Killzone 2

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 May, 2008

Finally like playing that trailer?

While other PlayStation 3 games, most notably MotorStorm, have shrugged off the stigma of E3 2005's "target renders", Killzone 2's journey to release seems as turbulent today as the bumpy, computer-generated air-to-ground D-Day deployment that first dropped jaws almost three years ago.

The good news for PS3's ardent supporters, then, is that what we're standing on the show floor at Sony's PlayStation Day event in London controlling isn't that far away from what the handsome CG of 2005 predicted: we're on an airborne landing craft with chattering squad-mates gripping the rails tightly, flying low towards a riverside industrial complex as Helghast forces pepper the sky with anti-aircraft gunfire. They're having some luck, too, nailing the craft that's just ahead of us in the magic carpet convoy, which explodes and is consumed by thick cotton wool smoke, and sends lifeless bodies flying past our heads before the Gears of War-style in-game cut-scene switches to a view from the banks of the Corinth River, and captures our safe but violent landing.

Then it's straight into the eyes of Sev, the player-character, and into the action. Clicking L3 to sprint forward, we take up a cover position behind a wall by holding L1, and use the left analogue stick to lean out to the right and take in the scene. Wiry steel spikes protrude from the mashed up concrete block we're up against like bones poking out of compound fractures, while ahead of us advancing ISA troopers find protection behind shipping containers half-buried in the riverbank and hastily erected metal fencing - for all the alien world like windbreakers at the seaside, topped with barbed wire coils - covers the hunched lateral movement of squad-mates eager to join them. We're on a broad sandy riverbank crisscrossed by bridges, which connect to battered grey industrial buildings that have been bandaged in places with protective metal sheeting. Helmeted enemy troopers with their deep red eyes scurry along eminent walkways and terraces. Taking this all in is little trouble, as the left-stick lean mechanic offers the freedom to peer around cover but also over it, guiding the aiming reticule onto entrenched Helghast with the right stick before we open fire with R1.

'Killzone 2' Screenshot 1

The menacing Helghast troopers. You can shoot their helmets off, revealing Darth Vader-style baldies.

As with Gears, Grand Theft Auto IV and other cover-based shooters, clicking the right stick at this point allows you to look down the iron sights - or in the case of Killzone 2's standard-issue assault rifle, through the green tinting of glass-and-iron sights - to zoom in slightly and reduce the margin of error. As you fire, the ringing sound of bullets being fed to the hammer becomes shriller to signify that your magazine is emptying, and Sev reloads with a flourish, raising his gun elaborately into view so that you can marvel at the duct tape texture on the clip he's slapping into place, the specular highlight of the metal above the tape, and the rougher, almost leathery casing around the gun barrel.

But enough dawdling, because a squad-mate ahead is being cut down by a gun emplacement on one of the bridges that leans over the rat-run of metal windbreakers, and we're encouraged to take over his rocket launcher when he snuffs it. Holding square to replace the assault rifle and hoist it onto our shoulder, we turn towards the on-screen objective marker - the big gun - and fire. The result not only dispatches the gunner, but shatters the arch of the bridge, allowing everyone to advance. Legging it through the tumbling debris and veering right, we're reinforced by another landing craft, which buzzes routinely past our head on a shimmering haze of matter-of-fact science-fiction, depositing its macho occupants in our path as Helghast APCs do likewise further up the riverbank where a massive floodgate bars the way forward.

'Killzone 2' Screenshot 2

The main weapon is a punchy assault rifle, although we also played with a rocket launcher, revolver, a World War 2-style smoky machinegun and a double-action rifle.

After the initial dense and oppressive landing and beachhead sequence, the level's opened up, allowing us to zip between a spread of concrete blocks as we take out the opposition. The cover system does its job again, although having to click R3 every time you stick your head out of cover to employ iron sights is more hands-on than we're used to, and switching to our sidearm, a meaty revolver, allows us to line up some satisfying headshots. Our squad-mates provide effective assistance, too, clearing out the rest, leaving us with a moment to catch our breath and investigate other areas of the control pad: L2, for instance, performs a pulverising melee attack, and can be tapped twice for a two-hit combo, uppercutting with the assault rifle butt and then bringing it down on a victim's head. For research purposes, we do this to an injured squaddie propped up against a rock awaiting extraction, and blood splashes obediently from his head, although we're not able to visibly break his face.

