Sony's heavy hitter comes out swinging for the fences. Did you know the equipment soldiers […]

+ Intense immersion; + Stunning graphics; + Fun multiplayer

Lackluster story; Long loading times

As a sequel, there couldn't be any more pressure on Killzone 2. The importance for the game to deliver escalated towards the latter stages 2008, as Xbox 360 big-hitter Gears of War 2 showed the world what the machine, and certainly the team behind it, has to offer towards their console.

A Jekyll/Hyde split between solo and multiplayer gaming has often plagued the first-person shooter; this grows more pronounced as the genre ages. Single-player campaigns increasingly aspire to cinematic storytelling above all else, while multiplayer concepts focus on pure gameplay, free of narrative...

The windswept multiplayer maps; all liberally decorated with catwalks and bridges; sniper nests in rundown buildings; and spawn points to keep resurrected soldiers close to the action

You struggle to see all the vivid details through a POV that feels slightly claustrophobic; The constrained viewpoint may be an intentional tactic to make war feel like hell, but screw that.

(continued from previous page) ...an on-screen marker telling you where to head next, are all features that make the Killzone experience so enjoyable. There's plenty more to look forward to throughout your time with the game, but ultimately it's all about the battles.

The flowing and aggressive gameplay; The look and feel of the weapons; The amazing visuals and outstanding audio

The weak storyline

No one could have suspected that the sequel to 2004's Killzone would be this good. Killzone 2 is a tremendous package, offering an exciting campaign and terrific competitive online play, neither of which create new paradigms for first-person shooters, but rather set new standards in subtle but...

Well-paced campaign keeps you in the thick of action; Great online play constantly rewards you; Intricate; balanced multiplayer maps; Weapons are beefy and fun to shoot; Visually stunning; both technically and artistically

Forgettable story and characters; Tacked-on motion controls

The original Killzone was the best FPS game on the PS2 as far as I'm concerned, it was only held back by developer, Guerrilla Games, massive ambitions, whilst the aging internals of the PS2 also meant that the game put a lot of heavy strain on the system.

Welcome to the end of the world. That's not the tagline from Killzone 2 , rather the after-effect this reviewer believes might be the general consensus of forum-baiting fanboys who've already decided that Killzone 2 is the greatest game on the planet without actually playing it.

Killzone 2 is unquestionably the biggest first-party game of the PS3's lifecycle so far. After a disappointing holiday season for Sony, they're looking to get back on the horse with a big-budget PS3-exclusive action game that will, hopefully, give them the Halo -killer they've been looking for.

you love the Killzone world

you'll never convert to a ps3

Let me say this right off the bat: Killzone 2 's graphics are amazing, and I'm saying this still about one year after its January release. Killzone 2 is basically the Gran Turismo 5 of the FPS world; it was majorly hyped back at E3 2005, but saw little advance in the next two years and was virtually...

For many PS3 owners, their console's library of exclusive must-haves begins and ends with Metal Gear Solid 4 . More dedicated Sony fans may also have some combination of Resistance 2 , Uncharted , Ratchet and Clank , Heavenly Sword and LittleBigPlanet among their prized pile of PS3-only titles.