Killzone 2 IGN 9.4/10

[Brazo]

God this game gets on my breasts. One minute it's superb, the next minute I have to die a hundred times before I can work out what the f**k he means by "shoot the containers". Really very poor design in places TBPFH. Making a game harder & longer by making you die over and over while each time you look around a bit more to figure out what to do before you die again. Real poor. Slack design.

Still, the train level was pretty good.

Don't worry Roy you'll love it again by tommmorow

Just on the train level now and it is indeed awesome. More importantly my KDR online is positive - about 1.1

 

[seb]

I have ordered this from shopto for £32. sent via recorded so should be with me thursday morning. EPIC. Cannot wait. Some of the HD vids on youtube reek of awesomness.

IS the general thought ot make the default controls the same as COD4?

 

[Munson]

Don't worry Roy you'll love it again by tommmorow

Yeah no doubt. It's just that my pet hate in game design is retrying something a thousand times. Oh no, not that, how about that? DEAD. Reload. Ok how about that? DEAD. Reload. Ahhhhh! maybe it's that? DEAD. Reload. That kind of thing is just plain bad design and shatters any illusion that you're actually there. You can press that PS button REALLY hard while calling it a c**t, and it doesn't break.

TBF I'm probably easily annoyed at the moment, as I've twisted my ankle and I can't go out running or anything. Humphhhhh!

 

[Brazo]

I have ordered this from shopto for £32. sent via recorded so should be with me thursday morning. EPIC. Cannot wait. Some of the HD vids on youtube reek of awesomness.

IS the general thought ot make the default controls the same as COD4?

For me yep alternative scheme 2 and click the crouch and aim boxes in control settings then its exactly the same

 

[seb]

ok cool, looking forward to some mindless killing tbh. I like the way you can shoot peoples helmets off. (the ones on their head... I know what CS is like...)

 

[sneeks]

I use Standard 2, suits me better.

 

[Munson]

Don't worry Roy you'll love it again by tommmorow

Stone me you were not wrong. I won't say too much for fear of spoiling it for anyone starting out but, bloody hell it's good. No doubt I'll hate it again later though :clown:

 

[sneeks]

Give me a hint where you've reached and I'll no doubt agree with you.

 

[Munson]

Give me a hint where you've reached and I'll no doubt agree with you.

Ground zero.

 

[sneeks]

That is a excellent level and lots of fun

 

[Munson]

Motherf**ker. Inside the palace is somewhat tricky

 

[sneeks]

You are not ahead of me, I've not had the chance to play since I arrived at the palace.

 

[oska]

Played online for about half an hour last night. Seems somewhat harder than I remember COD4 to be. Looks like tactics need to be used more rather than an all out killfest. Looks good though and with a bit of practice will be much enjoyments!

 

[lasbazrre]

Ive only had it a couple of days , and i'm where Roy and Sneeks are which i'm guessing is near the end!!! If it is i'm pi$$ed off , ive not tanned it , a couple of hours a night , and nearly finished it. Game manufactuers are starting to take the pi$$ with there rubbish game lengths! I mean £40 for 3/4 day game , it's not on at all. There just using online gaming as a way to sell there product ( and getting away with it ) while the single player game is 10 or so hours long! sh1te!

 

[Munson]

Yeah I have a feeling I'm near the end, and I haven't rinsed it at all, really. Looking at the mission select, I've done 10 levels, which sounds about normal but it definitely feels short. I knew it was going to be short though simply by the game design obviously trying to artificially make it harder.

Still, I'll probably play through it at all again anyway, and then it's back to FarCry2 and/or FEAR 2 on the PC with some proper high res graphics and a decent control system

 

[sneeks]

The campaign mode is not long at all, my actual game time with KZ2 has not been very long and this is definitely the last stage. I have read that it's a bit of a ball ache to complete this level though.

 

[lasbazrre]

Thats what i'm getting at Sneeks , game of all genres are all becoming around the 10-12 hours length for single player mode , which IMHO is a pi$$ take at £40

I'm playing Resi 4 ( get tuned up for tomoz ) and i'm nearly hitting 25 hours , that VFM. Gen 3 designers are having a giggle and slapping a online deathmatch in " hours of fun " con!

