Killzone beta, bitches!

[WrikaWrek]

does the game run at 20fps like those videos

bu bu bu that's just because they added weight to everything... including the players eyes it would seem.

(game looks a lot nicer in these shots than at tgs, i'm certainly picking it up!)

It runs at a solid 30 fps as of now, though.

It's so smooth, and has that smooth motion blur, makes it look like it's running at 60 FPS.

[duckman2000]

Eurogamer impressions. He's off on ammo replacements, though; the secondary badge of the Technician gives that class the ability to repair ammo boxes (they are broken by default). I'd say he's spot on with the Rainbow Six comparison. The game is brutal, and punishing of mistakes and poor tactics.

http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=297130

[y2kev]

I've played a very small bit of the game and was really impressed, but I love that gif of shooting the wall and it deforming

[duckman2000]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13610574&postcount=2408

"I'm playing Resistance 2 so I don't need KZ2"

Larflarflarf

[duckman2000]

Alright, can someone with a GAF account tell that Rapping Granny cunt to just can it? I'll rip on Eurogamer until the end of time for their Hailstorm fuck-up, but this preview is more than fair. Granted that I disagree with the notion that the game is somehow too standard (multi-objectives are hot, and classes are totally awesome) but the preview is hardly a negative one.

edit: TTP  I assumed the Rainbow Six comment was in reference to the damage model, and weapon lethality.

[Draft]

Like Rainbow Six? Old Rainbow Six, not new  Rainbow Six?

Duckman comment.

[duckman2000]

Alright, things that bring to mind the old Rainbow Six experience:

- Bullets are shit lethal, and friendly fire is on by default. This will cause you to die a lot, or kill a lot of your team mates (resulting in a nasty loss of match points) if you try to play it Rambo style.

- Guns need to be fired in short bursts, or precision takes a serious hit. Aiming is greatly enhanced by crouching, more so than in any recent game I've played. There was some video of a guy seemingly pumping a whole clip into some guy in the distance without getting a kill. Had he been crouching while using the dot sight, the guy would have be down after a short burst. Well, unless it was lag.

- Starting ammo amount is quite low, and grenade throwing is also quite slow, so you pretty much have to stand still to effectively toss a grenade and get it to land where you want it to.

- Levels are very open, meaning there really aren't many safe spots. Every building has three or four entrances, and most of them have two levels. Makes for some wicked door to door and building to building combat. The downside is that I feel really crippled trying to cover all entrances using a gamepad, but then everyone else is too, so whatever.


All of this combines to really push for team work and a tactical approach to hot spots. It definitely feels like more of an old school approach to challenge, which suits me just fine. I haven't encountered any C4 yet, so we'll see how that changes the experience.

[Draft]

Can you lean?

[cool breeze]

I don't know about lean, but there is a cover system.  I don't know if that's still in or not since no videos show it off from the beta.

[Smooth Groove]

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=13610574&postcount=2408

"I'm playing Resistance 2 so I don't need KZ2"

Larflarflarf

He sounds less pathetic than the guy who's checking every 5 mins for a KZ2 beta code. 

[duckman2000]

I don't know about lean, but there is a cover system.  I don't know if that's still in or not since no videos show it off from the beta.

No cover fire system in MP, only for SP. I guess it was massively unpopular in early tests, but I would have wanted to check it out for myself. It's a bit jarring, given how hard they push first person motion.

He sounds less pathetic than the guy who's checking every 5 mins for a KZ2 beta code. 

Who is that? I'm taking a break from that thread, it's been raining stupid from all angles for the past few pages.

[duckman2000]

Some new preview

http://www.gamer20.com/gamehub/killzone-2-ps3/previews/1076/

This, however, is starting to become really irritating:

It should be no surprise that Killzone 2 is another FPS that models its multiplayer components after Call of Duty 4. Using a similar leveling-up system, you earn points that help you increase in rank and unlock rewards along with some mini-challenges that help you unlock even more stuff.

It's not like COD4. If anything, it's a lot like BF, and I doubt that was the first of it. Ribbons, medals, and unlocks. The COD4 system is a pretty basic version of this.

[cool breeze]

Gametrailers has 3 HD videos.  I haven't seen them yet since I need to shower first, but they're HD, so at least you can probably get an even better tell on the graphics.

