter with great presentation. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it is fun, and hits on several gameplay elements that I like. The controls are a little problematic, but manageable.
I think I’m a little over halfway through the single player campaign. There is no co-op. I have yet to try the multiplayer.
there’s no co-op? that’s a terrible shame. Why haven’t people learned that everyone likes co-op, especially these days with online gaming so prevalent, every shooter should include at the very least some form of online co-op, but local co-op is damn important too
(I’m not talking trash about the game, I’ve never played it, just saying the lack of co-op is a lame decision by the developers)
I couldn’t agree more. This is a game that would be a lot of fun in co-op mode. Way better than counting on your AI squadmates.