Take the fight to the Helghasts planet, and witness artistically and visually stunning environments in this sci-fi epic!
Contains: Frequent Strong Bloody Violence, Threat and Language
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Killzone 2 is a Sci-fi First Person shooter that continues the war between the Helghast and ISA from the first game, only this time the fight is taken to the planet of the helghast.
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STORY - 2/5
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Killzone 2 is set entirely on the planet Helghan - the home-world of the Helghast and follows the events that happened two years previously when they invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA launch an assault on the enemy's homeworld of Helghan. The ISA goal is to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Scolar Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. During the invasion of Helghan, Sergeant Sevchenko (the playable protagonist) unit is deployed behind enemy lines to assist the main invasion force. Tasked with securing the enemy capital of Pyrhus, Helghan's first true city, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a more formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only are they well-adapted to Helghan's hostile conditions, they have also harnessed the power of the freakish lightning storms that always occur on Helghan which they can now use against the ISA. A cold, barren, unforgiving world, Helghan provides a ready defence with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, and violent surgical lightning storms. Sevchenko discovers his squad is not just fighting enemy forces, but that their fiercest opponent may be the planet itself.
The story is average, purely because it offers no real intrigue into what's happening, and your focus will solely on the solid gameplay. The planet itself is a great setting to play on and offers many thrilling moments where the planet is seemingly alive with hatred to the human race and strikes cruiser ships out of the sky with little effort.
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CHARACTERS - 2/5
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The cast of characters in Killzone 2 is a strange mix of decent, average and annoying ones. The protagonist is Sergeant Tomas Sevchenko, who is generally a quiet and withdrawn character throughout much of the game, and is only heard and seen in the cutscenes. You'll fight alongside many infantry, but the main characters are within ISA Special Forces Alpha Team (Your unit). Within this is Garza, a loyal and optimistic soldier who's earned his elite status within the squad, and is a close friend of Sev; Natko, an experienced demolitions soldier; Jan Templar, the commander of the ISA fleet and the Cruiser - New Sun. These characters are generally ok, but one character within Alpha Squad, is perhaps one of the most annoying characters ever made - Rico. His sour attitude and short temper will be so aggravating that you'd rather turn on him and shoot, than fight alongside him.
The main antagonist of Killzone 2 is Emperor Scolar Visari - the leader of helghast forces and ruler of Helghan. Visari previously succeeded in launching an invasion on one of the ISA's colonial planets, Vekta, to avenge what he sees as the abandonment and abuse of the Helghast, and while he isn't present much in the game, there's no doubting how evil he is, and how important it is for the ISA to stop him. The second main antagonist is Colonel Mael Radec, Visari's personal guard, and he is ruthless and determined to kill the ISA, and clearly shows his desire for battle throughout. An evil and likable villain, Radec is a prime example of how all villains should be portrayed.
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GAMEPLAY - 5/5
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Killzone 2 is a perfectly paced shooter, that combines many thrilling moments that all add up to the powerful and violent gunplay, and is nothing short of memorable once completed. There is such a great arsenal of weapons to pick up and shoot in Killzone 2, and every one is fun to shoot and feels extremely powerful when you pull the trigger and dispatch numerous enemies. Despite being a sci-fi shooter on a hostile alien-like planet, virtually all of the weapons are generally modern and recognisable in traits. The combat shotgun is deadly up close, and with a precise headshot, the head will explode with blood-spurting results. Even your first assault rifle with be a gun you'll like to keep with you since its red dot sight (or in this case a green dot) is so accurate for long range combat, and not only is it a formidable choice against the enemy from far away, but you can crouch and make the reticule small for firing from the hip, and also end up with similar results - bloody corpses in need of body bags. One of the more interesting weapons is a bolt gun, which nails opponents to walls and accompanies an explosion shortly after. Unfortunately you can only carry one primary weapon at a time along with a pistol, which is very unusual for a First-Person shooter. Sometimes it'd be nice to carry an assault rifle with a sniper or shotgun, but sadly this is not possible, and so when you pick up a sniper rifle, you'll have to use it there and then and then pick up a more direct combat type of weapon for future set piece battles.
