Far Cry 2

From what I've been told, Far Cry 2 has very little to do with the original Far Cry aside from both being published by Ubisoft; and both looking quite stunning. But, having never played Far Cry for myself, i cant comment too much about it without sounding like a dickhead. So moving along.

Far Cry 2 is an open-ended first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft that was released late 2008 to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.
Though it is the sequel to Far Cry, i see next to nothing that actually tie the games together. The protagonist from the 1st game is nowhere to be seen, unlike the player controlled character in FC2; and the setting is no longer a tropical island, but some unnamed East African nation.

STORY
As i mentioned, this is a completely new story from the original Far Cry game, which isn't a problem. What is a problem is that the story isn't explored as much as you might like. All that players are really told is that you are a mercenary (one of multiple, which the player chooses), and the African nation you're in is amidst Civil War. Your character has been hired by an unknown client to kill the man that armed both sides; known as the Jackal.

Although killing this arms dealer is supposedly your main mission; he hardly ever makes an appearance. You see him at the start after contracting Malaria; where it seems like he's nursing you back to health which, for a mercenary, seems pretty weak; then one or two times before the end of the game.
I always thought that the main antagonists actions should constantly be felt in a game; and although this man supplies your enemies with weapons; his presence seems absent on the most part.

PRESENTATION
OK, this is where Far Cry 2 earns its praise. It definitely has that feel of a dirty, run down, impoverished African country in the middle of a Civil War. It looks just like i would imagine Africa would look; from the rolling Savannas and Oasis' to the dense jungles and shanty towns. There is no background music, which in this case is good, as it would break the immersion if it did have it.
The playable map is huge, and these varying locales are numerous, although many areas feel like they've been copied, pasted, then tweaked ever so lightly.

Sound effects in FC2 are sounds you would expect to hear in Africa; the buzzing of mosquitoes and flies, the sound of wind whistling through trees, the sound of fire crackling as a bushfire burns out of control. (By the way, the fire looks quite cool; and spreads as you might expect a fire to burn).

Voice acting in this game is a little dull; and its often hard to distinguish between characters that you'll meet in the game. Most have a rather generic African accent, or a hilarious South African accent in some cases. My biggest problem with the dialogue in this is that it just seems so forced. It may just be me, but when a script is read; i like to feel emotion being conveyed in it. This may be why the story just didn't grab my attention like it should have.








GAMEPLAY
Far Cry 2 really doesn't bring a whole lot of innovation to the table of First Person Shooters. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Your character moves as if they actually have mass behind them. They aren't just cameras on a hover board, as many fps's make their characters feel.

Standard actions are available to players; running, jumping, crouching and attacking; with the added ability to slide to cover while running. Sadly, there is no button for melee attacks unless you arm yourself with your machete, leaving a few seconds between switching weapons, with which the enemy are using to turn you into Swiss cheese. I'm not asking for some Call of Duty-esque move where you instantly whip out the combat knife and switch back to your previous weapon. A killzone/halo style ramming of the butt of your gun into the enemies head would suffice.

Speaking of weapon switching, Far Cry 2 allows players to switch between a primary weapon, secondary weapon, special weapon and the machete. The problem with this is that it always forces you to take a secondary weapon that you may never use; without allowing you to swap it out for enemy primary weapons; which would be perfectly feasible in real life.
This is probably done to make the game more intense; just like the addition of weapons degradation. Now, this feature wasn't all bad. It definitely made me more conscious of my weapons state; and it made for some climactic gunfights when my gun jammed. That said, guns degrade way too quickly; and enemy weapons come pre-rusted; so you can expect gun jams often.

Still on the topic of gunplay, there is quite a variety of weapons to choose from. Sadly, many weapons of the same type don't feel different to others. There are some really cool weapons, like the Mortar, that are amazingly fun to use if you can master them.
Upgrades can be bought for weapons, as well as your character, and these can include stealth upgrades, ammo upgrades, or vehicle repair upgrades.