Then we and a chap called Garza are told to go off and open the floodgate. When we move over to Garza and press circle, he helpfully boosts us onto a platform and we turn to pull him up, before climbing onto a narrow lift and heading into the second part of the demo level, Stahl Warehouse. Up to now, Killzone 2 has stuck to a glum palette of sawdust browns, damp blues and iron greys, but it's had a gloomy brightness to it; as we head indoors, the nuclear beige of the cloudy sky can only break through in shafts, so things are darker and claustrophobic. Ascending a staircase with Garza we emerge onto a raised gangway that loops around the small warehouse interior, allowing us to fire down on Helghast for once as they scamper around large crates covered in tarpaulin and palettes of cans and boxes. Firing at a canister, at first the gas inside gushes out of the hole, sending the cylinder erratically across the floor, before it explodes, helpfully igniting some of the red explosive barrels.

But the Helghast aren't hapless, and are capable of throwing grenades accurately; this, coupled with the need to keep activating iron sights, keeps us on the move. This isn't a game where you can hunker down somewhere safe and systematically headshot everyone, and enemies react to our own grenades by getting out of their way. When bullets do connect (most satisfyingly when we've shot out the thin panel of waist-high cover they're hiding behind), the damage registers locationally and we get a nice reaction and ragdoll death. Physics are applied to some objects - boxes, canisters, set-piece items like the bridge - but mostly for effect. Having negotiated the warehouse floor, Helghast turn the tables by smashing through the ceiling panels and raining down on where we came in via zip-lines, but we're practised now and they don't last long.

'Killzone 2' Screenshot 3

The landing craft are brilliant. Until you get shot on one, presumably.

After moving outside again to the floodgate control room, Killzone 2 has one more novelty for us: using the Sixaxis to turn the valve. Pressing the circle button, we then grab the valve with both hands (L1 and R1) and twist the pad left, as though rotating a steering wheel, before releasing the shoulder buttons, returning our hands to 10 and 2 to take hold again and repeating the action. After a few twists, the floodgate opens, and we're able to leave the control room, dispatching our last few Helghast enemies just outside, and stand on a ledge above the opening we created to watch our armoured vehicles trundle through. At which point we make for a nearby doorway on Garza's tail and the game fades to black, before showing us a highlight reel of what comes next: shootouts of greater scope, and firing a turret Howitzer at the side of a building, which then falls completely apart. But what to make of Killzone 2 on the basis of all this?

Well, impressions are likely to be muted in some quarters for a simple reason: this is a Call of Duty 4-style trail of interactive set-pieces, and for that to work the actions that trigger each event have to be carefully measured and anticipated by the script, or the illusion falls apart. It's like a train ride through the haunted house at a funfair: things pop out at you on cue, and spotlights and sound effects are used to direct your attention. At the moment, Killzone 2's script is playing out at a set speed, and it's possible to get ahead of it, so that you have to wait for Garza to get his cue to move forward, or behind it, so that your squad wipes out the opposition in a showcase fire-fight while you're still fumbling over the buttons. It sounds like a massive problem, and it has big implications for those of us trying to preview the game, but it's just an unfortunate byproduct of designing a game this way; the illusion's only fit to judge when it's complete.

'Killzone 2' Screenshot 4

Pressing X allows you to jump, doing the odd vault. If you needed to reach that ammo box on the left, say.

That said, there's already a distinctive urgency to the combat. It's not so different to anything else on the market in some respects - you can hold one big gun and one small one, scarlet trickles into your desaturating vision to indicate a build-up of damage, there's a lot of military banter - but being forced to move around and keep aiming manually takes us out of our comfort zone again, as invading an alien planet probably ought to, with the lean-and-peek cover system allowing for precision. Meanwhile your enemies, while easy enough to overwhelm in the bit we played, are clearly not stupid. Once again, though, what we've been shown and played through is open to interpretation, and predicts more than it instructs. With Killzone 2 now down for a February 2009 release, expect us to get more extensive exposure to the game later in the year, when we stand a better chance of getting to know one of the PS3's most interesting shooters.

Killzone 2 is due out in February 2009 on PS3.

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 (103) Latest comment 4 years ago

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

  • Lukus #1 4 years ago

    Groundbreaking.

  • kissthestick #2 4 years ago

    well i like the art

  • Widge #3 4 years ago

    me too, always thought the Helghast were quite an entertaining enemy

  • Baronen #4 4 years ago

    yeah the art is really nice, helghast soldiers look right mean. shame about all the grey really.

  • Widge #5 4 years ago

    I haven't got COD4 yet, whats the scripting like/all about on that?

  • japstersam #6 4 years ago

    that looks awesome! pity i don't have a PS3, seems like theres some good games coming its way :)

  • TONYgr #7 4 years ago

    if it is like call 4 i wont get it.overly scripted.

  • BiscuitBase #8 4 years ago

    I hope there's lots of pre-rendered bits, my brain can't handle interactiveness

  • Negotiator #9 4 years ago

    "best game ever"

    Your joking right.

