FPS: Firing People Sluggishly

I finally finished the KillZone 2 campaign. It took me a while due to a glitch and moving on to BioShock. It was a great FPS – and it improved as I played. The last two levels were the best: Maelstra Barrens because of the “vehicle” and Visari Palace because you finally get to face Radec. Many complain about the controls – yes, they are sluggish, but I applaud Guerilla Games for trying something different and trying to make it more realistic. After playing with the sensitivity and – of course – playing a lot, I finally got it down. But I can’t switch back to Call of Duty, I would get slaughtered.

The environments are beautiful and diverse. One level you are in a dust storm; the next on a moving train. The enemy AI is also very different. This is not a run-and-gun game; I had to plan attacks. My best tactic was to use a grenade, not to kill, but to move the Helghast scum out from cover.

Eventhough the campaign is good, the on-line multiplayer part of KZ2 is where I spend most of my time. The game concept is similar to Team Fortress 2 with different solder classes, but much more. As you gain experience, you earn ribbons and medals which earn you new abilities. I’ve maxed out my Medic class and I am still continuing to work on my Engineer.

My favorite game is War Zone. In this mode, you seamlessly cycle through seven games: Body Count (deathmatch), Capture and Hold (capture the flag), Search and Retrieve (My favorite – like tag), Search and Destroy (like headquarters), and Assassination (it picks me 50% of the time!). It randomly selects the next game in the cycle, and rarely will one side dominate every game. Its always fun.

I don’t think I will play the entire campaign straight through again. Now that I have completed the game on Normal mode, I can go to each section of each mission and play it again. This is great for earning trophies. Also, the game keeps detailed statistics. It tracks each shot from each gun and each kill – pages of stats. If that is not enough detail, you can go to KillZone.com, there you see a replay of each on-line match you have played. This is a real-time review of the match using an overhead map and colored dots! Interesting stuff, but I’d rather play.

My goal is to get in the top 10% in stats for the week (if I do, I get a trophy). I’ve made it to the top 20; I guess I’ll keep trying.

FroZone 2

Sorry. I think I got too cute for the title: "KillZone 2" plus "Frozen." I hope the rest of the article is better. I am playing the Killzone 2 campaign – and really enjoying it! It took a couple boards before I realized how good it was. Then a horrible thing happened. I was working through the Cruiser board (the turret was fun) and just about to finish the level when the game suddenly froze. The only way out was to turn off the PS3. Not too bad… yet. When I restarted the game, it happened again at the exact same spot. Now I am in trouble. I tried different things, including restarting the level – but it always froze – four times in total. I went to the Web for help. My solution came from the PlayStation boards: Thread: Campaign Freeze To get through the level, I needed to delete any game updates (patches). Ahhh, it was a happy moment when I moved on to the Maelstra level. (There is a great "vehicle" in that board.) It seems like this only effects the Asian version of the game.

It is also interesting to note that a Guerrilla Games producer Seb “motherh666” Downie replied to my post. It is encouraging that they are monitoring the boards to improve their software. GG has made my list (along with Insomniac and Infinity Ward) of quality developers. I wonder if Seb lives in the Netherlands (about GG).

I’m on the last level now – I’m going slow – I don’t want it to end. But end it will and I will post my thoughts and memories on the campaign.

What to buy in Sinapore?

While in a mall called Vivo City this past Sunday, I happened into an electronic store. There, on a 42” LCD, was Killzone 2.

“That’s right,” I thought, “It came out this week!”

I quickly scanned the shelves: No KZ2. I looked for more games: No KZ2. I asked the chubby (very rare) salesgirl: “Not yet, only the demo. Maybe in a few weeks.” The energy drained from me; there went my idea of owning a Chinese copy of Killzone 2.

