The debate is endless. Video game oligarchies have ignited discussions over the best game console since the first system's inception. After my Sega Genesis broke after two days of ownership, I replaced it with a Super Nintendo at what was then Funcoland and haven't looked back since.
And the dispute has no end in sight. While the contemporary Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 debate is a tad more complicated, it's not hard to find someone who will stick to his guns. I'm assuming we can all agree that the Nintendo Wii offers a unique video game experience that is clearly intended for a different market. The Xbox 360 dominates in game sales with Halo and Gears of War titans, but Sony has made it plain it aspires to have its baby around much longer. The new Call of Duty wasn't that impressive, anyway.
Regardless, Sony needs a genuine title to stimulate its humdrum sales figures. The upcoming Killzone 2 by Guerilla Games has been under a tremendous amount of pressure as Playstation owners have been praying for a game to showcase the true computing and rendering power of the PS3.
Killzone 2 hits shelves this Friday and the wait has been well worth it. It is proof that a franchise can progress into a visual masterpiece that presents itself as one of the most concrete first-person shooters made thus far. The beta access recently shut down, and Friday can't come soon enough. As its name may imply, note that this is a very mature game, and if you're letting your nine-year-old play it, you might want to reconsider your parental standpoint. Heck, if you purchased a PS3 for your nine-year-old to begin with, you're suspect in the first place.
The game follows the events of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, and will take place entirely on the planet Helghan, the home world of the Helghast, who invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance colony. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA has launched an assault on the enemy's home world of Helghan. The ISA goal is to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Scolar Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. Players assume the role of Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a battle-hardened veteran of Special Forces unit Alpha Team, who goes on a mission to take out the Helghast threat.
It must be noted that Guerilla Games has provided a solid shooter experience that really tests the capabilities of the PS3. First and foremost, the atmosphere in Killzone 2 feels unreservedly genuine. The PS3's physics engine creates a believably dynamic environment that we've never seen before. Better yet, the surroundings allow players to really feel as if they're changing their environment. As your squad falls around you, debris blurs your vision and blood is splattered on your helmet, there is without a doubt a moment of serenity where players can appreciate the paramount beauty of the game's visual sensations.
Killzone 2 vastly depends on timed sequential events that lead to another set of objectives, be it blowing up a bridge or releasing a platform. The movements are fluid and the controls are smooth unlike the analog sensation we've seen in Halo and Resistance.
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