A 'Reviewette' of Killzone 2

In this bite-sized review, I'll be covering the breadth and scope of a small section of Killzone 2 as well as answering a few questions people may invariably ask... but I will not reveal any new information; but I will say this, though: for everything you've seen, you've only seen maybe about around 10% of the game. Whether it's later on or early, I won't say... you'll find out soon enough.

I have many a few reasons for reviewing a small section of the game,so I'll just list a few:

1. You can sit a plate of pie and a plate of excrement in front of a person and give them one bite of each; it will take little projection on the part of the individual sitting there chewing on whether one is distasteful or not... and whether they need to finish it to find out.

2. A game should never be rushed for the sake of reviewing it. If you aren't finished with it, you have the choice of reviewing it on the spot then finishing it later, or postponing the review until it's done. Seeing that I am busy with other things, I want to put a smattering of a review out there about things people may have missed on this game in other reviews.

3. If I'm not going to tell you what happened, then why would I have to experience it just to not tell you?

That being said, on to the review.

If there's ever one book that will put the story of Killzone 2 into perspective is that of the book of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein: or The Modern Prometheus. The rise of Viscari due to the history between Earth, Vetka, and Helgan is nothing short of the former two planets creating a Frankenstein's monster out of the third planet. Sure, you can easily chock this event up as a parallel to Hitler and WWII, but to understand the ramifications of cause and effect on a more personal level, I would recommend reading the book; because in one way or another, almost all of the major players have personal connections to the events of this game... from Rico to Templar to Radec (Obviously).

The events of Killzone 2 takes place on the planet Helgan after a failed invasion of the nearby planet Vekta by the Helghast. The ISA and UCA has prepared a joint strike on Helgan which is in reality nothing more than sophisticated countermeasures to quell the eventual uprising of the Helghast to take back what was stolen from them. If you haven't played the first game, look on killzone.com for the timeline of history for this game; as the story is a little deeper and more complicated than the average "good guy, bad guy" or "good guy becomes bad guy" plot you see in games, and now with the newly appointed (and inaugural) autarch, there are no more "good guys" left in this current scenario.

As far as graphics, let me tell you this: if Ratchet and Clank was like playing a Pixar movie, then Killzone 2 is like playing Appleseed mixed with Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within... but with more action and even better graphics. Actually, I haven't seen an animated movie look this good in terms of detail. What makes me excited about this game is the attention to detail put in this game. Just the subtle details you would normally overlook in any game is here just to make you go ga-ga over the power this game exhibits.

*some examples (subtle detail spoilers... not storyline spoilers!)

- Where there are lights at night, little moths gather around some lights; insects seem to have their own AI

- I shot through something and the bullet hole showed up on the object behind it

- Shooting in the dark lights-up a room

- Garbage on this game looks like garbage when you shoot a bag open

- I shot a can of paint and paint left a stain (not as messy as I would have liked, but it was still a nice detail)

- the surface details are the best in any game ever; There was metal nailed (I guess) onto the wood and the surfaces seemed to exhibit the characteristics of each item. I could be wrong, as it was four in the morning, but it looked like it to me

- there are so many things going around at once in some parts that you can lose track of enemies because of the action drawing your attention.

As far as the AI,  if you are worried about the length of the game being too short for you, put it on hard. This will instantly double your time as they will likely kill you once on average in every small advancement; and a few times, stop you cold for  15-20 minutes in a section; heck, you'll have to slowly kill everyone because playing Rambo will reward you with a .45 caliber massage. You better learn to respect your enemy in this game, as they will be motivated to earn it from you.

That's not to say you will carry the weight of the team: it's just that you will more so than not be the weakest link. Rico's a crackshot, Garza is good on point and Nakto is an in-fighter; you on the other hand will be an excellent bullet magnet. But their abilities the others possess doesn't mean that they won't ever fail, but that the outcome will never be the same, ever: I went through one section five times about 10 minutes each and it was never the same thing. The AI for both sides are adaptive, and you can even sit there and watch them fight it out, if you find cover.

The best thing is that the "red shirts" in this game are anything but: the red shirts seem them take out enemies with the best of them at times. In the game, you can actually listen to the yelling and tell who's winning the fight: if you are winning, you'll hear more people talking on your side (as they'll be alive); conversely, when you are losing the Helghast are much more boisterous to the point that they start spouting more and more ominous insults.

The following is dedicated to some things I saw while playing:

*some examples of enemy/friendly AI (subtle detail spoilers... not storyline spoilers!)

- I was hunkered behind cover shooting on one side and an enemy snuck around the other side, I saw them too late and as he was about to draw on me, a "red shirt" shot the Helghast in the head, causing me to literally gasp in awe.

- I was running down a hallway, and a Helghast was behind me that I didn't know of, I turned around and saw him with a knife in his hand (or pistol, I was very tired), but I had sub-machine gun in my hand and he said, and I kid you not: "Oh s#it!" and started to turn around! I shot out of reflex and sleepy-time jitters, but it made me laugh

- Some enemies will shoot barrels and explosives if you are near them; Some will shoot rockets at you instead of pulling out their side-iron, which is what a real person would do

- Natko's lines are actually funny, he's easily tied for my favorite right now along with Rico

The first cover system is pretty good because you can stick to about everything. It was helpful for pop-up shots and it pretty much keeps you out of trouble; just don't  walk around too much while the enemy is firing. This is easily a useful feature in the FPS genre.

Now does that mean everything is perfect to me? No. For me, I would have loved to see an optional install, because I like installs now: it keeps the little streaming bumps from interrupting the otherwise flawless progression from one area to another. I would also love it if they would have allowed you to go prone; going prone is so underrated, ever since MGO I see the use of being able to lay down and blast people in various organs for our mutual fun and amusement.

Lastly, some may ask: "does this game 'kill' Halo?" Let me answer with this: "Does it 'have' to?" The two games are different, but let me say this: if you are a Die-hard Halo fan, as much as you liked Halo, you'll like Killzone 2.

I love Halo, and to me Halo is always going to have a place in my heart as one of the best shooters ever; that being said, to compare Killzone 2 to Halo would be like comparing a sexy girl that you know with an equally sexy girl who looks entirely different that you may not know. Both games have a sci-fi feel to them, but the Killzone series leans more towards "sci" and the Halo series leans more towards the "fi". In short: The Killzone series feels more like the new Battlestar Galatica and the Halo series feels more like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine; both very good, but both very different.

The emotional focus for the Halo and Killzone series' are in two entirely different places, and that's what you'll be focusing on while playing in respect to the other game if you were to compare them. In the Halo series, your connection to the Chief and Cortana was the primary one you had in that game while they, along with mankind, dodged death for another day. In the Killzone series, your connection was always to a group of people caught-up in the middle of a massive war zone staring death in the eye as they fought back it's growing advances; that coupled with the fact that you may not have played the first game, and therefore have no emotional attachment to what Templar or Rico went through in the first game or on the PSP may alter your emotional attachment to them. They're both awesome characters in the first and second game. That's not to say you won't establish any attachments to them this game, as already the new guys under and with Rico are a motley crew.

If you're looking for numbers, I really don't do that unless I make out a list and check off why or why not it got a point, half-point, or quarter point on my list of items; but I will say that you haven't played a game like this ever before. This game is a graphical tour-de-force with an innovative First-Person cover system blended with tried-and-true gameplay.

Well done Guerrilla Games.