Can PS3 Killzone 2 possibly live up to the hype?
I’ll start by saying that Killzone 2 looks freaking awesome. Truly. The visuals are stunning and the gameplay looks spot-on. But no game is perfect, and very few games which get hyped the eyeballs end up living up to those impossibly high expectations. Will Killzone 2, a PS3 exclusive, be able to pull it off?
I remember when the first Killzone game came out on the PS2 at the end of 2004. And what happened? Magazines, Web sites, and even game shops were hyping the game enormously in the run up to its release. This was going to be the flagship game on the system, and one which shoves Halo down the throats of all those Xbox fanboys. And then it was released, and it was poor.
The first game, which I must admit to still owning but rarely playing, has poor AI, glitches aplenty, frame-rate issues which almost ruin the game entirely, and a crappy control system that does ruin the game entirely. And the reviews at the time echoed this. Apart from the Official Playstation Magazine and PSM, most scores were average.
And so we come to Guerrilla Games second attempt at knocking our socks off and impressing even the most hardened gamer. Killzone 2 is set for release on February 27, 2009, and the hyperbole has been in full effect for months now.In fact, as soon as the game was announced at E3 in 2005, the platitudes started rolling in.
To my knowledge, only one magazine has currently reviewed the full game, that being OPM which gives it a 9 out of 10 in the current February issue. A good score, great in fact, but interestingly not as good as Bioshock, which scored a 10. LittleBigPlanet, GTA IV, and Metal Gear Solid 4 also received top marks from the mag. They are all great games but none of them on their own define the system, so I doubt Killzone 2 will be any different.
I’m actually pleased the game got a nine, not because I want Killzone to be rubbish or anything but because it will help lower the expectations a tad. I’ve read forums where people who haven’t even played the game are having a pop at OPM for only giving Killzone 2 a nine. Which just shows how much some people are hyping the game up in their heads.
I’ll be buying Killzone 2 along with the rest of you who own a Playstation 3. But I’ll actually play it before declaring it a Halo 3/Gears of War 2 beater which is going to knock the socks off anything the Xbox 360 can produce. Sure, it looks that way at the moment, but “it looks” sometimes doesn’t translate into “it is”.
Related Posts:
59 Responses to “Can PS3 Killzone 2 possibly live up to the hype?”
Leave a Reply:
You must be logged in to post a comment. Don't have an account? Register today!
January 17th, 2009
it will be a game definitly worth owning for any ps3 owner who likes shooter.
its gonna own PERIOD.
January 17th, 2009
So that’s 4/5 from some dodgy Swedish site, 9/10 from OPM UK, and 5/5 from OPM.
Looking good.
Yet somehow, I can just feel that…someone.. somewhere…will try to dampen the mood…
January 17th, 2009
it better live up to the hype… otherwise Im going back to WaW…
January 17th, 2009
Considering the amount of PS3 owners have slagged the 360 in the past for producing primarily shooters, I just wonder how many ps3 owners will buy it even if it is a great game?
With all the exclusive shooters that 360 has over ps3, it was still the 360 that still managed to outsell ps3 on games such as Call of Duty for example.
January 17th, 2009
I can’t wait to see what Sony do for advertising on the telly for KZ2. MS scored big time with Halo and its propaganda, all they needed was a dude in a suit, I remember Kevin Sheedy got involved with the Halo dude, anyway, Sony don’t have that kind of image and I doubt they can pull it off with KZ2 but it should be interesting none the less….
January 17th, 2009
THEY HAVENT DONE ANY ADs… NOTHING… NADA!!! ZILTCH!!!
So far the best video footage has been shown on the CES… get ready for mediocre sales reports folks… this one is gonna be shitty…
January 17th, 2009
The hype has been instigated by the developers claims like its supposed cell utilization, but for the most part, it is the fanboys who have been elevating it to Over Hype. Completely in accordance with internet rule # douche-22, the gaming journalists/blogbois have been forced to address the issue. Just like this article, though well written, will contribute to the overhype, as will every slanted pro/anti KZ2 piece of wordsmithery.
