In the Line of Fire
Killzone 2 is (almost) here. Find out what we thought inside.
Published: February 3, 2009
Again, the online stuff isn't anything terribly new; capture-and-hold, assassination, capture the flag, deathmatch and destroy-and-defend have been done before (though some of these have particularly Killzone-y touches like the "flag" actually being a propaganda speaker that constantly preaches either side's impressively written doctrine). It's how Guerrilla pulled it off that makes it so amazing, though, and when the two halves -- online and off -- are combined that Killzone 2 becomes the complete and undeniably awesome package.
If the actual modes are fairly standard stuff, their implementation -- or rather the system of progressive unlocks -- is not. Like Call of Duty 4 before it, the early unlocks happen fairly quickly, yet not so fast that you don't have time to learn the ins and outs of what you've just unlocked. Going up in rank unlocks new classes, while earning specific ribbons (and later medals) for doing stuff like having a high kill count or reviving comrades feeds directly into how you play each of the classes. It probably won't take people terribly long to reach General rank (weeks, or possibly even days for the truly obsessed), but the ribbons are where the game's real meat lies. By accomplishing these specific tasks, you'll start to improve base abilities -- say starting with more grenades after respawning.
When combined with the ability to mix and match the innate perks of an unlocked class (the turret ability of the engineer with the reviving ability of a medic), ribbons and their unlocks (some of which can only be had after leveling up to a certain class) means there's always something to shoot for. It could just be a rank up, but more likely toward the end it'll be accomplishing specific goals. For leveling superfreaks like me, this is like crack, and it's an addiction I've not felt since Call of Duty 4 let me do like 20 different things to earn experience in. The difference here, of course, is that COD4 controls like a dream and Killzone 2 like a nightmare where you're the captain of the Titanic in a sea of hull-ripping icebergs. Icebergs that like to shoot at you. Icebergs that can be bots (a fantastic addition, by the way. Thank you, Guerrilla, for doing something only Epic has done on the PS3 thus far). Icebergs that seem to be able to buck you with a shotgun in one hit constantly while you'll unload five shots into someone and still can't put them down... wait, where was I?
Oh, right, online. Now if I bitched and moaned about the controls in the single-player, there was at least one saving grace: in close quarters, the knife could be busted out and swung wildly because it's a one-hit kill. Online, you don't have a knife, and so firefights usually come down to who shot first. I gave up on trying to use the sniper rifle because I apparently have the weakest skills ever -- a shame since snipers can friggin' cloak, which is amazing. Even with my constant bitching about the controls, switching the sensitivity every couple hours, I still couldn't fight the allure of playing online. Even though I apparently suck. Hard.
Here's the bottom line, though: whatever complaining I may do about the game's controls, they can be fixed -- and hopefully quite easily -- with a patch that needs to come (but probably won't). The stuff that can't be fixed; the flow and the pacing and the story and the graphics and the sound and literally every other positive thing I mentioned in this review is pretty much set in stone. And, wouldn't you know it, that stone is rock-solid. No, it's not a new stone, but it's a reliable, expertly realized, perfectly executed stone. A stone that--you know what? Forget the analogies, here's the straight poop: this game is awesome. If you own a PS3, you need to own this game. Period.