[duckman2000]

Not really, thanks to the shit quality of their videos, and I really think they should just drop the "HD" tag. They do, however, function as guides in how to NOT play the game. Maybe they were just thrown into the game, but I don't think I was ever that bad. I mean, who in the hell stands absolutely still while reloading a gun right in front of an enemy?

The video I saw does show off one key flaw that I hope will be fixed, the curse of the flopping dead. It doesn't happen all the time, but when it does, it can be pretty jarring. They have come through on everything else though, so that's promising.

[cool breeze]

Whoever was playing in those Gametrailers videos is terrible.

[duckman2000]

I'd cut them some slack, considering how long it took me to get used to it. But some of those strategic mistakes are just 

[duckman2000]

Saboteur class  The whole friendly fire deal makes it all the more awesome.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

dunno if this is an NDA breach or anything (lol) but how in the FUCK do you get the additional classes?

[duckman2000]

You unlock classes by ranking up. First new rank gives you medic, then technician (place turrets) and so forth.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

That's weird I think I already went up two ranks. haven't played in a couple of days though so I'll have to check.

[Smooth Groove]

If you fools are afraid of breaking NDA, then just pm me links to your Killzone 2 pics so that I can post them.  Sony doesn't scare me. 

[duckman2000]

I've got nothing. The press NDA is up though, so I expect there to be a lot more footage out there in the next few days. Hopefully, this time they feature someone who at least knows his way around an FPS.

That's weird I think I already went up two ranks. haven't played in a couple of days though so I'll have to check.

Sent you a PM

[cool breeze]

I don't think anyone would really care if they are posted here.

If you guys want hot juicy NDA'd up Home info, just ask me. 

[duckman2000]

Oh fuck, the awesomewowsome crew is on the KZ2 hype train now? Why can't I get to love one fucking game without feeling like I'm associating with loonies? It's a genuinely good game, it deserves better than this crowd.

[Rman]

Oh fuck, the awesomewowsome crew is on the KZ2 hype train now? Why can't I get to love one fucking game without feeling like I'm associating with loonies? It's a genuinely good game, it deserves better than this crowd.

It's not like you post at GAF anymore so why do you care?

[Kestastrophe]

One thing I don't like in the vids that have been shown so far is the tracer line when you throw a grenade. It seems that the game is really striving towards the realism side (aside from the blood spatter, which I like), so why add a graphic indicator for the nades? They beep so you can hear when one is around you, it just seems unnecessary.

[dark1x]

Anyone who pays attention to my posts knows I love and embrace hyperbole, but according to that thread, this is "a full order of magnitude" above any console game ever released and better than any PC game as well.

Eh, I don't think anyone on GAF has taken it THAT far.  Nobody is claiming this to be superior to stuff like Crysis, for instance.  I do think this is one of, if not the, most impressive looking FPS title being created for consoles.  I'd say it also stands up nicely to any other non-Crysis FPS on the PC.  Honestly, it stacks up to Crysis in its own way (in that, both games are attractive regardless of the fact that Crysis technically blows it away).  I don't think anyone actually believes it to be an order magnitude superior, though.

It has little to do with the PS3 itself either.  These guys have spent a lot of time, money, and effort delivering some of the most finely polished visual effects and details we've seen to date.  They've been working on this game for a while and have had a huge budget to support them. 

[duckman2000]

Well, some of are inching closer to that point. It needs to be reiterated though that while the technology is certainly impressive in its own right, what sells this is the audiovisual presentation, and the fact that Guerrilla has cleverly designed the game around the shortcomings of the platform, while capitalizing fully on its strengths. And this without sacrificing a cohesive, striking artistic vision or quality of designs. I'd say the end result had about the same impact on me as Gears of War had in its day. The games have little to nothing in common visually, but the impact is about the same.

Gamersyde uploaded some videos

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_7325_en.html

Ketastrophe, that trail is almost a necessity given how much happens on the screen at any given time. There's also no handy grenade indicator, like in COD games.

[cool breeze]

One thing I don't like in the vids that have been shown so far is the tracer line when you throw a grenade. It seems that the game is really striving towards the realism side (aside from the blood spatter, which I like), so why add a graphic indicator for the nades? They beep so you can hear when one is around you, it just seems unnecessary.

it does look a bit weird, but at least the bullet tracers are gone.  In the old videos it looked like every bullet made a bright thick orange line in the sky as you shot your gun, but now it's natural looking.

