The media has this habit of creating large amounts of hype, It is rare for a game to live up to the hype created for it, killzone 2 is no exception. However, that isn't saying the game is bad.. far from it.
I have put off this review for a while now, I have had the game since 2 or 3 days before the official release and have played it ALOT. I had the online beta and i knew from then that this would be, for me one of the best online FPS games on the current generation of consoles.
So, after 72 hours of online play time - what do I think of the game?
Graphics:
This is the best looking game i have played on a console, at least from a technical aspect. The lighting, particle effects, physics, bullet reactions from enemies, animations, wind that will effect real objects - the game has EVERYTHING.
The game uses a special technique in their engine to allow hundreds of TRUE light sources in one single level, with even the lights on the ISA's armour and the helghasts eyes being true light sources. A large majority of the games today don't employ an engine that can handle this technique - so most games only have around 10 - 20 light sources in a level.
The particles are all 100%, fully 3D and have real physical properties to them, the animations are smooth, life like and really well thought out. The enemy Ai will react in real time to every bullet you fire at them with incredible realisim. The attention to detail is amazing, with even your characters, both offline and online leave footprints on the floor.
While the art style may not be your thing, it is hard to deny the technical excellence.
Sound:
Killzone 2 has a fully original soundtrack with incredible sound effects and design. Each gun has a great, unique sound to them, they sound real, everything from the bullet leaving the gun to the shells dropping on the floor.
The game supports true 7.1 HD surround sound, the sound is 100% 3D depending on your direction, the sound will change speakers to simulate how it would sound in real life. Some media outlets who analysed the sound technology had claimed killzone 2 "sports the best 7.1 digital surround sound technology in the industry".
So it is safe to say, the sound lives up to the very high bar set by the graphics.
Gameplay:
You get it, killzone 2 is a technical masterpeice - but does that really matter? How does the game actually play?
Well, very differently to most popular shooters today. The deep, visceral gameplay is great. There is a new first person cover system in the single player campaign which is the key in the campaign. This isn't your typical run and gun game offline, you will need to stop - take cover, kill a couple of enemies and progress forward. Think Gears of War in first person.
There are one or two problems with the cover system when you initially pick it up, I'd personally say the way they implemented the controls for the cover system could of been refined a bit more but that is all - I got used to them after the first mission.
Your character has a real weight to them, it isn't a fast paced game offline, it isn't your typical twitch shooter. Online, the game takes on a quicker pace. Your movement is slightly quicker and there is no cover system.
Story:
This is not killzone 2's strongest point. It is your typical generic storyline with your typical generic characters, but as i mentioned in my gears 2 review - I won't take too many points from a game like this for that due to the nature of the game.
Basically, you're the ISA - in killzone 1 the helghast invaded the ISA's planet (vetka) - the ISA defeated them and they retreated back to their home planet (Helghan). In killzone 2, it is the ISA's turn to invade helghan to take on the helghast leader, Visari.
Character development is lacking, there was no real connection - so i think that is something that needs improving on a possible sequel. The dialogue seems forced at times and the voice acting is just average.
However, there is one big exception to the average forced dialogue - this is Visari. Brian Cox is Visari's voice actor and does an amazing job, he gets into the character very well - the dialogue is exceptional, the dialogue and voice acting alone probably make Visari one of the best dictators in video game history.
Online:
This is the best part of killzone 2 - as i mentioned at the top of this review, I have spent over 72 hours online. This is the best online FPS (keyword: online) game I have played on the current generation of consoles.
The class system is huge, with 7 classes - 6 of them unlockable. Each class has one primary and secondary ability. The primary ability is unlocked as soon as you unlock that class, however the secondary abilities have to be unlocked by performing a certain task a certain amount of times in a gain to earn a ribbon. These ribbons go towards the badge that unlocks the secondary ability, you must unlock 8 of each ribbon to unlock the badge.
There are a few problems that need to be ironed out which occur on the larger servers. However, I play mostly on private matches so my experience may be different. The online play can be very tactical or just chaos, the team that uses the classes correctly will ALWAYS win over the team that just goes around doing as they wish.
The game supports up to 32 players, each server created is hosted on Sony's own servers - there are no player hosted games, so lag is very, very rare. In the beta, I could play on a japanese server and suffer from no lag at all, apart from the occasional kill delay.
There is too much for me to explain about the online, all i'm saying is that I love it and the few problems that people complain of are things that don't cause problems, personally for me that plays in large private matches. But I'm sure they will be sorted out somewhere down the line.
Conclusion:
The game looks amazing, very well designed, has a good campaign mode with an incredible Multiplayer offering. Twitch shooter fans may not like this, I love other games such as call of duty which is probably the most popular twitch based shooter at the moment, but i enjoy killzone 2 too - so don't be put off by what I said.
Hugely disappointingly, it seems that Guerrilla Games, developers of the Killzone and Horizon series, may be done with Killzone for good.
1 was fine, overhyped as a " halo" killer
2 was a graphical beast at the time, and felt heavy
3 was good a refinement of 2 but not much else. weird audio issues environment were to quiet
shadow fall was pretty but bland
Shadowfall had great Multiplayer though. Too bad the campaign was meh at best. It did have the occasional great moment sprinkled in.
