Pre-release Euro Killzone 2 demo likely

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 January, 2009

US gamers have to pre-order for access.

Sony has told Eurogamer that it will release a European demo of Killzone 2 through PlayStation Network, but cannot confirm exactly when, or what will be included in the demo.

However, a source close to the publisher told us that if it clears QA in time, the demo will almost certainly be released in Europe before the game.

That's in contrast to the US, where the demo is subject to an exclusivity agreement that means consumers will only be able to get hold of it before release by pre-ordering from GameStop.

A spokesperson for Sony America confirmed that to PS3Fanboy overnight, adding that the demo will appear on PSN there after launch.

Killzone 2 is due out in February, but Sony has yet to confirm an exact release date. Check out our Killzone 2 gamepage for our latest hands-on previews, trailers, screenshots and more.

And look out for our Killzone 2 review in the coming weeks.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (50) 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rash' #1 3 years ago

    sweet. can't wait for this. the first of many compelling exclusives.

  • 3william56 #2 3 years ago

    /Finger poised over download button already

  • 3william56 #3 3 years ago

    Don't say "compelling exclusives" Rash - you sound like a Sony exec. And even a Sony exec should aspire not to sound like a Sony exec.

  • Widge #4 3 years ago

    come on feb!
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 12:20

  • DFawkes #5 3 years ago

    I'm trying my best not to care after Killzone 1 disappointed me on so many levels. I still reckon it'll be good, but I'm not letting the hype discolour my opinion this time.

  • mcbi4kh2 #6 3 years ago

    It wont sell like Geras 2 or Halo, because for one thing, it's being released 2 months after the holiday buying season.

    and for another, it wont be advertised as heavily. I remember those Halo 3 freeze frame ads being on all the time.
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 12:29

  • Rash' #7 3 years ago

    3william56, How do you know I'm not!!!

  • Rash' #8 3 years ago

    If I'm honest I more interested in this because of the tremendous tech. Realtime graphics at their best as far as I'm concerned:

    http://uk .youtube.com/watch?v=SDqPiQFGj-...

    edit. On console before too many get over excited.
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 12:44

  • Rash' #9 3 years ago

    More Killzone love:

    http://ww w.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php...

  • Rash' #10 3 years ago

    I have been looking into it and I can't see a game that come close to the level of realtime graphics on display in this game. It maybe not be on par with *that* trailer but it damn near floors the rest of the competition in realtime graphics.

  • penhalion #11 3 years ago

    What review?

  • muscleblade #12 3 years ago

    Whats the point of a demo if you have to buy the game to play the demo? I thouth the whole point of demos was the try before you buy thing.

  • Rash' #13 3 years ago

    vorlon, I'd say gears is better with textures, but realtime graphics, no. A lot of UE3's strength is in scripted and baked in effects. Not realtime as in killzone's engine.

    The distinction is realtime: what the engine does on the fly, which is where the strength in PS3's CPU lies.
    Edited by 5 at 06/01/09 @ 13:10

  • Widge #14 3 years ago

    I hope the story is good....

  • threepy #15 3 years ago

    Deals over demo's...how pathetic. Thep oint of a demo is to try before you buy so I feel sorry for those in the US...

  • mcbi4kh2 #16 3 years ago

    I know probably not a news flash but I've just read kz2 isn't split-screen

    /sulks

    Does any one else think this is a really big feature that devs continue to ignore?

  • Thunderbolt #17 3 years ago

    Yes but doesn't the US get the full game before Europe. So some you win some you lose.

  • Widge #18 3 years ago

    Being a solitary front room warrior, I totally forgot about split screen until I thought back to uni days with multiple mates huddled around a TV. I don't find it important but guess it is very much so for some.

  • MatteG #19 3 years ago

    I asked one of the devs in the Eurogamer live interview thing whether the beta would be opened up or a demo would come out. He said no to both. Pfft damn devs always lying.

  • muscleblade #20 3 years ago

    "I have been looking into it and I can't see a game that come close to the level of realtime graphics on display in this game"

    You havent played Gears 2 then.

    It should be:

    "I have been looking into it and I can't see a PS3 game that come close to the level of realtime graphics on display in this game"

  • woodnotes #21 3 years ago

    "It wont sell like Geras 2 or Halo, because for one thing, it's being released 2 months after the holiday buying season."

    True. Even MGS4 couldn't sell to anything like Gears 2 or Halo 3 levels.

