Killzone 2

[destrekor]

First, this is not fanboy-driven hype, at least not from me. Some Sony fanboys might be crazy hyping Killzone 2 as the end-all be-all of console FPS games, and hmm... while I may be here to do the same - albeit on a much lesser scale - it is merely just hype of a potentially killer game. Nobody should miss out on this, not even if it only ends being half the game I expect it to me.
And with rumors of a possible price cut around the end of Winter/beginning of Spring, I can only hope for that price cut to come a week or two prior to Killzone 2's release so this game can reach the larger audience it deserves at release. For the amount of money Guerrilla/Sony invested in this game, they deserve that much if, again, it's even half the game I'm expecting.

So onto the good stuff.
From IGN:

According to Arjan Brussee, Development Director at Guerrilla, the development team built out a deferred rendering engine, which combines up to eight separate buffers within a section to create a final image for the screen. He demonstrated this by turning on and off the Z buffers, specular lighting, texture buffers and other layers to show off the various elements that made up the composite image, and finally showed what the entire stage would look like when combined. On top of this, Arjan pointed out, lighting and motion blur effects within the game are performed as a full screen pass to blend all of these effects together. Arjan stressed that the game's engine was so detailed that, "each pixel has velocity. It's not just a special effect, but this is used for particles, it's used for explosions, and it's used for motion blurring for character movement, which adds an extra sense of depth."

There's much more to the Killzone 2 engine than deferred rendering and screen passes; in fact, Arjan mentioned that every composite that is rendered within the game is placed solely upon the SPUs to lock in the framerate at a solid 30 FPS. During small battles, one or two SPUs will pick up a majority of the action, but during heavy firefights with large explosions and numerous characters onscreen, all six SPUs will pick up the load and balance everything accurately. Surprisingly, even within the heaviest firefight onscreen, Arjan pointed out that the largest load on each one of the SPUs didn't exceed 60%, which ensured that the framerate remained consistent throughout the game. On top of this, Arjan pointed out everything from light bloom and internal lens reflection effects to true geometric particles that fly from walls and collide with the ground realistically based on the direction of an explosion.

What's more, each light that's shown in a level, whether it's the individual lights on an ISA outfit or from the Helghast goggles, are true lights that will illuminate their environment. This means that as the Helghast move, for example, their glowing faces will actually cast beams of light that will fall on the walls and other objects around them. On one map, he indicated more than 200 individual light sources that behaved as true lights along with the other finer details, rendering and screen passes from before. Arjan also pointed out that "every single polygon within the game as a texture id, so when it's shot in the game, it responds accurately to the particular bullet." That includes ray tracing of every bullet hole, but it also includes loads of detail that might be easily missed by players as they run and gun their way through these battles like dynamically burning cloth, swelling and flowing water, and dust and smoke particles.

Apart from the visual elements and SPU usage to make the game look incredible, Guerilla has also put in a lot of work to make sure that the aural presentation is incredible as well. Mario Lavin, audio director on Killzone 2, pointed out that the action within the game will be supported by adaptive music within 7.1 surround sound. What that means is that each individual music loop within the game will respond seamlessly to the action onscreen. For example, during calmer moments, there will be a much more ambient soundtrack playing, but during firefights, there may be a driving percussion track to set the pace of the action. Lavin likened the system to the dynamic performance of a DJ, who can feel the right moments to pick up the rhythm of a track and when to slow it down.

According to Lavin, Joris De Man, the composer of Killzone 2's music, wanted to make sure that there were different themes and colors attached to each loop, because he wanted the music to affect how a player approaches the game in certain moments. On top of the music presentation, De Man and Lavin wanted to make sure that there were plenty of ambient sound effects and reverberations that made the game stand out. As a result, Mario recorded effects like wind in different arrangements to help his team present a claustrophobic or open area feeling to each area. This carried over to balancing the sound for every weapon so they sound completely different when fired in outdoor or indoor situations. When you combine this with some of the other elements, such as Brian Cox stepping into the role of Emperor Visari, the overall sound of Killzone 2 is truly engrossing

While screenshots can vary between looking pretty good to jaw-dropping, the beauty is seeing it in motion, especially on your own display. I got the chance to play the multiplayer beta during Phase 2 (not sure if it's over yet, haven't played it a lot because personally I don't want to.. long enough wait till the game releases anyhow, don't wanna make that any more unbearable), and even during the beta, it looks phenomenal in all its 720p glory. Even more so when considering the download was less than 300mb! So textures were definitely limited in quality.

