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Early Killzone 2 Reviews Looking Good
Reviews are beginning to appear for Guerrilla Games' upcoming first-person shooter, Killzone 2, a PS3 exclusive that has received a great deal of hype over the past several months. The reviews are mostly complimentary, but not overwhelmingly so; Ars Technica says it has "some of the best graphics yet seen on the PS3," and is a "solid take on the war-gaming genre." They also acknowledge that this is the latest game being held up as a standard for how good PS3 games can be, though the PS3 may not need such validation anymore. Edge Magazine is critical of the story, saying, "you could play the levels in random order to little ill-effect," but found the gameplay redeeming enough to warrant a 7/10. Concerns were raised early about the quality of the controls, but Guerrilla Games has affirmed that no changes will be made. Though the game won't be out for about a week yet, rumors of some fairly typical DLC plans are already cropping up. Giant Bomb recorded some video showcasing Killzone 2's multiplayer a while back.
Early reviews? Scores have been pouring in for weeks! The game has received more than two dozen reviews from numerous sources, the vast majority of which have been unanimous in their praise of the game. The only blips have been EDGE (a magazine which has been going rapidly downhill for the past few years) and Maxim's review, which scored less than 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand. There again, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
Having played the demo and watched all the gameplay videos, I'm confident my pre-order decision was a good one (£30 off Play.com, so it's not exactly breaking the bank).
The only downer I felt was that the original cast members from the first game, Templer, Lugar, etc., are not the lead characters in this sequel. I'm not even sure if any of them feature at all, apart from an odd cutscene here and there. A shame, really. Sometimes I think video game writers and designers need to consider that games like Killzone should care more about what happens to these characters as they fight this war. They don't have to be the most overly developed of characters, but at least it would allow the player to build an affinity with them, be more drawn into the story, and therefore enjoy the game on another level. (rant over - sorry)
THE HONOUR OF THE KNIGHTS - CC Licensed Sci-Fi Novel
So the reviews are looking good, but the game sucks?
Gamers need to stop worrying about the sales numbers of the PS3 and arguing over the merits of PlayStation Home. The truth is that the system is flush with excellent, exclusive games, and we're way past the point where you can call yourself a hardcore gamer and not own the hardware.
That is something I would expect to read on a fan-boy site and not a tech blog.
my *personal* viewpoint is that KZ2 is one I am really waiting for.
I was mildly unimpressed by the Resistance2 multiplay mode (though the single player is amazing) and I am really looking forward to KZ2.
I think we are beginning to see the effect of the better capabilities of the PS2 in terms of performance, visuals and disc storage (BD vs DVD).
I am lucky to already have a copy of the game, and can say to everyone: this game rocks!!! It is full pack with the best FPS action I've seen. Yes, there are more games in the market which I'd say the same, but definitely KZ2 is in my top list, it is worth all the good ratings, and I just can't stop playing!
Ok, I regularly frequent sites like N4G (Don't go there, it's like everyone is an anonymous coward, but worse) and there's always a mass outcry if you so much as imply that the 360 is somewhat powerful, at least enough to contend with the PS3 for a while yet.
The main consensus seems to be "PS3 == Most powerful console on earth, thus 360 == suckiest console on earth".
Now, I'm no expert and this is where /. comes in. I'm a firm believer that although the PS3 has an exceptional amount of power behind it considering what it is (And it's price), most of this power is incredibly difficult to use when making a game. I attribute this to games being incredibly linear, from a programming sense (In that you pretty much have to do tasks like A.I., physics, graphics, input, etc. in a very specific order and can't do any of them before the other is finished, for example you can't render the scene if you don't know where the objects in the scene are, so you can't start rendering until the physics have been finished and such). It's possible to break up some of these tasks into enough threads that all of the SPUs have stuff to do, but with deadlocks (I can't remember the correct term, it's when a thread puts a block up to stop another thread messing with it so bad things don't happen) and whatnot, a lot of them may end up waiting for other threads to finish. This is my basic understanding of how it all works, but as I said, I am no expert. On the off chance that a vaguely expertise person reads this, or even someone with a bigger understanding of the hardware and games and such, could you tell me if I'm even anywhere close to the mark?
What's more, is it reasonable to assume that even graphically amazing games like Killzone 2 would be more than possible on the 360, since apparently the 360 has a more powerful GPU (something to do with the eDRAM inside it)? Or is this just 360 fanboy FUD?
For the record, I'd like to state that I am stating all this from a neutral perspective and, in fact, own both consoles.