  • berelain #10 4 years ago

    hmm, looks interesting. I just hope they can get the animation and framerate as smooth as that pre-rendered vid they showed at E3, if they can get something running as beautifully as that then it will be very, very nice indeed.

    Of course, what we're all forgetting is that the original Killzone wasn't really that great a game....

  • Quint2020 #11 4 years ago

    Isn't it all a bit grey?

    Graphically it's incredibly pretty though.

  • monkie_king #12 4 years ago

    "red explosive barrels"

    /facepalm

    Anyway, sounds like it should be at least on a par with COD4's campaign mode, which was solid enough. The R3 for iron sights sounds awkward though, putting it on left trigger in COD4 makes a lot more sense. I guess there'll be an alternative button layout though.

  • Widge #13 4 years ago

    Someone stuck up a video of the alpha build of the game, and from that, its far from the sluggish direfest of the original on the surface as far as the presentation goes.

    Still, no-one can really tell what its about until they get their hands on the final build.

  • postal #14 4 years ago

    can't really comment on the gameplay or ai. judging from the footage i've seen, i have to admit this game looks incredible; the lighting engine is breathtaking. definitely one of the most cinematic FPS games i've see to date. rock solid frame-rate too.

  • BadBoyBonner #15 4 years ago

    I wonder what the reaction would have been if the 2005 target render had declared that Killzone 2 was due out in Febuary of 2009.

    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 14:46

  • cyacomini #16 4 years ago

    *looks back at reviews of Killzone

  • Nithron #17 4 years ago

    Everyone complains about everything being grey, but when was the last time you saw a bright, vivid, multicoloured warzone?

  • BadBoyBonner #18 4 years ago

    2Everyone complains about everything being grey, but when was the last time you saw a bright, vivid, multicoloured warzone?"

    About 2 nights ago playing GTA IV deathmatch! lol

  • cyacomini #19 4 years ago

    @Nithron

    Far Cry?
    Crysis?
    Halo 3?

    You want more?

  • dsmx #20 4 years ago

    Why does everyone keep going back to killzone as a comparison for this game. Lets go back to the last game they made shall we? Which was killzone liberation and was great game.

  • SeesThroughAll #21 4 years ago

    Why does everyone keep going back to killzone as a comparison for this game.

    Because Killzone Liberation is a spin-off designed for a handheld.

  • Machetazo #22 4 years ago

    "That said, there's already a distinctive urgency to the combat"
    "This isn't a game where you can hunker down somewhere safe and systematically headshot everyone"

    Good to find out that these Killzone gameplay hallmarks return. :) I'll give any related visual media a look later, but just from the write-up, I'm really enthusiastic about this (before you take into account any appreciation of past games in this series!)

  • Eighthours #23 4 years ago

    before the Gears of War-style in-game cut-scene switches to a view from the banks of the Corinth River, and captures our safe but violent landing.

    Then it's straight into the eyes of Sev, the player-character, and into the action.

    This cutaway sounds like a bit of a cheat to me. The cool thing about the E3 2005 "trailer" was how the landing and subsequent "you take control" firefight were all in first person with no cutaways at all.

    EDIT: I've been informed that, in fact, both the previous trailers also had a cutaway. Whoops!
    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 15:55

  • chudders #24 4 years ago

    Sounds, a bit...generic.

  • Moz #25 4 years ago

    Like the use of sixaxis, while it may be a little gimiky and wouldn't miss it, it is a nice little addition.

    The game does look really stunning, my personal bet is that the delay to Feb 09 is so this and resistance 2 aren't out too close together. And if they use the time for some extra polish then all is good.

  • Widge #26 4 years ago

    here you go, moving images:

    http://ww w.jeuxvideo.tv/video/killzone-2...

  • Khanivor #27 4 years ago

    I like the sound of 'urgency of combat' but how many months ago was this demo first shown off? I forget which show it was but I'd wager there has been more than enough time for GG to really go to town on making a good demo. Now they have another 8 months or so to make the rest of the game. Good luck.

  • Negotiator #28 4 years ago

    On a side note Gears 2 is being shown for the first time tonight, so I'm guessing this will look pretty shit in the morning.

  • kangarootoo #29 4 years ago

    Sounds like they've taken on the Rainbow Six cover mechanic (trigger to go into cover, stick to lean out), which is ace news as its the best out there and hands Gears' ass to it in a plate in that regard.

  • Widge #30 4 years ago

    YAY FOR GEARS 2 MY LIFE IS COMPLETE

  • japstersam #31 4 years ago

    that video is nice...!