On that note, vehicle sections are really quite annoying. Unless you stick to the predetermined roads; you're likely to lodge yourself into a pile of rocks or a tree; but if you follow the paths, you're likely to run into enemy patrols..... Alot.
Cars handle badly and, more often than not, you'll be too focused on your map than the road, and you'll have to manoeuvre your way out of some predicament involving trees, rocks, or a Zebra corpse.

Enemy AI in Far Cry 2 must have bionic eyes, because I'd often be spotted by a randomly patrolling guard from almost 100 meters away, through thick forest. I don't know if this is just me, but i wouldn't be able to see shit in those conditions from that far away! Next thing i know, I've just snuck up on another guard who i could have sworn was just staring straight at me a minute ago.
Its perplexing! Sometimes enemies have futuristic binoculars, and sometimes; their eyes are in their ass.....
It was sort of cool to hear them talking after they'd lost sight of me, or see them trying to flush me out of my last known position with gun fire and grenades.

Friendly AI is also a bit mixed. You rescue "Buddies" in game, and they become your backup, for if you get downed during combat or something. This is helpful, because if you die, you normally go back to the last save point. However, when they save your wussy ass, more often than not, they'll be gunned down, and theres no indication of where they are except pained groaning and blue smoke (which is hard to see through thick forest by the way). Then you have the choice to waste your own medical supplies on them or a single bullet. Seems like an easy choice, but you may be more compassionate than I.

Final word about gameplay focuses on the different types of gameplay in Far Cry 2. It should be rather short though because theres not much variation. All missions in this game can really be summed up as either go to a place and kill some guys OR go to a place and blow stuff up... THEN kill some guys. They're all basically the same, yet most times you'll need to go to a telecommunications tower to get "Assassination Missions" or Weapons dealers to get "Convoy" missions where you blow up convoys (which helpfully drive around in circles). Otherwise, you'll be getting missions from "Buddies" or the Factions; which are a mixture of the killy/explodey fun.

Oh and the map is a bitch to get around due to aforementioned vehicle/AI retardation and the fact that the only fast travel is by bus. And you'll have to use a vehicle to cover the ground between buses and your objective anyway.

REPLAYABILITY
If you're one of those trophy/achievement whores (not unlike myself), you may find yourself covering every square kilometre of the FC2 landscape and doing every single mission that is available. This will eat up ALOT of time, and would be absolutely fine if the gameplay wasn't such a nagging pain in the back of my head. Not the gunplay, but anything vehicle related.
Along with the huge single player campaign, there is a multiplayer mode. This mode i didn't experience too much of, but from what i did, I'd draw the conclusion that it was absolutely mediocre when compared to other games.

OVERVIEW
OK, its not like i absolutely hated Far Cry 2. I caught myself having fun while i was having a shootout with 8 other guys while a bushfire blazed mere feet away from me, and my gun had jammed. It was rather dramatic. Problem is, that theres so much travelling in between those moments. In my opinion, the game would have benefit from a quick travel option that would take you closer than your bus rides.

Gameplay is solid, save for the horrendous vehicle sections and AI is a bit strange, when one moment they're friggin super soldiers, and the next, they've turned into complete morons. However, they do have some moments of pure brilliance which will get a pass from me.
That said, i think the developers may have been a bit lazy, in that, all enemies will shoot at you on sight, no matter what you're doing. The official reason is that you're doing secret (deniable ops) missions for each faction, therefore you're no friend of anyones. It just seems silly to me.

Story was rather forgettable while playing, which is sad, because it had a fair bit of potential. Voice acting in FC2 turned me right off the characters; and i really hated those vehicles, SO MUCH.

So is it worth buying...? These days, it'd be down to about $30, so i think if you want something that's fairly entertaining in small bursts, then sure, its worth buying. A game without a great story can still be OK with good gameplay, but that vehicle section bull just keeps getting to me.
So buy Far Cry 2 if you're into that. Or not.


