Have they caught up with the 2005 CG trailer, or have they already surpassed it? Can the infamous Guerrilla studio finally deliver a mega-hit and simultaneously kill Master Chief and Marcus Fenix? The hype around Killzone 2 was masterfully inflated, in the best traditions of Halo-mania, but the main argument put forward was only the graphics, showing something Call of Duty-like on screens, but in an environment of concrete walls and with funny lantern-eyed enemies.
We the multiplayer beta of Killzone 2. Now, a demo version of the single-player campaign has appeared on PSN. Two combat scenes, a beautiful cutscene at the end – we've seen all of this many times before, as this is the level developers love to showcase in presentations. Visually, there's nothing new. Those who have watched enough HD videos are unlikely to discover anything else. But the gameplay itself was an amazing surprise. The trailers painted a picture of a mundane Call of Duty clone. Everything 'bangs', blazes, explodes beautifully, enemies writhe, splashing deciliters of dark red goo… But reality can deliver surprises.
Killzone 2, in terms of mechanics, is a twin brother to Gears of War. Only in first-person.
The first thing to note is that it's shaping up to be a far from easy game. Not a reckless 'run and gun'. But rather a clear cover-based shooter, where a concrete wall is your best friend, enemies are smart, and only tactical maneuvering saves the asses of the defenders of democracy who invaded the planet Helghan to punish the locals for their treacherous aggression in the first part. And the fact that their eyes glow doesn't make it any less problematic.
The Helghast artificial intelligence was a surprise. Not because they demonstrate something incredible or solve Olympic math problems. Far from it. But their behavior is such that you 'believe' in these clear-eyed guys. They cope perfectly with their main task – simulating combat with real opponents.
A simple example – when under fire, a Helghast won't just pop out from cover at regular intervals, send a burst, and hide again. Their wits are enough to shoot, crouch, press against a wall, crawl a couple of steps to the side, and try to attack again.
They instantly reposition if you try to flank them, blindly shoot from cover, retreat, but don't show their backs. They even shoot back while doing so. They work as a team, quickly disperse around the location, cover each other, and flank. They don't forgive mistakes. But they don't cheat either. They only see and react to what's happening in front of their eyes, and they don't have a magical radar in their heads that locks onto the main character. They kill quickly if you hesitate in an open area.
Honestly. We haven't seen such interesting enemies in shooters for a long time. Probably since F.E.A.R.
It's especially interesting to watch how enemies hide. For once, bots take into account the height of obstacles. If they crouch and their head is sticking out, they will definitely try to slide down, taking a semi-prone position. In general, enormous attention has been paid to animation. First-class mo-cap work, where the 'dances of death' were particularly successful. Before this, probably only in Call of Duty 4 did enemies surrender to the process of dying with such enthusiasm. They writhe and fall as if trying to elicit a storm of applause from the audience.
At first glance, Killzone 2 might seem like a standard shooter with smart enemies. However, the cornerstone of the gameplay mechanics is the main character's ability to stick to obstacles (while maintaining a first-person view) and, as in Gears of War (or Uncharted), by selecting a direction with the stick, peek out from behind them. Since the game design is firmly tied to this feature, we are guaranteed to have many different covers, and only skillful maneuvering is a guarantee of victory – not aiming speed.
Everything that goes beyond the combat arenas is designed to stun and amaze. This is achieved by standard methods: an abundance of explosions, ground shaking, scripted sequences, and awe-inspiring 'badaboom' moments when something indecently large (a concrete bridge, for example) crumbles before your eyes. The rendering of weapons, reload animations, beautiful, natural reflections on chrome parts – Killzone 2 in this regard stands in line with Black, where deadly toys were given almost more attention than the rendering of levels. Since a daytime location is available in the demo, dynamic shadows could only be seen from muzzle flashes during shooting. They are there. And they perfectly cope with their main task – further enlivening the atmosphere during battles.
Yes, even more so. Dust rises, fragments fly, small objects are knocked down, hot bullets embed themselves in concrete and slowly cool. All of this looks damn stylish.
However, everything outside of the firefights doesn't look as rosy. Yes, Killzone 2 can be touted as 'the most technologically advanced console shooter' – but only for its high-quality, abundant, and rich effects. Perhaps even too rich. All sorts of filters undoubtedly make the picture beautiful, but clarity suffers somewhat. The geometry of the levels is not overly complex (which in no way diminishes their artistic value), and some textures are also not pleasing. In short, standard 'console' ailments without surprises.