Reading the Edge Magazine review of KZ2, I get the feeling it is written by a person who clearly doesn't like FPS shooters, PS3's or both. Considering the fact that similar games on the 360 received high acclaim from Edge, it looks like Edge wasn't entirely fair with the review. At least, that's what the review tells me. KZ2 arrives a couple of months after GeOW2, it can't be that in those couple of months the requirements to be an entertaining shooter has become that much higher. The review has similarities with the Eurogamer review of Fear2 which was rewarded a 5/10, also completely off the mark.
Oh well... the rest of the reviews on metacritic are pretty positive.
Never underestimate the relief of true separation of Religion and State.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Is it just me or does it just look like a fairly standard shooter, with a TF-style multiplayer? Graphics? Good. Sound? Good. Gameplay? Standard FPS fare. Controls? Dunno because I don't have a PS3, but I imagine that keyboard/mouse players would be thrashing anybody who's trying to play it with any other controller (ala every other FPS out there). Whoever shot that multiplayer video certainly wasn't using a proper mouse.
I don't see anything astounding here. It might be a good technical achievement (getting this to run on PS3) but then, to be honest, I'm not even that impressed at that given the PS3's hardware. Could someone enlighten me: What's the big fuss?
This line has been repeated, ad nauseum, by almost everyone who has encounted or reviewed the game. I'd like to take this to task.
Firstly, on the matter on graphics. Personally, while I understand that they are good, I do not agree that the graphics in Killzone 2 are as much above other games as they have been made out to be. While they are technically impressive, they do not completely eclipse the graphics that can be seen on many recent titles(Gears of War 2, Resident Evil 5, Uncharted). Having said that, this is just a personal opinion, from someone with poor vision.
Secondly, the criticism that the game is "generic" or "unoriginal" is in my opinion, totally unjustified. For those who have not played the demo, let me explain.
Killzone 2 features a cover system. Holding L2 while against cover will cause the player to "hug" the wall. At the point, the left stick can be used to shimmy along the cover, and to peek out over or to the side in order to shoot. The gameplay encourages this by making it clear that running out of cover and shooting is very likely to get you killed very quickly.
This is a new game mechanic that fairly radically changes the gameplay of the FPS. Like the shoulder view in Resident Evil 4, Z-targeting in the Ocarina of Time, and the cover system in Killswitch, this is potentially a genre changing innovation. Killzone 2 is essentially bringing the Killswitch cover system from third person shooters, into the first person shooter domain. If this is not innovation, then I'm not sure what qualifies.
Personally, having of late seen reviewers, time and again, criticize first person shooters for being "unoriginal" or "bland", I can only conclude that the review community has become jaded towards the genre. I think they are finally coming down off their shameless hype high preceding Halo 3 and have become cynical about the entire concept of FPS games. While the FPS market is admittedly saturated, there is still innovation in this area, even if reviewers are unable to see it.
May the Maths Be with you!
They could "monetize" KZ1 all over again if they were to release it for PC IMHO. I don't think I'm the only one that would happily buy KZ1 for PC, even with no or limited MP capability. It was great on PS2, but with the control flexibility etc available with a PC, it would rock!
Strat
Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
Gears, Vegas, GRAW and many other games not only have cover systems, but implement them better than Killzone. That it also sticks doggedly to a first-person view so you can't see much while in cover isn't a significant innovation, if you ask me.
Yes, Edge got rather carried away with their review of Halo 3. However, 7/10 is if anything better than I'd expect to see at the bottom of that text - they've reviewed tonnes of PC FPS titles like that and given them 6/10.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
I can only conclude that the review community has become jaded towards the genre.
Gee, you think? After all, this is the genre where, apparently, "being close to a wall" is a groundbreaking innovation.
Plenty of FPSs are fun, but they're all essentially the same game - there's only so much that reviewers can find to talk about.
sic transit gloria mundi
Gaming articles on slashdot are almost exclusively late and poorly written. As in pure crap.
Why bother writing about games when you don't care and don't know anything about them anyway.
"This is a new game mechanic that fairly radically changes the gameplay of the FPS"
Yes, it's absolutely nothing like the cover system in Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Rainbow Six Vegas, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 is it?
Sticking to first person in cover isn't innovation, it's a game design choice. The games listed above don't do this (RB6 Vegas is notable because it's an FPS rather than 3rd person title apart from in cover) because they feel it doesn't add anything to their game. It's not that it's in any way a new idea, it's just a different game design choice. Also of course, if you zoom whilst behind cover in many of these sorts of games it does switch back to FPS so even in that respect it's not new.
The reason RB6 Vegas seems to switch to 3rd person for cover is because it's more interesting to see your character doing his thing than it is to just have a camera bobbing around rather uninterestingly as you move along a wall.
That it also sticks doggedly to a first-person view so you can't see much while in cover isn't a significant innovation, if you ask me.
Sure it is, I've never seen it done anywhere before and I rather like the sound of it. When you hid behind a wall, rock w/e because some asshold with a gun twice your size is trying fill your body with large metal slugs you can't see the entire battlefield, you see what's in front of your eyes.
