Okay, now for my full impressions of the game thus far (I've been meaning to do this all day, but strategyking's post made me break down and actually get it done):
First off, let me say that this game is most definitely Killzone. All the style, the subtlety, the coolness of the original Killzone remains, but has been improved ten fold, and I love Guerrilla for it. They didn't try to rework the game completely or anything like that. They kept the awesomeness and made it better, while vastly improving the weaker parts of the game (while adding in other really cool elements, of course). This shows through the gameplay, but also through smaller things like menus, etc. The menus are artistically very similar to those from the original Killzone, and the music that plays during the main menu is the exact same as that from the original Killzone's menu. Other things, like the menu that pops up when you press select in the middle of an online match, work flawlessly now. While the stats menu is the norm in shooters today, it wasn't so when Killzone released back in '04. The issue in the original Killzone was that the menu would take like 2-3 seconds to pop up, and it essentially took you right out of the game when doing so. In Killzone 2, however, the menu immediately pops up right over your screen, and you can still see everything going on in the background (though that's hardly impressive in this day an age).
The controls are also vastly improved. The style of Killzone's basic gunplay remains fully intact (the weighty weapons, the elaborate and realistic animations), but everything is much more responsive, and in general much tighter. Killzone's aiming was always a bit too loose imo, and even if you adjusted the sensitivity a little bit, you could never really get it just right. The controls in Killzone 2, however, are some of the tightest I've felt in a console shooter, which is very surprising given the DS3's analog layout. I picked them up much faster than any other console FPS I've played in quite some time.
The multiplayer level design is pretty cool. In the beta, they have three levels: A larger, urban level based in a city with a large street down the middle, a smaller level based in an old school with a stunning courtyard in the middle, and a tiny level based on the singleplayer level from E307, involving tightly packed buildings and a canal system. In each level, each side has their own base of sorts, where you spawn. Your base is protected by three automated turrets, making it hard for the opposing team to spawn camp, unless they have a large numerical advantage. Scouts (or maybe it's another class) have the ability to create new spawn points throughout the map as well, by laying down a smoke grenade of a certain color.
I would go into more detail about the various classes, but I haven't managed to unlock any yet. I'm still just a generic soldier, which surprisingly isn't bad at all.
The thing what I like most about Killzone's multiplayer is the way rounds work. Unlike most shooters, when a round ends, the fighting doesn't stop. It transitions immediately into another round. To be more specific, you'll win or lose one round, then your "commander" will give you your orders for the next round over the comm.
These are the round types that I can remember off the top of my head:
Body Count - Another name for Team Deathmatch.
Assassination - A member from one team is targeted for assassination, and each team has to defend or track down this member. In order for the defenders to win, the target must stay within a certain area of the map for a certain length of time, preventing him from hiding out in the defenders' home base.
Search and Retrieve - A propaganda speaker is dropped around the middle of the map, and your team has to grab it and take it to a certain location elsewhere on the map. The location is usually near the enemies' base. First team to do this 3-4 times wins.
Seek and Destroy - Objects near one team's base are selected for destruction. That team must defend them from the opposing team, who are tasked with planting bombs on the two targets.
Zones (or territories, something like that) - Just like BF2, or the zones mode in Warhawk.
And I'm pretty sure that's all of them. In a typical "Warzone" match (the gametype that includes all round types), you'll play two rounds of S&D (one for each side), two rounds of Assassination (once for each, though it may be one round decided based on who won the previous round), and one of everything else, iirc, but the way the rounds flow into each other really keeps the pace of the match going. For example, we'll lose a round of Seek and Destroy, and the Commander will come over the comm saying something like, "Don't let your morale get down, the war is hardly over," or something like that, and then he'll choose a target from the opposing team for assassination. This could go on for as many as six rounds straight.
There's just something about the gameplay that keeps me coming back. I've been playing this game 2-3 hours a night. I'm not sure what it is, but this is the most addicting shooter I've played in a long time.
I have high hopes for the single player as well. From what I understand, the guys behind Heavenly Sword's cutscenes are working on Killzone 2, and if you read the diaries on Killzone.com, you'll see that the the Killzone Universe has quite a deep backstory. Assuming the AI holds up, the singleplayer should be a blast. We already know the gunplay and the level design hold up.
I am REALLY glad Sony bought Geurrilla Games.
Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot the most obvious part: The graphics are freaking GORGEOUS. The lighting is superb, and the way it reacts with the smooth animations provides a truly spectacular experience. The 4xAA provides the best IQ I've seen in a console game yet, outside of maybe WipEout HD.
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