As per usual, if anyone actually reads this, constructive criticism is awesome. And i screwed up my posting schedule somewhere along the line, so fuck it. =D

God Of War III

God of War III
God of War III is an action-adventure video game for PlayStation 3, developed by Sony Santa Monica, published by Sony Computer Entertainment and released worldwide in March 2010. It is the fifth and final chapter in the current story arc, chronologically after God of War: Chains of Olympus (for the PSP), God of War, God of War: Betrayal (Mobile), and God of War II.

STORY
God of War 3 picks up where GOW2 left off, with Kratos atop Gaia, a pissed off Titan; leading the Titan army to battle with the Gods of Olympus. First time players may not know the details of why Kratos is on a vendetta against the gods, but bits and pieces of information from God Of War 3's predecessors are recapped over the course of the game. It also opens with a cool looking opening credits sequence which pretty much sums up Kratos' adventure thus far.

The story isn't particularly deep, but its fun; and it takes us all over Mt. Olympus. This game dives deep into Greek Mythology and brings up some really amazing characters, creatures and locations; which help bring the story to life.

PRESENTATION
The first thing that struck me about GOW3; from the start of the first cutscene, to my first encounter with enemies, was that this game looks absolutely amazing. I'm tempted to use the word beautiful, but perhaps that's the wrong word for seeing a centaurs disemboweling happen in full High Definition. Whatever word i use to describe it, what I'm trying to get across is that God Of War III looks fantastic.

Environments in game range from the Halls of Mt. Olympus, to the back of Gaia, the earth titan; and even to the fiery pits of hades. Each environment looks stunning; and they all have a very unique feel to them.

The music composed for this action/adventure title is just like the other presentational aspects of this game. And i suppose there is really only one word for the presentation as a whole. This game definitely has an epic feel which is conveyed through the stunning visuals and music that just suits the environments so perfectly.



GAMEPLAY
God Of War III is your standard hack and slash action adventure affair; with fairly basic puzzles thrown in for good measure. Combat is the focus of this title, and GOW3 does it extremely well. The problem with this, is that its really the only above average gameplay aspect that God Of War has to offer.

Don't get me wrong, hacking and slashing enemies until Kratos' white skin is stained red with their blood is satisfying. To a nearly disturbing level. But it will get repetitive if you play the game for and overly long period of time. The game gives you four different weapons, but you'll find that 3 are basically the same; and all use the same button sequences to pull off combinations. It all really depends on what flavour of awesome you prefer to kill your opponents with.

Weapons can all be upgraded with skill points gained by defeating enemies; which unlocks more combos to use with each weapon. However, unless you like to spice things up, there's a good chance that you'll spend all your time upgrading the one weapon and just using that.

The puzzles on offer to the player break up the hacky/slashy action; and are pretty simple on the most part. This is good, because it gives us a quick moment to rest from the awesomeness that is God of War 3's combat gameplay, while not taking us away from the best part of the game for too long.

I believe that the Boss fights in God of War 3 deserve a mention aside from the standard combat. For the most part, they are played using Quick Time Events, which i wouldn't normally care for; but the sheer quality and intensity of these pseudo-cutscenes makes up for the fact that they are there at all. This allows boos fights to end in a fittingly epic fashion.

REPLAYABILITY
This title offers no mulitplayer features; nor would players who have experienced the series before expect it to. The single player campaign stands up well enough on its own, and if players are trophy whores, it provides many challenges to raise their trophy count. On top of the core gore-fest that is the single player story, there are challenge rooms which set Kratos against ferocious opponents with specific conditions of victory.
They are called challenges for a reason; they are by no means easy, and can easily suck up a few hours of free time that players may have.

Also on offer are a variety of different costumes for Kratos to wear during the campaign; giving the players another reason to play through Kratos' god-murdering-simulator over and over again.

OVERVIEW
God of War 3 is an epic, stunningly beautiful gore-fest that's sure to keep you entertained for hours at a time. That said, the gameplay does get repetitive, like most games of the genre; but God Of War pulls off the hack and slash gameplay so well, chances are that you may not notice.
Puzzle gameplay is very basic, but fairly well designed. Most players will get a bit sick of the killing, but its all very well presented.