It is all part of the conglomerate of Media influences that lead to “Over Hype”. Some games in the past will suffer from the overhype in concentrated arenas of interest. Haze is a good example: talked about endlessly beforehand amongst the gaming attentive forums, news sites, blogs etc. But I never noticed a single word written or posted about the game outside of this microcosmic territory. It failed to live up to the hype HERE, but not necessarily for everyone. There are many gamers who will take 10 hours of play to feel justified in purchasing a title. A few of my friends bought Haze, and having never read a word about gaming off the internet, and while not blown away, have enjoyed their time with the game. Casuals, indeed.
Yet the gamers in this spHERE have taken to turning the word Haze into an adjective of the highest magnitude of over-hype.
KZ2 will not, and cannot, be another Haze, it is far too important.
January 17th, 2009
@ Dark
Derrrrrrrrrrrrr
Not yet.
It’s still a month from release.
Make sure you strap yourself down to your wheelchair you retard, enjoy your tube in the mouth while u still can.
January 17th, 2009
ummm… its ok guys.. this new guy doesnt know the protocol… ahem… DaBot… this is the point where I tell you that you are wrong…
you dont start advertising 2 weeks before your product comes out… you build up the hype months before it comes out… so far… I have only heard of or seen Killzone 2 on the web… I think there may be PS3 owners who are FPS enthusiasts… who are not aware of Killzone 2.. it also helps to show the videos that look so good on TV…
Halo had viral ads… with real actors and everything… Gears showd snippets of footage.. with no action and made it dramatic…
AND NOTHING ON KILLZONE 2
and the LBP ads suck.. it pisses me off…
January 17th, 2009
Hello all… I happened upon this site, thought I’d throw this into the mix. 9.9/10 from MEGamers.
This is supposed to be a full review. Not sure if this has been reported here, but nevertheless take for it what you will. I guess the embargo doesn’t matter in the Middle East? MEGamers is supposedly huge there.
It was an interesting read as a hardcore PC Gamer was the person reviewing it, and as we know, they have their biases against consoles for the most part. I’m still a bit apprehensive myself about KZ2 and how it wil turnout, we shall see though. My apologies if you all were already aware of this one.
http://www.megamers.com/playstation3/review.php?game_category=8&article_id=3557
January 18th, 2009
This will be an AWESOME rental.
January 18th, 2009
As I said before, I do hope this game lives up to the hype.
I doubt it though.
I’d also bet large cash amounts it is not the ‘console shifter’ some seem to dream it will be.
January 18th, 2009
define “console shifter”… and “large cash amounts”…
January 18th, 2009
Rental?
Carl, you cheap git
Yeah, Happy, elaborate those terms…
January 18th, 2009
I think ps3 have lost their way when marketing games or maybe the marketing dept has had to make cutbacks.
You could bet your bottom dollar if a game of this callibre was an xbox exclusive, microsoft would have this game on every newspaper, billboard and tv ad they can find.
January 18th, 2009
Carl B
I think you define it by the terms of the obvious unrealistic expectations.
Just like LBP, MGS4 & GT5 it isn’t going to lead to the PS3 closing in on and over-taking the 360’s 2nd place in the sales rankings.
I also seriously doubt if we’ll see any of those games sell anything like the number of copies the best selling 360 games shift.
Large cash amounts?
I’d call $100 lost & pi$$ed away on a bad bet a large loss.
That do you?
January 18th, 2009
Those are unrealistic expectations and I never said otherwise… but I do believe those titles you mentioned and this one may be responsible for “shifting” just a few consoles, just as Halo, Fable, and Forza may have been responsible for a few as well.
I only take “sure” bets, like neither the 360 or the PS3 will surpass Wii in sales this generation.
That do you?
January 18th, 2009
Happy, the unrealistic expectations are correct for games such as LBP, LBP 2, MGS4, God of War 3, Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2, Killzone 2. Those games won’t shift consoles.
GT5 will.
“I also seriously doubt if we’ll see any of those games sell anything like the number of copies the best selling 360 games shift.”
Why not? Because the user base is smaller than that of the 360, is that it?
Gears of War 2 sold over 4 million copies with 28 million 360 owners.
MGS4 sold 4 million copies with 20 million PS3 users.
