Search Results

So finally I finished the single player side of Killzone 2, let me tell you, I have never played a first person shooter so intense for a long time. I can even say its more intense than Call of Duty 4 (sorry didn’t buy World at War). Then again COD 4 came out more than a year ago so its not fair to compare directly.

It took me roughly 7 hours and 15 minutes (3 days span) to complete the single player. The game gets really difficult and frustrating towards the end even in Trooper mode (which is for those with some FPS experience). There are four in total Recruit, Trooper, Veteran and Elite. I can’t really imagine myself playing anything harder than Trooper as it was hard enough, for me at least. The AIs are so random I had trouble fighting them and again a job well done to the developers. Sometimes they hide behind and wait for you, sometimes they will just rush you from different directions and sometimes throwing grenades at you to flush you out just to mention a few “moves” that us human players do.

Right after I finished the game, I immediately jumped into the Skirmish mode, which is basically the multiplayer game but instead you are playing with all AIs, or bots. I like this feature because I can practice on my shooting skills as well as getting familiar with the maps that you will be playing.

Killzone 2 has done a great job on the multiplayer side of the game. It incorporates similar leveling structure as COD with the experience points, you will unlock more weapons and such as you level your way up. I had my first run of the “real” multiplayer last night and I sucked big time with barely a 1:1 kill/death ratio or negative ratio. Mainly because I am still not use to the controls, the zoom/melee buttons still mess me up once in a while. Before you actually start playing, you can pick the games based on which type of missions you want such as Body Count which is really team deathmatch, search and destroy, protect VIP etc. What Killzone 2 offers differently instead of joining games that only play one of the mission types. You can join games that will play all of the mission types (I believe there are 5 in total) on a best out of three basis. The transition between missions are seamless, once the current one is done, you will immediately be playing the next mission with clear objectives.

You can also pick the games you like to join based on how many people per game. Up to 32 people can play in a single game which is extremely fun because more people equates to more killing and making it more of a battle than a mere gun fight with only a few people. Although the battles are not as intense as the single player due to the large map size but nevertheless its still extremely fun. I also did not notice ANY lag at all when playing the 32 player game which is an extra plus.

[Update @ March 9th]
I have also unlocked 2 badge abilities, which are basically different job classes. I have unlocked the medic and engineer class. The medic will let you revive your friendly by “zapping” them, at a distance. While this is very useful, it is can also be annoying. As greatful as I am for those reviving me I really prefer you leave me alone and let me rot instead of reviving me in the middle of the battle field where grenades and bullets are raining down like crazy. Chances are, 90% of the time I will get hit again and die right away AGAIN. Ammo is pretty scarce in this game if you don’t have an engineer capable of reparing the ammo crate, takes a lot of ammo to take one guy down if using sub machine guns, unless you can do headshots all the time. The ammo problem is even more obvious when you first started without the ammo bonus. You really have to think before you shoot. So therefore, sometimes I prefer to die and get me some fresh ammo instead of returning to the battle with an empty gun and potentially die again while looking / picking up a gun.

Engineer is pretty fun in my opinion, you get to build turrets (there is a timer before you can build another one) that will shoot at any enemies, though not as strong and quick as you they are still capable of giving you a few kills through out the game. Placement is important, you don’t want to just place them anywhere but rather at choke points or places where you need to defend, specially when you are playing Search and Destroy, or Capture and Hold. I can’t wait until I level up to be able to repair the ammo grate because I really hate having so little ammo. Then again if you play as an Engineer, you start out with a shotgun with full ammo. Its also a good way to practice your shotgun skills, something I majorly lack, because either you kill or be killed if you miss your first shot.

After finishing the single player and starting my online multiplayer quest to be the best (near impossible!) for Killzone 2. I highly recommend this game to anyone that are into first person shooter, more so for the sci-fi fans because this is the Halo killer, or at least on par with Halo, for the PlayStation 3. It is definitely worth the $59.99+ tax price tag consider it comes with a long-lasting multiplayer game that will keep you busy for a long time, and this is coming out from a guy that doesn’t just go out there and buy any games.

Incoming search terms:

• killzone computer game

I actually downloaded the demo for Killzone 2 last night just to make sure this game was worth it, and I was right about getting this game. Finally, another worthy PlayStation 3 exclusive added to my collection. I will divide the review into two parts, the single player which I will cover today and the multiplayer part at a later date. I think its a good idea to get used to the game play first before going online against the “pros”. Oh, and for those who have never heard of Killzone 2, its a sci-fi first person shooter first appeared on the PlayStation 2 and a sequel, Killzone: Liberation on the PlayStation Portable PSP.

Game play and story
The story takes place in a planet called Helghan, the Helghast invaded Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony. Two years later, the ISA launched a counter attack on Helghast’s homeworld Helghan and in an attempt to capture the Helghast leader to bring the war to an end. Its a pretty straight forward bad vs evil scenario. That’s the “crash” version of the story. For more info on Killzone, visit the wiki for the game.

