Yesterday I finished Killzone 2, a strange, frustrating, and weirdly compelling experience. The story really doesn’t propel you forward for most of the game; you’re mostly just meandering towards a final objective, but in the last hour or so, a whole lot of stuff happens.
I had mentioned that Killzone 2 was a bleak game, but in the final act, it is at its bleakest. The game tackles the human cost of a mistake on the battlefield, anger impairing judgment, and martyrdom. When “victory” is achieved after the final boss fight, there is nothing to celebrate, for the characters or the player.
Beyond the narrative, I found myself getting more acclimated to the quirks of the game’s movement and combat. Killzone 2 is a mix of run-and-gun and stop-and-pop combat, and in the back half of the game, I found myself leaning more towards the latter. While the unsteady frame rate and heavy motion blur made combat while moving frustrating (and borderline nauseating), I had much better luck shooting from the game’s (pretty excellent) one-button cover system. All of the stationary combat, from sniping to turrets to vehicles felt good.
What didn’t feel good were a couple of the boss fights. I was playing on easy, so I was never too challenged making my way through the stages, but there are two boss fights, one towards the middle of the game and then the final boss, that were incredibly frustrating. Both expect you to move extremely quickly to avoid getting one-shotted, but the game is in no way designed for it. After many attempts at facing them head on, I ended up finding ways to cheese both fights, which was annoying and unsatisfying.
But despite the issues, I was compelled to finish Killzone 2. I was honestly interested in how the story would resolve itself after a certain point, and once I found my own rhythm to the combat, I really came around to it. Killzone 2 isn’t exactly a “must-play” in 2025, but if you’re curious, it’s not a bad use of 6-7 hours.
If you want to extend that playtime further, Killzone 2 multiplayer awaits. The official servers were shut down years ago, but a fan server still exists. There weren’t any open games when I signed in, but a couple of people were playing.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about the muliplayer, so I’m excited (and a little scared) to jump in one of these days.
While Killzone 2 never lived up to its infamous E3 trailer, it’s still a solid and interesting shooter, and a time capsule from a different era.
Played and captured on a PlayStation Triple
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