1 Helghast 2 Helghast 3 Helghast.... They just keep on coming!
Gameplay
I must say if you are into any type of shooter whatsoever you will have a good time playing this game as long as you arent over excited at a moderate frame-rate. Now all of the weapons on this game are very good. The levels are well designed and if your smart you can make good use of the enviroment. When you find a group of enemies depending on how you approach them they will react differently. No im sure alot of people just run up with their machine guns blazing and get killed alot. Probably anyone who gave this game less then a 7 for a score did that. Yes im talking to you, you gamespot people. Now the enemies use a specfic tactic which is called a covering advance. They will start by all finding cover and having half the squad provide supressing fire as the other half quickly advances on the enemy. If your smart your cover will provide you with a good view of the chargers and make short work of them. This is how alot of the firefights go. You may find yourself ambushed by the ruthless enemy and bashing the crap out of them with your gun. You may find yoursel fsniping while the rest of the squad advances. The AI could be upped a bit but on hard this game has alot to offer. The multiplayer is fun and runs smoother online then in singleplayer or LAN.
Sound
The ambient battlefield noises provide that suspensefull feeling as you traverse the wastlands of the wartorn planet. The only complaint here is the voice acting. The four main chartacters are well done. The voices of General Adams and General Smith are also well done as well as the voices of the two main Helghast Generals. But any regular ISA of Helghast soldiers voice acting sucked. They yell out the same canned phrases such as "Get some!" and "Taking fire" or "Advance!" now the person who did these voices did them well but the fact that they are used on every soldier throughout the game gets annoying. More variety in solderi voices would have been a plus. Everything else is well done. The gunfire sound great and the difference in sound is very noticable between weapons. Each one sound powerfull and ready to do some damage.
Graphics
The graphics are amazing. You look in awe at the sheer detail put into the enourmous buidlings in the city or the thick jungle trees. If your very observant you can even notice little things such as gumwrappers and cans littering the subway station. The enviroments looks great and all give you that feeling that you are really in the places where you are. This is as long as you arent moving.. When the action kicks up the framerate slooows down. But not so much that you cant play the game. Its still very playable but is somwhat noticable. Especially in the LAN multiplayer. One very suprising thing is that online multiplayer does not slow down at all during the action. Another bad thing is that the character models faces somtimes becaome blurry or distorted. Ricos eyes may look like they are buldging out of his head one second but then look amazingly real the next. If they could keep it looking like how it does when you are just walking around not fighting while you were actually fighting then it would be great. For all the detail and amazing looking enviroments i still would say this game sports some of the best graphics on the PS2. Especially during CG cutscenes.
Overall this game has given me many hours of entertainment. I am very happy i bought it and now that all of the Halo fans say it sucked its down to 20$ so it wouldnt hurt to pick up a copy. Youll find some enjoyment from it. Even a monkey could enjoy this game. If you cant I do not know what to say.
Highly recommended.