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.
