Killzone 2 (PS3)

I just finished the first level on the default difficulty setting.

- Aiming feels sluggish to me. Something is off. Maybe I just need to fiddle with the sensitivity settings but the acceleration or the auto aim or the combination of both just makes everything feel sluggish and imprecise. Basically just the opposite of COD4 where everything felt fast, snappy, fluid, and precise.
- The little hitches when loading the next area are a bit annoying but not that big of a deal.
- Save points seem pretty frequent so far.
- Graphics are very nice but didn't make my heart stop or anything. Framerate seems solid.
- Why does it take what seems like 30 seconds of animation to toss a grenade????
- You're pretty tough. A rocket in your face from about 4 ft doesn't kill you....wtf. I guess it does cut down on frustration.
- Can't hit crap without zooming in. I mean it's pretty ridiculous. I would expect a bit better accuracy if you are crouched and sitting still. The crosshairs expand very rapidly.
- Cover system works pretty well I guess but I still think r6 did it better.
- It seems the game can't decide if it wants to be a twitch shooter or a slower more methodical one.
- What is up with having only ONE main weapon at a time. That's kind of annoying.
- I found controlling the tank awkward.
- I get the midget thing now. Even the tables come up to your armpits while you are standing. It is rather distracting.

Man I think I bought into the hype a bit too much so I was bound to be a bit disappointed. Still, I'm enjoying it for the most part though it's definitely no system seller. I'll post more as I get further into the game.

UPDATE: 3/2/09
I've put in a few more hours into the single player.

You know there is different and then there is just bad. I think the controls for the most part are just bad. Having finished resistance and uncharted I had none of the control issues I'm feeling with KZ2.

Take the following scenario: You are hiding behind a corner healing up. Some dude comes running around the corner. He is too close for the scope view so you leave it on the expanding crosshair view. You swivel to line up your target but since the acceleration is all screwed up (takes too long to get going, maybe too big of a dead zone, and then once it does get going it accelerates way too fast, maybe some auto aim assist that impacts acceleration when the crosshairs are near a target would help like in halo) so you over shoot and swing back the other way and over compensate. Combine that with the wacky accuracy model/bullet spread when not scoped just compounds the issue. I don't call this different. I call it sucky and frustrating. I think I've actually resorted more to melee in these situations because of the controls.

And for the argument that they feel more weighty and meaty well that would be fine except a small light SMG feels almost the same as the big heavy machine gun.

I'll still finish the game. I think the game gets better after the first level with more intense set piece battles and defend bits which I quite enjoyed.

UPDATE: 3/24/09
- Finished the single player. No real desire to try multiplayer though I hear it's pretty good. The controls were still frustrating throughout which gives me even less desire to try the multiplayer.

- Not much plot, didn't really ever care much about the characters.

- The battles do get better and more epic in the last third of the game which was really exciting.
- Final boss is a bit cheap but not too bad once you learn the pattern.

Overall, a beautiful if a bit derivative looking, mostly solid shooter with some pretty flawed controls. Only recommended for the die hard shooter fan though it is still one of the better ones on the PS3.