  • mazzl #32 4 years ago

    so, it will be beautifull and it will be mediocre and boring... good one for the ps3 ;p

    atleast they will have till feb to make it worth the money

  • UncleLou #33 4 years ago

    Very pretty.

  • Nikanoru #34 4 years ago

    Groundbreaking.

    best game ever



    AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!


    Dunno if those were just joking, but either way: lol.

  • Madlax #35 4 years ago

    Huh, a Eurogamer killzone 2 hands-on that isnt highly negative ?

    Sure they failed to mention the technical prowess and all the special effects, but they didnt downplay it either, or did i miss a line in the article somewhere ? ;)

    Could be that its so great that the best they can do is stay neautral and not mention the positives of the game ?

    maybe.... ;)

  • richardiox #36 4 years ago

    Was the 2005 conf where they first showed the target renders the same one where Sonypromised 2 x 1080p output for gaming. 3 years on an GTA4 cant manage 720p on one display.

  • Madlax #37 4 years ago

    @fart

    "and Cod4 has considerably better graphics and gameplay mechanics. "

    I hope you,r joking ? better than these ?

    [link url=http://ww w.gamersyde.com/leech_7077_en.html
    ]http://ww w.gamersyde.com/leech_7077_en.h...[/link]

    Did the hatred cover all your senses and turn you into a brainless drone ?




    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 15:52

  • Widge #38 4 years ago

    and nice gameplay and control opinions by using his eye power alone!

  • mikew1985 #39 4 years ago

    @ Madlax

    You're neither as insightful nor as smart as you think you are.

    EG are probably one of the least biased sources for news out there yet you continuosly attack them with double speak and sarcasm. I find it quite disappointing how quickly you attack their journalistic integrity at every available opportunity. God help us if you were to be one of the staff writers, we'd be in for some seriously impartial and intelligently written articles then wouldn't we? Of course they would be complete with knowing winks which as we all know make you look super cool.


    Anyway the game looks OK, i'm hoping it turns out well so as I have something new to play in the usually barren February's.

  • Skeletor #40 4 years ago

    @FarticusMaximus

    "Just watched a couple of videos. The color palette looks depressing to say the least, there's grey and then there's Killzone 2.. almost monochrome. Nasty. It's not the video encoding either, as the rocket blasts are in full color, which looks out of place and serves to highlight the abysmal lack of coloring of the rest of the action."

    Hehe, yeah right. According to the devs, Killzone 2's main source of inspiration are WW2 images and news footage so that might explain your incredibly witty observation that it doesn't look like going postal in Disneyland...

    "It will offer nothing that CoD4 hasnt given already, and Cod4 has considerably better graphics and gameplay mechanics."

    What? Says who? Your mama's crystal ball? How can one judge gameplay mechanics by looking at some (pre-alpha) vids?!

  • Super_Zee #41 4 years ago

    That looks and sounds great.

  • smoothpete #42 4 years ago

    Christ, 2009??

    It looks very nice, albeit a bit grey.

  • Widge #43 4 years ago

    I thought EG gave a rather nice outline about this. Does it look as good as the 2005 CGI trailer, they say "pretty much", is it urgent and exciting, overview says so. Sounds quite immersive while they point out that the scripting needs some work doing to it but hold your horses until later in the year for more hands on.

    No problems at all with their overview here.

  • JediMasterMalik #44 4 years ago

    Farticus you utter tit.

    Stop your blatant trolling.

    The game looks fantastic graphically, I do think the game will fail on some important points though, such as the story telling and pacing. Pacing is very important in a modern FPS, I hope they can get it right. Technically the game seems to be frankly amazing.

    I was surprised to read that the AI was quite good as many people watching the videos seem to think it's dumb as shit. I don't really see how one could judge AI from a video much anyway unless it's especially demoed, which is why I'm glad to see what you thought of it.

  • Madlax #45 4 years ago

    "i find it quite disappointing how quickly you attack their journalistic integrity at every available opportunity. God help us if you were to be one of the staff writers, we'd be in for some seriously impartial and intelligently written articles then wouldn't we? Of course they would be complete with knowing winks which as we all know make you look super cool. "

    I dont hate Eurogamer, and i wouldnt hate anyone for doing their job. i realize that every media outlet twist facts in ways that suit there interests, this is the reality of how every media outlet operate, amatuer or proffesional, i cant crucify eurogamer for doing the same.

    "The game looks fantastic graphically, I do think the game will fail on some important points though, such as the story telling and pacing. Pacing is very important in a modern FPS, I hope they can get it right. Technically the game seems to be frankly amazing. "

    Actually, i,m more concerned over the online component, we still dont know much about their online and multiplayer plans. this is what will 'Break' or 'Make' the game i believe, for me and for everyone else.









