When I first read about this game over a year ago in OPS2 magazine I was excited...so more than excited...i was in awe. I couldn't wait to get my hands on the finished version of the supposed "Halo beater" for PS2. After that 1 little article about the size of a credit card I made sure I scanned every PS2 mag after that for any more news. And sure enough more came, and it seemed that like me the team behind OPS2 were getting very excited as well.
But then....it came out. I bought it on the very first day, got home...put it in and whilst watching the intro movie I was happily grinning. The intro movie kicks ass!...well and truly. But then I started playing....and things turned sour. The graphics were good, possibly one of the best looking games on PS2, but as the game progresses you get fed up of the atmosphere of the whole "grey, bleak and dull" look of war. The supposed rag-doll physics (in which if someone is killed or thrown away by a blast their body will react to it realistically)were such a problem, you killed someone and they're stick half in the ground, get stuck in walls...awful. The guns rule though!, they look beefy, sound great and take a while to reload...which although sounds horrible at first is actually a good thing if you're going for realism. This however does not include the sniper rifle...where it's impossible to aim, once you remove your thumb from the analogue stick, the cross-hairs go straight back to the middle...leaving you helpless for sharpshooting. There are a nice few features...such as a little timer on the grenades so you know exactly when to throw them, the "bash" manoeuvres are stylish and fun. After playing this game, and finding all these flaws (very quickly) I found myself beginning to make excuses for the game because I was so looking forward to it. There was no promised co-op story mode as promised, and the offline multi player is slow and hard. Imagine toggling around feeling like a penguin with a cannon for five minutes trying to find someone, then being blown up instantly by someone you didn't even get a glance at.
Overall...the game has its moments, but is overall a disappointment. 5/10...Oh and I saw the intro movie for Killzone 2...looks amazing but I'm being cautious this time...hopefully Guerilla (development) will have learnt from their mistakes....hopefully.