Killzone 2

[Sideshow]

So, demo is out, looks to be pretty good. Also: this (http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/692992/Sesslers-Soapbox-Killzone-Mailbag.html)

[Gunder]

It was the shortest demo I've ever played. That said, it looked quite fun. I'll probably give it a rental.

[Sideshow]

Go find the Heavenly Sword demo. You'll never complain about demo length ever again.

[saladin]

I just played the demo and tried very hard to like it. However, I hated the controls, even with the stick sensitivity up to max. It felt like I was moving through molasses the whole time. Also, the combat I saw and participated in felt nothing at all like the stuff in the promo video at the end. Disappointing, to say the least.

[Sideshow]

That's true, in that it's an FPS on a console, and so like every other FPS that is controlled by analog stick it feels like molasses.

[saladin]

Yeah, a certain amount of woolliness in the controls is to be expected. Fine aiming is always more difficult on consoles. Halo, Gears, even F.E.A.R. on the 360, they all felt a bit vague. This was more of a problem with how the game was translating the movement I applied to the sticks into how the player model moved on the screen. It just felt very wooden and unresponsive - almost like there was a degree of lag or something.

Also, I very much disliked the cover system and the enemy AI. I do believe that stick-to-cover systems only work with 3rd person shooters, seeing as it's impossible to judge exactly how much of your character is hidden behind a solid obstacle when you can't actually see your character.

Also, the enemy AI wasn't as spectacular as I've come to expect from modern FPS games. They just seemed to spawn in, run to a piece of cover then stick to it without moving again.

Mind you, the ragdoll physics seem excellent. I blew up a barrel at one point and enemies went flying very satisfyingly.

[Sideshow]

The grenade cooking point was probably the best bit for me. I'm not gonna get this on release, but will happily pick it up 2nd hand for £20 when I can.

[Gunder]

Yeah, a certain amount of woolliness in the controls is to be expected. Fine aiming is always more difficult on consoles. Halo, Gears, even F.E.A.R. on the 360, they all felt a bit vague.

This is because you aren't practised at it. One control dynamic isn't less precise than another, it's just that you haven't used it long enough.

[saladin]

This is because you aren't practised at it. One control dynamic isn't less precise than another, it's just that you haven't used it long enough.

Erm, no. I've played console FPS games since they first appeared. I was damn good at Goldeneye on the N64, was godly with the sniper rifle and hilariously OP pistol in Halo and played a lot of games besides. Sure, I don't play them online or anything, but it isn't fair to say I don't have enough experience with console FPS games or their control schemes. I do.

And it's a widely acknowledged fact that the controls are nowhere near as precise as keyboard and mouse. Why do you think the whole combined PC/console multiplayer servers never took off? It's because the PC players wipe the floor with the console ones. Why? Not because of lack of practise, but because it is not possible to be as good with an analogue stick as it is with a mouse.

[Sideshow]

Pleasearguemore pleasearguemore /me wants to see the resolution via combat, joypad v mouse.

[Bluepixie]

I've played the demo a few times and I agree. Spectacular graphics, it really does look great and the sound (DTS) is living room smashingly awesome. I played it twice because I felt I was missing something but couldn't put my finger on it. Yup, the controls did need a bit of adjusting, sorted that the second time through, but still. Other than the graphics and sound, bit "meh". Linear FPS's can be amazing (CoD4 proved that) but I can't see Killzone 2 even getting close to those kind of heights. I will play it but I'm not shelling out a premium for it. Maybe it just because: FPS suck on the console.

There said it. I don't need to prove it, you all know it.

[Gunder]

Erm, no. I've played console FPS games since they first appeared. I was damn good at Goldeneye on the N64, was godly with the sniper rifle and hilariously OP pistol in Halo and played a lot of games besides. Sure, I don't play them online or anything, but it isn't fair to say I don't have enough experience with console FPS games or their control schemes. I do.

And it's a widely acknowledged fact that the controls are nowhere near as precise as keyboard and mouse. Why do you think the whole combined PC/console multiplayer servers never took off? It's because the PC players wipe the floor with the console ones. Why? Not because of lack of practise, but because it is not possible to be as good with an analogue stick as it is with a mouse.

This is probably all true actually, what I was misinterpreting was your original post as being something along the lines of: "FPS games are inferior on consoles because the controls are bad." which is not what you were saying.

[Fyndir]

"FPS games are inferior on consoles because the controls are bad."

Don't be silly, they're inferior for lots more reasons than just that.

[Octavion]

Halo.

Now all GTFO.

[Sideshow]

I'm sorry, are you posting "Halo is crap so all console FPS are crap" or "Halo is good so all console FPS are food"?

[To0]

I'll make this easy for you all. Consoles suck, anyone that has one is a brain dead sheep. PC games rule, console games drool.

End of

(yours truely, a PS3 owner and secret Wii lover)

[Sideshow]

So the game is pretty good. Single player is a lot of fun, the feeling of being in an invasion along with a ton of other guys, getting swept along in battles, it's nice. You remember near the end of FF8, where you run across in front of a huge fight, and it feels pretty epic? It's like that, except you actually feel involved. There's nothing special about the story, but the bad guys are cool and look awesome. Hell, the game looks awesome. 1up campaign could have been longer though.

Had a go at multiplayer last night when I saw a couple of friends on, and yes, having to use a joypad sucks. It's still pretty good though, although they've went a bit mental with the unlocks: I couldn't join a squad 'til I ranked up to Corporal. WTF?! And I've yet to even *see* a medic, let alone be revived by one. It does have one pretty excellent feature though: the website. Check this out (http://killzone.com/kz/tour_round_history.psml?kz_match_id=2621960&kz_file_id=2320138)

[GigaFuzz]

It does have one pretty excellent feature though: the website. Check this out (http://killzone.com/kz/tour_round_history.psml?kz_match_id=2621960&kz_file_id=2320138)

That IS pretty neat.

Wouldn't mind having a go at this at some point. I'm sure I'll get the chance eventually.

[Baron_Greenback]

The online play is fantastic -- the fact that you can see exactly what happened in every match on the website is incredible.

I didn't like the controls in the demo either -- I turned them up to max sensitivity and that was a mistake -- I don't think the sensitivity is linear. Got the real game and just tried the default controls. Ended up having a much better time and did OK during the matches.

Also really enjoyed seeing what I and my friends were doing the next day on the website.

While I agree with Iain about some of the unlocks (not being able to join squads before getting to corp is insane) I quite like the fact that everone was pretty much at the same level (at least during a same ranked game) I did try playing on a server with no level matching and things were crazy -- drones were dropping out of the sky and killing people -- other people were invisible.

Got to say I love killzone2 so far and I've hardly played any of the single player.