 

[Munson]

The campaign mode is not long at all, my actual game time with KZ2 has not been very long and this is definitely the last stage. I have read that it's a bit of a ball ache to complete this level though.

It's a disgrace that it's so short TBH. Wasn't it in the making for like a hundred years? Anyway, yes, inside the palace is c**tish. I might have another go at it later but it's like the rest of the game. Die. Restart. Kill a million grunts. Die. Restart. Kill them all again + 1. Die. Restart. Kill them all again + 2. Die. Restart. Kill 12 grunts. Bounce grenade of railing. Die. Restart. Instant head shot from 100 miles out. Die. Turn off system. Spam Cliosport.

As I've said before, it's really very poor design. Overall I'd say it's a very good game. Definitely not an excellent one though.

 

[sneeks]

Developers do appear to focus on creating online play rather than create a good and long single player mode. Having said that the number of people I know online who don't even play the campaign mode is surprising. Possibly this is why online is more important to developers now?

 

[sneeks]

KZ2 has some truly great moments but it also has some that are there to simply pad the game time out just a bit longer. I think they'd hoped the level where you get the electric gun and get attacked over and over again by those annoying flying b******s would stall players for a while but that gun made it very easy to complete. It obliterated everything and had unlimited ammo! Having said that it was one of my favourite guns.

 

[Munson]

KZ2 has some truly great moments but it also has some that are there to simply pad the game time out just a bit longer. I think they'd hoped the level where you get the electric gun and get attacked over and over again by those annoying flying b*****ds would stall players for a while but that gun made it very easy to complete. It obliterated everything and had unlimited ammo! Having said that it was one of my favourite guns.

Yeah that section was a piece of piss. I also think the "EXO" section could easily have been about 3 times longer and more diverse. Just as I was getting into it, it was disrupted by a loading screen. WTF?

Another apsect I don't like is how you switch out of your body in cut scenes and then fly back into it again. Schoolboy error in FPS design. The whole point of the FPS is the immersion. Suddenly snatching all control away from the player, and spinning the camnera out to show yourself, then spinning the camera back in and returning control to the player = fail.

9.4/10 is a disgracefully influenced (sponsored?) score for a game with so many failings. I don't know how any enthusiast gamer could complete the campaign and award the game a near perfect score. Take away the pretty graphics and IMO it's a 7/10 shooter. Good fun, but so many other shooters have done it better. Much better.

 

[lasbazrre]

Developers do appear to focus on creating online play rather than create a good and long single player mode. Having said that the number of people I know online who don't even play the campaign mode is surprising. Possibly this is why online is more important to developers now?

I'm the other way round , i never go online , i like the escapism of the solo player in games , dip in and out for a couple of hours , then do your own real world thing , i don't want to be sat there with a mongy headset on hearing yanks going on and calling everybody " dude or d1ck wad " all night , i have a life! hehehe

 

[sneeks]

The graphics have definitely influenced the scoring, the online play is also great fun. I'd probably give the entire online & offline experience a 8/10. The EXO stage was one of the best, I really enjoyed that. The gun turret in the cruiser was a time waster though.

 

[Munson]

I'm guessing the devs were American? This game would have been much better with euro/brit devs IMO. Still I'm probably being overly critical. It is good.

What it has done, is made me look forward (massively) to continue playing the open, expansive, explore at your own pace, FarCry2.

 

[Munson]

Roffle. 20 minute firefight with no checkpoints. One grenade = start again from the beginnning. Again. I'm out. Can't be bothered completing it

 

[Brazo]

Game length is largely dictated by disc space, multiplats are limited to 6GB and about 6-8hours at the current level of graphics we see.

PS3 games are not so limited with Blueray but MGS4 filled an entire disc and I understand KZ2 was 25GB.

 

[Munson]

Who told you that? Crysis looks way WAY better than KZ2 and is at least a hundred times longer.

Not to mention I just survived longer than previously, and then got killed by an RPG and had to go back ANOTHER 20 minutes and start again. Jesus what a s**t game.

 

[sneeks]

You're really selling this level to me!!!