    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 16:28

  • kangarootoo #46 4 years ago

    Look people, just stick farticus on ignore and stop clogging up the thread. Giving him attention just makes him feel warm inside, and this is not to be advised. Let that be the end of it.

  • Hughes. #47 4 years ago

    The enemy will actually lob grenades at you if you dig in to one spot and pop out for headshots, eh? Well, that's one up on the dopey bastards in Killzone 1.

  • mikew1985 #48 4 years ago

    @ Madlax

    I never said you hated Eurogamer I said you consistently called into question their journalistic integrity.

    Comparing Eurogamer to other major media sources, whom, there is no denying twist the facts, which, perhaps Eurogamer may have done at some stage in the past (not that I can reasonably see or have seen). Remember this is a gaming website whereby they report on games meaning a lot of the time there is no cold hard "fact". A game can tick so many boxes; graphics, story and mechanics etc. but fall down and die upon missing one. So for example while I may not like Halo 3 at all I can still see entirely how it got 10/10 and don't disagree with it. The game deserves it, it offers so much to it's fans and is groundbreaking in many senses.

    So to conclude my point just because they may not conform to your opinions and ideals at times does not mean they are twisting facts. What "facts" are they twisting in this preview?

    edit: cold hard
    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 16:39

  • ps3owner #49 4 years ago

    Feb 2009.

    so it takes 4 years to get the graphics right... hehe. nice :)

    these programmers must earn a bomb, since they are obviously writing in alien code (they had to learn it first, 3 years university ;))

    does look out of this world though :)

  • the_genius #50 4 years ago

    The smell of xbot fear is strong in this thread. How appropriate that someone named fart is clearly the most rattled.

    Enjoy your Gears of War 1.5 video tonight chaps. Let's hope it's visually an improvement on the first game, otherwise I guess we'll have to accept that graphics on the 360 peaked 18 months ago.

  • Negotiator #51 4 years ago

    "The smell of xbot fear is strong in this thread. How appropriate that someone named fart is clearly the most rattled."

    "Enjoy your Gears of War 1.5 video tonight chaps. Let's hope it's visually an improvement on the first game, otherwise I guess we'll have to accept that graphics on the 360 peaked 18 months ago." The Genius wrote this.

    Your name does not suit you my friend, how about the arse face.

  • TagemandBagem #52 4 years ago

    This does look amazing. And I give credit to any FPS that uses iron sights but the first Killzone left me pretty cold. Have to wait and see but it certainly looks more promising.

  • Triggerhappytel #53 4 years ago

    I'd be more interested in knowing how well it controls than how the level proceeds. Any information on that, please?

  • NickD7 #54 4 years ago

    Killzone lol, gamers must be desperate to be hyping this trash yet again.

  • Apologie #55 4 years ago

    it will be one of the best FPS's ever... very promissing, graphics, art direction, argument/story, everything is shaping up to be a memorable experience, can't come too fast.
    Edited by 1 at 09/05/08 @ 18:46

  • Dizzy #56 4 years ago

    "otherwise I guess we'll have to accept that graphics on the 360 peaked 18 months ago. "

    GTA. Case closed.

  • Hughes. #57 4 years ago

    Another Nick nick, Nick?

    How long before this one gets banned, I wonder?

  • the_genius #58 4 years ago

    "GTA. Case closed. "

    LMAO

  • ElNino9 #59 4 years ago

    Looks promising, but I fail to get too excited after falling for the hype of the first game which was shite. Definatly on my most wanted list.

  • mazzl #60 4 years ago

    EG should get moderators on this threat, it's getting pointless.
    it's just a game

  • Grayvern #61 4 years ago

    Nice to see a balanced preview, Killzone was crap, buy Killzone Liberation was good so anythings possible.

    Im a little concerned about the scripted nature as mentioned by Eurogamer, game breaking by accident is a major drag

  • YourMessageHere #62 4 years ago

    Looks like it's not going to be groundbreaking in any way, but do what it does well and look pretty doing it.

    Re: Grey - apart from the designed to look like WWII footage thing, this is a setting problem. What we're seeing is an urban-industrial warzone setting; these primarily tend to be grey. Far Cry and Crysis were jungle based, which is not grey. Halo was firmly of the "in the future everything glows" school of sci-fi design, especially for enemies, and had a wider variety of level settings than we've seen for this yet. Maybe there's other levels that are more colourful; where would you like a game with art direction like this to be set that's not grey?

  • #63 4 years ago

    farticusmaximus... regarding the grey palette. Tbh m8 id rather have this palette [art direction] than say Halo3`s tonka toy palette.