Definitely a game to try, but due to its length; maybe better off renting it. Unless you intend on playing through the campaign multiple times, then by all means, buy it and go nuts.

Once again, thanks for reading and constructive criticism is always welcome.
See you next time.

Bioshock 2

BioShock 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Marin and Irrational Games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles, and the Windows operating system. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 video game BioShock.

Having not played the first Bioshock (save the demo available on the Playstation Network), I only had a vague idea of what to expect from this game. After inserting the disc, i sat through a near unbearably long installation screen, accompanied by some jazzy, nostalgic 50's music. I liked the music... not the installation time. But the game more than made up for this.

STORY

Bioshock 2 is set 8 years after the original, but the story begins 10 years before this. You play as Subject Delta, the fourth prototype Big Daddy, who is forced to commit suicide by Sophia Lamb, this games Antagonist. Lamb informs you that the Little Sister you are bonded to was formerly her daughter.

It picks up when Subject Delta is revived in a Vita-Chamber in the now run-down and chaotic dystopia of Rapture. He receives psychic pleas for help from Eleanor, his former Little Sister, setting the story in motion.

A lot of the back story of Rapture was unknown to me when i began the game, but through the use of collectible audio logs, main points were explained to me through characters words and I'd soon caught up with why Rapture was in the state that is was. The plot is fairly solid and introduces us to a few interesting characters and familiarizes us with our surroundings.

PRESENTATION

Bioshock 2 is set in the underwater dystopia of Rapture, a city once a gleaming paradise for individuals to flourish, now run down and mostly ruined underwater hell. Its inhabitants are mostly homicidal maniacs called Splicers, who have used Plasmids and Gene Tonics to modify their genetics.

The "steampunk" feel of the environment is created through the placement of 50's style items such as antique radios, alongside the security cameras, security bots and vending machines selling genetic upgrades. Posters can be seen on the walls which have a distinctly 50's style to them.

The player will often feel unsettled by the environment due to the dark corridors; i often found myself jumping at shadows cast by enemies against flames around the next corner. The disgusting appearance of your enemies, along with the sometimes dark and spooky environments in Rapture made the setting feel like a hell.

The graphics look great in this game, though not being the most "realistic" you'll see in video games. Then again, who wants THAT much realism in video games?
It has a sort of cartoon-ish style to it that works well, especially with the Splicers and their cartoon like personalities.
The graphics in the underwater sections also look stunning. I found myself just looking around, watching the wildlife as i journey to the next section.
I was in awe as a saw the shadow of a giant squid fly past me, or when i caught a glimpse of a Big Sister stalking me.

The sound effects in Bioshock 2 are extremely effective in immersing the player into the atmosphere; from the terrifying screeches of the Big Sisters, to the scurrying of a nearby but unseen Spider Slicer. Quite often, you'll also come across a 50's style radio which plays music of that era. It helps to keep the game in a certain time zone, but it also makes the environment that much creepier. The sound also helps to convey the players existence as Subject Delta, from the heaviness of your footsteps, to the sound of bullets ricocheting off your armor.

Strong voice acting lends believability and personality to the characters you interact with mostly through audio logs and radio communication, while an excellent score conveys the mood of this once gleaming paradise.



GAMEPLAY
I've played First Person shooters before; and when i picked up Bioshock 2 I didn't think it was going to be all that different to F.E.A.R 2 or games of that sort. I was pleased to find out that a) there were no creepy little girls (who were trying to kill me at least..) and b) there's a lot more to Bioshock 2 than most FPS's.

First of all, you play as a prototype Big Daddy; a being who many will remember from the first game as terrifying and amazingly strong "monsters". This is conveyed in Bioshock 2 through the amount of damage your character can take, and how powerful his melee attacks are, especially when equipped with the giant drill.
The drill feels amazingly powerful, and its fun to ram it into enemy splicers.

The controls in Bioshock 2 work rather well, allowing all the shoulder buttons for Weapon and plasmid selection and combat. Switching between the two has been eliminated; now both can be wielded at the same time, allowing for some fun combinations of weapon and plasmid combat. For example, using Winter Blast on an opponent, then Drill charging them and shattering them to pieces.

