I recently got an invite to the Killzone 2 Beta and I’ve spent a few hours with the beta thus far. For those of you who don’t know, Killzone 2 is a PS3 exclusive that is set to release early next year. Killzone 2 will bring gamers back to the struggle between the ISA and the the Helghast Empire that started in 2004 on the PS2.
The beta is multiplayer only, and includes three maps and five modes of play. The maps are Salamum Market, Radec Academy, and Blood Gracht. Salamum Market is comprised of a long street with buildings on either side. Trying to make it out in the street is a death wish and that promotes use of buildings and plenty of teamwork. The Radec Academy map is centered around a large rectangular courtyard. The longer edge of the rectangles lead to each faction’s base, and you can get there by going across the middle of the courtyard or above on either side. The courtyard is a shorter route, but potentially much more dangerous as enemies can shoot at you from above. Blood Gracht puts players in small, tight cornered buildings that include multiple levels, sniper vantage points, and a a long trench in between the two bases (ISA and Helghast).
Warzone is the term given a thirty-two multiplayer match and the various modes include: Mini Frag, Capture & Hold, Search & Retrieve, Assassination, Body Count, and Search & Destroy. Most of these are self explanatory, but let me provide just a bit of elaboration:
Mini-Frag – This option is actually similar to Warzone, except that the number of player slots is limited to eight.
Capture & Hold – This mode reminded me of Domination in the Unreal Tournament games in that teams have to get to certain points in the map and maintain control of them for a longer period of time than the opponent team.
Search & Retrieve – In this mode, one team must find items in the map while the other team must keep them from getting those items; found items need to be returned to a designated spot, like CTF.
Assassination – One team member is randomly set as the target and his fellow team members know who the target is thirty seconds before the enemy team does. The idea is to keep this person alive (or to kill him, depending on what team you’re on) for a certain amount of time, just a few minutes.
Search & Destroy – The idea here is that one team must place bombs on certain locations and the opposing team must keep those places from blowing up.
Body Count – Most frags by one team in a time window wins.
It’s easy to have the maps cycle and include all of these modes back to back, making for about an hour’s worth or more of play per round, of course depending on several factors like number and skill of the players, etc. Players can choose to join one faction or another before the match begins, or allow the game to AutoBalance the teams. As you play, you earn XP and increase your Rank and you can earn Badges too, all of which lead to new unlockable gear and abilities.
As far as controls and presentation, Killzone 2 rocks, hard. You’ve already heard of how amazing this game looks and it’s no lie, everything is looking great in this beta. The sound package is great right now too, and the control scheme is comfortable and functional.
All in all, this is a sharp looking beta for what should be a huge hit for the PS3 early next year.