    Horses for courses i guess, but it does look quite amazing and im also amazed to hear to read the Ai dont have down syndrome.

  • Negotiator #64 4 years ago

    Look first killzone was shit, so the second one will more than likely be shit, its not hard to work that out.

  • WillyWanka #65 4 years ago

    The first game was pash. The most overhyped PS2 game imo.

  • Apostle #66 4 years ago

    By the time this comes out in 2009 the big selling point for the game, the graphical splendour, I just wonder how much further FPS titles on PC will be pushing the limits in the same area, making this game look average, next year.

  • MrsPacMan #67 4 years ago

    lol, good luck with this one PS3 AH's

  • JediMasterMalik #68 4 years ago

    Look guys, we've already established the first game was not as good as it could've been. (even then, itwasn't actually shit, just rather average) But thisgame seems to overcome some major issues from the first, so let's give it a chance eh?

  • chris_ace #69 4 years ago

    Post deleted at 11:55:13 13-12-2011

  • Widge #70 4 years ago

    I think the ONLY non-generic shooter in recent times has been Bioshock, hence the mass wetting of pants over it. Put aside whether you felt it went downhill or not halfway through, it just felt NEW. Oh and I wasn't into The Darkness too much, but it had a good style going on.

    What else have we had? The invisible Gordon Freeman, the rather charismaless Master Chief, the eternally silent Hale, helmet and suit a go go with Haze and Crysis... all these usually accompanied by a scattering of hackneyed military types.

    In fact, thats one point that I also loved about Uncharted, ok it harkening to the adventurer ala Dr Jones and all, but it made it a bit different.

    If Killzone 2 plays good, I don't think we will care too much about all of the above though.

  • Buran #71 4 years ago

    Massive Damage. This game is a Nuclear Blast. Technically is so advanced, so huge... Only comparable to Crysis. But Crysis, wihch runs nicelly at 1680 x 1050 all at high in my desktop, runs in a Q6600 oced to 3.0 Ghz, 2 GB 800 Mhz and 8800 GTS 512.

    Seriously, I'm IMPRESSED about how Guerrilla did this technical masterpiece in PS3. The visuals, fx, physics, framerrate and fluidity is so solid, so strong, that the only way to moaning about the demonstration is talking about the presumably scripted gameplay. Pffff. COD 4 sells 9 million units with absolutely linear, boring-respawning-npcs gameplay with very, very WEAK graphics. So I'm not worry about the Killzone 2 gameplay, as far as Guerrilla can give me this outstanding, shocking, mesmerizing battlefield enviroments.

    Again, Massive Damage.

  • #72 4 years ago

    Buran

    +1 , well said m8.

  • Ryze #73 4 years ago

    I was playing the PSP version in early Dec, and my aunty asked what I was playing whil my little sisters were in the room.

    "Killzone Liberation", I said.

    "Uh huh", she said.

    Conversation over.

    Sonylol

  • Dizzy #74 4 years ago

    Looks ok... nothing beyond the current FPS games graphic wise or gameplay wise. I am more excited for Resistance 2. TBH with the wide choice of FPS games available at the moment and at the end of the year (Resistance 2, Gears 2, Left4Dead, ..) I doubt that KZ2 will be able to compete on features.... I guess it will probably compete on hype.
    Edited by 2 at 10/05/08 @ 07:47

  • soviet_ #75 4 years ago

    Looks nice, but so it should

  • oupe #76 4 years ago

    xbotboyX sez: looks very good and entertaining

    (although a 360 version could probably squeeze out 4 pixels more with a 0.02 fps improvement ;)

  • IneptPercy #77 4 years ago

    Looks interesting, I am not going to hold my breath as other games have looked great at this phase and turned out to be a bit average.

    Still awaiting for something to give me an excuse to by a PS3, it seems for every reason a get to buy one there is another 2 reasons not to bother on my 360 or PC.

    So far there is just games which fit into the 'I will buy them when I get a PS3', but nothing saying 'I must buy a PS3', I hope this can go towards changing my mind.

  • Amoebalove #78 4 years ago

    @swam

    What makes you any better? Do you actually read your posts? You are without a doubt the biggest fanboy that posts on this site!

  • #79 4 years ago

    farticusmaximus, this alpha software thing. Try looking it up.

  • DrDamn #80 4 years ago

    Having watched the feed from Killzone 2 on Gamersyde and now the Gears 2 feed from the same place ...
    link

    It seems that they are both trying to see who can use the most grey :D.

    Both looked visually great however. I quite like the contrast of colour and the explosions in KZ2 and the texture detail and modelling Gears 2 is very nice.