As described in other sections of that recent hands-on, it's just pure beauty watching everything about it in motion. Not just the graphical nature, but the detail in everything. Bullet hits on characters have a great looking kinetic detail, where the body reacts to each hit, even if they stay standing you see that arm jerk back, or the left side of the body jerk back when struck on the left side of the body. Body movements definitely feel a lot slower than other recent games, even COD4, but motion feels so right, like what you'd expect.

After Killzone, which looked amazing for the PS2 but had an ample arsenal of bugs and technical hitches that really distracted from the game. But the story alone sold me to get Killzone 2 almost no matter what, but now seeing the detail and beauty that is in K2, it's readily apparent that not only did the $20m+ development costs pay off, but working tightly with Sony really allowed them to take full advantage of the PS3. How they described the use of the Cell, and what they were able to pull off, and seemingly with room to spare, is just amazing. I won't go on and say it cannot be pulled off on less complicated processors, as I have absolutely no clue. It's likely it can, and possible that it cannot. But all the post-processing and full-pass video effects done, while maintaining a stable 30fps, just really shows that prior to K2, it seems developers haven't been putting real and worthwhile effort into engine development. Hopefully K2 isn't the only game to use this engine, but there are development tools that Sony developed that Guerrilla used for this game (and were made for this game during development but specifically for Sony to have available for all developers), so looking forward to future games just with that known.

Hell, I'm just impressed that the Helghast's goggles are real light sources with dynamic lighting effects from them in the environment. That'll look amazing once there are dark interior scenes, but screenshots showing the lighting on the weapons from the goggles really sell that all on there own.

 

[TecHNooB]

The engine sounds phenominal but the textures still look blurry and scenes don't look crisp without motion blur. Hopefully they're holding back the real textures until release (if that makes any sense at all ).

 

[nycxandy]

I'm buying a PS3 for Killzone.

 

[tatteredpotato]

Originally posted by: nycxandy
I'm buying a PS3 for Killzone.

That's odd, I'm buying Killzone for PS3!

But seriously, I welcome anything that comes even close to tempting me to buy a PS3 game.... That hasn't happened since MGS4.

 

[blurredvision]

I just hope it controls well. Graphics are fine and all, but make sure it feels natural!! I'm looking forward to see how this game turns out, and might pick it up based on how it reviews.

 

[nycxandy]

Originally posted by: ObscureCaucasian

Originally posted by: nycxandy
I'm buying a PS3 for Killzone.

That's odd, I'm buying Killzone for PS3!

But seriously, I welcome anything that comes even close to tempting me to buy a PS3 game.... That hasn't happened since MGS4.

I was originally going to get a PS3 for GT5, but that's not coming out anytime soon.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: blurredvision
I just hope it controls well. Graphics are fine and all, but make sure it feels natural!! I'm looking forward to see how this game turns out, and might pick it up based on how it reviews.

based on the beta, it controls pretty well. As in, character movement and everything feels fluid and very natural, but button mapping leaves a little to be desired. What was offered in the beta was a handful of button mapping choices, but none of them really matched what I'm looking for. I'd prefer, like what Resistance 2 offered - completely custom button mapping if desired.
And that's the main reason it only felt a little off for me, was because I couldn't get the controls to what I was used to, and had a little trouble adjusting. With more play I'm sure I'd grow used to it enough and it'd again feel like great controls, but I'd much rather just prefer custom button mapping.

 

[Blurry]

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
The engine sounds phenominal but the textures still look blurry and scenes don't look crisp without motion blur. Hopefully they're holding back the real textures until release (if that makes any sense at all ).

I'm afraid the textures won't be much improved on the final version of the game (not that I'm not hoping for it) because the lack of VRAM is really holding the PS3 back. There are workarounds for this, but it is very limited because only very linear games (i.e Uncharted) can load textures off the HDD. For something as dynamic as Killzone 2...its all down to the video memory.

