John Spartan informed me last night that the Killzone 2 demo is out for the PS3.  Then I was told that it was only exclusive for the European owners and customers who pre-ordered the game at Gamestop (what’s the point of releasing a demo to people that pre order the game?).  But Spartan told me about a loophole to download it from the European server:

– Create  a new user
– Go to the PSN store
– Choose Europe as your country
– Download the demo
– Create online account and use a European address.  Google maps is your friend.

So does Killzone 2 live up to the hype? 

Remember when you first saw the Killzone 2 trailer at E3 a couple of years back?  Well, it doesn’t look that good but I was still amazed by it.  Graphics are top notch and the detail is impressive:  dust is seen when shooting the walls just like in Saving Private Ryan, sometimes you just see the muzzle flash when there’s too much smoke, Equilibrium style.  Another cool detail is when you go for a headshot.  If you shoot from the side, the enemie’s helmet falls off first, then he’s vulnerable for another shot in the head.  If you shoot them head to head, they’ll drop right away because there’s no helmet protecting the front part of their face.  Details are phenomenal.  Some parts of the game, I stopped playing and looked at the scenery because there was just too much things going on.

Okay enough about the graphics, let’s talk about gameplay.  Controls are similar to Call of Duty, so it was an easy transition for me.  With this sequel, they’ve added a new feature: leaning against the wall.  It’s not perfect and sometimes you start standing up instead of covering behind the wall.  I think it might take a while to get used to it.  You can fire blindly when you’re against a wall or start aiming and stand up when you’re ready to shoot.  The AI is decent.  They’ll try to flank and run away when you throw grenades. 

The demo was a little bit short, but it gave me the confidence that this will be the first AAA game of the year.  Now I’m wondering how the online multiplayer plays.  We’ll find out together in 2 weeks.

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