    Didn't see any problem with the aiming and shot connection in KZ2 - though there isn't much in the clip - plus the sight does seem quite large from what I remember. I do share Farticus concerns about the scripting mentioned in the hands on though. I love CoD4 for the multiplayer and the sense of being in a big conflict. I don't like the scripting and constantly pushing forward to trigger stuff else face a constantly respawning enemy.

  • Amoebalove #81 4 years ago

    @swam

    Are you honestly saying you are just having a laugh with what you post? Sometimes I could believe that you are but there are times when you post some very long and very angry sounding comments and they are always biased towards the PS3! If you are just here to have a laugh then more power to you but there are times when you come across almost as nuts as apologie!

  • Bonus #82 4 years ago

    I really like the look of this.

    I love the almost black and white look with the colours seemingly post-processed onto the frame, it gives it a look which is almost unique and a departure from anything else I've seen on any other platform.

    It'll be interesting to see how it plays and might even be something worth buying a PS3 for once the price comes down a bit.

  • Stuz359 #83 4 years ago

    I think it looks great. I mean, the graphics being a bit monotone I think is trying to represent the oppressive feel of war and I think its very successful in that, however I can see some peoples point of view that it is a boring.
    The main thing is with any FPS on a console though is the controls from the analogue sticks. Halo absolutely nailed it and I thought the sixaxis just could not compare with the 360 controller when it came to an FPS game. However, having recently played the Haze demo, I realise the control issues were the result of he developers being lazy. Haze gets the controls absolutely spot on despite being a bit of a generic game. Hopefully Killzone 2 can replicate the controls and it has a real chance of being an awesome game.
    With the issue of the game being heavily scripted, I don't mind this because I think it depends on the game. Call of Duty 4 works as a heavily scripted game because it offers a very visceral experience when playing through and I think it worked for that game, and hopefully it will for this one too.

  • BonzoBanana #84 4 years ago

    I suppose I ought to be keen on this as I absolutely loved the original Killzone and play it frequently on my ps3. Just seems so far off in 2009 that no point getting excited now. I expect this will at least be a competent and visually impressive shooter but if we are lucky it will be something more.

  • #85 4 years ago

    @farticusmaximus"&q uot;"""It disorients the player rather than add a sense of realism.""""

    -of course you speak for all gamers on this issue and not just your own opinion?

    """
    On the visuals, just to clarify I'm not saying it looks poor apart from being far too grey (yes, Gears 2 looks too grey as well). It just doesnt look any better/realistic/cinematic than CoD4, and that ran at a rock-solid 60fps.

    Visuals should always be second consideration to gameplay. """


    60fps at less than 720p. Besides how the hell do you quantify what looks better. They both have different art directions, set in different arenas and time, not to mention one is fantasy.

    I just dont get how some people think.

  • Yaz #86 4 years ago

    swam wrote: "I love proving that XBOX owners are the most obsesive, desperate of all the fanbous, out to prove their worth."

    Sure, all whilst proving you're one of the most desperate of all the Sony fanboys here (including your posts under your alter ego headbog). :|

  • Amoebalove #87 4 years ago

    @swam

    while i'm sure there are some desperate xbox fanboys on this site there is just as many sony ones as well. The fact that you single out the xbox fans says more about you in the long run.

  • Yaz #88 4 years ago

    Amoebalove replied to swam: "Are you honestly saying you are just having a laugh with what you post? Sometimes I could believe that you are but there are times when you post some very long and very angry sounding comments and they are always biased towards the PS3!"

    That's because he is serious Ameobalove. He acts excatly the same way under his previous alias of headbog, and was summed up perfectly by farticusmaximus above who says "The problem is, and has always been, that as soon as you arguments are shot down (which they are within a few posts) you just resort to calling everyone that doesnt agree with you an xbot. That's not debate man, that's the internet equivalent of sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting 'la la la I'm right and I CAN'T HEAR YOOOO!'".

    Earlier this year, because so many people had headbog on ignore, he posted under the alias 'Frub', where again he called EVERYONE who disagreed with him an XBot. And in a thread where he was shown not only to be wrong but to be clearly lying, he deleted the alias (which deletes all the posts).

    So now 'swam' is his latest alias and he's now taken to using the 'escape route' tactic of claiming he's only joking, whereas I think it's clear to you and everyone else, including those who've tried to reason with him under his aliases of 'headbog' and 'Frub', that he is VERY serious about what he says.

  • Yaz #89 4 years ago

    Amoebalove wrote: "while i'm sure there are some desperate xbox fanboys on this site there is just as many sony ones as well. The fact that you single out the xbox fans says more about you in the long run."

    Agreed. :)

    (Anyway, sunshine plus friends equals going out :)).