Fights in Bioshock 2 are always chaotic, the game giving you 5 types of splicers to come up against, as well as the occasional Big Daddy or Big Sister fight. When it comes to splicers there are melee based thugs, gun based Leadheads, Brutes, acrobatic Spiders and Houdini's (who can teleport and fling fireballs at you).

Enemy AI seems natural, Leadheads will try to shoot from cover, Spiders will drop from ceilings to startle you; and if any of them catch fire, they will run for water to put themselves out. This is always a good opportunity to zap them with a lightning bolt, which will help turn the environment into your weapon.

There are 8 available "weapons", but only 6 of them are actually weapons. You get your drill, rivet gun, machine gun, launcher, shotgun and the always entertaining spear gun. Each of these can be upgraded at "Power to the people" machines, which, sadly, may only be used once per machine. This means you have to choose your upgrades wisely.
There are also two non-lethal "weapons; the research camera: used for gaining upgrades against certain enemies; and the hack tool: used to hack bots and cameras.

There are also 11 plasmids to choose from, and about 55 gene tonics. Plasmids are active "superpowers" ranging from Fireball throwing (Incinerate!) or freeze blasts (winter blast), to Shooting bees from your wrists (swarm). Gene tonics are items that can be equipped to give your character background upgrades, like speed boosts.

All of that said, many players will find their perfect combination of Plasmids and weapon attacks, which makes many of the plasmids and gene tonics obsolete. Players may find that they're picking up ammo for guns they rarely use, because they already have a plan for all encounters.

An aspect of gameplay that keeps popping up is hacking. This "pseudo quick-time-event" has replaced the boring "plumbing" minigame from bioshock one, and has made hacking a little more challenging, but a lot quicker. Hacking has various purposes, such as reprogramming enemy bots to aid you, or getting free stuff and reduced prices at vending machines; but gets really repetitive.

Being a Big Daddy, your character is inside a pressurized diving suit, allowing him to survive on the ocean floor, if only for short periods of time. Walking around in this environment feels as if you're underwater; jumping feels nearly weightless, and guns/plasmids have been disabled, as they wouldn't work effectively in the environment.

MINOR SPOILER ALERT- Moral Choices

A core part of the gameplay seems to revolve around moral choices, whether or not to kill certain NPC's or to harvest or adopt Little Sisters. As with most games involving moral choice systems, they affect the outcome of the game. Being a jerk will get you the evil ending, while being a nice guy (with severely less powerful plasmids etc. i might add)will get you a happy ending.

Apparently there's some middle ground with the ending if you're only kind of a jerk, but being the power crazy meanie that i am, i got the evil ending. It seems a bit silly to give players these opportunities to make their character more powerful, then giving them the unhappy ending, but oh well.

Replayabilty
With the aforementioned moral choice systems, players may find the need to replay the single player game again to get the alternate ending. This could give them the chance to also change the way they play, as well as farm a few trophies or achievements. The amount of different plasmids and gene tonics makes gameplay extremely varied, and gives plays the chance to play whichever way they want.

There are also up to 100 audio logs to collect, which helps to reveal the back story of Rapture through personal accounts. The existence of these gives players an actual reason to explore the decaying paradise of Rapture again.

The multiplayer aspect of Bioshock 2 isn't nearly as strong as other games, such as Call of Duty, Halo, or Resistance; but it is quite unique, and has a story separate from the main single player story. It takes place in Rapture during the civil war; and players take the role of citizens who have signed up for Sinclair Solutions plasmid field research.

The playable characters all have a back story and have audio logs which help to reveal even more of the story. Gameplay in multiplayer is fun and chaotic, with players using weapons and plasmids against each other; and randomly appearing big daddy suits are available to the play who gets to it fastest.
Game modes include your standard Free-for-all and team deathmatch, but also Last Splicer standing, Turf War (king of the hill), Capture the Sister (capture the flag), ADAM grab and Team ADAM grab.

