Product Description

Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA are taking the fight to Helghan. Their goal: to capture the Helghast leader, Emperor Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. You assume the role of Sev, a battle-hardened veteran and a member of the special forces unit known as the Legion.

For Sev and his squad, the invasion of Helghan is just beginning. Tasked with securing Pyrrhus, the Capital City, they quickly discover that the Helghast are a formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to the planet's hostile conditions, they have also harnessed a source of power they can now use against the ISA.

Sev and his squad aren't just fighting the enemy forces - their fiercest opponent is the planet itself.

Welcome to Helghan, soldier!

• Experience realistic, highly atmospheric environments that respond dynamically to the violent conditions on Helgha
• Witness the devastating effects of Helghan's climate as it forces you and your enemies to adapt to new tactics
• Face off against fearsome enemies who have learned to wield the hostility of Helghan itself against their opponents
• Operate new and exotic weapons and vehicles, in addition to trusty Killzone classics like the M82-G and the StA-52 LAR

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1204 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Sony
• Released on: 2009-02-27
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3
• Original language: English, German, French, Russian
• Subtitled in: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Finnish, Dutch, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish
• Dimensions: .0 pounds

Manufacturer's Description
The original Killzone never quite fulfilled its promise as Sony's "Halo killer", but the second game has already become the PlayStation 3's definitive first person shooter. Renowned for its graphics from the first moment it was previewed, there's a lot more to this game than just state-of-the-art visuals.

The enemy Helghast are one of gaming's most deadly adversaries

Main character Sev and his squad face an almost impossible mission

You can take control of vehicles in both single and multiplayer modes

Snipers are just one of the basic classes to play as in multiplayer

With a more realistic, gritty feel than other Sci-Fi shooters, this is more like a World War II game in space. Most weapons are very similar to modern day armaments and there's a constant emphasis on finding and using cover.

Although the single player campaign is impressively large and varied the game's longevity comes from the multiplayer. The new class-based game modes means everyone gets to pick a different role according to how they prefer to play, with clans of players teaming up to take on their rivals. The end result is a game that's very different to Halo - but just as good in its own right.

Key Features

• Real McCoy: After years of hype, Sony finally has a top quality first person shoot 'em-up to go up against the best that the Xbox 360 can field.
• The new standard: The best graphics yet on the PlayStation 3, with a huge game world, fully destructible environments and amazing animation.
• Too real: Some of the most realistic enemy artificial intelligence ever in a video game, with soldiers that use real world tactics, but also make mistakes and change their mind.
• Duck and cover: Unique "lean and peek" cover system is the most advanced yet seen in a first person game, where death can come at any moment.
• Class war: Choose the multiplayer character class that suits you and customise it with 16 different abilities to match your playing style.

About the Developer: Guerrilla Games
This up-and-coming studio is the biggest game developer in the Netherlands. It first hit the headlines with first person shoot 'em-ups Killzone and Shellshock: Nam '67. The games got a mixed reception, but Sony was confident enough to buy them in 2005 as they began work on Killzone 2.

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Customer Reviews

Awesome.
This game is very good, well worth the money. its gorgeous to look at, action packed. Make sure you use the cover system else you will die a lot!
A
tip for killing Radec: hide in a corner on the 2nd floor, get your knife out. when he approaches stab him a few times. when he vanishes and re-appears on the first floor, shoot him twice with the sniper rifle. then go back into the corner and wait for him to appear. stab him again. repeat this process until he's dead!

Its even better online as well. definitely worth buying, especially at this price.

Full Campaign Review
Exclusive titles come under the most intense scrutiny. If this were a multi-format release, the majority of players would admire what Guerilla has achieved here. Similarly, if PS3's immediate future didnt rest soley with Killzone 2, expectations would be more realistic. Admittedly the developers havent helped their situation.
The now infamous 2005 video lodged Killzone 2 high on wish lists. Whilst the visuals don't match that remarkable CGI film, it comes respectably close. It is the most attractive game on PS3, and aside from shelling out thousands on a PC capable of running Crysis, it's the prettiest shooter ever made.

The biggest surprise is the fact there's some real substance behind those stunning good looks. Killzone 2 takes the full bodied realism approach to the next level; it feels slow at first, but everything moves deliberately, with weight and purpose. Throwing a grenade, reloading and even movement takes longer than usual. It lends Killzone 2 an element of tension usually absent from shooters, and is much better for it.
The cover system works like a dream; differentiating itself from similar set ups, but remaining intuitive and relaible. Although controls can't be specifically mapped, theres a wide selction of schemes available. Alt 2 moves the gun sight to L1, which is far more instinctive, as Call of Duty addicts will agree.
Movie clips are done with the in-game engine, and are spectacularly directed. Its also impressive that Guerilla has managed to squeeze some new ideas out of the exhausted space marines concept. Somehow, Alpha squads story feels involving and (in places) unpredictable.
Variations in combat are brilliantly done. Controlling an exo-skeleton is a real highlight. Manning a battle cannon to defend the ISA fleet is also superbly handled, both visually and mechanically. Subtle touches, like rotating the loading screen picture, make presentation top notch. Six-axis controls for planting C4, and turning cranks, are also brilliant innovations.

But Killzone 2 isnt perfect. Headshots rarely count, and when overwhelmed, proves frustrating. The game also jerks violently when loading the next section. The optimum HD display is only 720p, which was surprising to find no 1080 options. Not that the visuals need improving. Only being able to carry one weapon (as well as a pistol), can also lead to unintentionally difficult moments. Yet makes combat brutally realistic.
Minor flaws however. This feels like the most exciting, genre defining shooter since Call of Duty 4. It really is that good.

A non-geek's thoughts
I am so non-geek, I don't understand some of the lingo used in many of the other reviews, but my thoughts might just be useful for someone as naïve as me as far as PS3 shooter games are concerned.

OK, here's what I think. It's an excellent game and although I can't mention the specific price it is now fantastic value, an absolute bargain. But after three or four hours I still feel that it's better than I am. That's good of course, no-one wants a game that's too easy, but it does require a fair amount of skill to really get on top of. My main gripe - amd I know this is probably a fault of my own, not the game - is the difficulty in taking aim really quickly. Whenever I have played GT5 Prologue I've always preferred to use the D-pad (sorry if that's the wrong name) rather than the two thumb-sticks (that game offers the choice), I find the D-pad much more accurate for tiny movement inputs while the thumb-sticks - the only option for K2 - I find are more inaccurate and over-sensitive. And I wish I could reverse the polarity of the right thumb-stick, I have as yet to find the forward/up and backward/down combination as intuitive as many others seem to; I've even tried to hold the controller upside down but that means switching hands too, so that didn't help! If there's a way of reversing the north-south polarity, if that's the right word (I did say I don't know the lingo!) then please add a comment below.

I do like the game, it kind of reminds me of Call of Duty as I suppose everyone knows - not the latest one mind you. After a few hours, and in particular after seeing the trailers for the latest Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3), Killzone 2 does seem just slightly 'last year' in overall style but it's still addictive. I got it on the same day as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3) which while not being quite the same thing I nevertheless found to be instantly preferable (I prefer third-person shooters) and stunningly better on graphics and more intuitive. It might look a little odd that I'm suggesting that it's inferior to two other games - much newer ones though - and I guess I would rate this as 9/10.

As there are more than 200 reviews of Killzone 2 here, there's little point in going through all the features as many other reviewers have already done a great job in that department. I just wanted to post some early thoughts on it, it's definitely a fantastic game and its real attraction right at this moment, nearly a year after its release, is its price: you can't go wrong now.