Killzone 2 eGames Preview
By Steve Heller
Second day into the eGames festival I heard whispers that there was a strictly INVITE ONLY screening of Killzone 2 happening. At this stage it was simply whispers, nothing more and nothing less. That didn't stop me scouring the Melbourne Exhibition Centre to discover if this rumour was true. I went and scoped out the LittleBigPlanet section, I loitered the Playstation booth, I got sidetracked by the good looking Alienware models, and then eventually I saw it - a Helghast trooper walking around taking photos with a Sony rep.
"So I hear whispers there is a private showing on today!"
"Buzz off kid, I don't know what you are talking about". My usual Jedi Mindtricks weren't working on this guy. It's about the time I playfully pulled out my Press Pass and said "I heard there was a private showing today" and he put my name on the list, and told me to be at the management office at 3pm.
There was eight of us waiting when the rep and the Helghast trooper arrived and walked us out of the expo, up a cold flight of concrete stairs, and into a room with red doors. We sat down, the doors were locked, the lights turned off, and we were blown away....
As our jaws hit the ground and the saliva began flowing, we were dropped into the first level of the highly anticipated title from Gurilla, and it looks as good as it has in all the trailers, even better when you can see the motion in full flow and realise that you aren't dreaming, this is Killzone 2 and it just totally kicked your ass. Every inch of the battlefield is fully detailed, featuring some of the best textures I've ever seen in a game, but more importantly it feels very real. Killzone 2 creates an atmosphere of a real battlefield, at a real place and time. The game world completely sucks you in, and that's even before you see your first enemy.
Not only do the Helghast look frightning, their actions will scare the wits out of you. The AI system in Killzone is truly remarkable, they seem to work together, and take logical steps to stay out of harms way. Dynamically changing attack patterns, good use of cover, and just to keep you on your toes, there will be the occasional illogical move that will become unexpected and really mess with your defences.
As we move through the level I am handed the controller. I switch invert off (yes I know, I'm a freak...deal with it) and I get right to work. The pace is a bit slower than Call of Duty 4, and it suits the game better too. The guns feel weighted, and your movements flow as you traverse the battlefield. The controls are tight and responsive, and while the CoD veterans will take a while to get used to it, it does work well. The developers have incoperated the Six Axis movements into the title for mini-actions such as turning a pressure valve or using a switch. These movements surprisingly work well and don't feel forced.
So what can we expect next month when we get to put the full version of Killzone 2 into our Playstation 3? We can expect one of the most gorgeous, refined and truly remarkable first person shooters of our generation. Will Killzone 2 re-invent the wheel? No, but the beauty of it is that it doesn't have to. Killzone 2 delivers us graphics which up until this point, we have only read about in magazines or forums, it provides a game world that feels so real, you can almost taste the stale air of the battlefield, and it delivers to us some of the most hardcore AI we are likely to see.
This is Killzone 2 and it's going to totally kick your ass
Tags:
2
2008
360
date
demo
e3
gameplay
killzone
liberation
multiplayer
Online
PS2
Release
trailer
xbox
Killzone 2 News
Killzone 2 Discussions
Killzone 2 Guides
Killzone 2 Reviews
Killzone 2 Videos