[duckman2000]

The dude playing in those Gamersyde videos looks like he has actually played an FPS before, which helps. I take it that's TTP, from GAF?

[cool breeze]

Gamersyde videos were much better.  Some parts made me question if the guy just had his sensitivity up too high or if it was just touchy, but other than that he wasn't doing dumb shit like pulling out a handgun and firing at a wall when the enemy was behind him.

I also like the squad status thing on the top of the screen.  Reminds me of Left 4 Dead and it will be helpful for me since I almost always am medic in these types of games.

And it's a small touch, but I like that instead of having a red arrow showing you where the enemy is shooting from, that section of screen just gets covered in blood instead.

[duckman2000]

Not that you get much time to react, though. If you suddenly start taking damage and you're aiming in the wrong direction, you're as good as toast.

That is TTP playing. Is he good at games or something?

Well, certainly better than the GT guys. I imagine he's had more time with it, though.

[cool breeze]

My only complaint is that this also isn't coming to PC, but it's not like I won't play it a lot on my PS3, it's just that normally I get more into shooters on my PC than consoles.  Part of this is because I'm not the best with dual analog vs kb/m.

And the gun models and sounds are awesome.  The shotgun in the 3rd video sounded incredibly powerful.  More games need to try and focus on the 'gun porn' aspect like this and Black.

[duckman2000]

See why it's hard to get into Resistance 2? Even using only the basic pistol, you feel like you're wielding a serious instrument of brutal death.

[Smooth Groove]

Duckman, you should checkout Farcry 2.  The game starts you off with garbage weapons but eventually your arsenal will become fuck awesome. 

There are so many weapons that I love to use in FC2.  I just wish I could carry more than 3 at a time. 

[WrikaWrek]

Shooting a mofo with a desert eagle in the head feels awesome in Far Cry 2.

And using the later in the game grenade launcher is heaven, massive destruction, you feel like the terminator.

[duckman2000]

Duckman, you should checkout Farcry 2.  The game starts you off with garbage weapons but eventually your arsenal will become fuck awesome. 

There are so many weapons that I love to use in FC2.  I just wish I could carry more than 3 at a time. 

I'd get it if I thought I could run it at high settings and get good performance, but I don't trust Ubi games. How does it run on PC? Another thing that has kept me away from that game has been the near complete lack of talk about its story. I don't know if I could handle an Ubification given the setting they picked.

[Smooth Groove]

Duckman, you should checkout Farcry 2.  The game starts you off with garbage weapons but eventually your arsenal will become fuck awesome. 

There are so many weapons that I love to use in FC2.  I just wish I could carry more than 3 at a time. 

I'd get it if I thought I could run it at high settings and get good performance, but I don't trust Ubi games. How does it run on PC? Another thing that has kept me away from that game has been the near complete lack of talk about its story. I don't know if I could handle an Ubification given the setting they picked.

FC2 should run smoothly on your rig at 720P w/fairly high settings.  It's very playable on my rig at 1920x1200 w/max settings and 16x AA. 

[duckman2000]

I'll check it out. I was pretty excited about it at some point, but the ever-jilted PC fanboy in me has had it in the for the game ever since it was revealed to be multiplatform.


Oh, and about the absence of cover system in KZ2, here's one for Draft, courtesy of Guerrilla:

"In single player the path is more linear and the action is usually ahead of the player. In MP levels are more arena based and you are more susceptible to flanking and being attacked from various angles."

I'd think this would add some layer of strategy to it, but I guess the majority disagreed.

[Smooth Groove]

I'll check it out. I was pretty excited about it at some point, but the ever-jilted PC fanboy in me has had it in the for the game ever since it was revealed to be multiplatform.

Just make sure you stick with FC2 a bit before judging it.  I hated it after the first two hours but it got a lot more fun once I started having a bigger arsenal and got used to its oddities, such as long driving segments and frequent random encounters.

Luckily, the driving distances get a lot shorter once ACT 2 begins.  It's like the designers suddenly figured out that shooting stuff was more fun than driving back and forth. 

[duckman2000]

There's a standard team deathmatch mode in the form of Body Count, but it's a shame to see that there's no option for an every-man-for-himself variety.

Idiot. Of course, the actual preview reeks of some dumbtard who spent a few minutes looking at the options and half a minute looking out over the maps before quitting out.

