Killzone 2

"Meh, not bad, not great."

Story -- It's your standard action game fair, nothing original, but it's still engaging, they've created a fairly enthralling universe to set the game in.

Graphics -- This is a mixed bag, if the frame rate wasn't so low so often, I'd say these are excellent graphics, but the fact is, you can't enjoy the graphics when the frame rate dips so low. The textures are detailed, the characters are detailed, the cut scenes are gorgeous... But once the game starts chugging, you don't notice any of that.

Sound -- The sound is great, good surround sound, high quality effects, nice orchestrated score. The voice acting is mediocre, and apparently in the future they use the California Penal Code... "187 that Hig!"

Controls -- Suck. Not entirely the game's fault, the PS3 controller just isn't suited to FPS games, but the main challenge from this game is fighting with the controller to make it point where you want. The cover system will inexplicably not work on cover, and pointing over the cover while trying to zoom can be a bit irksome as well.

A.I -- Your teamate A.I is worse than useless, it's a hindrance. This game will often feature enemies attacking from multiple directions, your teamate will not stop them, they will instead die (my teamate died from a spider attacking it, to illustrate just how crappy it is). This wouldn't be so annoying if it wasn't for the fact that an enemy melee attack will kill you in one hit, and spinning around 180 degrees with the controller takes so long... Why include an A.I buddy if they serve no useful function?.. The enemy A.I is fine, since the game mechanics revolve around cover, the enemy simply takes cover and will occasionally attempt to flank you.

Perhaps because I normally play FPS's on a PC I have unrealistic expectations, but aside from the crappy controls, there's really no excuse for the game having the flaws it does simply because it is on a console.

Because the game is so derivative of Gears of War, I can't help but compare it... The cover system is inferior, the controls are inferior, the graphics are inferior.

I'm not sure how this game is getting such high marks, while it certainly isn't bad, it comes no where near similar other FPS's like Half Life 2, so I'm not sure the metric utilized, I suppose within the realm of PS3 shooters it warrants a higher score, but when compared to shooters from every system, this game could have been much better, especially with the engaging story and interesting universe they've set the game in.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/03/09

Game Release: Killzone 2 (US, 02/27/09)