Killzone 2 Reviews and General Info

[Info Guy 101]

Interesting

http://www.psu.com/Killzone-2-Evolution---E3-07-vs-Dec-08--a0005653-p0.php

Following a fresh onslaught of Killzone 2 updates this month, PSU has decided to mark the occasion by showing off some of the visual differences and upgrades Guerrilla Games has applied to the hotly anticipated FPS over the past 18 months.

The screenshot comparison we are providing is comparing the E3 2007 trailer to the December 08 preview code released to the media last week.

After taking a glance at the shots below, one of the most conspicuous features you should notice is the upgraded character models. In the Dec. 08 version, facial textures have been noticeably improved along with some characters featuring completely different gear and weapon load outs. In addition, Guerrilla Games has made a number of improvements including enhanced motion blur and lighting effects, with colors and shadows appearing much darker.


It's also worth baring in mind that the December preview code is in fact an Alpha build of the game, which, according to recent reports, has already received some significant polishing over at Guerrilla HQ. With two months left to go until the game is released, we're expecting nothing short of perfection for the final product.

 

[Info Guy 101]

New Killzone 2 Graphics Article


We have all seen Killzone 2 screenshots, most of us have probably seen Killzone 2 in action too, we all know one thing: It's a visually stunning game, but just how visually stunning?


From the many screenshots of KZ2 on the net it's quite easy to see it's a good looking game, this is achieved by the use of fullscreen post-process effects, high-polygon character models, a deffered rendering engine and an impressive lighting engine. this all adds up to create an image with jaw-dropping graphics.


Yes I know that graphics is not all that makes a game, hardly, however I do like a good looking game to go along with Kickass gameplay, who doesn't?


The level of detail in Killzone 2 is quite frankly stunning, from astonishingly high-res textures on the weapons and characters to the dynamic red lights on the Helghan masks, which fall unto their surroundings realistically, incredible.


"Michal Valient, a Senior Programmer at Guerrilla Games, presented details of their Killzone 2 Engine at a Developers Conference in July 2007. Killzone 2 uses a deferred rendering engine that integrates MSAA Quincunx (multisample anti-aliasing). The Cell Processor will also parallel process geometry and indirect lighting."


"On top of this, Arjan pointed out, lighting and motion blur effects within the game are performed as a full screen pass to blend all of these effects together. Arjan stressed that the game's engine was so detailed that, "each pixel has velocity. It's not just a special effect, but this is used for particles, it's used for explosions, and it's used for motion blurring for character movement, which adds an extra sense of depth."


"Arjan pointed out everything from light bloom and internal lens reflection effects to true geometric particles that fly from walls and collide with the ground realistically based on the direction of an explosion. but it also includes loads of detail that might be easily missed by players as they run and gun their way through these battles like dynamically burning cloth, swelling and flowing water, and dust and smoke particles."


some impressive tech behind Guerrilla games Killzone 2 I must say
Not To mention Killzone 2 on PlayStation 3 will support 1080i resolution in addition to 720p.


So from a visual stand point Killzone 2 quite clearly delivers, but It delivers it in such a way, that to many 'Killzone 2' is the best looking console game they have come across, I am very careful to say it's the best looking console game, because dare I not...well you know, the PC enthusiasts and their Crysis screengrabbs would be out quicker than I can say "mistake".


A great looking game? most definetely, the best looking console game? In my opinion, YES! Certainly the best looking PS3 game.

 

[Oculate]

So having a chat with my friends who work for a gaming mag, they took a look at some unreleased gameplay footage... their comments:

"OMFG, its just insane"
"This will blow Gears 2 away"

Now I take their comments rather seriously, and next year might finally be the year of the PS3. Lets just hope the hype doesn't slaughter this game into the ground

 

[Rosaudio]

FIrst Killzone 2 Review Score

http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-253790.aspx

Here is the first review score for Killzone 2 and some other games.
Unlike the previous source, this is not a forum post.

Killzone 2 (PS3) 5/5

Looking good

 

[Kerrrang!]

Saw the PSM review on Metacritic. Can't read the whole thing as it's a mag-review, but it got a perfect 100%.

So 2 perfect scores so far - looking good....

 

[CHURCHILL]

My pre order is already in for this beaut.

 

[iDenTiTy]

My pre order is already in for this beaut.

+ 1

 

[Info Guy 101]

I told myself I wasn't gonna hype up this game but stuff like this makes it very hard not too

http://gamer.blorge.com/2009/01/10/killzone-2-surpass-crysis/

Killzone 2 surpasses Crysis


During CES, Sony demonstrated the latest build of Killzone 2 for the PS3, which is set to ship out next month and suffice to say the game looks jaw dropping. Everything about the game was phenomenal from the details, physics, graphics, audio and gameplay. I did not think I would say this so soon, but Killzone 2 may be the first console game to surpass Crysis.