256mb just ain't enough.

Nevertheless, this game truly raises the bar for all consoles and PC graphics.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: Blurry

Originally posted by: TecHNooB
The engine sounds phenominal but the textures still look blurry and scenes don't look crisp without motion blur. Hopefully they're holding back the real textures until release (if that makes any sense at all ).

I'm afraid the textures won't be much improved on the final version of the game (not that I'm not hoping for it) because the lack of VRAM is really holding the PS3 back. There are workarounds for this, but it is very limited because only very linear games (i.e Uncharted) can load textures off the HDD. For something as dynamic as Killzone 2...its all down to the video memory.

256mb just ain't enough.

Nevertheless, this game truly raises the bar for all consoles and PC graphics.

well to be fair, what tends to be the case in preview code is that final artwork is often not applied, as they are more focused on making sure the engine, coding, and game dynamics are sound. The art team might even still be working on the final textures.
Or, they are the final textures. But oh well. Some of the textures shown in some screen shots actually looking brilliant and very detailed, some with some damn good bump-mapping applied. While others, yes, don't look the best. But in game, shooting and running, and with the lighting applied, it's going to be less noticeable and I definitely won't care that much. The overall effect is what I enjoy most. Only in less dynamic games do I really look for great texture work.

However, while the game is kind of dynamic, the level construction is rather linear. They have admitted to this, and I find no fault in that. Action-packed, story-driven FPS games don't need to super open imho, as it kind of takes away from the ability to deliver the moments that really really shine.
Killzone 2 is going to be taking a very Call of Duty approach to game pacing, which I am definitely okay with, because that approach can delivery the most cinematic and memorable FPS moments.

 

[R Nilla]

Just watched some of the new videos on Gametrailers. This looks awesome. Here's hoping to some good reviews and another reason for me to get a PS3 :thumbsup:

 

[coldmeat]

This still isn't out yet? Wasn't this the game they were using to promote the PS3 long before the system was even released?

 

[hans030390]

<- Also played the beta (private portion of phase 2)

Destrekor - The download was actually just under 500mb

Blurredvision - I thought the controls were just fine. I've heard GG mention how the game feels "heavier" to move around/aim than other games to be more realistic, and it is true. However, I never felt like it controlled poorly at all. I even had some guys play it down the hall in my dorm, and they said nothing about controls.

As for the textures, they honestly are usually not the best by any means, and they likely won't get much better by release. Even the character models aren't nearly as detailed as something from Gears of War. However, there's something about the game that just makes it beautiful...really, one of the best looking games I've ever seen. There were some issues with framerate, but that could get worked out in two months time. Everyone who's played or watched me play it stated it was one of the best looking games yet.

One of my artsy friends commented on how the textures/colors/shading/shadows worked so well together to create a real sense of depth, where as games like GoW may be detailed, they lack that quality...which was apparently really important and immediately noticeable to him. I really don't know what it means, but I just thought I'd bring it up...

After my beta experience, I can honestly so far say that this game deserves a good deal of hype. It should be very, very good.

 

[purbeast0]

so what you are saying ... is that the game has great graphics?

yes, this has been known since 2005.

how the game plays and the AI for this game is what I really care about at this point. either way i'm buying it on day 1.

P.S. - calling IGN "not fanboys" is is like saying the sky is not up. the probably have their 10/10 review of KZ2 already written.

 

[destrekor]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
so what you are saying ... is that the game has great graphics?

yes, this has been known since 2005.

how the game plays and the AI for this game is what I really care about at this point. either way i'm buying it on day 1.

P.S. - calling IGN "not fanboys" is is like saying the sky is not up. the probably have their 10/10 review of KZ2 already written.

I wasn't referring to IGN at all when I mentioned fanboy. I was referring to myself, saying that my post and its contents were not fanboy-related.

Since 2005? Well, back then it was a CGI target-render. They've had a hell of a time I imagine getting close to that, but they've done a terrific job and it looks amazing.