  • DrDamn #90 4 years ago

    @Farticus
    I've watched the bigger gameplay footage from Gamersyde which actually shows someone playing through rather than the edited clips. I kind of see what you mean about the hit detection but it's very tricky to judge without actual playing. Have you seen the larger vid?

    I also agree with Bonus about the contrast of the colour choice and the battle itself. It's an artistic design choice and serves to highlight a number of things. The eyes of the enemy and particular gameplay mechanics like the good old exploding barrel. It's an interesting idea which other games are using too - Mirrors Edge for example. It does need to be done very well to work properly though - time will eventually tell.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/08 @ 10:51

  • Widge #91 4 years ago

    I think the grey overtones are more of a reflection of the world and society of the Helghast. Oppressive and ruined planet.

  • Knot #92 4 years ago

    KZ2 looks to become really awesome. I really like the looks of Guerrilla's deferred rendering.

    I do hope however, there will be variety in terms of battle scope, not just merely wide open field battles.

    Especially since it probably won't have huge monster/robot enemies like GoW's brumak or HL2's Striders.

  • #93 4 years ago

    Whats deferred rendering actually do?

  • Knot #94 4 years ago

    ^ it's basically using about 500 realtime lightsources in the map ; which gets you a 'low level' type of global illumination lighting (true GI is in turn, CG's virtual light photon boucing back n forth surfaces) ; correct softshadows & surface contact shadows. It makes everything in the game world look more rooted in it instead of being 'placed there'.

    Other games ( ahhum...the other BIG game on 360) use a postfilter version of ambient occlusion creating such softshadows based on relative distance of surfaces on the 2D inscreen plane. So, it's basically a 2D overlay effect there, whereas KZ2's deferred rendering is a first step toward approximating actual global lighting, even though 500 lights is still "limited" compared to true prerendered GI.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/08 @ 16:13

  • dsmx #95 4 years ago

    It also means that they can change the lighting very easily on the level as you go through it as they showed in a video last year I think it was.

  • #96 4 years ago

    So your saying they dont `bake` the lighting on to the levels? And are you saying the lighting is more advanced than gears?

  • Amoebalove #97 4 years ago

    @Yaz

    I know I'm banging my head against a wall with him. Normally I'd just post something inane like 'you're a cock' but i had sometime on my hands and thought I'd try to find out whats really going on behind all the fanboy ranting!

    Anyway KZ2 looks awesome but I can't get the memory of how bad the first one was out of my head! Still I will remain optimistic that with this and GOR2 my lust for killing polygons should be well and truly quenched!

  • zune_lai #98 4 years ago

    The game looks very good graphically i like the shadows and lighting in ti. Hopefully it will be a great game though it seems sony has put quite alot of work in it

  • IneptPercy #99 4 years ago

    TO say everybody who owns an xbox is an xbot etc it utter rubbish.

    I will admit I own a 360 and I don't own a PS3, this is nothing to do with any blind loyalty to any brand, it is simple.

    The 360 came out first so I bought one, Now the PS3 has to have something amazing that the 360 doesn't have to justify £300 + games.

    If the PS3 came out first then I would have that now and I would be waiting for the 360 to pull something amazing out of the bag.

    So this about xbot fear, what do I have to fear? a few more good games come out then I can justify the cost and have another box under my telly.
    Edited by 1 at 11/05/08 @ 21:02

  • The-Bodybuilder #100 4 years ago

    Game does look impressive, and I don't get why people moan that it looks so grey. Last time I heard, post-apocalyptic warzones aren't filled with sunshine and rainbows, with green & white alps.

    But seeing it's for 2009, I can't bring myself to get excited for it.....yet.

  • drumbaby #101 4 years ago

    Sony deliver, Xbox fanbois deny.

  • makeamazing #102 4 years ago

    Hmm looks nice. Some people have said they don't like the gray, but I like the style.

    I'm not a great FPS fan on consoles, usually like playing them on the PC, but I might give this ago on the PS3.

  • FladgeMangle #103 4 years ago

    This looks very good and will certainly be one to show off with. To non-gamers Gears 2 and Killzone 2 will look utterfuckingly amazing. Time to sit down, lean back and beam.

    To gamers though.. Hmm. The problem with Killzone was the toughness of the enemies. I seem to remember you needed practically a whole clip just to down one grunt. Killzone on PSP had the same problem and it got boring very quickly. From what I've seen of the gameplay so far, it doesn't look like they've changed this much. The part where they're trying to take out the big weapons guy looked like they were firing blanks at him.

    What's the bullet-to-baddie ratio like in Gears of War?

  • GooseUK #104 4 years ago

    Non-more grey! lol, i'm sure this will be the great game killzone 1 was