  • Matt_82 #22 3 years ago

    never mind the demo, give us a release date. preferably the same one as US, which happens to be my birthday.

  • Widge #23 3 years ago

    I've played Gears 2 and its remarkably like Unreal Tournament 3

  • dominalien #24 3 years ago

    Not one for me. Killzone Liberation is as close as I'll ever get to the Killzone experience. Unless they make KZ3 a top-down, or at least a third person, game.

  • drumbaby #25 3 years ago

    Cannae fooking wait for this!!

  • bdc #26 3 years ago

    Rash you are blatantly a Sony adbot.

  • Rash' #27 3 years ago

    bdc, i'm just excited about a game that technically demonstrates the strengths of the PS3. i've read and seen enough to say that as a demonstration of on the fly graphics processing there is little to touch it. the game runs realtime lighting, physics, particle and animation while calculating numerous AI routines, hit detection and wind simulation. sound additionally is in 7.1. i've not seen a game on console that can technically touch that. check the vid i posted above and think how much the cpu is calculating.
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 15:52

  • Dizzy #28 3 years ago

    "the game runs realtime lighting, physics, particle and animation while calculating numerous AI routines, hit detection and wind simulation"

    Most games do that (Halo 3 does all that for example). The question is how much lights, particles, etc.....

    TBH KZ2 looks like it sacrificed texture variety (and maybe view distance - again hard to say without playing) for dynamic lights and a rather good art style/color combo. Everything else you can find in any shooter of the last few months. The animations look good as well... question is how dynamic are they. Hard to tell without playing the game.

  • shotgun44 #29 3 years ago

    Lack of split screen is slightly annoying. It's the only time I really thought halo deserved the praise it gets.

  • Rash' #30 3 years ago

    halo 3 ran at sub hd resolution and some sources have suggested nearly 200 different light sourses in a kz2 scene... so let me stress it's doing all those realtime calculations at once, not even gears 2 manages that.

    btw the red eyes on the helgast are a realtime light source... (check the pics i posted above)
    Edited by 3 at 06/01/09 @ 16:16

  • Rash' #31 3 years ago

    technically halo3 is a suped up halo2 engine, but yeah lack of split screen co-op is disappointing.

  • Rash' #32 3 years ago

    Dizzy, any? really? go on then. add 720p, 30fps, destructable environments as well realtime shadows to my list of achievements of kz's engine and tell me a shooter that comes close. we'll never agree i'm sure, you're too much of a ms boy and i a sony but i'd still like for you to humour me.

    edit. the animation if i remember correctly is a combination of motion capture and realtime physics.
    Edited by 1 at 06/01/09 @ 16:38

  • Widge #33 3 years ago

    I've not actually seen Halo 3 running on a 360. I do have this nagging feeling that I'm missing out on the final part of the story which is sad.

  • Rash' #34 3 years ago

    widge it's a tremendous game. i wish i had a 360 for it, but it's my values that stop me. manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to think shoddy design can be resolved by throwing money at the problem.

  • BOFH_UK #35 3 years ago

    "bdc, i'm just excited about a game that technically demonstrates the strengths of the PS3. i've read and seen enough to say that as a demonstration of on the fly graphics processing there is little to touch it. the game runs realtime lighting, physics, particle and animation while calculating numerous AI routines, hit detection and wind simulation. sound additionally is in 7.1. i've not seen a game on console that can technically touch that. check the vid i posted above and think how much the cpu is calculating."

    Umm, considering the video you posted was a cutscene I don't think there were too many AI calculataions going on....

    Here's the thing, I honestly don't think you're seeing anything with Killzone 2 that the 360 couldn't do (give equal storage space anyway). What you're seeing is a massive development budget and several years of dedicated development time on a single platform. Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to seeing the demo on my PS3 but the way this thing's being put on a plinth as a demo of the poweeeeeeeeer of the Playstation 3 strikes me as very very silly indeed. It's the gameplay that'll decide whether or not this is any good and until we've had a chance to judge that for ourselves it's little more than a glorified tech demo. IF there's a good game underneath the shiny stuff then it'll be a great package but my god it's going to have to do something special considering the shooters we've seen in the last 18 months or so...

    Oh, and what's the bloody point of dragging Halo 3 up as an example of how Killzone 2 is teh be5t? They're two utterly different engines designed to do very different things and with almost two YEARS separating them. Same with Gears 2 - it's a stunning game but it's running on an engine designed to be multi-platform that's already a couple of years old. Comparing between platforms is always a pain in the arse at the best of times but, for this generation, it's a fairly safe assumption that there's very little between the two consoles and that graphics seen on one can be replacated on the other to within a few percent if given a big enough development budget. The only possible difference is storage space on the media - that's about it.

