Killzone 2

Truth is I got a bit disappointed as well when I got my hands on Killzone 2 when it came out. We all expected tight controls and flawless online-gaming from what we've read in previews and articles. Long story short: expectations were too high.

However, as of today a patch has come out fixing the dodgy aiming and Killzone 2 now much resemble what most of us have been playing for the past year. It's a kick-ass game. Forget your demo-experience, you cried out your prayers and Guerilla listened and blessed.

That needed to be said first of all.

What Killzone 2 is: is a gritty, dark and extremely detailed first-person shooter with an intense campaign and a rewarding multiplayer experience. It's nothing new but a classic action shooter with the proper ingredients. Very macho, not very subtle. It's basically war on another world between what we'd recon as human outcasts and an retalliation force. It's very cruel and graphic, but above all it's a damn good shooter.

I have to say that this is a really fun and enjoyable game. I'm not a huge fan of the fps games, but I've been waiting for this one ever since I saw the very first trailer back in 2005 I think it was. This game has just about everything that an fps game should have, I think, because once again, I'm not that familiar with the genre. I've only played Halo 1 & 2 (not mine, just my buddies and I didn't like them at all), 007: Goldeneye (Best FPS EVER!!!!), Resistance 1 & 2 (only own no. 2 which is amazing, but I've played 1 which is good), Call of Duty 3 & 4 (own both; 3 for PS2, and 4 for PS3; Modern Warfare is great, but I'm to slow at it LOL), Battlefield 2 & Bad Company (loved Bad Company more and it's amazing to blow stuff up), Black (amazing), etc. You get my point that I'm trying to make. I'm not that great at them, but that doesn't mean that I can't have fun with them. And Killzone 2 is that kind of game where I can just jump in at anytime and blow up whatever I want. The best part about it are the vehicles, though short, but fun as all HELL, especially when you get to be in that robot thing and just go crazy on the Higs. The story is lacking, as they pull things from other war/action films and use clichéd lines such as "Don't die on me yet," "it's cold..." (mind you I'm paraphrasing there, but you get the idea). The music is catchy as I often hum it when there's nobody around of course LOL. I think that they could have done a bit more work on the menu design, not that there's anything wrong with it, because it is cool, it's just that the colours remind me of MGS 2 with the grays and red. I don't know, maybe it's just me. Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about the sound, which is pretty F UCKING AMAZING!!!! I have my PS3 hooked up to my surround sound and my big screen TV and oh my God. The visuals are pretty breathtaking, which is weird because it's about an apocalyptic war where a lot of people die... duh... obviously... but it's still visually stunning and almost life like in a way. Now I haven't played that much of online because well... I suck at it, but from what I've seen it's just as great as the campaign, if not better. You can pretty much read about the online play on any other game review website such as ign, or just watch it on youtube. Anyways my overall score for this kick-ass game is a solid 10/10 stars as it's not only for the hardcore fans out there of the fps genre, but for everyone too. You just pick up and go basically.

When I first bought Killzone 2 about a week and a half ago, just after the lagging issue was fixed and started playing it, I didn't like it at first, and I felt sure I was going to end up regretting getting the game. The gameplay was bad, and the controls felt awkward. But then I changed the controls to the Alternate 2 setting, where the controls are very similar to that of Call of Duty 4, and I have had a blast ever since.

There have been many complaints about the targeting in this game, but I find it to be fine. Not as good as Call of Duty 4, but it's very good. Of course it's not going to target the enemies for you. That makes the game much too easy. You need to use your own accuracy and gun down the enemies with precision.

Another thing I think people overlook in this game is the element of strategy. All the guns are unique in their own way. For example, the standard M82 Assault Rifle is great for zooming on enemies, the STA52 Assault Rifle fires stronger than the M82 but zooming is not as good. The LS13 Shotgun can kill enemies with one well placed shot to the chest or head region, but reloading takes ages. There are also lots of other weapons to choose from including a flamethrower and the ever-fun Boltgun. So to condense it all, you have to think about what guns you are choosing, because you can't carry two primary weapons at once. Only one primary gun and one secondary gun in your pistol.