Based on what I've seen and read, I have no real worries about this game and will have it pre-ordered.
However, if you want to read something funny, read Gamespot's preview from their beta experience. I think they played some other game. That, and they have a thorough distaste for PS3 hype and are decidedly anti-Sony whenever they can be. It'll be interesting to see the final review from them.

But AI sounds and looks pretty good, not the best ever but it looks to feel very right in combination with the linearity of the level progression.

I use really just using the graphical details to really sell that the PS3 is indeed capable of a lot, and as a way to hope that future titles from other developers will look as impressive, and not like bad-ports from lazy devs.

The gameplay is what is going to sell me on it thoroughly. But I just like how all the graphical effects combine to give a really authentic feel to the experience, as everything feels so 'right'. No other game has offered that, some have come close in areas but drop the ball, and its not bad design but either lazy devs or lack of knowledge of how to accomplish that all with the hardware/technology at hand.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

This game looks cool although I've heard alot of complaining about the controls and movement.

It looks like one of those games though that could, if good, edge me closer to buying a PS3. I think I'll pull the trigger when God of War 3 drops and then I'll pick up the few games I missed starting with Valkyria Chronicles and this.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
so what you are saying ... is that the game has great graphics?

yes, this has been known since 2005.

how the game plays and the AI for this game is what I really care about at this point. either way i'm buying it on day 1.

P.S. - calling IGN "not fanboys" is is like saying the sky is not up. the probably have their 10/10 review of KZ2 already written.

I was simply confirming that it looks great. Even after watching videos, I was still impressed when I played the beta.

The game, at least multiplayer, plays really well. AI, however...well, it's hard to say how it will turn out. I think it'll be decent at the very least.

I always thought IGN was more biased towards the Xbox/360. Then again, they all have different reviewers/writers for different consoles, so IGN is just...all fanboy? :Q

Originally posted by: bl4ckfl4g
This game looks cool although I've heard alot of complaining about the controls and movement. .

Controls were fine. I've had 4 others play my beta, and have yet to hear any complaints.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: hans030390

Originally posted by: purbeast0
so what you are saying ... is that the game has great graphics?

yes, this has been known since 2005.

how the game plays and the AI for this game is what I really care about at this point. either way i'm buying it on day 1.

P.S. - calling IGN "not fanboys" is is like saying the sky is not up. the probably have their 10/10 review of KZ2 already written.

I was simply confirming that it looks great. Even after watching videos, I was still impressed when I played the beta.

The game, at least multiplayer, plays really well. AI, however...well, it's hard to say how it will turn out. I think it'll be decent at the very least.

I always thought IGN was more biased towards the Xbox/360. Then again, they all have different reviewers/writers for different consoles, so IGN is just...all fanboy? :Q

IGN is not console-specific fanboys, they are mainstream fanboys and fanboys of anything that is hyped up and marketted a lot.

and i'm not disagreeing that the game doesn't LOOK great graphically, there is no need to confirm it, anybody who disagrees is just flat out lying and being "fanboyish" of the other consoles.

personally i would like to hear about some neat features instead of always having videos of this game shoved down my throat, because in all honesty, as it is right now, other than graphics, there really isn't much standing out to me in this game.

but i'm trying to also steer clear of hearing too much about this game so i'm not spoiled and will be surprised when I play it for the first time not knowing much about it, like I did with gears2, and that seemed to work out well.

 

[Gunslinger08]

The graphics look amazing. The AI however looks like a 3 year old.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: purbeast0
personally i would like to hear about some neat features instead of always having videos of this game shoved down my throat, because in all honesty, as it is right now, other than graphics, there really isn't much standing out to me in this game.

I'm not exactly sure what you're expecting, then. They haven't revealed many details about the SP campaign...but so far, it looks like a standard FPS campaign, which most FPS contain (even Halo 3).

The multiplayer is supposed to have plenty of robust features, so the MP aspect should also be well above average.

I'll be honest with you, though. I wasn't exactly sure what to think of the MP until I started playing. It did look pretty standard...actually, it looked like a TF2 copy in most ways. I'll still say that it borrows heavily from it, but also from Killzone 1 and CoD4, as mentioned in previews. And, you're right...nothing really stands out watching videos or even reading about it. But after I played it, all I can say is that something just feel very right about this game so far. I have high hopes for the final version based on the beta.

