Killzone 2 Review

Killzone 2 Review
An average shooter with above-average graphics. Expectations were high for this shooter and unfortunately it doesn’t live up to the hype.
Even critics of the game have generally praised the graphics, but they are not without fault either. The good aspects are the realistic motion of the enemies, the lighting, the atmospheric effects, and the weapons. On the downside, the environments are subdued and monotonous, and after a while, one begins to notice a distinct lack of variety in the environments. Also, I’d like it if the Helghast heads would explode. In the end, they’re the best graphics you’re going to find on a console, but mind you that both consoles are employing graphics tech several years old.
As for the gameplay, it’s not very good. The controls are sluggish and imprecise. In short, they don’t do what you feel like they should. This becomes especially glaring due to the constant duck and cover strategy of the enemy AI. It’s frustrating and difficult to aim at them behind cover, which makes the duck and cover mechanic not very fun. Enemies have no other strategy than to hide behind things. This may be realistic, but some moments of visceral gunning down of hordes of enemies would have been nice. Moreover, the guns are uninspired and except for a few exceptions provide little reason to play with anything but the stock assault rifle.
There’s an obvious amount of scripting in the way the levels unfold, but they always unfold the same way. There’s no sense of real progress in the story, like in – dare I say – Call of Duty 4. One simply moves from one stage to the next, doing exactly the same things – shooting people behind the remnants of their blasted society. Finally, the ending is frustratingly unsatisfying. After a mere 7.5 hours, one finds themselves at the end of the story, which in fitting fashion culminates its non-story with a non-ending.
All in all, I’ve owned the game for 3 days and I traded it in today for a cool $45. Was it worth the $15? Sure, or just rent it for $10. The multiplayer, thanks to the poor controls, was not particularly fun and did not offer a compelling reason to keep the game after the single player campaign was done. Neither does the incentive of collecting briefcases of “Intel” or shooting Helghast “Medallions.” These are simply hastily thrown in additions to add replay value for those with OCD. Thanks but no thanks.
Overall: 8/10
Worth a play-through, but not a game that anyone will still be playing when a shooter with better graphics comes along.