  

The control scheme is one of my “minor” complaints for this otherwise perfect sci-fi first person shooter. Probably because I’ve spent too much time playing Call of Duty 4 and got used to the COD 4 controls, after about 2 hours of intense battles I am still having trouble getting used to the controls. Although there are different schemes to choose from, there isn’t really one that fits me perfect like Call of Duty 4 and there is no customization at all which forces players to adapt to one of the preset control schemes. For example, the crouch and take cover is now L2 as oppose to circle in COD 4 which is, in my opinion, much more convenient. L1 is now your close combat which is another inconvenient setup. As a result I constantly mix up the zoom and close combat buttons during gun fights which are mostly intense. I guess I just have to get used to it, its just a matter of time.

Initially I thought the AIs in Killzone 2 were pretty dumb based on the trailers I’ve seen. But I was wrong, the AIs are actually pretty competitive, they will hide, or even camp a bit and wait for you. When in groups, one will throw a grenade at you and the other will charge towards you. They will also take cover and perform blind shots at you. You can take cover as well but I find it a little bit slow, you have to hold L2 to stay covered and you need to move your aim outward so that you can shoot while staying partially covered. You can also zoom in while in this mode but its easy to mess this up. So don’t think about going all Rambo at the AIs because chances are you won’t be able to last long, specially when there is no auto aim like COD. Also one thing to point out is that your movements are much slower compare to COD even if you max out the x and y axis sensitivity, in COD you are much more agile, even with the light machine gun. I guess its because you are wearing all these sci-fi gears so it makes sense that you move slower.

Just like COD, you can cook your grenades by holding down the throw button, what Killzone 2 does better than COD is that there is an indicator on the grenade that will tell you how “cooked” the grenade is.

  

Beside the grenades, there are also your standard rifles, rocket launcher, mounted machine guns (MG) which you can take cover behind as well as driving a tank. I don’t like the way they name the rifles though which consist of a bunch of letters and numbers which makes it hard, at least for me, to know which gun I have currently. By the way, you can only have one primary gun and a secondary hand gun which has unlimited ammo, but pretty weak.

  

There are instances where you will have to utilize the SIXAXIS controller to perform operations like rotating a valve or planting a bomb on the door. These little things add up and make the game more interesting and so you are not just running and shooting all the time.

I have finished 2 levels so far, and in between levels, the loading screen can also be tilted like a hologram with your SIXAXIS controller. Its pretty neat because you can do “something” while waiting for it to load. I have no problem with the loading screen between levels but I really hate the sudden lag cause by the load between sections within the same level.

Graphics and audio
The graphics are simply amazing and jaw dropping. Although the game only runs on 720p as oppose to full HD 1080p at max, the details of the characters (specially the Helghast), the buildings, landscapes and vehicles are all very detailed. I particularly love blowing up air tanks or gas barrels, watch the explosions and the enemies fly in all directions.

In the audio department, nothing has impressed me yet so far. In my opinion, the conversations between your comrades and enemies feel “lively” with all the F and S words flying all over the place, but not overly used. Your enemies will also “talk” to you during gun fights so again you are not just running around and shooting things.

Final verdict
Killzone 2, a near perfect sci-fi first person shoot will not disappoint existing Killzone fans as well as fans of first person shooter. If you are looking for something different from the COD or Halo series, Killzone 2 will be your perfect alternative. By no means I am not saying Killzone 2 is superior compare to the two series but its a nice change of style, more so when comparing to the COD series. If you are still debating, stop waiting and download the demo!
9/10

Incoming search terms:

• killzone 2
• isa killzone
• sci fi buildings
• Rambo First Blood part 3
• complaint department grenade
• sci fi controls
• killzone 2 wiki
• killzone 2 e3 tech demo
• kill zone 2
• Interplanetary Strategic Alliance

  

Silent Hill: Homecoming was somewhat disappointing mainly because of its outdated graphics. I know it is not sufficient to judge a game solely based on game play. Although new elements were added to the game such as new combat system and new item/weapon navigations. And I was not happy with the new navigations by the way because you can waste your healing item, mainly the serum which heals you completely, by accidentally move your L3 button and have it selected without even knowing. The game play was kind of expected and I was really hoping for graphics that are next-gen. Ok, enough ranting and time to move on.

Dead Space generated a lot, and I mean A LOT of hype with all the animated trailers, comics and game trailers. Does this game live up to all the hype generated? I would, with no doubt say YES.

  

Story and controls
The story is about a repair ship which crash landed on a large mining ship called ISHIMURA. And as you can imagine, all the horror begins here and almost right away. Some of the controls are rather different from say, Call of Duty, like in order to run, you need to press L3 (move) and L2. The new controls might take a while to get used to but nothing major. If you have been keeping up with your first/third person shooting skills, the aiming should not be a problem either. Again make sure you aim the hands and legs and not the body unless you want to waste ammo. You can also treat your gun as a melee weapon at close range as well as pressing L2 for some foot stamping.

