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.
The engines used are so intricate that only one player can play on the multi-player and there is no co-op campaign. This may be hard to swallow for those who seek a shared gamer experience. But do not fear: The jaw-dropping, visual flair will have your friends waiting their turn.
Aside from the diversity of the large-scale environment, the details are what will have so many impressed. The physics engine has the presentation of the battlefield, as the shadows and particle effects have striking and immense realism. Fabric and dust blowing in the wind, various items set on fire, and the destructible rubble that lies around instill a true sense of havoc. On a side note, it seems having different objects out of focus makes everything seem so much more realistic. Guerilla has it all figured out.
Guerilla has definitely taken advantage of 7.1 surround sound that provides bona fide echoes of explosions, bullets whizzing past your head and the eternal plea of the doomed that lie along the battlefield. Killzone 2 has an excellent -- and classy -- soundtrack that plays as you navigate the game. Guerilla has also taken advantage of Sony's motion features, which can be experienced when having to hold your controller steady to increase sniping accuracy or having to tilt the controller to set off an explosive or turn a valve.
The shooting system is quite smart and the A.I. of the enemy compliments the improvements. The enemy will focus and flank, shoot and throw grenades at you if you're not covered. I have never seen drag doll effects so precisely done before, either -- when an enemy is shot in the knees or shoulder, trust me, he'll fall that way.
Truly it is the online multiplayer that supplies the primary facet of Killzone 2. You can take up to 15 bots in skirmish modes or enjoy a team death match, capture the flag and a capture and hold available in a Warzone option. The hill has been moved!
Killzone 2 is a purchase that will not leave players unsatisfied. In a fiercely competitive genre, it provides a sneak peak at the immense power of next-gen first-person shooters. The fluidity of the game play blew all my expectations out of the water -- stubborn PC gamers will turn their heads. Even as a Halo addict, I have finally come to appreciate the innovative notions of the PS3. Killzone 2 absolutely makes Gears of War 2 look like child's play.