Killzone 2 isn't a game that is possible to breeze through by running and gunning however. Fast-paced brutal shootouts are accompanied by many dangerous forms of helghast, and taking cover is essential to succeed. When you take cover, you maintain the First-Person perspective, and need to lean or pop out to bring up the aiming reticule again and take out any enemies blocking your way with accurate short bursts of bullets. The entire campaign is almost always presented to you in First-Person apart from vehicular sections which mix up the regular action and provide you with more overpowering ways to lower the ranks of seemingly infinite amounts of helghast. In general, the gameplay is pitch perfect, and is overall a solid experience with bloody violence, well paced action and a great cover mechanic which is presented in a realistic view.
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GRAPHICS - 5/5
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Probably the best aspect of the game is the graphics, which are technically and artistically outstanding. The cutscenes look too good to be true, and the movement animations and modelling are completely smooth in gameplay and cutscenes. Helghan is a planet which is devastatingly alive with electrical storms that are a constant threat in the sky, and everything when you are moving around freely looks as sharp as anything could ever be. The graphics raise the bar on all other games of the genre, and look difficult to surpass this generation (although I'm sure the Playstation 3 will find a way). But not only is everything you look at visually stunning, but the level and art designs are extremely well done, and everything has an amazing futuristic touch that makes the helghasts homeworld a place to stand in awe. With the solid gameplay placed right in this artistic zone of brilliance, every step you take will be memorable from the very first dramatic cutscene to the final unique presentation of the credits, where you'll read the names of developers that made Killzone 2 the visually stunning masterpiece it is.
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SOUND - 5/5
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Even with a cast of generally forgettable characters, the voice acting is great, with the best performance coming from British actor Sean Pertwee who is ideally cast as Radec, and makes Redec strongly memorable among everyone else. The helghast, because of their gas masks, look and sound dangerously threatening, and make for a menacing race of adversary during the campaign. Solid sound effects enhance the experience when engaging in fierce combat with each and every gun prominently sounding deadly, and the aftermath of gushing blood is realistically conveyed to further pull you in to the awesome feeling of exacting revenge against the ranks of helghast soldiers. While all the exciting shooting is taking place, the composed music score is nicely integrated and further intensifies the unfolding action, and the same goes with the violent and imminent threat of thunderstorms high above your position, and despite its distance from you, the power evident emulates the already intense fire fights.
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CONTROLS - 4/5
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The controls are one of Killzone 2's heavily criticized points that comes with mixed reaction from various gamers and reviewers. Seemingly sluggish and with a heavy weight to them, the movement is difficult to get used to, but the deliberately realistic movements were purposefully done by the developers to make you feel as involved as possible, and while it doesn't suit everyone's likeness, the result is a great war-like involvement that is unlike any other state of involvement seen in the genre thus far. When jumping you can see the effort gone into making the actual stance that would occur. You witness your character bend his knees before springing upwards, something that looks and feels real. Motion controls are input into the game, another reason to try and get you interacting as much as possible with everything that's developing in your struggle against stopping Visari and his large army. You'll be using the motion controls for turning valves, where you must first grip the wheel with your hands by holding 2 buttons simultaneously, and then turn it to your left by tilting the controller in the correct direction. Placing charges is another way of increasing your attention towards matters requiring concentration, and lastly they will come into action when using the sniper rifle. Basically you have to keep the controller steady and maintain that stillness to make a precise shot on your target, which is a great way to utilise the motion controls function. The control layout is ok, but for people who prefer alternative layouts, the game offers different ones, some which are more familiar and easier to memorise.