  

Game play and graphics
Dead Space uses a new and innovative user interface for accessing your items, weapons, map and missions etc. Its actually a holographic screen that is projected right in front of you in real time. So for example, you can have the map up and move around at the same time. So far I though, I can’t feel the “survival” part of this game because you get lots of ammo and healing items, I’ve picked up so many that I have to put them in the safe. (I’m playing on normal not easy by the way) Finally, safe points are in many places so I don’t really have to worry about having to restart from far back.

Speaking of which, there is also a store which you can buy healing items, upgrade your suit, called the Rig which increases the amount of items you can store as you go, new weapons, power nodes which are for upgrading your Rig’s max health(which is your health) and your weapons’ damage, ammo capacities etc. Weapon upgrades using the power nodes are performed by accessing another system called Upgrade Bench.

There is also something called Stasis, similar to the “Force” in Star Wars, in which you can manipulate objects by slowing them down or throwing them etc. Nothing new but you need them to solve some of the puzzles as you progerss through the game. And if you ever get stuck, simply press the R3 and a thin line will appear to show you which way you are suppose to go next based on your mission.

Even though both Silent Hill:Homecoming and Dead Space are survival horror, the former doesn’t really make you jump like Dead Space does. Being a survival horror fan for so many years, I’m pretty used to all the scare moments but I was constantly on my toes while playing Dead Space and got a few jumps actually. And finally this game supports the Trophy Collection.

First thing first, I’m sure everyone would want to know about this, YES the game supports 1080p high definition video output. Strangely it defaults to 720p similar to Call of Duty 4. It will only output to 720p unless you explicitly set your console, in my case PlayStation 3 to only output 1080p. And speaking of graphics, it is VERY graphical with tons of blood and body parts all over walls, floors, windows and anywhere you can imagine.

  

Also just to mention there’s no online multiplayer component, it would be even better if there was but with this game, it doesn’t really matter because the single player is just that exciting. And besides, I’m not sure how you can design the multiplayer side based on the story, hmm maybe there could be two races, the humans and those mutated humans? Just a thought.

  

  

Sound
Sound effects are top notch as well, you can hear random screams, objects banging onto other objects. One thing I dislike and makes this game a little bit less difficult and cuts some of the suspense is every time before monsters start coming at you, you will know because you will hear some “horror” noise. So whenever you hear it, you can pretty much expect to ready your limb cutting gun. But like I said before, I still managed to get a few scare from my 2 hours of play time.

  

Final Verdict
Is this game worth the $59.99? I would definitely think so, at least I didn’t regret buying this game like I did with Silent Hill: Homecoming. For those looking for a sci-fi + survival horror and those that are into limb cutting, then Dead Space will be the game.

There may be a part 2 if I find anything that’s worth mentioning

9/10

Incoming search terms:

• dead space 3
• dead space 2
• Dead Space blood
• dead space 1
• dead space 1080p
• dead space comic
• dead space screenshot
• Dead Space 2 blood
• dead space weapons
• dead space walls

First impression the sci-fi third person shooter Fracture gives me is that it is very Mass Effect-ish. The first half of the demo allows you to get used to the controls, the environment and lets you test out the different weapons of the game.

The controls are pretty somewhat straight forward but slightly different. R1, R2, L1, L2 are all for weapons. Triangle button is for sprinting which shows a very nice blur effect to simulate running. As usual, the square is for reload and cross is jump. L3 is crouch and R3 is zoom. I was expecting some close range one hit kill like the knife in Call of Duty but there isn’t any, at least in the demo.

 

The environment looks amazing with detailed textures. As the first half of the demo, you get to try out the weapons. Two features that are pretty important in this game and are actually very innovative – raise and lower terrains with your weapon and two types of grenades. You will know where to raise or lower the terrains by looking for the corresponding symbol around the area you need to manipulate. Unfortunately there’s a limit to how high or how low you can manipulate. The effects of terrain manipulation are impressive, even more so if you use grenades to do the job! Aside from moving from place to place, raising or lowering terrains also help you during battles. For example, if you lower an area, you have yourself a trench and if you raise an area, you will have yourself a shield for a while from all the gun fire.

 

The standard rifle that starts you off in the demo is pretty “standard” and doesn’t give a powerful impression. The Black Widow on the other hand, can enable you to shoot up to 6 grenades that you can detonate all at once. Then there is the pulse sniper rifle which is pretty common (Unreal Tournament comes to mind).

 

There aren’t too many sci fi third person shooters in the next gen consoles yet, well at least not for PlayStation 3 unlike XBox 360 which has Gears of War 1 (2 coming out soon) and Mass Effect to name a few. I’m not sure if its worth buying, more of rental to me. I rather wait for Dead Space even though it doesn’t have online mode. But then again, if you have a PS3, do give the demo a try, maybe you might just like it! Just not quite my cup of tea.

 

Score: 7/10
Release date: Oct 7 2008

Incoming search terms:

• Fracture Videogame Images