Review: Killzone 2 (Single player only)

So my hopes of posting a Xbox Live Arcade article last night was ruined by my addiction to Killzone 2. I jumped into the game, thinking to play for maybe an hour or so, and ended up playing the game for close to five hours to its finish. Afterwards I decided that I would throw up a review of the single player game because I found it to be stunning in its simplicity of story and intricacy of gameplay. This will only be a single player review of Killzone 2 because I have not yet gotten into the multiplayer, but expect a write up of that soon.

After listening to a breathtaking speech by the game's antagonist Scolar Visari, played by Brian Cox, I jumped right into the single player action. With a basic militaristic plot outline you are put into the boots of Sergent Sev and told to go off and kill the enemy on their home planet. If you take the time to see the story for what it really is you get a feeling that more could have been done with it. There were very few times that Visari was portrayed in cinematics and that could have been a highpoint of the story. Visari's speeches about how the ISA, the protagonist's military force, treats his people like mutants who do not deserve to live make you sympathize with Visari and his seemingly

turbulent situation. Although for all the sympathy you may feel for Visari and his Helghast troops there is an underlying sense of manipulation given off by his speeches as well. Overall the simple story elements in Killzone 2 allow you to connect with the often silent Sev and his overly adrenaline pumped squad. Through quick cut scenes you get to better understand each member of the squad, although some of the characters seem paper thin. Killzone 2's characters are mainly developed through their final moments which always end in glorious and memorable ways. By the end of the game you can clearly understand the characters' motivations and quirks, and the bland plot is made up for by the incredible cut scenes.

The first thing anyone will notice about Killzone 2 is its incredible graphics. There were always claims made to trailers of Killzone 2 gameplay being made up because it looked so good. While some of the trailers were not gameplay footage it is apparent that the actual visuals are not far off from what was shown years ago. Everything from the barren and destroyed landscapes of the poisonous planet of Helghan to the interiors filled with Nazi-like flags of the Helghast is beautifully rendered. Gun models look fantastic and character animations, while occasionally awkward, flow nicely from shot to shot. Of course what would a first person shooter be without guns, and Killzone 2's guns are its bread and butter.

With a sizable variety of weapons, both big and small, Killzone 2's arsenal is impressive to say the least. While using the default ISA assault rifle and smg became my main strategy there were occasionally times where I would pick up something new for added flare. Some parts of the game require the use of a sniper rifle, missile launcher, and other one hit wonders. My personal favorites from the Helghast side were the bolt gun and electric gun. The bolt gun shoots a large bolt right into an oncoming Helghast and eventually detonates for maximum damage, while the overpowered electric gun shoots a bolt of electricity that stuns and then kills its target...oh it has infinite ammo too. While these guns make small bits of the game fresh and exciting the main part of the gameplay is exciting enough to not even warrant these outlandish guns. All of Killzone 2's

weapons have a nice weight to them and feel great when you are squeezing the triggers, not to mention that they all sound great when fired. My only gripe with the guns in the game is that, excluding headshots, it takes too many shots to bring down a Helghast. I understand that they are supposed to be mutated humans with great strength but they can't all act like Jesse Ventura in Predator. Besides that complaint I found the gameplay to be top notch especially with the great addition of stop and pop gameplay in a FPS.

By simply pressing the L2 button and finding cover Sev automatically hides being the object in front of you. If you keep L2 pressed down you can peek out from the side of the object or pop up top and let off a few rounds without taking too much damage. The enemies also behave in this manor and manage to provide some difficult challenges with their ability to take cover. While the AI in Killzone 2 could use some work the enemies manage to make up for their lack of brains with sheer numbers. At times it can feel like there is an unending number of Helghast

soldiers but that tends to make situations feel all the more intense. Especially during a particular battle for a courtyard, where the soldiers are literally endless until you manage to kill enough to move up on their position and continue to push them back. These battles feel great and make the game feel more like a war than a linear push through enemy territory. There is also a superbly done boss battle with Radec that makes me wonder why there are not more boss battles in first person shooters.

Overall I was blown away by the single player campaign in Killzone 2. It started off slow enough that anyone would be able to understand the basics and ramped up as the game progressed. The occasional crazed talks of Visari and his soldiers helped to flesh out what would've been a completely barren story; although I would venture to guess that most people would find Killzone 2 to be spectacular without any story elements at all. The guns and gameplay in Killzone 2 are polished and developed to such a high degree that by the time you finish playing the single player game you just want to keep shooting. Luckily there appears to be a robust multiplayer side of the game which I will look into and write about soon. As for now do yourself a favor and, if you own a PS3, buy Killzone 2.