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ATMOSPHERE - 5/5
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The atmosphere of Helghan is intense and unavoidable. The fantastic art design isn't the only aspect of the game worth crediting for that, but the sky way, way above you. The rain hammers down during the thickest of fights, and holding off the swarms of elite helghast introduces the volatile planet itself, with all sorts of electrical storms raging amidst the dust clouds, flashes of lightning illuminate the chaos unfolding, and the conclusion of a battle is really impressive. When you follow the marker to your next objective, the bodies left on the floor are worth lending your interest shortly. The blood is pooled across the ground emitting from the wounds you delivered and the visual image of the watery blood spreading out is one of those small effects that aren't always noticeable, but still something that is a creditable implementation for when you do happen to notice. The atmosphere captures the elements in the environment, from the dark and gritty buildings, and the overwhelming attention to detail in violent action-packed scenarios, Helghan is alive in a strange way, and the presence it creates upon situations makes you know that once its got hold of you, it won't let you go.
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ENEMY AI - 5/5
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In the game, the Helghast are a faction of human descendants who colonized the planet Helghan many generations ago. The planet's harsh environment forced the Helghast to adapt and mutate so much that they can no longer be considered human. They are stronger, faster and more resilient than their human cousins, and possess a burning hatred for humanity. Except for a small number of half-breed Helghast and trained troopers, they require a gas mask and air processing tank that creates air similar to that found on the planet Helghan.
When you engage in combat with them, it won't be long before you realise they are extremely intelligent and aggressive enemies, and they'll do anything to try and finish you before you finish them. This is where the smooth modelling movements really impress, as the helghast effectively take cover and move around just like a real being. They adapt to your position constantly, and if you try a flanking procedure they'll make sure they move around from you and get into a new position and develop new ideas from there. When in cover they'll blindfire, and if you start firing from behind cover at them, they'll patiently wait until gunfire has ceased and then peek out and do the same. If you throw a grenade amidst a group of helghast they'll all disperse to new cover immediately and effectively, and you'll hear them communicating occasionally with the speech directed at you, and verbally insult how you'll lose the war.
As you'll engage in battles with many allies around you, you can also see how the helghast consider you a major threat just like every other ISA soldier, so you don't have to feel their intentions are solely focused on eliminating you. Approaching each area is something you have to do with real determination and purpose to act quickly, because if you rely on your allies to do the killing you'll quickly find out that the helghast will try strategies of flanking themselves, and when they get around all sides of you, you're in big trouble and it makes surviving difficult and hard working. To sum it up, just expect the very best of computer intelligence, with fluent animations and helghast that seemingly think on the spot and think of new ideas in attempts to kill you and the rest of the ISA, as they'll do anything to protect their planet.
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LENGTH - 3/5
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Killzone 2 takes you across many sections of the planet Helghan, from industrial complexes, abandoned wastelands, dark and gritty street buildings, and even Visari's palace, and all add up with tons of action to make one of the most epic First-Person shooters ever. Each level is will last roughly 40 minutes or more, and from your first steps on the helghasts world to the dramatic final level, it will take roughly 7 or 8 hours, depending on skill level.
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REPLAY VALUE - 3/5
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The epic campaign hides many secret symbols to destroy and intel to collect in every level, and playing through the game again is not only worthwhile for the awesome gameplay again, but to seek and destroy all symbols and collect all intel for those people who like to complete games to 100%. While the action sequences play out exactly the same each time, the varied mission objectives would keep you on your toes to experience the often challenging sections again and again, and the perfect hit detection makes every shot a skilfully placed one. Killzone 2 is a remarkable game that sets very high standards for its graphics and artistic quality, and when you get amazingly engaging battle sequences in a battlefield that's literally alive, and with dozens of intelligent enemies blocking your path, these all add up and equal one thing - a groundbreaking and memorable experience that is impossible to forget.
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OVERALL SUMMARY - 9/10
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Good Points: Visually and artistically stunning environments, Weapons look great and feel powerful, Challenging and intelligent enemy AI, Gameplay is solid and intense, The Helghast are memorable enemies and sound chilling, Fantastically smooth character models and animations, Atmosphere is visually intense and brings the sci-fi setting of Helghan alive, Impressive voice acting, Deliberately slow and realistic movement and controls.
Bad Points: Rico is a terribly irritating and unlikeable character, Can only carry one primary weapon with a pistol, Game freezes shortly at save points, Average story.