  • Yaz #36 3 years ago

    Rash' wrote: "i wish i had a 360 for it, but it's my values that stop me."

    *rolleyes* ;-)

  • Widge #37 3 years ago

    I don't really care about the reliability furore, I just don't want another box under the TV downstairs. Plus if anything I'd rather buy a new amp & speakers, or new TV and freeview for upstairs. This does mean I have to miss out on Halo (oh and Fable), plus I'd probably play Mass Effect more if it wasn't on my laptop... although I'm getting a 22" LCD for my PC, then there are temptations to get a beefier GPU for moments when the madam is on the TV downstairs. Too many things demanding money.

  • Freek #38 3 years ago

    Isn't restricting the demo to the people who have already bought the game completely missing the point of having one to begin with?

  • BOFH_UK #39 3 years ago

    "widge it's a tremendous game. i wish i had a 360 for it, but it's my values that stop me. manufacturers shouldn't be allowed to think shoddy design can be resolved by throwing money at the problem."

    So how about explaining why you're supporting Sony after the disc read problems with the PS2. Or the compatibility issues the PS2 Slim ran into. Or the Playstation 1 wearing out the CD tray on earlier models as Sony made 'em out of plastic. Or the inital policy on the PSP of dealing with units with dead pixels (i.e. you bought it it's your problem) and the fairly ropy build quality on the original PSP as a whole (dust under the screen, UMD's launching if the unit was twisted, faulty analogue nubs, faulty buttons (especially the X button) etc etc)?

    Basically, ALL hardware has issues. The 360 has taken longer to resolve than most because of the particular problem but they've handled it very well with the 3 year warranty and, quite frankly, saying that this is an ethical stand while turning a blind eye to instances of faults from another manufacturer is just silly. If you're a Sony Fan then that's fine but at least be honest and admit it.

  • Widge #40 3 years ago

    Its to lure people who just have to play a wee segment of it IMMEDIATELY, regardless of the fact that they are getting it no matter what, into pre-ordering with them. Said people then get the chance to prance around the net with shaky cam youtube vids of them with their demo.

  • -Hex- #41 3 years ago

    PS3fanboy confirmed the release dates already

    Europe - 25th Feb - Can't find link but it's on ps3fanboy and thesixaxis
    America - 27th Feb - [link url=http://www.ps3fanboy.co m/2008/12/05/killzone-2-hits-na-on-feb-27-europe-around-same -time/
    ]http://ww w.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/05/kill...[/link]

  • Rash' #42 3 years ago

    BOFH_UK, i wish you would read. as i said i'm more interested in this game for it's tech than anything else. halo3 and gears2 comparisons were naturally brought up 360 enthusiasts iin an attempt to counter my claim KZ2 is the most technically impressive game on console.

    as for reliability issues, i don't dispute all consumer electronics have their teething problems, question is how many manufacturers go ahead with production in full knowledge of them? that's MS's crime, so excuse me if i don't seem interested in their hardware.

  • TravisTouchdown #43 3 years ago

    This, my friends, will be rubbish.

    And I wish that it wasn't, truly, but the first was overhyped wank, and what in the name of heaven makes anyone think that its successor won't be even overerhyped wank?

    Seriously.

  • Rash' #44 3 years ago

    ^^^ namely, good previews.

  • xxL5G5NDxx #45 3 years ago

    way too dark. that could be a big mistake/let down

  • Matt_82 #46 3 years ago

    Europe - 25th Feb - Can't find link but it's on ps3fanboy and thesixaxis
    America - 27th Feb - http://ww w.ps3fanboy.com/2008/12/05/kill...

    I thought Sony hated Europe?

    We are beta testers, before the US gets it.

  • Vic #47 3 years ago

    Halo 3 looks like a pile of shit...this will be the best looking console game bar none when released. Even Gears 2 doesnt come close.

  • Knot #48 3 years ago

    The textures look great & sharp ;

    only in various static screenshots they might seem low rez, because of the temporal motion blurring postfilter.

  • mcbi4kh2 #49 3 years ago

    No, he is the stereotypical fanboy. The anti-you if you will.

  • muscleblade #50 3 years ago

    @Vic

    LOL. Idiot!