When Crysis first launched on the PC it was hailed by many to be the best looking game on any platform. It certainly was the best looking game in terms of sheer graphics, but the game still received some criticism for presentation. Killzone 2 shatters Crysis on all fronts not only wiht presentation but physics, details and graphics.

The last time I had a good look at the game was during the phase 2 beta. Even then, the game looked phenomenally better than any game developed on a home console. However, it seems like the developers spent their time wisely by improving the game by two folds. All of the minor nuisances in the game have been tweaked and improved beyond belief.

The floor of the air carrier now has vivid detail. Rico’s head is also visibly shinny with sweat and the wall textures still look excellent close up. It really is difficult to describe what an improvement the game has gone through. The best thing to do is look at the video clips coming out of CES to know what I am talking about.

Killzone 2 not only sets the bar extremely high in all aspects on the home console, but manages to look better than one of the best looking games on the PC. Guerilla Games has really outdone themselves with a game that is said by many to be genre defining. Although, you don’t have to take my word for it, just Google it to read the impressions of the game being written by other reviewers.

http://www.ps3za.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=18404

Comparison: Crysis and Killzone 2

http://www.ps3za.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=18259

Killzone 2 CES 09: Ballet of Death Trailer

 

[iDenTiTy]

To be honest, no game will surpass Crysis. This generation anyway (for both Xbox and PS3).

Graphically, Crysis has the balls.

Says something about the graphics of Killzone 2 though. It must be great if it is being compared to Crysis...

I was reading the development briefs on Killzone 2, and I must say - they make very interesting use of the SPEs.

 

[Kerrrang!]

Damn, enough with these tidbits of info! It's making the wait so much more unbearable.
Little more than a month...i can do it.

 

[guru_pitka]

Damn, enough with these tidbits of info! It's making the wait so much more unbearable.
Little more than a month...i can do it.

lmao ,that is exactly how i feel ,cant wait for this juggernought to drop

 

[Info Guy 101]

To be honest, no game will surpass Crysis. This generation anyway (for both Xbox and PS3).

Graphically, Crysis has the balls.
But I think Killzone 2 has a more intense experience though. Gameplay is more important than how real a bullet looks...

Says something about the graphics of Killzone 2 though. It must be great if it is being compared to Crysis...

I was reading the development briefs on Killzone 2, and I must say - they make very interesting use of the SPEs.

So nice you had to say twice but I'll agree it's saying something when game get's compared to the best looking FPS on the market at the moment

 

[Info Guy 101]

Didn't think I'd see this sort of thing so soon

http://blog.360magazine.co.uk/uncategorized/competition-check-killzone-edition/

Official Xbox 360 Blog Previews Killzone 2

Being an office of many magazines, we all get to see the big competitor games when they come in. So, in the past year, between all the 360 love, well, we’ve seen LittleBigPlanet. And that’s about it. 2009 is already shaping up to be a little more varied though, and it began today when I noticed Killzone 2 preview code casually sitting on a desk in our sister magazine Play’s work area.



Naturally, I asked for it to be put on, and twenty minutes of beautiful, gritty, heavy gunplay later, I’m back to post my impressions. It’s good. Really good in fact. this is the genre that has belonged to the 360 since its inception, but it finally looks like Sony has an Ace in its deck. Visually, Killzone 2 is quite something - besting even Gears 2 in the motion-blurred grey battleground stakes, and the weight and purpose of everything from the weapons to the characters is something to behold. Most importantly, though, it’s really satisfying to play. The enemy AI, coupled with a well implemented cover system (unusual for an FPS) means Killzone 2’s skirmishes are uniquely challenging and gratifyingly meaty.



Of course, the key to success in this genre is variety, and having only seen a snippet of the opening mission, it’s hard to judge whether Killzone 2 will switch up its speed and set pieces enough to enter the Pantheon of truly great shooters. But for a first impression - wow. Halo ODST has a lot to live up to.

 

[CHURCHILL]

Amazing i tell you, just amazing, and this from an official Xbox 360 blog.

 

[Info Guy 101]

At last

http://www.consolegaming.eu/newspost.php?id=1357

Killzone 2 gone gold

We have just received confirmation that Killzone 2 has gone gold for America, UK and Europe.

This means that Killzone 2 can finally hit the presses. With the European mainland release scheduled for February 25, we along with alot of gamers are hoping that it will hit the shelves in time for the official release date.

 

[gambithunt]

I played the beta and it was amazing, I can only imagine how good the game is going to be.