I played through 2/3 multiple times. I played through the original once, but it felt pretty lukewarm for me. I couldn't be bothered to beat Shadow Fall. I got a couple hours in and just went "I'm done". Never touched it again. It was awesome on the tech side, being a launch title, but it didn't even match up to the first game when it came to actually having fun playing it.
3 in 3d was an amazing experience to be had.
Although not many experienced it as intended for good reasons.
You forgot the ai advancements on the playstation 2 killzone one you could have a full team of bots doing everything even playing the objective that was a big thing.
In killzone 2 they always flanked you and when available used the high ground.
Playing killzone 2 no hud 5.1 audio was/is awesome
I dont mind if someone else takes up the mantle for the KZ franchise. We are several years removed from the first game. It certainly could use a remake to gauge interest in the rest of the series. I know it has its fans... Im thinking of how a proper reboot can rekindle that old dormant flame and bring in a new generation of fans in the process.
You forgot killzone mercenaries on the ps vita but it was the worst selling sony game for awhile there.
Would like a new IP before Horizon 3. Just because games take so long to make these days.
The PlayStation 3 may not have been the strongest generation for Sony, but there were still some diamonds in the rough that deserve a revisit as PS5 remasters.
Even if they could just remaster and put on PSVR2, some would still look great as VR titles and could do a whole lot to bolster the headset w these exclusives! I'd imagine the investment of reworking these titles into VR would be way less than building new games from the ground up, and they could be amazing experiences, and VR often makes flat games feel fresh again. The Resistance and Killzone games are particularly what I want to see!!
I played killzone 3 in 3d and it really changed the game per being immersive.
In vr, that would be even more awesome.
Funny you mention that... my son wanted to play some PS3 games in 3d on my PS tv and he was blown away by how good KZ3 was. It really was a great addition to the game. Im surprised there have not been more 3d games from that era being ported to the PSVR/VR2.
resistance 1-3, killzone 1-3, uncharted 1-3, uncharted golden abyss, folklore, socom 4 , motorstorm, twisted metal, MAG, heavenly sword
Killzone 2+3
Sly Thieves in Time
Crack in Time
God of War Ascension
Motorstorm
Modnation racer
Infamous 1+2
Killzone trilogy in VR would be amazing bonus points if they offer shadow fall.
There was a psvr1 Killzone project that supermassive was working on at one stage which wasn't up to scratch and Sony brand it back in house I was hoping we would see that on psvr2 eventually.
Personally I'd love to see some more love or acknowledgement of psvr2 from Sony in general it was a expensive headset and Sony barely acknowledge it's existence
The amount of work needed to remaster these games wouldn't be beneficial on a financial and business sense.. MGS4 would probably be the best bet as it would need the least amount of work!
The time is perfect for a resistance fall of man game campaign coop multiplayer
The resistance series is str8 trash to me. Socom 3 I would welcome. Or killzone MP.
Resistance was ok but Warhawk and Starhawk was better and kept me coming back for almost a decade of fun and petty revenge on the loud mouth unskilled players 🤣
Edit I loved capture the flag dropping the pot on the flag carrier was extremely satisfying as well as transforming your plane in bot form and stumping them to death 😱
The Amsterdam-based studio reflects on its humble beginnings, beloved franchises, and growth through the years.
Up there with the top tier in the industry. Love Guerrilla Games - Horizon Burning Shores is simply STUNNING.
Same. They nailed it with Horizon. The trouble is I also want a new Killzone! Can't I just have it all?!
I have yet to play Burning Shores as I just started Forbidden West (bought at launch, just unwrapped last weekend LOL) and playing on PS5.
man...I still can't believe the graphics especially now I'm playing it on my LG OLED. that graphics and with stable performance backing it up, GG really is the master of their craft!
32.7M sales in the Horizon franchise! With 8.4M coming from Forbidden West alone! Truly a hugely successful game and franchise as a whole. Looking forward to Horizon III
One year after realease HZD sold 7.6 million.
https://www.noobfeed.com/ne...
So not a drop off.
Unless you're saying a HFW should have sold as much now as HZD sold in 5 years?
It's been 3 games, this includes Call of the Mountain. Also no, its a great improvement over HZD.
lol you are comparing:
HZD: 28 February 2017 - May 2023 (6 years+)
HFW: 18 February 2022 - May 2023 (1 year+)
We will see if it surpass original number.
@shane, 2 full main games, 2 DLC add ons, 1 VR spin off game, oh and a an official LEGO set.
Not too bad for an ip that's only been on market for 6 years
Wow, very impressive. I didn't know the numbers were so high for Forbidden West. Still playing through it myself
Yooo, when I first saw that Killzone 1 footage at E3, my friends my brothers and I were like, Holy shit! When it came out, it didn't look exactly like it, but we sunk so many hours into 1 & 2.
I even liked Killzone: SF, it was a spectacle to look at, and even today it looks good. I hope they make a new one. Can you imagine how that will look, and they can get some modern FPS pointers from Bungie.
Such a wonderful studio. They deserve all their success.
The Decima Engine is absolute 🔥 I'm just mad they have abandoned Killzone.
They are probably working on mutiple projects. One of them is Horizon 3, but another is a multiplaer game and probably somehting else.
best fps on consoles
do yall two even own the game aahhahah .
and Wii Sports owned Halo 3 in worldwide sales.
Easy to talk out of your @ss with facts isn't it?