OVERVIEW
Bioshock 2 has an in depth story to tell; and it is woven seamlessly in with the ever changing gameplay that allows players to play how they want to. The path may be linear but how you travel that path is completely up to you.
Some aspects of gameplay get repetitive; such as hacking, or helping Little Sisters harvest ADAM, only to get attacked by a big sister after all encounters, whether you save the Sisters or harvest them.
Also, gameplay is interesting, but only if players find the need to try new things when battling enemies. If the same plasmid/weapon combos get used, it gets stale after a while. But that's all up to the player.
The presentation of this game is fantastic, and it really immerses you into the environment. However, graphics leave a little (and i mean very little) something to be desired.

Bioshock 2 is a fantastic game; anyone who enjoyed the first game will enjoy this one too. Anyone new to the world of Rapture may enjoy this too, if they're looking for an FPS with a twist. Its an extremely atmospheric environment and that was enough to draw me into the game (as well as the use of superpowers). It was an immersive roller coaster ride, taking players from (seemingly) abandoned, pitch black corridors, to chaotic battles with multiple Splicers.


As per usual, constructive criticism is encouraged... and i mean CONSTRUCTIVE. Saying something is pathetic is NOT constructive.

Thanks for reading =).

My First Review- Killzone 2

OK, so before i get going, i do realise that Killzone 2 has been available since February last year. That said, i currently lack the funds to be able to review new games as often as I'd like to. Besides, its never too late to give your opinion on a piece of art. And that's what video games are, another form of art. Lets get on with it!

Killzone 2 (Developed by Guerrilla Games) is a First person shooter, exclusive to the PS3, about two warring factions, the Helghast, and the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance. The game follows on from Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, which help to explain the story of Killzone 2, but they aren't absolutely required

STORY
The player controls Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a part of Alpha Team, who are deployed behind enemy lines to take the enemy capital. The player soon discovers that the Helghast are more formidable than they've been lead to believe; due in part to the unforgiving Helghan environment.

Storytelling is an important part of gaming, and Killzone 2's story is adequate. If you've played the first Killzone, you'll understand why exactly The ISA is invading Helghan, but if you're new to the series, you'll know that the ISA are the good guys but you wont know why (except that the the enemy soldiers have glowing red eyes and their uniforms are a mix between Darth Vader and Nazi soldiers).

This lack of explanation is by no means a deal breaker. The story that happens while you're on Helghan is in no way bad, it could just use a little background. Im quite sure that the Helghast may be Space Nazi's.... but I'm not 100% on that.

PRESENTATION
This game is presented in a way that makes you feel as if you are caught in a large semi-futuristic conflict. There are grenades exploding all over the place, you're being fired at on all sides and your allies are dying all around you. From the first time your team enters the battle to the final cut scene, the game feels hectic and fast paced; it certainly immerses the player in an unforgiving, violent war zone.

The graphics of Killzone 2 are amazing. The colour scheme may be the same as so many other games out there these days (a mix of boltgun metal grey and rusty brown), but it works. That, along with the particle effects help to create a gloomy, war-torn and miserable environment. The lighting effects are also rather incredible as everything in this game casts some amount of light, from the Helghasts glowing red eyes to the lights from soldiers uniforms.
The look of the game would be perfect if not for some lagging when it wants to load a new area along with some other minor technical issues.

The 7.1 channel sound captures every little aural detail of the battlefield, from the sound of gunshots, to the screams of dying soldiers. Killzone 2 also has a GREAT soundtrack which helps to set the mood of this action-packed game.

The voice acting and dialogue on the other hand is pretty disappointing. It seems like the dialogue is packed full of cursing to cater for younger audiences who actually find it entertaining.
A smaller amount of swearing might have been suitable, its a war, everyone swears. But the frequency of it, coupled with the sub-par deliverance of the lines, was unfortunate.
However, the script is sometimes saved by gems of dialogue; such as Helghast troops gossiping about how some of their squad was executed for "Uniform violations" and your allies constant "Your mom" jokes.