Originally posted by: joshsquall
The graphics look amazing. The AI however looks like a 3 year old.

Yeah, the AI doesn't look amazing. But all of the previews say it's pretty good...I guess we'll have to wait and see.

 

[Extelleron]

Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Originally posted by: Extelleron
Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

What are you taking about. Plenty of good games have come out for the PS3. Hell you could play PS2 games if you wanted to (Persona 4)

 

[Extelleron]

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Extelleron
Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

What are you taking about. Plenty of good games have come out for the PS3. Hell you could play PS2 games if you wanted to (Persona 4)

Exclusives? Resistance, MGS4, Resistance 2, Killzone 2 (when it comes out)....... there aren't a lot of strong exclusive games that I am aware of. I've had a PS3 since launch and I only own 3 games for it right now; Resistance, GTA4, and MGS4. MGS4 was one of the best games I've ever played but other than that the PS3 has been a Blu-Ray player and not a game console for me.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Extelleron
Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

What are you taking about. Plenty of good games have come out for the PS3. Hell you could play PS2 games if you wanted to (Persona 4)

Exclusives? Resistance, MGS4, Resistance 2, Killzone 2 (when it comes out)....... there aren't a lot of strong exclusive games that I am aware of. I've had a PS3 since launch and I only own 3 games for it right now; Resistance, GTA4, and MGS4. MGS4 was one of the best games I've ever played but other than that the PS3 has been a Blu-Ray player and not a game console for me.

Uncharted (best game on the system IMO), Rachet & Clank, Motorstorm, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, GT5, Warhawk, LittleBigPlanet off the top of my head....

 

[Dumac]

Originally posted by: Deeko

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Extelleron
Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

What are you taking about. Plenty of good games have come out for the PS3. Hell you could play PS2 games if you wanted to (Persona 4)

Exclusives? Resistance, MGS4, Resistance 2, Killzone 2 (when it comes out)....... there aren't a lot of strong exclusive games that I am aware of. I've had a PS3 since launch and I only own 3 games for it right now; Resistance, GTA4, and MGS4. MGS4 was one of the best games I've ever played but other than that the PS3 has been a Blu-Ray player and not a game console for me.

Uncharted (best game on the system IMO), Rachet & Clank, Motorstorm, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, GT5, Warhawk, LittleBigPlanet off the top of my head....

Don't forget Valkyria Chronicles. It's an excellent game.

Anyway, I hope KZ2 delivers. I'm always eager to add to my PS3 collection.

 

[hans030390]

Originally posted by: Extelleron

Originally posted by: tenshodo13

Originally posted by: Extelleron
Looks very good for a PS3 game, too bad this isn't on the PC where the devs would have up to 4x the amount of VRAM and probably 10x the power of the G71 GPU found in the PS3.

Unfortunately there is still a great drought of good PS3 games, but at least we can count on one good game come next year.

What are you taking about. Plenty of good games have come out for the PS3. Hell you could play PS2 games if you wanted to (Persona 4)

Exclusives? Resistance, MGS4, Resistance 2, Killzone 2 (when it comes out)....... there aren't a lot of strong exclusive games that I am aware of. I've had a PS3 since launch and I only own 3 games for it right now; Resistance, GTA4, and MGS4. MGS4 was one of the best games I've ever played but other than that the PS3 has been a Blu-Ray player and not a game console for me.

Just because you only have 3 games (and only exclusive games) for it doesn't mean there's a drought of good PS3 games. There are a number of good exclusive games, and a large number of multi-platform games on it as well.

Anyway, to prove you wrong, here's a list of good exclusive games (8/10 or higher on Gamerankings):

LittleBigPlanet, MGS4, Uncharted, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance 1 and 2, Warhawk, Motorstorm, Heavenly Sword, and a number of good PSN games (and more to come down the road, plus the library of PS1/2 games).

That list was drawn from a little over 50 games, so there are PLENTY of other non-exclusive GREAT games to really beef up the list of good games on PS3.

If you're not aware of something, as you stated, don't start posting comments like that.