I know it's a long thread, but please try to read at least one of my posts before commenting on the thread. I have maintained from the start that I think Killzone 2 looks better than Gears of War II. So please, before you start putting words in my mouth, become familiar with what I have actually said. That aside, the art style and level desing lends itself to be made very good looking, regardless of the reason for a lack of trees. It's not just trees, that is only one aspect, the geometry use was my main argument. I just picked trees and organic matter since they represent one of the hardest geometric objects.

Also, Killzone 1 had a very nice trees. I didn't finish all of it, but I remember thinking that those trees looking pretty good for the time. If I remember correctly, one of the levels I played was actually completely surrounded by trees and other organic matter.

@topic starter: You forgot one very important thing. KZ2 is rendered @ 30FPS while GeOW2 is rendered at 60FPS...

 Uncharted still best-looking console game confirmed?

I thought GeoW2 was rendered at 120fps ?

Good read, but I have to say the time spent on animations and effects by GG is brilliant. Just by the demo the textures are a let down. but overall the game does look excellent. Not the be all end all we were led to believe. I'll wait for the full version to make my final judgement.

In pure oh my god gobsmacking moments after playing the KZ2 demo, that moment still belongs to the first time in Gears 2 when Marcus and Dom step out in the underground cave. That was just so good looking graphically. I remember waiting for the cutscene to end not realising it was waiting for me to control. The odd thing is this part of the game has more organic scenery and almost no even geometry whatsoever. Textures though are much better in Gears 2.

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gears_of_war_2/screenshot-54.html

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gears_of_war_2/screenshot-48.html

http://www.videogamer.com/xbox360/gears_of_war_2/screenshot-41.html

It certainly is impressive and has some elements which surpass every other game I've played, but I think its reign has come to an end. 

Do you have a source for this? The game feels like it is running a bit faster than 30 FPS, but I doubt it is running at 60 FPS. If it was, I think that is something Epic would have mentioned in an interview or two.

Yea, GoW2 does have some scenes that also really impressed me. Take a look at this tech demo running on the Xbox 360

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/30825.html?type=flv (Bad quality cam but it should suffice)

It's a shame because I don't think Gears of War II shows these features off too well. Here's hoping Gears 3 or Epic's next game will really shine.

Watching that GDC vid you posted reminded me of destructible scenery. I didnt expect Gears 2 to have better DS than KZ2, but it does by quite a way. They both have set piece destruction (like the bridge in KZ2 or crumble buildings in Gears 2) but the actual destruction to cover when grenades or gunfire hits walls and that was alot better in Gears 2. All scenery in Gears 2 gets affected, but the sheet of tin in KZ2 that I crouched behind took shitloads of fire and not a scratch.

But dont forget this is only the KZ2 demo we are using for comparison. Things can change by full version playthrough.

Killzone 2's destructible environments may look better but the underlying technology behind GoWII is superior. In Killzone 2, items are manually made to be destructible or not. In the Unreal Engine, you can design a level and automatically have every part of it be destructible (assuming you designed it correctly.)

On a side note, it seems that this thread is reaching the end of its life. I'm very pleased that it didn't turn into a childish flame war like many of the VS threads.

@ Jetrii - great read. I read your entire post. Good stuff.

Good anylasis, it was an intresting read, however, I dont think its fair to compare them graphically, its all down to opinion as they use different art styles, i own Gears of War 2 and im going to get Killzone 2, i find all this Gears 2 V Killzone 2 bitching stupid and annoying, grow up and enjoy the games!