GAMEPLAY
The controls in Killzone 2 are a pretty unusual at first (some may say Craptastic) and they made playing Killzone 2 really awkward for me. Luckily the control layout can be changed to what i would say is the more familiar control scheme for FPS's (the call of duty scheme as i like to call it). After that problem was sorted, playing this game was as natural as any other.

Movement feels as if your character is wearing layers of thick armour, which they are. This adds to the sense of realism in the game, but it takes some getting used to at first. The jumping mechanism is also very cool in how the character seems to crouch, then jump, then crouch again to absorb the impact when he lands. There is also a cover system that is rather effective. If you crouch near a wall or some form of cover, you'll stick to it, allowing you to line up shots from relative safety.

Allied AI and Enemy AI are both good quality in this game. Your allies aren't all Pants on head retarded, although they do need saving quite often if you leave them to fight alone. But at least they'll kill a few enemies before they're down. The enemy AI works frighteningly well too. Playing on the veteran difficulty had them throwing grenades at me to get me out of cover, as well as trying to flank me with shotgun troops. This is in stark contrast to the AI on the easier difficulty settings, where i often saw troops running towards grenades. However this happened only a few times and ONLY in the easier settings.

Guns fire as i would expect them to fire and recoil, like in all shooters, needs to be taken into account. There aren't many different types of guns and all are similar, with little details that set them apart. Most primary guns are fully automatic assault rifles, with the exception of an SMG and a rifle. There are also your standard explosive primary weapons; rocket launchers and grenade launchers.

The game also offers 4 special primary weapons which are, unfortunately, limited to certain levels. These are so much fun to use, its insane.
Basically, you have a sniper rifle and a flame thrower, which are both kind of standard. Then there's the VC5 Arc Gun, which shoots an electric charge at enemies; and the VC21 Boltgun, which is like a giant, super-powered nail gun. I wasted so much time on the Boltgun level just nailing Helghast to walls!

The best thing about the combat in this game (for me) is that shooting a Helghast seems to have some force behind it. Instead of a generic death animation, the enemies respond to shots kinetically, making for some unique enemy deaths, based on what weapon you used and where on the landscape the enemy was.

There are a couple of vehicle segments in the game, and i wont spoil it for anyone who hasn't played this game before. In short, the vehicle sections are fun and i think there should have been more of them, or they should have been made longer.
In these vehicles I felt like I was making a difference in the war and it would have been nice to see more of it.

Guerrilla Games have also utilized the Playstation 3's six-axis motion control feature of the controllers. These don't seem particularly gimmicky as they work well in the context of the game. Turning the controller is used to turn valves or activate bombs by activating lights and it all works extremely well. Possibly my favourite use of the motion controls is when sniping. By keeping the controller as still as possible, your aim becomes steadier, enabling you to have a more precise aim.

REPLAYABILITY
I've been playing this game regularly since i bought it. Whether I'm playing the campaign again to get more trophies, or playing Warzone (The online multiplayer) or Skirmish (Multiplayer for loners against bots).
I haven't experienced as much of the online game as i would have liked too, but what i have experienced, i enjoyed. Games were fast paced and hectic and though Team Deathmatch (known as Body Count) was a part of the mix, there were game modes like Assassination, Search & Retrieve (a bit like capture the flag), Search & Destroy and Capture & Hold.
After extensive Internet issues at my place of residence, i gave up on War zone and decided to try skirmish, and it was actually fun. Just like online, except the bots don't camp and i don't have to put up with annoying chatters.

OVERVIEW
OK, so Killzone 2 may not have the best story or particularly memorable characters but it is an game that's definitely worth a look at, even if you aren't big on FPS. It has stunning visuals and excellent sound effects which can really immerse you in the war torn environment of Helghan. The controls can be a bit awkward, but with some tinkering, they work smoothly, and the game in general is really fun. Which in the end is really the main point, right?

To all who have not yet tried this game, I urge you to check it out! It has its (minor) problems, but it was definitely one of the better games to come out of early 2009.

Leave comments and such to give some constructive criticism =)