This game also has a great cover system, and it also falls into the element of strategy. You have to pick your spots when in a shootout, and you have to find the best angle to flank them from. If you take cover behind a wall on the side, the enemy will often flank you and get at close range with you, especially on the higher difficulty settings. So you have to watch out from all directions at all times.

All the characters are unique and you either love them or hate them. The loudmouthed Natko was always my favorite, but Rico was rather annoying at times. Evelyn was cool as well, and Radec and Visari were both good villains. I would have liked to see them exposed more throughout the story, though.

My biggest complain with this game is turning. When an enemy is attacking you from behind or from the side and you have to turn to shoot them down, your character turn very slowly, and this gives the enemy time to fire more while you turn around, and often times, kill you before you can even face them. When they flank you from behind, it takes a full second to turn around 180 degrees, and this is very frustrating by the time you reach the later missions.

But if you can battle through the slow turning, which isn't a HUGE issue, and you don't mind lots of foul language, you have a very enjoyable game in Killzone 2.

Killzone 2 was finally released February 2009 and was long awaited by just about all PlayStation 3 owners. It is the third installment in the Killzone franchise. The first game, Killzone was released on the PlayStation 2 and Killzone: Liberation was later released for the PlayStation Portable. Killzone 2 continues the story of the first two games having you fight as the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance against the Helghasts. This time however you take the fight to the Helghast and invade their planet, Helghan. Your goal is to stop the Helghast war machine by capturing the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari, and making him answer for his crimes.

You start the assault on Helghan from an ISA cruiser stationed high in the clouds above the planet. Your squad joins countless others that are launched from the cruiser toward Helghan. Once landed you are immediately in the fight taking on Helghast soldiers from behind walls and above on walkways and bridges. The controls were a little odd for me, but there are plenty of ways to configure them. After getting the controls to my usual layout, I began my assault. The Helghast are not a wimpy race though and it takes plenty of rounds to take one down. Even aiming for a headshot doesn't mean you are taking down that soldier. It took me on average two or three shots to the head to take one down. The first shot pops their helmet off and then depending on the level of damage he has already taken you may have to hit his head another two times. This was the most frustrating part for me, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

The Helghast are also skilled on the battlefield. They react as you would expect them to; ducking behind walls to avoid your bullets and waiting until it's all clear to come back out. They also scatter from grenades and try to flank you and your teammates. You and the ISA however aren't quite as skilled. I found my biggest disappointment in this game was the cover system. You could "attach yourself to cover," but this didn't mean you'd actually hide behind anything. I found that sometimes he wouldn't attach to cover, sometimes he would, but I'd still be getting hit and all the while your teammates are telling you to find some cover. You teammates don't follow their own advice however. Towards the end of the game my teammate would end up running into the open and be cut down quickly by enemy fire and yell for me to come save him. When he wasn't getting killed he was shooting at enemies and doing what seemed like no damage. They are mainly there for distraction; any killing you want done you have to do yourself.

OK, AI is hard to create, but you did it with the enemy why not do it with the good guys too? Aside from that the story was decent and the landscape and characters were beautifully done, even if they aren't in the full resolution of 1080p. The scripting wasn't bad for a video game, but the timing and triggering of the conversation was slow and low pauses happened in the middle of conversations and sometimes the dialogue would be cut off before they finished their sentence.

This game was fun though and the multiplayer maps are very well designed so that each team has a balanced area to work with. If you like FPS and want a short campaign to play through before you go pop the top of your friends online then I highly recommend this game. If you aren't an online gamer then I still think you should try this time, but don't buy it just go rent it. I give Killzone 2 three downed teammates out of five.

Written by Sam for www.overcranked.net

This is, by far, one of THE BEST fps I have EVER played full stop. The campaign is fantastic with a wide range of weapons to use and interesting maps and characters, and online is just nuts! There are a range of multiplayer modes and classes to choose from. There are also many maps to have a go at and are designed for every class. Even if you are not such a hardcore gamer, you will love this game. And considering you can get it as cheap as fifty dollars on eBay, it's just criminal if you don't go on and buy it. Honestly, this game is the Halo 3 of PS3, it gives COD:4 a good run for it's money also. Just do yourself a favour and maximize your PS3 experience of buying it. Now.