I may agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to face the consequences of saying it.
Playing video games... on a blue ray player? How deliciously absurd!
Early reviews? We have published our review (based on a original retail game version provided by Sony) like 9 days ego and we are from Poland, which in game publishers calendar is even worse off than Australia.
And yeah, the game rocks and rocks hard.
Exactly the point: most games look bad on PS3, unless they're exclusive. Then they come close to those on the 360 and sometimes even on PC. End yet, the KZ2 is a far cry from Sony's promised 1080p HD gamin. In fact, it doesn't even seem to be rendered at 720p - looks more like it's been rendered at a lower resolution, and then scaled up with antialiasing (similar to MGS4).
I can't imagine how can you make a true HD game on a device with only 256MB of Video RAM, and with a BluRay drive that can only read data at about 9 megabytes per second. So, you get a MGS4 and the likes, which takes AGES to install onto PS3's internal hard drive, multiple times. I'd rather change a DVD any day - takes a few seconds, than to wait for minutes for the content to get copied at a ridiculously slow speed onto internal hard drive.
That is not to say KZ2 is a bad game - not at all. It's just one of the games that users of 360 and PC have gotten accustomed to long time ago. Hell, just look at one of the ancient games on 360 - Splinter Cell: Double Agent! The graphics there were absolutely fantastic, and that was October 2006 - 2.5 years ago!!!
These guys thought it would be fun to spend review copies to EVERY gamer site on the internet EXCEPT Penny Arcade to send a message.
Well, it did for me. I will not be buying this game.
I think a story in a shooter in particular is really necessary because otherwise the game will become boring pretty quickly and the player will start wondering why s/he has to go there and click button X, why object O is at spot Y etc. A story gives meaning to all that, and the player thus is able to accept why things happen the way they did and why the environments/objects are the way they are. If you for example played Gears of war 1, there are numerous moments where you simply wonder why you're there, why you have to go there and why things happen the way they happen. Sure the shooting the crap out of every enemy is fun, but a story which gives meaning to the events makes a good experience a great experience (IMHO)
Never underestimate the relief of true separation of Religion and State.
Third-person view is stupid. Why should you be able to see what's all around you when you're face is inches from a rock?
If you replace "PS3" with "Gamecube" and KZ2,Uncharted with Windwaker and Eternal Darkness, you start to have a very familiar story of a 3rd place console.
For what it's worth, there's something to be said for not being the console targeted for every lame shovelware game that's released.
FUNK!
I don't know... Accusations are constantly flying about the folks over at Ars having a bias towards the PS3. Perhaps they do. But as someone who is, by and large, not even really a "console gamer" - I came to the same conclusion they have.
I bought a PS3 only 2-3 months after they were released. At that time, Resistance and EA's Fight Night boxing title were about the only noteworthy releases I could find for it. Still, I saw the potential the hardware had, and realized it was finally a "console that made sense to own, along-side of whatever high-end computer system I was gaming with".
At the end of the day, a Wii is "doing its own thing" with inferior hardware, but a creative new angle on what a console should do. Great, but I didn't really WANT my gaming to be that physically involved. The XBox 360 is too much like buying another PC with embedded Windows and controllers replacing the mouse and keyboard.
The PS3 earns its space in my living room by serving as a blu-ray disc player and "media center" (as it can display slideshows of my photos from a computer on my LAN, play music from one, and even stream video content from one).
If anything, I think it's really a shame the current PS3s ditched the backwards compatibility with PS2 games. That was yet another big positive with the purchase of the one I got.... I can literally buy PS2 titles for about $1.99 each in discount bins at local game shops, making the whole console gaming proposition much more cost-effective than it might have looked when people first saw that sticker price for the PS3 itself.
Umm, because it's a videogame?
Speaking to various journalists I know, some have been an awful lot harder on the game than Edge have been. Others think it's as good as Gears 2.
Actually, thinking about it, the ones that hate the game think it's as bad as Gears 2, as well. So make of that what you will.
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"
...they do not completely eclipse the graphics that can be seen on many recent titles(Gears of War 2 ...
I'd really, really like to know, in what world does Gears of War 2 look good? If anything, it strikes me as proof-positive that UE3 finally, finally, needs to be taken out back and shot.
I am quite sure that THIS time, the killzone franchise will live up to it's "halo killer" predictions from 5 years ago. And by halo killer I do mean that it will be more advanced (and by that I mean graphically) than Halo 1.
KZ2 is excellant just like GoW or Halo but that said i does not have much replay value once you play thru it first time you are done (MP is not anything new there). IMO Action FPS will give way to Action/RPG games like Fallout 3, Bio shock, this where devs can clearly show their talent in developing a storyline/character and giving open sandbox environment for players to play with.