[Don Flamenco]

I played the killzone beta today and my face was just like this when I saw teh 'mazin grafix

[Sho Nuff]

There's a standard team deathmatch mode in the form of Body Count, but it's a shame to see that there's no option for an every-man-for-himself variety.

Idiot. Of course, the actual preview reeks of some dumbtard who spent a few minutes looking at the options and half a minute looking out over the maps before quitting out.

u mad?

[cool breeze]

360 version should be fine, but the PS3 version is supposed to be bad.

[Sho Nuff]

360 version should be fine, but the PS3 version is supposed to be bad.

Get the PS3 version

Unless you are a fan of tearing and slowdown

[cool breeze]

wait, what?

I thought the PS3 version was the one that ran at 25 fps compared to 30 on the 360.

[y2kev]

That was a mistake on b3d. They both run at 30 FPS...the 360 version is better though.

[duckman2000]

There's a standard team deathmatch mode in the form of Body Count, but it's a shame to see that there's no option for an every-man-for-himself variety.

Idiot. Of course, the actual preview reeks of some dumbtard who spent a few minutes looking at the options and half a minute looking out over the maps before quitting out.

u mad?

If they want to appear stupid, then that's their issue. Seems like they agree with me, though; the preview has changed. Still stupid, but the most blatant piece of evidence of their inexperience with the game has been removed.

[Draft]

I'll check it out. I was pretty excited about it at some point, but the ever-jilted PC fanboy in me has had it in the for the game ever since it was revealed to be multiplatform.


Oh, and about the absence of cover system in KZ2, here's one for Draft, courtesy of Guerrilla:

"In single player the path is more linear and the action is usually ahead of the player. In MP levels are more arena based and you are more susceptible to flanking and being attacked from various angles."

I'd think this would add some layer of strategy to it, but I guess the majority disagreed.

I mean the last thing you'd want when being flanked is cover.

I actually do tend to agree with this though, most cover systems are so clunky and slow they completely fall apart when you're fighting anything smart enough to realize their clunkiness (ie- any 12 year old who can hold a mouse.)

[duckman2000]

Given how the maps are designed, I can see why they would drop it. There are so many entrances to every firing point, and many on several plans with open staircases leading from one point to the other, that you never feel comfortable enough to hunker down and stay put. But I'm absolutely convinced that the absence of even basic peek is a direct result of them wanting to keep it accessible and simple for people. Not that I blame them, given what sells and what doesn't.

[duckman2000]

I guess Gametrailers felt like they needed to redeem themselves after their last showing

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42801.html

[duckman2000]

Scout
Sniper scope view
Best use of sixaxis so far

[cool breeze]

How is the sixaxis used? I know they let you turn wheels and stuff with it.

And regardless of game quality, SOCOM uses Sixaxis really well.

[duckman2000]

It affects the scope view when using the sniper rifle. The more you move the controller, the more the view moves, and it's sensitive enough so that you can use it to your advantage with enough training. It's an alternative to the "take a deep breath" system, and I think it's pretty cool.

[duckman2000]

Killzone 2, run and gun style.

http://www.gametrailers.com/player/42799.html

[Brehvolution]

[Vizzys]

looks pretty flashy, I like

[duckman2000]

You know, the whole promotional beta (read: demo) shit of recent times is really coming back to bite the real efforts in the ass. Could someone tell those nitwits on NeoGAF that they could have saved themselves a few pages of distinguished mentally-challenged debate had they done what was asked of them and participated in the discussions on the beta forum? Also worth mentioning is that it would probably do a hell of a lot more good bitching about issues there, as opposed to in some "media blow-out thread" on NeoGAF.

[duckman2000]

Man, the Scout and Saboteur classes can really piss some people off. I feel like I'm practically trolling the other team whenever I use either of those classes.  :bowser

[duckman2000]

There is a sense of weight to movement, particularly strafing movement; I don't think aiming is anywhere near as weighted as people claim. I don't know what would be alternative terms, maybe anticipation and momentum? Compare to something like COD4 where movement seems instant and borderline weightless, this feels much more grounded, and heavier. Coming straight from COD4, there are some adjustments needed and movement and aiming will never be as instant as in that game, but the controls are spot on, and the game has a unique feel.

It's actually pretty cool that there is such a difference, as it leaves place for both games. I had some initial difficulty getting used to the KZ2 system, but now I'm jumping between COD4 and KZ2 with no problem, and I think this is in part because they are so different.