At least it looks pretty!
If you've played the first Killzone or the PSP Liberation spinoff, this is very much in the same vein. You fight the Helghast, a group living on the planet Helghan lead by their leader Visari. You play as a group of soldiers who work for the ISA, who came under attack on the planet Vekta in the first game. This is where the problem begins. You're treated to a lovely looking introduction, and it wipes away any doubt that these aren't the most realistic graphics to be seen on any console yet. However, beyond the lucious graphics, there isn't much else. The gang of soldiers who are supposed to be the game's main characters are instantly forgettable, so much so that they might as well have been called Stereotypical soldier #1, #2, #3 and #4. The story doesn't get much better, and assumes too much knowledge of previous games. It all makes for a rather uninvolving experience. But at least it's nice to look at!
Or is it? The graphics are undeniably detailed but the problem is the lack of imagination. It suffers from the usual FPS formula of grey + brown = good. The fact that this technology has been wasted on endless grey corridors shows a criminal lack of imagination. Nevertheless, these faults could easily be forgiven if the game didn't seem determined to stop you enjoying it.
If you've played the demo or happened to stumble upon any forum topic mentioning the game, then you'll know there's a problem with the controls. Despite what some overzealous fans may claim, the controls do nothing to add to the gameplay, instead doing nothing but taking away from it. The problem lies, not with the button mapping or response time, but with the obvious analogue stick deadzone and odd turning acceleration. Unlike most games, the stick needs to be pushed further than most games to register movement. While it isn't much, it's definitely noticeable. This alone wouldn't be enough to spoil the game, but coupled with the acceleration it becomes a problem. When moving the analogue stick, it starts by moving slowly. Within less than a second, the acceleration raises sharply. What this means is that you're never quite sure where the crosshairs will end up. This makes any precision aiming nearly impossible, unless you spend a few more seconds moving the crosshairs. Unless you've managed to find an enemy with amputated legs, any precision aiming is nigh on impossible. All this in the name of "realism". Lack of precision does not equal either fun or realism.
Yet this isn't the only bad decision. The game features a cover system, not seen too often in the FPS genre. It works well in the single player, but for some horrible reason, it was taken from the multi-player. Apparently, it was to keep up the fast pace of the multi-player, because, you know, it made Gears of War and Rainbow 6: Vegas super slow...
The main problem of the game is that it doesn't know what it wants to be. The sci-fi setting is wasted by a World-war 2 shooter in sheep's clothing with none of the weaponry (bar a few guns) taking advantage of the situation. The game wants to be realistic but does everything everything to remove strategy possible, the lack of a cover system in multi-player being the prime example.
Now that the bad points are out of the way, let's focus on the positive, namely the multi-player. The game has the usual suite of options, except, oddly, any type of co-op mode. Impressively, there's the ability to play with bots, which goes to show the power of the PS3, being able to have all those bots and graphics on the same screen at the same time. The A.I. is generally great, as is the enemy A.I. in single-player (which is more than can be said for friendly A.I.). The interesting thing comes with how the game modes are handled. When creating a game, you can add what game modes you want to play in that match. The modes will then change on the fly, e.g. when you finish a bodycount round, the next one will begin immediately on the same map and without resetting everyone to their spawn points. It works really well and helps the games flow.
Like a lot of multi-player games all of a sudden, Killzone 2 features class-based gameplay. Classes and abilities are unlocked by gaining XP and levelling up. Like COD4's challenges, KZ2 features ribbons. These are little acknowledgements of fulfilling special criteria in a match, such as getting 10 kills. Once you collect enough of a specific type of ribbon, you gain a new ability. It's all very addictive and adds depth to the multi-player experience.
And yet, The prevailing sense is one of mediocrity. The game doesn't even try to do anything new and the graphics are wasted on the bland environments. The biggest problem is the control system. All of these elements add up to a disjointed experience and a wasted opportunity. Thankfully though, its biggest problems could easily be fixed with a patch.
Killzone 2 is a fun game, but a frustrating one, seeing how its faults are so obvious it's painful. The game never aims for the stars, but seems happy with being average. Even if it did, though, I doubt it'd be able to hit anything with the controls!