The sound is clear and powerful. The music is moderately pompous and beautiful. Plus, the game is immediately translated into a huge number of languages – upon loading, you can choose any, be it English, German, Polish, or even Russian. And it's fully translated. From the credits to the dialogues. Choose what you prefer: foreign 'fucks' or native 'bitches'. There's a lot of swearing here. Get used to it.
We the multiplayer beta of Killzone 2. Now, a demo version of the single-player campaign has appeared on PSN. Two combat scenes, a beautiful cutscene at the end – we've seen all of this many times before, as this is the level developers love to showcase in presentations. Visually, there's nothing new. Those who have watched enough HD videos are unlikely to discover anything else. But the gameplay itself was an amazing surprise. The trailers painted a picture of a mundane Call of Duty clone. Everything 'bangs', blazes, explodes beautifully, enemies writhe, splashing deciliters of dark red goo… But reality can deliver surprises.
Killzone 2, in terms of mechanics, is a twin brother to Gears of War. Only in first-person.
The first thing to note is that it's shaping up to be a far from easy game. Not a reckless 'run and gun'. But rather a clear cover-based shooter, where a concrete wall is your best friend, enemies are smart, and only tactical maneuvering saves the asses of the defenders of democracy who invaded the planet Helghan to punish the locals for their treacherous aggression in the first part. And the fact that their eyes glow doesn't make it any less problematic.
The Helghast artificial intelligence was a surprise. Not because they demonstrate something incredible or solve Olympic math problems. Far from it. But their behavior is such that you 'believe' in these clear-eyed guys. They cope perfectly with their main task – simulating combat with real opponents.
A simple example – when under fire, a Helghast won't just pop out from cover at regular intervals, send a burst, and hide again. Their wits are enough to shoot, crouch, press against a wall, crawl a couple of steps to the side, and try to attack again.
They instantly reposition if you try to flank them, blindly shoot from cover, retreat, but don't show their backs. They even shoot back while doing so. They work as a team, quickly disperse around the location, cover each other, and flank. They don't forgive mistakes. But they don't cheat either. They only see and react to what's happening in front of their eyes, and they don't have a magical radar in their heads that locks onto the main character. They kill quickly if you hesitate in an open area.
Honestly. We haven't seen such interesting enemies in shooters for a long time. Probably since F.E.A.R.
It's especially interesting to watch how enemies hide. For once, bots take into account the height of obstacles. If they crouch and their head is sticking out, they will definitely try to slide down, taking a semi-prone position. In general, enormous attention has been paid to animation. First-class mo-cap work, where the 'dances of death' were particularly successful. Before this, probably only in Call of Duty 4 did enemies surrender to the process of dying with such enthusiasm. They writhe and fall as if trying to elicit a storm of applause from the audience.
At first glance, Killzone 2 might seem like a standard shooter with smart enemies. However, the cornerstone of the gameplay mechanics is the main character's ability to stick to obstacles (while maintaining a first-person view) and, as in Gears of War (or Uncharted), by selecting a direction with the stick, peek out from behind them. Since the game design is firmly tied to this feature, we are guaranteed to have many different covers, and only skillful maneuvering is a guarantee of victory – not aiming speed.
Everything that goes beyond the combat arenas is designed to stun and amaze. This is achieved by standard methods: an abundance of explosions, ground shaking, scripted sequences, and awe-inspiring 'badaboom' moments when something indecently large (a concrete bridge, for example) crumbles before your eyes. The rendering of weapons, reload animations, beautiful, natural reflections on chrome parts – Killzone 2 in this regard stands in line with Black, where deadly toys were given almost more attention than the rendering of levels. Since a daytime location is available in the demo, dynamic shadows could only be seen from muzzle flashes during shooting. They are there. And they perfectly cope with their main task – further enlivening the atmosphere during battles.
Yes, even more so. Dust rises, fragments fly, small objects are knocked down, hot bullets embed themselves in concrete and slowly cool. All of this looks damn stylish.
However, everything outside of the firefights doesn't look as rosy. Yes, Killzone 2 can be touted as 'the most technologically advanced console shooter' – but only for its high-quality, abundant, and rich effects. Perhaps even too rich. All sorts of filters undoubtedly make the picture beautiful, but clarity suffers somewhat. The geometry of the levels is not overly complex (which in no way diminishes their artistic value), and some textures are also not pleasing. In short, standard 'console' ailments without surprises.
The sound is clear and powerful. The music is moderately pompous and beautiful. Plus, the game is immediately translated into a huge number of languages – upon loading, you can choose any, be it English, German, Polish, or even Russian. And it's fully translated. From the credits to the dialogues. Choose what you prefer: foreign 'fucks' or native 'bitches'. There's a lot of swearing here. Get used to it.