The next day (Monday), I went out in the evening with a fellow gamer. Karen owns a PS3 (a white one!), but plays very different games than I do. She likes Final Fantasy and RPG style games. She took me to Sim Lim Square: 360,000 square feet of electronic stores! We looked through the whole place and found only one copy of KillZone2: at the Sony story. So, for S$80 (about US$54 – no bargaining with a new release in the Sony Store) I purchased the English/Chinese version of KillZone 2. (I used my PlayStation credit card.)

It’s still in the shrink-wrap sitting in my hotel room – mocking me. I told myself I will not open it until I get home (I want to surprise ElMico). My plane is scheduled to arrive after 10 PM Friday night (06Mar2009), then I will join Alpha Team and teach the Helghast how to hold a StA52 Assult Rifle!

First/Third Person Shooters - the long version

As of today, Call of Duty 4 is the standard by which all on-line multiplayer shooters are compared – it is the GOLD standard. I am at level 1 again: I just entered my second prestige mode. Each game is unique and the play is fast. After a few rounds you develop rivalries with players – and sometimes you make friends: ACE, Fey, FuriousOwl, PowerfulNinja, Skaterguy, SpiderPiggy, VarHug, BevHills (not actual PSN names, but close). I’ve had this game since I owned my PS3 – and I still play it ~6 hours a week. I got a beta key for Resistance 2 from the wonderful people at PlayStation Underground. My impressions of the beta (played 4 times, 2 hours each) are ‘ho-hum.’ It’s good – hey, it’s Insomniac, but it doesn’t have the fun and excitement as COD4. It feels just like the RFoM multiplayer. 60 players at once is awesome! How do they do that without lag? And getting your name in the top 10 is a rush (6th was my best). But the experience feels flat. The colors are brighter than RFoM – more like Ratchet and Clank – I think I like the old depressing colors that go better with a 1950’s setting about the ‘Fall of Man.’ (Am I being too picky?) The new weapons are nice; I started to favor the Marksman; the buzz-saw is fun. I don’t understand the berserker business – but I’m sure I will learn. The cooperative mode was different – but with a short one level beta, it is too soon to judge the ‘fun’ level. I think Insomniac made the Chimera too strong; it takes many, many hits from multiple players to take done one baddie. And only one person gets the ‘kill:’ the last shot. I know they made it this way so a large team (8) simply doesn’t run through the level, but it feels awkward. My advice: find a medic and stick by him (or her). San Francisco was the best map (10 players max); Orick was a forest scene that allowed games up to 60 players. I am hopeful that this impression will change. I played the COD4 single player game all the way through before going on-line. If I play R2 through – learn the weapons and the controls – maybe then I will ‘get it.’ I did buy R2 last week - it's still in the shrink wrap on the shelf: too much to play. Now let’s talk SOCOM: Confrontation. Oh, it has such potential! This very beautiful game with large maps initially gives you a feeling of awe. But the game-play is very slow. It takes time to find your enemy; it takes time to switch weapons; it takes a long time for the game to load. I know it is a tactical shooter, but remember, I am comparing it to COD4. I have hope that they will patch the server software and make some things faster. I play this game in the mornings because the servers are less full. I have tried to hook up with friends: it’s difficult in-game. Best to plan out which server and create a game. I am waiting for 1.30 patch to dig deeper into game. I received yet another beta key for KillZone 2. I've actually played this a lot; helping the guys at Guerrila Games out. This is a great shooter - it feels real (expect for the pain of death). The beta is only for the on-line multi-player portion, like R2. Nice boards - I like how dark they are, yet I see everything. The level-up system is great - I even lost 3 points after a poor performance. But here is the bad news for publisher: I'm saturated. This game is not on my wishlist because I am full of shooters. I have no history with KillZone like I have with Resistance and Call of Duty. So, unless the campaign gets awesome reviews, once the beta is over, KZ2 will not be on my PS3. The son-of-COD4 was released Tuesday: Call of Duty: World at War. I'm not ready for it! I've heard good things and seen some levels on YouTube. I'll buy this at Target the on Black Friday; then it will sit in the shrink wrap until the two weeks around Christmas. So many people to shoot - by so little time.