Killzone 2’s MP : The Good stuff

Not many times do you get advantages for being a weastfellow, the release of Killzone 2 was one of those rare occasion. The game released 2 weeks “before” the worldwide release date, allowing me and many other Indians to enjoy the game before most of the world, and, for a cheaper price! (50 USD)

The single player was short and sweet.. it had its WoW and pft moments. After playing trough it, I was left with greater expectations for the MP. The selection of weapons available in the game was pretty good. It had a good single shot rifle,something that many games lack now a days, and a sniper rifle that actually depended on the stability of the player’s hands. With me being a huge single shot- head shot guy, this was good news, as there have been very few games with rifling MP matches.

Let the Games begin!

Finally the servers were made live, and as soon as I got the time, I sat and started playing the MP. After the first day of playing, “Sinusoidal” was the only word that I could think of,  It had some really great features (like Sin0 – Sin90) then had things that basically killed the joy of the MP(Sin90 – Sin180). Well, enough of the geek chatter,  let us first see what the good things were.

*Seamless structure

The most interesting part about the killzone2’s multiplayer (warzone) is the seamless way in which modes change from one to another. Instead of the traditional “one match one type”, it has a “One match, many rounds, each of different type”  approach. The varied match types it provides, make the whole experience really enjoyable and meaningful.

*Announcements

The first thing you notice as soon as you join a match is a authoritative voice that shouts at you and tells you what you have to do in the present round. Every mode has a specific voice over from the commander, unique for each of the two factions. This complements the structure of the matches very well, as you are told what is to be done, rather than being given the name of the mode. There is a different comment/compliment from the commander at the end of every round, which adds a lot to the immersion factor.

*InterComm.

The game allows for max 32 player to play simultaneously in a match. Immediately, this brings up the question of “nonsense jibber jabber” and other common irritations, but the game has a neat “squad” feature which is pretty easy to use. Anyone above the 2nd rank can start their own squad, people in a single squad have their own channel for chat, so.. if you have a lot of people who are to be muted.. rather than taking any troubles, just join one of the proper squads in the match on create your own. A nice workaround.

The Squad feature adds a lot more functionality as it allows you to monitor your team-mates’ location and statistics. In addition to it, the squad members will spawn just beside the squad leader!

Best of all, I, with my 256k connection, was able to get head shots using Assualt rifles! Which is quite fascinating because there has always been a considerable lag in MP games when the action gets serious. Not in this game.

*Side dishes

There are many other small features in the game which are pretty good, like the map voting feature at the end which is, once again, pretty seamless and very easy to use. Joining friends’ matches is pretty easy too.

These features are available elsewhere too, but the way how everything is nicely integrated makes it all a good experience. This is a small lowdown of the good things in the multiplayer, then comes the disappointing stuff. We’ll have a look at those in the coming post.