OMG, this is how it should be done!
Having not owned my PS3 for very long, I only have a few games with which to form my benchmarks. For instance, Resistance 2 was the first game that I played on it, and my first reaction easy just wow! Next came Call of Duty: World at War. Again a resounding wow. You can see where I am going with this.
This could only be sexier if all the characters where skinned to look like Angelina Jolie in the buff!!
So when I was sent a copy of Killzone 2 I was genuinely very excited. From the moment I booted it up and was treated to the superb intro sequence, voiced by Brian Cox, I knew this was going to be something special.
Picking up from the foundations laid by the 2004 PS2 hit, Killzone, Killzone 2 places you in control of Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko, an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) commando fighting against the Helghast. After a short introduction, you and you unit are dropped (quite literally) into a warzone in the heart of the Helghast homeworld, Helghan.
Your mission � to capture the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari
This warzone is frantic and filled with intelligent and very aggressive enemies. Filled with panic answer split second decisions and ultimately a quick death!
That’s right, I lasted about 5 minutes! Anyone who was following my twitter page twitter.com/daverage, will know that this put me off pretty early on. Then I discovered the L2 button, and it all became clear. You see unlike most FPS titles, Killzone 2 has a very intuitive use of cover. Not limited to just ducking behind things, using L2 when you are near something will cause you to make intelligent use of whatever cover is available.
As soon as this clicks thee game makes sense. Just like a real battle zone (I imagine) you can not run about all guns blazing, well for the most part. You need to make good use of cover. Not only that you have to look after your colleagues. If they get shot you have a limited time to try and revive then. The less men you have the less chance you have of actually success!
So we know that this is not a by numbers FPS. So what else? Well it looks stunning, in fact the only thing that could make this look any better would be if all of the characters were in fact skinned to look like Angelina Jolie in the buff! The levels are detailed and well planned, with a nice variety of large open spaces and tight, claustrophobic buildings.
Multiplayer is well catered for, with a multitude of game modes, though surprisingly CoOp is missing. I found it to be lag free and again, well thought out, with good use of the levels.
If I was to pick any one part of the game to criticize, which believe me is not easy, it would be the voice acting. It is not bad, but it is let down with a script that at times is not so well written, relying at times on nothing more than heavy use of swearing. This is not a game to play with you Gran!
That aside this is a superb game and a must for any PS3 owner.
The Bad: No CoOp multiplayer
Diamond Y Award