What a major step up for this game franchise (compared to it predisseor)
Now let's rush to the present. Killzone 2, revealed a few years back didn't really get people interested. It was going to be another over-hyped crap fest. However; now that the game is out, I am here to tell you the second game in this dubious franchise is better than you could have hoped for.
Let's start off with the graphics. There stunning. Say whatever you need to say about the graphics; there too hectic, the blur effect is overused, I don't care. This game has some of the most visually stimulating graphics I have ever seen. From the industrial-cyberpunk settings to the barrels on your near-future guns, the artistic level visuals will leave a lasting impression on your senses.
The campaign is a solid, hectic, action romp. The characters leave much to be desired, although they do fine to fill the roles of tough manly men. The story is a straight forward "this time it's on their land" sequal, but it gives a good reason to shoot dystopian nazi's.
You start off being dropped into a heavily industrialized totalitarian state and end up leading your squad in trying to capture the Helghast dictator Visari. Along the way you will fight against hordes of Helghast assassins, gunships, and the final confrontation with Visari's personal bodyguard, Colonel Radec. Although sometimes too fast, it proves to be a well-balanced and well-designed kill-fest.
The multiplayer is where most fans will spend most of their time. You start off with only two main weapons and one side arm to choose from. Though as you gain exp from battles you will unlock classes (or badges) that have there own weapons and special support abilities, like cloaking, spawning turrets, or being able to revive dead teammates. Eventually you can unlock a custom class that let's you mix these badges abilities.
There are eight starting maps, with a six-map pack dlc, adding a total of fourteen extremely large, very vertically oriented maps. They support up to 60 players, with five different game types. The interresting take on capture the flag, team death match, ect. is that you can put as many of these game types into one match, for a certain amount of time.
The matches can last up to around two hours, and as low as twenty minutes. It's a bit tough, since so many players can spawn all around you, there are deaths constantly. The controls, take a bit of getting use to in multiplayer, but it isn't too hard to get use to.
The final asspect in multiplayer is that you get a certain amount of ribbons for doing different tasks, such as not getting any penalties or healing a certain number of players in a match. If you get eight of the same ribbon you unlock a new support ability for each badge, or more grenades and starting ammo for all classes.
All in all, Killzone 2 is a magnificent game. A better than average campaign coupled with an immersive multiplayer component make Killzone 2 a masterpiece of gaming that will keep any fps fan busy for months and months to come.