Killzone 2 – Hands-On:

OXCGN gets down & dirty at Sydney Pre-release gig

by GrathiusXR

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos:- CE (C0mmunity Editor)

Thanks to GameSpot AU (Ed: a big thank you to Rebecca Rice from SCEE Aust), XboxOZ360 and myself were treated to admission to an exclusive Sony Playstation event down at MCM Studio located at The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park, for the days’ main attraction: Killzone 2(KZ2).

Single player and multiplayer were both on show connected to Sony Bravias that were located all around the room.

On top of all this was one special PS3 hooked up to the projector at the front, so no matter where you went there was a lot of Killzone 2 to enjoy!

The event started off with Senior Producer Steven Ter Heide who along with Eric Boltjes (Senior Online Designer) flew down to Australia all the way from Amsterdam to talk a little about Guerrilla Games’ origins and what they have tried to achieve with Killzone 2.

We were treated to a extraordinarily detailed presentation by Steve talking about the game, what the team went through.  As well as showcasing some of the game physics, they compared how far they have come along from the very original game back in the mid 90′s under their old development studio name, Orange, through to the controversial CGI trailer from E3 2005.

It was amazing to see the finished version of the game as it looked almost identical to the trailer.

On the big screen everything looked great: graphics, characters, lighting; it all worked exceptionally well, whether you were a player or viewer.

Once the presentation was out of the way, we were treated to a good one and half hours free-time to simply enjoy what Killzone 2 had to offer, both in Single Player and Multiplayer modes.

After having played it for a good 50 minutes I have to say… Wow!

This game has completely blown me away! It runs and plays beautifully on the PS3, and the level of immersion during missions really grabs you and takes you along for the ride.

The A.I is top notch with enemies attacking in groups for better efficiency, taking cover when needed, rushing you whilst you reload, scattering away from grenades and so much more. Variety is also present in enemy tactics so rarely will you see enemies using the exact same tactics twice in a row, which is greatly appreciated.

This level of immersion is phenomenal and having the game in complete first person view just adds that much more to the experience. Coupled with huge building structures, set pieces, explosions, great lighting, special effects and solid voice acting/lip syncing the game stands as one the greater AAA shooters to date.

Regarding faults within the game, Guerrilla Games have done an excellent job in ensuring that the player gets the best gaming experience from Killzone 2 but there were some issues I noticed as well.

The first fault I detected involved saves at each checkpoint, as sometimes the game would just freeze for a few seconds and you’d think something went wrong.

The character movement and aiming takes a while to get used to and even though I played for 50 minutes I still had trouble with it. Sure you can change the controls a bit, but why should it play like that as the standard set up?

For some reason it felt as if the main character wasn’t holding the gun as solid as he should be: it was as  if it was just floating in his hands. There were times where I’d aim and shoot but the gun would sway quite off target and even if I know recoil plays a big part it wasn’t the case here.

Turning down the sensitivity helped but ultimately the annoyance was still there. It’s nothing a good few hours of getting used to can’t fix but in the end for the less shooter savvy gamers it will be an annoyance and may also be to the hardened veterans of today’s smooth shooter like the COD series too.

In AAA shooters like COD5, Halo 3, Resistance 2, or Gears of War you have offline and online co-op and split-screen multiplayer…but not in Killzone 2, which does seem out of step with other top titles.

The destroyed environments that are so much the rage in shooters going gritty right now, suits the battlefield feel, but doesn’t add a whole lot of diversity, at least from what little I saw.  Also the game would really have amazed with more destructibility of the environments.  Still the lens-flares and graphics are magnificent.

Apart from these small issues there were really no other issues apparent that I could see during my playthrough.

What really grabbed me though was the cover system KZ2 incorporates.

In first person view the cover system flows smoothly. Run behind a piece of environment and crouch which instantly puts you into cover mode, your character lifts his gun and that’s it. If simply want to lean out of cover for a better view, then just direct left on the thumbstick and your character will pop his head out with his gun.

It’s features like this which set the bar for shooters and makes this game stand out.

Overall I’m impressed with what KZ2 has to offer and I’ll most definitely be buying this game. It’s a title that Guerrilla Games and Sony should be proud of because it really showcases what the PS3 is capable of and that it is here to stay.

With such a huge weight of expectation on its shoulders, my hat is tipped to Guerrilla Games for the hard work they put into getting KZ2 up and running so well.

©2009 Arthur Kotsopoulos:- CE (C0mmunity Editor)

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Filed under: Console gaming, Editorial, New Game Information, Xbox 360 News Tagged: | Eric Boltjes, Guerrilla Games, Helgast, Killzone, Killzone 2, KZ2, Orange games, Steven Ter Heide