I'll play it tonight and see how I do. I did say it was a ball ache and would extend your gaming time by hours!!!

 

[Munson]

I did say it was a ball ache and would extend your gaming time by hours!!!

Yeah clearly just another example of drawing the game out even further. The annoying part is that it's not actually that hard to survive. It's just that no matter how well you're doing, victory can (and will) be snatched away in a moment by some random event you have no control over. That would be fine if there was a quicksave, but there isn't. Cheating and pissing the player off is bad game design. No way is it a 9/10 shooter. In fact it should get 7/10 just because of how short it is. Reduced to 6/10 for tyring to hide that fact by annoying the player.

Dying over and over and over and over, and putting the gamer back another 20 minutes again, does not make a game challenging, it makes it f**king annoying, and any game that sets out to be annoying rather than always enjoyable, sucks.

I'll still have another go later though

 

[seb]

KZ2 arrived. gonig to log on later.

tbh, for me, games today are now more about the online. look at cod4, a good single player game but still very short. completed it in a matter of days. probably under ten hours in single player mode?

but online... well it is endless... games are now moving towards complete online gameplay.

 

[sneeks]

Testing this works.

 

[sneeks]

but online... well it is endless... games are now moving towards complete online gameplay.

That's all SOCOM offers, no single player mode.

 

[seb]

i know it is off topic but is it anygood? isn't it like a weird 3rd person not really fps style?

 

[sneeks]

The beta was great fun, the full game should have arrived today.

 

[seb]

ok, my initial review... done the first level.

maybe it is my age but i kinda get lost real easy. lol use the rpg to blow the bridge! ok... err... where is it?!? ah found it... use the tank!!! ok, but i just kinda drove into things...

the aiming is a bit odd... seems ot take for ever to move around when using the sights... plus having to press L1 and then press it again to get out of sights... annoying. i wish you just held it down like in COD4 and then let go. ideal tbh.

It is quite cool, looks fantastic, and the enemys are really quite cunning getting cover and such. the little f*****s. talking of f*****s... the use of language is pretty funny. all the s***s and f***s. not really needed imo.

looks sexy, enjoyed the first level. i reckon i'll like it a lot more as i gt used to the feel of the game. i think i'll start with speeding up the aim thing. i think there was an option for that.

one other thing, how does your energy level work? seems i can get shot quite a bit and then i slowly recover?

 

[Munson]

I think you can change the aim to toggle or hold?

Stick sensitivity I would leave alone, personally. I tried speeding it up and it made it worse. Don't aim too quickly though seb or you'll have finished the game by bedtime Besides, the best way to clear the final level is to spin around in a constant circle while unloading a hundred clips and hoping some of the rounds hit a target.

 

[Brazo]

Seb it has like most FPS health recovery, re the aiming and sights staying up there is an option in the controls a box to check which only holds the sights up for as long as you hold L1, ala' call of duty!

Yep Tank bit was s**t but thankfully sort, if your not sure where to go press d pad up

 

[Brazo]

Who told you that? Crysis looks way WAY better than KZ2 and is at least a hundred times longer.

Not to mention I just survived longer than previously, and then got killed by an RPG and had to go back ANOTHER 20 minutes and start again. Jesus what a s**t game.

I can't answer for Crysis but it stands to reason that if a DVD9 is full at a six hour campaign there is no hope of having longer campaigns.

Resistance FoM on the PS3 was about 18gigs and was a good 15-20 hour campaign
Uncharted was a good 12-15 hours and again it was nearly 20 gigs.

 

[seb]

Seb it has like most FPS health recovery, re the aiming and sights staying up there is an option in the controls a box to check which only holds the sights up for as long as you hold L1, ala' call of duty!

Yep Tank bit was s**t but thankfully sort, if your not sure where to go press d pad up

??? u just regenerate?

 

[Munson]

It depends on what you fill the disc with mate. Video and audio media will kill the disc. The quality of the graphics themselves don't necessarily eat up space over slightly more ordinary graphics - it's not like there are even any high res textures. If Killzone 2 can't offer a good length game with Blu-ray, then there's a problem.

Crysis is capable of looking far better than KZ2, and it's much longer, with far more explorable levels.