So Killzone 2 has garnered quite an opening in terms of paid reviews. Metacritic shows a 91 at the moment, with a lot of paid magazines and sites giving it a perfect score. However, this game is definately not perfect. This is proof positive that most paid reviewers are nothing more than prostitutes...giving out favorable reviews for cash or prizes.

The issue lies in the fact that the game is simply not as good as the reviewers make it out to be, and the shame is, it's growing more and more evident to those who have gotten the game early. Here, I will lay out why this game does not deserve a perfect score.

1. The graphics. Yes, they are damn fine graphics...but this one aspect of the game is not enough to hold the whole thing up to a perfect score. Are they the best graphics ever? No. Blurry textures, some slowdown, and some clipping show that this game was a tad on the rushed side. Corners were cut to make the deadline.

2. The controls. Yes, they are "laggy" and unresponsive. GG has claimed this is intended, though a recent video released shows it is nothing more than sloppy development. See our article on the controls for more.

3. The length. Very short, even by FPS standards. I have witnessed with my own eyes a completion of the story at 4 hours 45 mins. This rivals Prey as one of the shortest FPS released.

4. The story. Very lacking, with very little to lead people into this game who have not played KZ1. Even those that did beat KZ1 may need a refresher depending on how long ago they played it. In this day an age a completely connected sequel needs to have some sort of cohesive lead in.

5. The voice acting. Worse than most B movies, though this is nothing new in the video game world. However, with a game of this "caliber", more attention should have been paid to production quality. Developer's wives/girlfriends do NOT make good voice actors. Sorry GG.

6. The multi-player. Severely lacking all around. A loose and easily exploitable ranking system top the bad issues with this aspect of the game (see out article with proof of the broken ranking). Obviously intended to be a slow paced tactical squad game online, instead players noobify themselves by going Rambo, then dying, therefore hurting your team. No one uses cover, everyone grenade spams. Some match types are over so fast you wonder if you actually just played a match. Generic and boring match types do nothing to help this situation either. Oh, and guess what? NO PARTY MAKING SYSTEM IN PLACE! WTF guys, this should be standard at this point.

Overall, this game feels very rushed, unfinished, unrefined. Fanboys and people paid to give good reviews will say otherwise, but this is not the shooter we were promised. It isn't even close. Maybe a few patches down the road, with a retail price drop and some DLC will change things a bit, but as it stands now, the multi-player in this game can't hold up to the likes of COD, Warhawk, Halo, and other modern online shooters. The single player experience just isn't long enough or fulfilling enough to warrant a $60 purchase, right in the middle of these hard economic times.

My opinion: PASS (or rent it...you'll beat SP before the game is even due back)