Epic War
I had a hard time enjoying this game when I started up. Its controls were clunky, and it was a little too much 'war' and for me, as well as the story didn't really grab me (I hadn't played the first) at the start. I completed the game, did a little multiplayer, but quickly laid it aside. I had played around 10 hours worth of gameplay at that time, and I didn't touch it in three or four months.
One day, I suddenly got a unexplainable craving for Killzone, even though I hadn't enjoyed it that much, but the fact that I had bought a game and not really played it through was bugging me (I am a trophy-whore :>).
So I popped it in and started the Single-player again. Suddenly, it felt good. The controls had been upgraded by a patch, so nothing to annoy me about that. With better controls, better gameplay is assured. Killing "nazis" (which the helghast are obviously are based upon) hadn't felt this good since watching them melt in 'Raiders of the Last Ark'.
I haven't tested the sounds on surround yet, but I am pretty sure that it would be awesome. I can't think of any game with more satistying leadshot-sounds, quality-explosions or horrified screams than Killzone 2. Everything drops short after playing this game. The music is also underrated and very good, giving the game a sort of old-fashioned sense to it.
The visuals (tested on my 32' HDTV) is ammahgadwattafakk-amazing. People say Crysis or Uncharted 2 looks good, I laugh in their faces. This game has the best graphics I have ever seen. I have an affection to the light cracking in from the ceiling and reflecting from the ground to your eyes, and this game has all of that, including great details to weapons characters and lighting in general.
Gameplay is a creative approach to the standard FPS 'run-and-gun' type gameplay we are used to. This needs us to be more cautious and use cover a lot, which is great because the cover-system is smooth and sexy. A little too few weapons is my only legitimate complain. M82 is easilly my favorite, because it looks great, is good overall, and the scope looks awesome.
So Killzone 2 is an excellent game if you get used to its gameplay, controls and its sense of 'epic war'.