I have now watched few videos from game and ALL what I can see is same FPS for PC/Mac and other consoles. Few new nice graphical implents like the gun blur, it looks more like real gun and it's weight. But otherwise it was same old FPS.
The FPS games sucks if it is played with pads and not with keyboard + mouse combo. And why they need to put all those stupid red/green etc ligts to units uniform that even the enemy can see you from the dark when range is more than 5m.
Well, this might be nice game for Playstation 3 owners... but in typical FPS genre... not so great...
No, they didn't. Jumping to third person when you get close to a wall is not the same thing.
The cover in Killzone 2 is in the first person, and it makes the game more realistic. It makes no sense for you to see the whole battlefield while your character is crouching behind a rock.
Besides, Killzone excels in AI, the enemies are so good. They don't stay in front you just shooting or just run at you. That's why the replayability of this game is great even in single player. The enemies really try different ways of attacking you, while taking cover and protecting themselves. It makes things more interesting.
Graphically this game is simply the most advanced game to be released on a console, easily. It may not be the best game (this is MGS4), but it is easily the best looking one.
Another innovation is the weight and slow pace gameplay. This is not a run-and-gun shooter where you just run like crazy giving headshots with aim-assist (that even your grandma would own you if she was playing). This is a hell more realistic.
Unlike Gears of War, where there's no war (you fight 6 enemies at a time), the atmosphere and the sheer quantity of things happening around makes you feel like in a war! See Saving Private Ryan to know what I am talking about.
Sorry 360 fanboys, the game is over. PS3 won.
I'd been looking forward to this game for a long time. And then the demo came out.
It looks gorgeous, but like many others I had that damn floaty/lag effect on the controls. At the default joystick sensitivity it's like moving around in the game by handing the joystick to a friend and using verbal commands to negotiate the level.
Once I cranked up the sensitivity to max the lag decreased, but did not disappear entirely. Best case is 1 or 2 tenths of a second. And in an FPS that's just not the kind of controls I want to use.
If they are not going to fix it, that's fine. I don't *need* to buy the game. But considering how many people I saw commenting on the issue as well, I don't know how they can afford to just turn away sales like that.
"And let's not forget the split-memory architecture, where half of the main memory effectively has zero bandwidth to the CPU and should only be accessed from the GPU. Which leaves only 256MB of RAM or a major headache laying out your data in memory."
"the 360 GPU has significantly better fill-rates, especially when complex shaders are used."
"The Cell in the PS3 can be used to offload graphics stuff and not be limited by shader performance, but again it's not easy."
LOL!!!!!!!!!!
Oh the pathetic little idiots who are dumb enough to sit around on beyond3d or other shitty PC developer hangouts.
You're a moron. A fucking moron.
Damn man, damn. Well guys, you heard it! Some guy on the internet has called the victory for the PS3. Apparently one game is all it took. I know! It surprised me too!
So you game developers, stop making PC, XBox, and Wii games. Gamers, you need to throw away all your non-PS3 games. I know I'm going to go home right now and snap each of my XBox 360 games in half one by one, in a highly ritualized manner. I'm know I'll be crying myself to sleep over this bitter loss.
We knew that gaming was about which system won, not having fun, when we all signed up. We simply have to treat this like the serious business this is. Otherwise people might get the idea that we buy systems for the games we want to play, and we simply can't have that!
Anonymous Coward, thank you for having the keen intelligence, foresight, and integrity of character for recognizing Killzone 2's heavy impact on the gaming scene, and appropriately calling a victor. Generations will sing songs of praise in your name!
I have owned almost every system, and enjoyed them all. I bought KZ1 because it was the supposed Halo killer. While I didn't think it was even close I still think that it is the best FPS to come out on the PS2 (with Red Faction 2 being really close) and looks to be better this time around. Maybe it is enough reason to go buy a PS3, used if I can.
I've been playing a media preview version of KZ2 for the past few weeks. IMHO, the game rocks, basically because the AI is damn good, and you really have to 'work'. Resistance 2 had lame AI by comparison. KZ2 also has increidble sfx, and the smoke/dust fx are incredible.
"Gears, Vegas, GRAW and many other games not only have cover systems, but implement them better than Killzone."
Better than killzone 1 perhaps..
Most reviews (and myself) agree that this along with the AI are some of the games best features and generally regard it as better than used in any of the games you mention.
Anyway the game is averaging 92 on metacritic and for some reason people are talking about the absolute lowest score it received from any critic they could find? sounds like a bit of the usual pathetic PS3 bashing to me.
In that case Halo3 only got 7/10 from gamecritic... oh no, burn your xbox.. it must be rubbish!