 

[Info Guy 101]

Some Multi-player info for those who are interested I like the "valor system" idea sounds lekka

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/935/935548p5.html

So, with all of these details regarding the single player, how does this affect the multiplayer aspects of the game? Well, you may have checked out some of the details from our recent article on the released multiplayer beta, but I found out more details from Angie Smets, senior producer and Eric Boltjes, senior online game designer, who pointed out that the final game will come with eight multiplayer maps and five gameplay modes for anywhere between two and thirty two players. Multiplayer has been designed from the ground up to be just as intense as the single player game, but with much more customization, primarily because of three elements: the badge system, bots that can be included within any game, and new clan elements.

At the start of the game, players will start out as a basic private. You won't have any specific abilities or weapons to make you stand out from another private, but you'll be able to do enough damage to get some kills and gain some accolades. This allows players to ease their way into the game. Once they've scored enough points, they'll advance to the next rank. There are twelve ranks in all, with a player being able to max out as a general, but certain ranks will unlock different character classes, which will let you attempt to specialize in different jobs. Once you unlock a badge, you're not completely powered up and ready to go. According to Eric, you'll only unlock one of the two abilities for the class. If you want to unlock more abilities and options for that particular class, you'll need to sink more time in on the battlefield as that particular class. "We reward the player for playing what he wants to play. So if you play as the medic, then you also unlock stuff for the medic. So if you use the medic's special abilities, you unlock the medic's secondary abilities," Eric said.



The latest line in gas mask accessories this season.There are six specialized classes in all (not counting the basic soldier class, which will help you unlock the other basic elements for the other classes), but regardless of which class you choose to play as, the designers made sure that many of the abilities were tailored for more teamwork and team oriented play. There will be some solo badges as well, such as the scout badge that leads to the sniper class. Regardless of which class you choose, you can mix and match the abilities of the badges that you've unlocked for your character. For example, Eric mentioned that you can mix the repair badge of the engineer, which helps you fix turrets that have been placed by your allies with the proximity mines from a saboteur to make a subversive, and dangerous, opponent.

No matter what configuration you place your soldiers in, you'll find that you'll go through dynamic missions, which will put you through five different mission types, like capture the flag or team deathmatch. What makes Killzone 2 stand out is that all of these missions can be varied within one map at any point in time. Players can choose to have the game randomly select a mission type at random, or can tailor specific options as well, so if you happen to be a large fan of Deathmatch, you can constantly play that mode. Angie did point out that there are also a lot of rules that can be established along with these mission types, so if you want to play with a specific kind of weapon or class only, you can set that in your options before you start playing. Depending on what mission you're playing and whether you're alive or dead, you can also change your badges (and thereby your class) at will to best accomplish your goals within that particular match type.

While the maps aren't scalable to fit the number of players, there are a number of maps that are tailored more towards some smaller parties. However, I was also told that the designers have created a number of presets that will let you leap into a match quickly, establish different rules for each match as even toss in a large number of bots to help fill in the rosters. This seemed like a great way to let newcomers practice their skills as well, and we were told by multiple designers that the AI is truly incredible. In fact, Rob pointed out that the AI routines that distinguish them from the single player shell, and will actively search out sniper's nests if they're in the middle of a fight to pick off opponents. The bots themselves are designed from the ground up to be able to do everything that a human can do. While they will definitely emphasize team play, even the most experience players have been challenged by the bots that have been designed by the team.

Do you feel lucky, Vektan?The last significant elements with the game come in the form of squads and clans. Squads are 4 player groups that allow friends or newcomers to come together and play a round together. This will come with different advantages, such as squad specific headset channels for secure communication, as well as telegraphed health and abilities for every squad member and the ability to spawn together at a specific point. The next step up is the inclusion of clans, which allows larger groups of players to come together and fight across maps. Players have to be at least at Corporal rank or higher to establish a clan, but the coolest element tied to the clans is the Clan Valor system, which will be tied to the rankings of the clans. Each clan that plays the game will inevitably gain a specific amount of points based on how they play, which will help determine their rank. If your clan wants to rocket up the online standings, they can wager a specific amount of their clan's valor points against another clan, with the winner taking all the points. This means that some battles will be for much more than the obvious bragging rights associated with large clan battles or tournaments; entire online standings can be made or lost with this system, which will help separate the casual players from the hardcore Killzone 2 fans. This sounds like an extremely unique concept, but one that will help keep players fighting across the maps of Helghan for many months after the game's release. At least February 2009 is only two months away, so PS3 owners won't have long to wait to leap into the battle against the Helghast.

 

[Rosaudio]

Sweeeet, im getting the Steelbox edition

 

[Kerrrang!]

How many of you guys are importing? Def considering it - R800 is steeeeep.
Can prob get KZ2 and FEAR 2 for that price from shopto.net

 

[Info Guy 101]

I've heard mostly good things about shopto.net so I'm giving them a go