If you are attributing it to Halo 3, which is the top selling Xbox 360 game with circa 8.5 million sold, then why couldn’t PS3 games sell in the same quantity?
The top PS2 game was GT3 with 14.89 million sold. Given that GT3 was a bundle, and GT4 was not, hence GT4’s rather poor 10 million copies sold, then evidence would suggest that a proportion of GT3 sales were the hardware bundle.
Incidentally, all other main GT games have hovered around 10 million copies sold, so logical deduction *would* suggest that the GT3 bundle was responsible for around 5 million console sales.
Look, you can say that every PS3 game that has ever been made, is being made, will get made won’t sell consoles.
But with Gran Turismo you cannot. Because evidence from last generation suggests completely the opposite.
And given that GT5 is the most anticipated given its likely inclusion of damage and will online racing, I see absolutely no reason as to why it won’t sell a significant amount of consoles when it is placed in a bundle; more so than GT3.
To your likely response that “bundles don’t count” or “bundle sales shouldn’t count” well, go tell that to Nintendo.
January 18th, 2009
“And given that GT5 is the most anticipated given its likely inclusion of damage and will online racing, I see absolutely no reason as to why it won’t sell a significant amount of consoles when it is placed in a bundle; more so than GT3.”
Forza has both of those things already…..
January 18th, 2009
@lock down
MGS4 has only sold 3.8m. In fact GTA4 is the only PS3 game to sell over 4m.
Gears 2 has sold 4.34m in the space of 2 months and developed in less than 2 years!
As good as it is, I can’t see it competing with the type of game sales xbox gets.
January 18th, 2009
I wonder why Forza has damage and GT doesn’t…
Oh yeah, that’s it, manufacturers have not licensed damage to GT unlike Forza.
GT5P already has online racing.
Next.
January 18th, 2009
Can PS3 Killzone 2 possibly live up to the hype?
It will exceed the hype
January 18th, 2009
Oh, so we take selling time and game development time into consideration as well now do we?
I noticed CON that you got your stats from vgcharts…
Many news sites say MGS4 has sold over 4 million.
January 18th, 2009
If KZ2 is advertised correctly I believe it could be the PS3’s breakout title.
No CGI trailers Sony!!!!! None!!!*slaps them on the wrist*
January 18th, 2009
I still can’t see your point.
phranctoast, in my opinion one big mistake that any company does is advertise a game with just CGI, thus no in-game footage. The Gears 2 ad, albeit pretty well done but not as good as the ‘Mad World’ ad for Gears 1, showed no in-game footage at all. That’s all well and good for people like us, but for people who don’t know what it is would have no idea what the game is about.
January 19th, 2009
Completely agree. It’s one thing if it’s a well known franchise, (Ratchet and clank weapon commercials) you can probably get away with it, but I feel KZ2 needs people to see the actual gameplay with a notation stating in game graphics like the cod games do now after the cod3 commercial debacle.
January 19th, 2009
I haven’t seen a single TV add, nor any advertisement in magazines, I don’t think GameStop has any posters up on there walls… I think this game has been hyped on blogs maybe, but I don’t think the general population knows about it. I’m not sure if Sony is waiting until the release date draws closer, or if there not planning on putting a big push behind it.
Hypothetically if the game were to score 10s across the board, it still won’t move consoles at this point. If the game had a larger marketing push behind it, it could easily move console’s with a 9 average (which it probably will be).
January 19th, 2009
I don’t think Sony have any money to advertise it.
January 19th, 2009
Why did they invest in the auto industry?
January 19th, 2009
No, the banking industry
January 19th, 2009
Electric cars.
January 19th, 2009
No! Than all is truly lost!
January 19th, 2009
Ultimately, I think it looks like a great FPS. I am hoping for a satisfying single player experience that lasts more than 10 hours. I know there will not be any co-op modes, but I hope they mix things up a little for the online portion. I like playing online… but I can only play so many round of death match, or team death match before I loose interest. So I think KillZone 2 will defiantly meet my expectations.
January 19th, 2009
So far so good….
