Killzone 2 is a First-Person Shooter developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. The game was released in early 2009 on the Playstation 3, and is the second game in the Killzone series (now containing 6 games). I played the first game in the series years and years ago. From what I can remember, it felt more like a tech demo than a game. It was pretty for the time, but ran horribly. I'm interested to see how this sequel plays out.
Killzone's story follows ISA Alpha Squad's second in command, Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, as Alpha Squad is sent on a mission to support ISA marines and to secure Helghan's capital city of Pyrrhus. Alpha Squad's main goal in capturing the city is to arrest the Helghan high leader Scolar Visari and try him for war crimes committed during the Helghan Invasion of Vekta. As the squad fights toward their goal, they discover that the Helghast were ready for them. Not only are the Helghast dug in defensively, but they also seem to have harnessed the very powers of their planet itself to drive back the Vektan invasion.
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| Well they certainly look unfriendly... |
If Killzone 2's story seems a bit...well flimsy..it's probably because it is. Honestly in this game, the story was useful only to explain why you are shooting your way through one area after the next. I can't really complain though, as the story does its job quite well, and I wasn't exactly expecting "Saving Private Vektan".
Since the game's story only provides a small bit of character and reasoning to the mission, Killzone 2 attempts to use the other members of Alpha Squad to give the game life. Most of this comes through the back and forth banter between members of the squad, showing off such amazing personalities as "cliche tough marine" and "tough marine who makes stupid 'your momma' jokes" and "tough marine who says F#@$ a lot". Ok, clearly story and ambiance aren't exactly the focus of Killzone 2.
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| Any guesses as to which cliche this guy is? |
Where Killzone 2 really shines though is the gameplay. At first glance, the game doesn't play much differently than other modern FPSs. Sev can hold only one main weapon and a sidearm at a time. He also can use a knife for close-range fights and grenades for softening up hard targets. You can aim down the signs of guns, or hip-fire them with less accuracy. Somewhat differently than in most other shooters, though, Killzone 2 lets you crouch behind cover and lean out to fire from relative safety. In fact, the game feels like you absolutely have to take cover if you want to survive the game's many firefights.
To me, the coolest thing about Killzone 2's gameplay was just how it felt. Now I realize that this is a pretty subjective thing to review a game on, but I can't think of any other way to describe what was so unique about the game. Sure, the story is thin, the characters are unlikable, the shooting mechanics are mostly the same as every other shooter on the market, but Killzone 2 just feels different. Guns feel like they have a real punch. You can almost feel the differences in weight of each weapon in the way your character carries them, how they fire, and how you aim them. Firefights feel dangerous as you duck behind cover. The Helghan homeworld feels extremely hostile and unforgiving, making the overall mission to capture the leader of the Helghast feel even more desperate.
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| Sev's starting to wish his mission sent him to Disney Land or something... |
While a lot about the game felt quite nice, Killzone 2's controls left much to be desired. Looking around and aiming feel extremely sluggish and awkward - which is a major issue when faced with the game's deadly combat and need for precise shooting from cover. I became especially frustrated with the game's aiming when looking down the sights of a weapon. The aiming was so sluggish that by the time I had lined up a shot I had been hit by enemies multiple times. Often I found myself struggling with the sluggish controls to aim and fire, then the weapon's recoil would cause me to have to struggle with aiming again, I'd fire again, and repeat the frustrating process once more. It actually got to the point that I would often simply charge an enemy with my knife because it was easier than attempting to pick him off from a distance.
Killzone 2's levels offer a bit of variety for players. Sev will fight through the streets of Pyrrhus, explore the desolate wildlands on Helghan, infiltrate a secret research facility, and more throughout Alpha Squad's mission. Throughout the levels, Sev will find an array of interesting weapons as he goes - from the common field weaponry of the Helghast, to the more exotic and experimental. Some levels even give you the chance to pilot a vehicle such as a heavily armed mech, or to jump into the gunner's seat of a massive gun turret. I really enjoyed the vehicle-based sections of the game, but found that they ended much too soon.
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| Now it doesn't matter that I can't aim precisely! |
It seems like nearly every early Playstation 3 game just had to make use of the somewhat gimicky "sixaxis" motion sensing dual shock 3 controllers, and this game was no different. Killzone 2 makes use of the sixaxis motion sensing controller in a couple of interesting ways. At certain points in the game, Sev must open a valve, or plant explosive charges on specific targets. During these sequences, the game uses the controller's motion sensing capabilities by requiring players to physically move their controller as if they were turning a wheel. The game also uses these motion sensing controls while looking down the scope of the game's sniper rifle. By slightly tilting the controller, players can make fine adjustments to their aim. Personally, I found aiming using this method to be quite silly and more difficult than simply aiming with the analog sticks. Turning wheels with the controller felt a little more interesting, but comes with its own problems. Killzone 2 REQUIRES you to have a working, motion sensing sixaxis controller to play it. By this, I mean that there is no other way to complete the valve or explosives sections without a working sixaxis controller. I came to find this out when using one of my two controllers, only to learn that the sixaxis function was broken on it. Luckily I had a second working controller, but many people have third-party controllers or are using half-functioning controllers and would not have been so lucky. I really feel like not having a back-up method for completing these sections was a bad choice - especially for a feature that is only utilized a few times in the game and feels more like a novelty than anything more.
When I first loaded up Killzone 2, I have to say, I was impressed. The game looks very good for being around 9 years old. While some of the game's textures look aged at this point, the game's animation, lightning, and other visual effects have withstood the test of time. Environments are nicely detailed and provide interesting backdrops for gunfights throughout the game. Sound design is also excellent - weapons sound powerful, explosions are loud, and the game's sounds add to its tense feeling of danger.
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| As long as you have the sixaxis controller, this is going to make a satisfying BOOM! |
Killzone 2's single player campaign takes around 7-8 hours to complete if players stick to the story only. The game offers two types of collectibles to find. There are 20 pieces of Helghast intel that appear as briefcases hidden through the game's 10 levels, as well as 32 Helghast emblems that can be destroyed. When players find intel cases, special content can be unlocked and viewed such as concept art and other interesting features. Unfortunately, destroyed emblems do not unlock anything additional in the game other than a Playstation trophy for finding and destroying all of them. Hunting down these collectibles will add a bit of playtime to the game's length for those wishing to hunt them all down. Killzone 2 also has online multiplayer with multiple game modes, however at the time I played the game there weren't enough people online to get into a match. After doing a bit of research, I found that these multiplayer servers will be shut down on March 28, 2018, as will the multiplayer servers for Killzone 3. So get in there while you can if you're interested.
While playing Killzone 2, I experienced a mix of frustration and awe. While the game's controls, story, and characters left much to be desired, I found that the game still felt really cool. I got the feeling a few times that I wasn't quite understanding the game completely, or that I was doing something wrong which was causing me to dislike parts of the game. It was almost as if the game's good parts were making me question whether the bad parts were actually bad, or if it was somehow just me. I can't say I've ever really had that feeling before. By this point, Killzone 2 probably isn't at the top of most people's "to play" lists, and I can't say that I'd recommend it be moved to that position, but I'm definitely glad that I gave it a try after playing the original game years ago on the Playstation 2.
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