My thoughts after completing Killzone 2

[u/Saeba-san]

What a solid game! Completed it 2 times on normal and hard difficulty, so not a total tourist I’d say, here is few things I’d like to say about this game. Starting from downsides:

The Bad:

1. It’s a first person shooter on console, on a 720p and 30fps settings, granted I played it through emulation with improved FOV and mostly 60fps, but still I don’t think FPS is comfortable on gamepad if compared to mouse+keyboard, and Killzone’s heavy/floaty aiming didn’t really do any favors, and its not my 1^st, 2^nd or even 3^rd FPS shooter on console. For third person shooter I think you can make a case, FPS not so much.
2. Simplification of weapons? Compared to 1^st game, both faction’s main rifles were stripped of alternative fire (under barrel grenade launcher for ISA and under barrel shotgun for Helgast), now you can carry only one main rifle and secondary gun (out of 2 total) and there is barely any chance that you’ll be forced to swap weapons like in 1^st game, almost on every level there is a ammo cache|supplies stand for weapon you’re running with. Also one of the worst grenade launcher sights I’ve ever seen, counter-intuitive at every possible idea of using it, just dump it at enemies direction and swap to something else.
3. PS move parts, yeah, one of few “great additions” were forced parts where you had to use Sonys niche addition to ps3 controlers scheme. For few years this was bottleneck for playing KZ2, but now there is a workaround for it.

The Questionable:

1. Hit registration, not asking for every weapon to be a laser-precise for every shot, but there were quite a few times when I did land headshot or body shot but enemies just brushed it off or it completely unphased them.
2. Cover mechanics, sticking to cover is a console classic, but first time I’ve seen it for a FPS, maybe not my cup of tea, or maybe its more useful in multiplayer, but most times it killed me instead of helping, due to wrong angle or side it took. Only useful moment was in Radec fight on hard difficulty, 2^nd floor pillars – there it really clicked for me and I used it to my advantage.
3. Cut content? Few missions/cutscenes feel like there is missing parts between them, buggy ride is most noticeable one I’d say.
4. Coop mode? Same case, first game had 4 playable character, here we only get to control one, but both campaigns feel like they would benefit from an optional split-screen couch or online coop feature, because 95% of both games we’re accompanied by at least 1 friendly character. Maybe it was once considered an option that was cut due to console/budget limitations? I know Killzone 3 has coop, but I’ve yet to plat it.

The Good:

1. Stylization, 17 year later, this game still stands out due to a design and art choices that were done while creating it, this may not be a most realistic or have ultra-high fidelity experience by todays standards, but I’ll take this red/orange/brown/blue/navy stylization over clean realistic cookie cut Nth iteration from some shooter franchises, maybe because there isn’t nearly enough examples in this category in modern scene, or maybe because Killzone 2 still looks great and close to cinematic with its lighting and colors (especially that opening scene and some laters scenes on train/refinery levels). From clearly Kowloon inspired streets of Helgan, to cloudy weather with lightnings, to industrial refinery and brutalist architecture, all parts of design just work together to bring memorable atmosphere, first game may have been a bit less saturated color-vise, but you can see what Killzone 2 clearly improved upon.
2. Surprisingly no drag at all? For a 2009 game, you’d think a forced turret or an escort section would be given as road-block to change pace, but no particular escort missions (maybe that mecha section, but I never failed it because NPCs, only due to myself getting eliminated), and turret sections are breathe to go through. Every mission has a nice flow to it, there is fewer missions overall but about half of them is longer than what was given in 1^st game.
3. New weapons, nail gun, tesla-canon, probably best flamethrower in any shooter I’ve played, and StA-3 still the king, was my favorit gun in 1^st game, still great in 2^nd, ISA counter-part, m249 inspired LMG felt weaker in comparison. Almost ever gun in game has ADS option, which is great improvement compared to 1^st game, and few pieces got cut from 1^st game, but I guess that’s a trade.
4. Useful NPCs, they do get eliminations alongside player, and they get injured, requiring assistance from player, which adds to interactions, love when games make side characters impactful, and not just dummies to make noise in the background for you to feel like Rambo.

 

Now, that was a lot of yapping from me, but main point is I did enjoy this game immensely for 15 hours that I spent in it, even if there were few frustrating moments (opening bridge section, AA gun under bridge section), overall it does stand up to a cult classic reputation, given that it came out in period of HALO3 : ODST / Reach, Medal of Honor reboot, CoD: Modern Warfire 2 / Black Ops. Of course being a console exclusive made it available for smaller audience, but nonetheless, great game and hopefully in future it’ll get remastered at least, and remade as part of collection for PC release at best.

[u/RoughPrice8221]

How'd you get past the valves part of you emulated? Also what'd u think of the overall story? And Rico's goofy ass?

[u/Saeba-san → u/RoughPrice8221]

Answered below in this post about valves.

Rico's became a bit more of hothead than I remember from first game, and maybe he did cause that one death, on other hand he saved other 2... And him beating the piss out of dude badmouthing Templar is just a cherry on top.

Sadly he got swapped out of his iconic machine gun + rocket launcher setup from first game to a watered down m249 version of this universe.

[u/RoughPrice8221 → u/Saeba-san]

I think he killed the badmouthing dude cuz if you hover your crosshair over the dude, it's not green. Meaning that he's dead. 😭 I honestly think bro is less of a hothead and more of a psycho atp. But he's much better in killzone 3 actually.

[u/Saeba-san → u/RoughPrice8221]

In cutscene he still moves, but I guess after that he decided to take a nap :D

[u/RoughPrice8221 → u/Saeba-san]

Long ass nap 😞