Official PlayStation Magazine gave Killzone 2 a score of 5/5,
Official UK Playstation Magazine, they awarded Killzone 2 a 9/10
MEGamers.com gave Killzone 2 a 9.9/10
January 19th, 2009
That MEGamers review was raving about KZ2.
Too bad it’s been taken offline though
January 19th, 2009
Some nice unbiased game scores you’ve got there lol
January 19th, 2009
@Con.
yet the official playstation mags have shown some of the most unbiased reviews with ps3 exclusives.
Motorstorm pacific rift got a 60% and Uncharted got a 80%. Both games scored higher on IGN so that kind of kills that theory.
January 20th, 2009
I totally agree, both magazines are actually very unbiased. I also tend to agree with a lot of there reviews… although I probably would have gave Uncharted a slightly higher score.
January 20th, 2009
You know the rules.
When 360 games get high scores, it’s not a biased review.
When PS3 games get high scores, then it is biased.
January 20th, 2009
lockdown – “Incidentally, all other main GT games have hovered around 10 million copies sold, so logical deduction *would* suggest ”
this is the problem with you ps3 fanboys. you never tell the complete truth.
GT5 prologue sold 10 million? GT3? GT4 a-spec? think again…
now, back on topic: if guerrilla shows ANYTHING that does not 100% match the CGI movie they lied about, if FAILS to live up to the hype.
guerrilla and sony started the hype with that movie. they set the bar for themselves. now, let’s see if they live up to their own hype. or, if once again, sony and their camp are proven liars……
January 20th, 2009
lockdown – “next”…?
customizeable cars, more tuning attributes, 9,000 more physics calculations that any gt game, more reastic physics, better online racing (no bumping thru corners like in GT games), and damage. (you can claim GT games have damage once one is released that actually has it.)
hope this helps.
GT was a great franchise once…when there was no other console sims on the market. they just rested on their name too long and they got outclassed by Forza. hey, it happens….
January 20th, 2009
oops..should be GT3 aspec..not 4. sorry. i just read your other post abou the numbers from SCEI. I have a prob believeing 12 million bought GT3 aspec. it wasn’t well received by most…. oh well, if you read it on the ‘net, it must be true.
January 20th, 2009
@Barnabe.
They gave R2 a 80% while IGN gave it a 94%. I tend to disagree with them more often than not. I just needed to show that just since it’s an official magazine we shouldn’t cry “bias in favor” as a result.
@kev…
what are you getting at? I believe the point was that GT5 will sell a shit load of copies (close to 10 million). Do you dispute that?
Anyhow. While the videos look comparable to the target render they are not exact. They do show the best graphics and animation on a console so far. This appears to be the consensus of everyone who has played the game.
January 20th, 2009
I guess now it’s now up to me to clear up kev’s drivel.
I said “its likely inclusion of damage”. I did not claim explicitly that it would. Though given how Kaz has said damage will be coming to GT5P, there is no reason to suggest that it will not be implemented in GT5.
“GT5 prologue sold 10 million?”
Show me where I stated that kev, please. The key word in that sentence kev is “main”, and the numbers from SCEI back up my statement.
Perhaps you if you spent more time actually reading posts properly instead of spouting drivel I wouldn’t need to clear up your mess.
“they set the bar for themselves”
You’ve changed your tune there kev.
When I said that, you said that it was “smoke and mirrors, lies, and ambiquity” and yet now you’re claiming “let’s see if they live up to their own hype”.
So I assume when it does (as reviews so far suggest it does) you will be first to admit that they did live up to the hype?
No, I don’t think you will either.
January 20th, 2009
@lock_down
No then he’ll simply say the game was overrated, and these reviewers don’t know what the fuck they’re talking about or paid off with early previews of future Sony titles.
January 20th, 2009
He’s busy right now down voting KZ2 on metacritic on the user reviews.
January 20th, 2009
LMAO… you might actually be right. Either that, or on another bloge bitching about Sony/PS3/KillZone 2. Let them say what they will. It’s looking like we will have another amazing exclusive on our hands very soon.
January 20th, 2009
Maybe writing articles for Gamesradar.
