My pick for game of the year. One the most intense games, both campaign and multiplayer, I have ever played.
You play as Sev this time around. Templar is now a commander, and Rico is your squad leader. I actually have no clue what happened to Luger, because I didn't play Liberation. I don't think ANYONE knows what happened to Hakha. Anyway, being restricted to one character is kind of annoying, because I missed the special abilities your other characters had in Killzone, but the gameplay more than makes up for it. It acts as any normal first person shooter, except you can't shoot AND jump, and you can take cover in first person view, which, I gotta say, is pretty freaking sweet. You do this by holding L2 (I believe) near a suitable cover, and you can peek up, or around that cover. This can be quite a life saver, especially on the harder difficulties.
The multiplayer is really addicting, as well. Don't get me wrong, I had my fair share of the campaign (in fact, it's one of my favorite campaigns in a FPS) but I keep coming back to the multiplayer because of how addicting it is just to rank up, or even to play. Hell, one game ended up being three hours long because it was a stalemate, and let me tell you, that was an awesome game. The game modes in KZ2's multiplayer are Bodycount (Team Deathmatch) Search and Destroy (one team defends, the other assaults and plants bombs) Assassination (one target is picked on one of the teams, and he must survive and must be defended at all costs) Capture and Hold (grabbing territories) and Search and Retrieve (a propaganda speaker is randomly generated in the middle are of a map, and one team must grab it and plant it in the opposite teams base)
The matches flow fluidly between each gametype (meaning you can have Bodycount, Search and Destroy, Search and Retrieve, Assassination, and Capture and Hold in the same game without the game ending and loading a new round) It's very cool how this works, and it will keep you interested.
When you rank up, you gain more weapons, or even more classes which you can choose when you respawn or when you enter the game. You can also combine some badges you've unlocked with other classes (once certain conditions are met, of course)
Well, that's all I have to say. This game is my pick for game of the year, and it is one the most intense games I have ever played. If you liked Killzone 1, chances are, you'll love Killzone 2.
9.5/10.