Xenojay's Profile

Halo Killer. That’s quite a big thing to say. The only thing I can think of that requires bigger cajones is saying that the Zune will be better than the iPod.

Killzone on Playstation 2 was the game that was hyped as the Halo killer. Halo, the largest new first person shooter IP on the XBOX console, defined where FPS console games would go next. That a game, a NEW game could state it would “kill” another leading and defining game and come in short is like ordering a cheeseburger and getting a hamburger instead. You feel ripped off.
So you can understand that I walked into the world of Killzone 2 quite hesitantly...sort of like a programmed NPC Private soldier that cowers when confronted with the war torn world of Helghan.

Killzone 2 is the latest FPS property for the Playstation 3, developed in house by Guerrilla Games. Being a first party product earns it all the street cred that comes with being a Sony owned developer; console packages, advertising, and marketing, the works. Being a blatant Microsoft lover ever since being won over by the mature marketing of the original XBOX, and having also had that bad hamburger taste from Killzone on the PS2 in my mouth, I approached going to Helghan very much like that kid on the doorstep screaming to his Mum and Dad “I DON’T WANNA GO!”

But like a lightning bolt thrown by the Norse god Thor himself, I was struck immediately by the beautiful graphics powered by the sleek black beast that is the PS3. Dank, bullet ridden, polluted, bloodied. This world made the screaming kid inside me calm down like he had just been given candy…heavy artillery-like candy!

You are Tomas Sevchenko, Sev to the other NPC’s in the game. It has to be Sev. That name makes you feel awesome. And kick ass. Anyway, I digress. You are Sev, a sergeant in the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, or the ISA for short…mostly just ISA, the unabbreviated name is too long…and less awesome than ISA. Anyway, again, I digress. It has been 2 years since the Helghast attacked the ISA colonised planet of Vekta and in retaliation, the ISA decide to take the war to the enemies own turf. And so you start your merry adventure trying to take down the establishment! On an awesome dropship. Convenient really, cause that’s how it feels from the get go; dropped in it.

The first thing you notice about this game is that it is beautiful. The characters are well rendered, the artillery looks awesome, environmental effects mean certain objects can be destroyed, barrels can be blown up and you can write your name with bullets in the wall. Little things like shooting out wooden planks and windows to get that all important headshot on that last Helghan warrior hiding behind the wall feel amazing and steeped in realism. We’ve been told that the world of Helghan (yes, Helghan, not Helgha, I haven’t been making all these funny plurals for nothing) was dark, unloving, foreboding. And boy is it! I think a sewer would feel more accommodating than Helghan…which is funny considering you get to run through a sewer pipe. Pale colours, greenish blue skies with smog lurking along its edges, lightning crawling along the clouds. Ahh, a sorry excuse for a world never looked this good. This game helps show how well the Playstation 3 can render a game...in 720p! And my surprise mark is there because I can only imagine what this game would look like in 1080p.

The control scheme is your standard FPS fare, with movement on the left analogue stick and looking on the right analogue stick. Of course with the redesign of the PS3 Dual Shock 3 controller, the triggers that represent L2 and R2 feel a lot nicer and responsive than their predecessor. Of course, again, the standard FPS layout does not make it shine, but what does, though seen as “gimmicky” by others, are the motion sensor sequences. If you watch your loading screen and move the Dual Shock 3 around, the background image gladly moves with it, changing its perspective, corresponding to your slight movements. But this isn’t the coup de grâce. It is when you have to spin a valve by holding L1 and R1, tilting your hands from left to right like you are turning it, or when you set a charge and you hold R1, tilt to the right, tilt to the left, hold, set, BOOM! These are the things that, yes, gimmicky as it is, help make you feel a little bit more destructive by blowing the crap out of door…or columns in a building.

Ultimately thought it’s the gameplay where the game must win over its audience. Being an FPS, Killzone 2 already follows rules set out by forerunners such as Half Life, Halo, Quake and even as far back to Doom. This takes all of those rules, and tidies up areas from each of those, such as weapon limits, how much ammo lies around, what can be blown up, what can be interacted with and so on. Little acts like driving an ISA tank and blowing the heck out of everything like its that person you loathe most, or being in a small unit squad, seemingly outnumbered and running around knifing all those Helghast fools like you’re John Rambo....this game does it so cleanly, so tightly, with a nicely balanced AI. Even the difficulty settings are perfectly set, so much so that it’s hard to be angry when you get killed because you didn’t see an enemy flank you.

So where does Killzone 2 sit now? On my shelf of course. I’m still into visiting the world of Helghan, it a much more forgiving place than Vekta. This sequel comes far closer to matching Halo, it even being more enjoyable in some parts. It’s still definitely not a Halo Killer, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t give it a good bashing.