January 20th, 2009
lockdown – why do you have to keep embarrassing yourself? you siad yourself ALL other gt games sold around 10 million.. i even quoted it for you.
now you back down by saying you never said it? here, read your quote again, “Incidentally, all other main GT games have hovered around 10 million copies sold, so logical deduction”
funny your backtracking on the damage when you seemed convinced it was going to be
there…
yes, they set the bar for themselves with the smoke and mirrors CGI movie they showed as “proof of what the ps3 can do ingame”…
now let’s see if they match the video shown… when it doesn’t will you admit it flopped?
sorry, but PLAYSTATION reviews aren’t the most credible. come back when more objective reviews come in.
silly fanboys.
January 21st, 2009
You’re right kev. Those magazines tend to under rate ps3 exclusives. Not to credible as far as I’m concerned…..
January 21st, 2009
phranc – how did the PS magazine’s reviews of the original Killzone compare against the unaffiliated sites. under rated?
funny…
January 21st, 2009
I gave you more than enough examples above of “recent games”. I guess that’s not proof enough…..
January 21st, 2009
“why do you have to keep embarrassing yourself?”
…back at ya kev lad.
“now let’s see if they match the video shown… when it doesn’t will you admit it flopped? ”
I would admit that it flopped…too bad that I won’t to though.
The reviews coming in speak for themselves.
I don’t recall classing GT5P as a main entry…you did that on your own.
“yes, they set the bar for themselves with the smoke and mirrors CGI movie they showed as “proof of what the ps3 can do ingame”… ”
So what you’re saying is that they used smoke and mirrors to trick themselves…
???
What was that you were saying about “embarrassment”…?
January 22nd, 2009
Looks like KZ2 will be receiving perfect scores from GamePro as well………..
http://www.gamepro.com/article/news/208626/first-killzone-2-reviews-roll-in/&cid=1294515758&usg=AFQjCNFnnD9h8vLzg3aIa29I68pvgdv4sg
Is that better for you kev?
January 22nd, 2009
4th Official Review is out from OPM Australia. 10/10. Excerpt:
“Playstation Official Magazine Australia
I’ll say it again: Killzone 2 is the best console first person shooter ever. It will be bested one day, and that is as it should be, but this game has set the proverbial bar so high we reckon it’ll be the king for a good long while… Hail to the king, baby. [Feb 2009, p.66]”
That is an average of 9.7/10 thusfar for the 4 reviews…
January 22nd, 2009
Krispjorn – You obviously are unfamiliar with Kev… The game could receive 10s from every reviewer in the world and Kev would try point out flaws. Good to see another stellar rating though. I already have mine on pre-order. I’ll be playing the demo on February 2nd.
January 22nd, 2009
That’s because kev is keeping it treal…
Does anyone else miss Ivan? Sure he posted crap %99.9999999999 of the time. I dunno, I miss my daily dose of moustache.
January 22nd, 2009
Barnabe –
Kev? Who’s Kev?
All kidding aside, any game will always have (a) flaw(s), whether subjective or objective. Despite being a big COD fan, Fallout 3 is my favorite all-round game to date, but I take issue with many things in it still. I guess it comes down to the individual in the end. I have nothing personally against the 360, if people such as Kev love games such as GOW2 or Left 4 Dead, great! All the more power to them. It just so happens I haven’t enjoyed playing a majority of the exclusive 360 titles. The only two exceptions are the original GoW and Fable II. And on the flip-side, there are a whole slew of games for the PS3 that I hate(d). For example: I own MGS4, however, I simply haven’t made it out of first act yet because I’m frankly disinterested in it. The majority of PS3 owners and even 360 owners would disagree with me, but so be it.
I was just posting for people like yourself perhaps who are actually interested in the game’s potential. I had a neighbor swing by and give me his promotional code for the demo (he had an extra), so i didn’t even have to pre-order to get the early demo. Mine says the 5th of Feb over here in Canada… Has the date changed or is it simply different where you live? An earlier date is more than welcome by me. I’ll have a buddy over as soon as the early demo is playable, and then I will most likely pre-order next day, maybe give my code to him if he chooses not to pre-order (he’s a one game man….COD4). I hope KZ2 his horizons a bit…
January 22nd, 2009
*broadens his horizons