Killzone 2

Platform: PS3
In the danger zone
As hypetrains go, Killzone 2's has been one of the biggest – rolling at full pace ever since that first misleading target-render shown at E3 years ago. Achieving the graphical fidelity of that footage was optimistic yet Guerilla has come close to matching it, giving the PS3 something to be proud of.
Fans of grey/brown graphics will be right at home as the PS3 spends every inch of its fibre rendering rust, metal and pooling blood with high definition gusto. Dust floats in the filtered sunlight and smoke flows and ebbs over bombed out steel skeletons while mushroom clouds bloom in the distance. It's this attention to detail that sets Killzone 2 apart from its peers, yet at the same time the picture it paints is one we've seen many times before.
Movement and animation also define Killzone 2, with the spectacle of reeling Helghast reactions to your bullets as impressive as the blood stains they leave behind. Characters move with an impressive weight behind them too, as evidenced by the initially clunky controls as the task of balancing the Dualshock's deadzone with a heavily armoured marine's momentum settles down.
Falling somewhere between Gears of War and Call of Duty 4, Killzone 2's standard FPS fare is mixed in with a workable cover mechanic, while gunplay is brutal, with top class AI that actively flanks and out-maneuvres you.
The story however is forgettable and humourless, the characters risable and the dialogue cliched. The lack of imagination is also evident in the generic weaponry, not helped by the one gun limit, and levels quickly become a repetitive cycle of hide/shoot/run.
Any quibles evaporate online though. Without a story to bother with and an unlocking class/perks system that marries CoD4 with Team Fortress 2, it quickly becomes clear that Killzone 2 works best in multiplayer.
The cover mechanic has been removed – upping the tempo of matches, and each game can uniquely be split over a number of objectives, constantly switching between variants, keeping things fresh throughoughout. With excellent clan support, a deep class system and 32 player games, Killzone 2 makes up for its unimaginative single player in spades, no doubt keeping the locomotive going for some time to come.
8/10