Killzone 2 Beta Impressions

by IGN Staff

Australia, November 19, 2008 - Ah Killzone 2... what won't you do to try and fool us, you little minx. First you feed us that CG trailer and try to subtly pass it off as real footage. Pfft. What did you take us for?

Then, once the little CG rouse was up, you tried to claim that, despite the fact your trailer wasn't actually in-game footage, that the final game would actually run and play like said trailer. Ooh, we'll believe it when we see it Mister Sony man.

And now you've thrown this beta our way – surely yet another wily piece of propaganda, you trickster dickster! Sure, we're pushing buttons, wiggling analogue sticks - and stuff is happening on screen as a result – but this isn't the actual game, surely! There's no way a console game can look this good, right - what sort of foul wizardry is this?

This can't be real. It simply can't be. Sony and Guerrilla Games couldn't have created an end result that (almost) matches the infamous target footage revealed at E3 all those years ago. Could they?

Well, unless our dainty little peepers are deceiving us, the answer to that question is 'yes'. Guerrilla Games have made an absolute red hot go of trying to match up to the incredible CG footage shown in 2005. Because undoubtedly, when you first hop into the small scale beta currently doing the rounds, the first thing you notice (and by notice we mean the synapse connected to your retina splinters into a thousand microscopic pieces) is Killzone 2's mighty visual prowess.

Yes, the game firmly adheres to the now out of vogue palette of gritty greys and such like, but really, technically, no first person shooter we've played can compete on an even keel. The texture work is crisp and detailed, and the player animations (of both yourself in the first person and everyone else on the map) are a true revelation, immediately giving Killzone 2 a high production feel from the outset.

But it's in the details that Killzone 2 truly accelerates towards greatness. Everything, from the detailed reload animations, to the grease and grime smeared across the sights when you click into the scope, succeeds in convincing you that, despite the sci-fi setting, you're taking part in a dusty, old fashioned videogame war.

The environments are equally convincing. Every acre of the three beta maps, down to the last square inch, is filled with the kind of care and attention lacking in most titles. No proverbial stone has been left unturned. There's no tangible, gameplay-affecting, destruction as such, but blasting away at certain pillars will cause them to crumble 'Matrix' style adding to the intense atmospherics, giving you the very real feeling that the next bullet could be lodged in your brain.

It's a real achievement, and one that is extended to the map layouts themselves. Despite featuring similar aesthetics, each of the three maps works differently in terms of game dynamics. In our not-so-humble opinion, the tightly knit Radec Academy was the real standout. Despite featuring less flash than the outdoorsy-hence-prettier Salamun Market and Blood Gracht, Radec's intricately designed interior recalled some of the better, smaller, maps seen in CoD 4 and Halo – think Halo 2's Lockout cage fighting CoD 4's Showdown to the absolute death and you won't be too far off the mark.

Combining an open central area with tight corridor sections on either side, Radec Academy is a kinda symmetrical map that simultaneously allows for competitive shootouts in broad space, and the kind of cat and mouse antics that allow players to really attempt to outwit each other. It's an endlessly rewarding map that seems flexible in terms of the different game types featured in Killzone 2.


But that's not to say that other maps featured in the beta can't compete, quite the opposite. The Killzone 2 beta has smartly chosen three different maps that play to the varying strengths of the multiplayer. If Radec Academy proves that Killzone 2 can handle small scale skirmishes, then Salamun Market is the pretty one - the buxom, short skirt-wielding map that showcases Killzone 2's potential for epic 32-player encounters. Salamun will no doubt be 'hearted' by those who prefer their action on a larger scale, and enjoy the strategic element of objective based game-types.

However, as a result of Killzone 2's 'Warzone' mode (the only mode available in the beta), each and every map must be malleable and adjustable to all gametypes. Due mainly to the fact that 'Warzone' is a constantly streaming flow of different game types rolling seamlessly into another – for the first five minutes you'll merely be blasting each other's internal organs, but seconds later you could be setting off charges, defending a single member of your team, or even charging around willy nilly sporting nifty propaganda radios in an adapted version of capture the flag.

'Warzone' is essentially a gametype that makes absolute mincemeat of your free time. As the rolling gametypes flow one into the next, it's almost too easy to drift towards the tight rhythmic beat of Killzone 2's drum and forget about the outside world. Mark our words – plenty of marriages, relationships, university projects, etc, will no doubt fall victim to the 'one more round' lure of Killzone 2's multiplayer.

As for the overall feel of Killzone 2's online experience? Well, it's comparable to Call of Duty 4: Post-Modern Warfare – almost as if Infinity Ward's masterpiece decided to man up, inject some 'roids direct to the vein, and hit the gym hard, before coming back a little more sluggish, but infinitely more beefy and buff.


You see, despite the fact that Killzone 2 feels a great deal slower than the rapid CoD 4, it's definitely more meaty – as in Modern Warfare, enemies will fall thick and fast with a single burst of gun-fire, but Killzone 2's weapons feel as though they pack more of a punch. They're incredibly fun to fire, to the extent that you're content to pass off the shonky balance and inconsistent aiming of the game's weaponry as a necessary sacrifice.

While we're pretty confident that fans of the more 'realistic' Call of Duty 4 will take to Killzone 2 like the proverbial duck to water, we're unsure how fans of precise, technical shooters like Halo will adapt. We thoroughly enjoyed the realistic handling of Killzone 2's weapons of mass destruction, swaying recklessly as we struggled to make the shots, but we have a sneaky feeling that those used to a steady reticule will possibly get frustrated in this regard. It could be a very clear case of gamers either loving or hating the feel of Killzone 2.

That being said, it's hard to see how anyone could deny the sheer technical achievement of the game. No online shooter in the console market could possible claim to look better than Killzone 2, or feature more atmosphere and eye for detail. We get the distinct impression that Sony, after the guffawing of the gaming community post-E3 2005, demanded that Killzone 2 match up to that infamous CG trailer - regardless of the development time or expense. What we're seeing and playing today is the end result of that self-righteous rage, and we absolutely love it. We reckon you'll be pleasantly surprised by just how well Killzone 2 looks and plays. Haters be damned – you'd all best be prepared to chow down on a hefty serving of humble pie on this one...