Pros/Cons of Killzone 2 (PS3)

[Shrapnellistic]

Note
List in order of most to least relevant.
First Killzone iteration I played.
Logged 6 hours in the campaign and 17 hours in the multiplayer online.
Debut gameplay sold me on a PS3.
​

+ Helghasts are instantly iconic.
– Recoil had surprisingly more kickback than touted simulation shooters. Never could get adjusted to it (a first for a shooter for me).

• Didn’t notice a difference with the High Precision patch.
• Inconsistent hit-detection in multiplayer (headshots are randomly high).
• Heavy sway.

– Factions' firearms were void of proper "yins to the other's yang".

• 1 sniper rifle.
  
  
• 1 shotgun (no iron sight).
  
  
• 1 sub-machine gun.
• 1 semi-automatic rifle.
  
  
• ISA assault rifle (poster gun of Kz2) > Helghast assault rifle (just not the Nazi MP40 or modern-day AK47 equivalent I was expecting it to be).
• ISA light machine gun (M249 SAW clone) > Helghast light machine gun (no iron sight, unresponsive feedback).
  
  
  

+ Most challenging/unpredictable AI that wow'ed me since Halo: Combat Evolved.
– Textbook narrative. Juvenile dialog. Won’t care if anyone I met in the story didn’t make a return. I’d rather be a regular ISA grunt with a helmet. Guerrilla Games failed to share their passion for the Alpha squad with me.

• Genuinely laughed during a lamenting a death scene.
• Screw Rico.

= Campaign had a pretty identical pace to CoD4:MW (both took 6 hours) and that's what I was expecting, but CoD4:MW's overall presentation remains the one to beat.

– Multiplayer didn’t fulfill my wetdream of a CoD4:MW and Team Fortress 2 offspring - despite being inspired by them. Too many clusterf**ks and sharing pooled resources just doesn’t work (teammates will hog spawn grenades, turrets, air bots).
+ 32 players online... even if it was overboard, it's impressive that I can't recall getting into a laggy room despite every server being peer-to-peer (great networking).
– Locking classes in multiplayer is a crooked way to make OCD players log time.

• I just went into boost servers to unlock badges while I watched TV.
• Badges: 6 of the 7 classes have 2 very unique badges, once you've proven your proficiency with the second badge by collecting enough "ribbons" you can use it in combination with another class.

+ Lean and Peek mechanic makes sense, made firefights that more intimate.

– No Lean and Peek in multiplayer; could’ve been a badge for the naked, starter class that has 0 badges.
– No blindfire from the gameplay debut.

– Jarring absence of practical armament.

• No knife in multiplayer.
  
  
• No flamethrower in multiplayer.
  
  
• No electricity grenade in multiplayer.
  
  
• No ISA rocket launcher in the campaign.
  
  

– Can't switch sidearm for a primary gun.
– Infinite sidearm ammo.
+ Hollywood death animations and rewarding gore.
– Point-of-view is awkwardly 6 inches too low when standing next to others.

– Baby-sitting an AI partner made me switch the difficulty from Normal to Easy to stop getting spammed by cries to be revived (making me risk my neck and he couldn't return the favor when I died).

• 95% of the campaign had 1 mate from Alpha squad tagging alongside, but Kz2 doesn't support any cooperative, weird...
  
  

+ One look and you’re in awe with its fidelity (even if CoD4:MW beat Guerrilla Games to the punch).
+ Online allows server lists to be populated with smart filters.
+ AI in multiplayer (up to 15, offline and online).
+ Sharp HUD in multiplayer.

– Radar in multiplayer is too detailed, can’t see blips below/top.
– No Helghast dogs.

+ Appreciated the pallet cleansers.

= Blending the gamemodes into a single match was pretty innovative, but if given the choice I'd rather the rounds reset after each gamemode.
+ Unobtrusive SIXAXIS implementation.

– Arbitrarily shaded corners in the campaign.
– Unfitting exotic weapons (luckily not in multiplayer).

• Electric zapper (overpowered).
  
  
• Hydrolic Boltgun (belongs in Half-Life 2).
  
  

– Frustrating final boss fight, almost hit restart because I thought the game glitched with endless Helghast waves.
+ Nothing wrong with the sound effects (not an audiophile).
+ Intensive multiplayer stat-tracking (in-game and at the official website).
+ Clans are given way more attention than I've ever seen: wager Valor Points, post messages for members (in-game).

Total Pros/Cons
++++++++++++++ (14)
== (2)
––––––––––––––––– (17)

Miscellaneous
Play the demo thoroughly (I didn't).
​

 

[SuperPhillip]

I thought it was embarrassing how many times the game had to curse.
It's the like the writers are still 12 where gratuitous swearing is still considered cool. I sold the game. Did not like it at all. Without the pretty graphics, it's just another generic FPS for manchildren.

 

[spike32]

[quote name='SuperPhillip']I thought it was embarrassing how many times the game had to curse.
It's the like the writers are still 12 where gratuitous swearing is still considered cool. I sold the game. Did not like it at all. Without the pretty graphics, it's just another generic FPS for manchildren.[/QUOTE]

Thank you, my thoughts exactly! I also sold the game, good thing my used store had it for $40 or i would've been pissed. Sold it for $37 and bought Eternal Sonata instead which is a much much better game so I figure that was worth it. That's what I keep telling everyone about the game, without the graphics it's not revolutionary like everyone keeps saying but they all keep saying how great it is for some reason. Makes no sense to me. Felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters, they were all so bland and just cursed for no apparent reason and the ending was retarded.

 

[Shrapnellistic]

I'm so lazy when it comes to selling my unwanted games. Still stuck with Killzone 2.

 

[misterine]

correction...
flamethrower is coming to muiltiplayer
same with the bolt gun..

ISA rocket launcher is in mutiliplayer un der assault class.

 

[misterine]

knife is too cheap to even be placed in muiltplayer you can run thru a whole level in campaign with the knife...

same with the electricity grenades

 

[bleak]

Overall I thought Killzone 2 was a disappointment. I really didn't like how I felt like they purposely made the controls mushy like I was moving through water. When you try to angle in a direction it starts out slow and then overaccelerates towards the end so it's too slow getting to where you want the reticule to be and by the time it's there it blows right past. Plus it was way too much of (1) hide behind X; (2) shoot glowing eyes poking out from X; and (3) watch out cause we made the controls crap, so it's harder than it should be to do so.

The multiplayer had the same mushy controls so I traded it in after being the game within a week. Not wasting my time on it just because the graphics are good.

 

[icebeast]

I found the game fairly enjoyable but I have to agree about that final boss.

I was playing on the hardest difficulty that isn't unlocked by beating the game and I actually had to turn the game back down to normal to finish that part because it was totally insane and your AI partner is basically useless. I think I must have tried maybe 20 times on the hard difficulty and I knew it so well and had figured out how to exploit everything that it only took me one try on normal and I felt like I was mowing enemies down with ease.