For a game that wasn’t particularly innovative or competent, Killzone was heaped with an unwarranted amount of praise. Inexcusable technical issues were blamed on the PS2 hardware, instead of the developer, while the slightly hammy premise was praised for being kitsch, rather than embarrassing. With Killzone 2, similar questions hang over its quality – although it’s fun to believe that the second instalment could be the triple-A FPS that the fi rst game failed to be, it’s diffi cult to see how Guerrilla will actually achieve that. To be fair, though, a solid FPS that borrows from every other title is probably what PS3 owners need, right now, and the thick layer of gloss that runs over everything doesn’t hurt.

Much of what Sony has released so far looks like average FPS fare, in spite of this thick coat of polish. The action in Killzone 2 takes place on Helghan, in the midst of the ISA’s invasion, so there’s a real business to the ambience of the world. Ships fl y overhead, while explosions can be heard in the distance. Guerrilla wants to create a focused, war-torn atmosphere that will remind gamers of the Vietnam confl ict. With a range of extreme weather conditions that’ll apparently affect certain levels, Killzone 2 aims to push the fi sh-out-of-water tone to the fore.

The gameplay doesn’t look particularly innovative, in basic terms, but the cover system in Killzone 2 is looking rather substantial. It reminds us of Rainbow Six Vegas, in the way it works, but Killzone 2 will benefi t from the fact that each level is heavily populated – with that in mind, cover is likely to become an integral aspect of the gunplay.

We know that’s hardly a revolutionary take on the FPS, but it’s still a signifi cant addition. Useful cover spots are prevalent in Killzone 2, and due to the large, open environments, they’ll be as essential to survival as they were in GRAW 2. The environments in Killzone 2 will vary between the sizeable, freedominvoking battlefi elds, but also the more standard-sized arenas, like warehouses and corridors.

We have a lot of hope for the battlefi eld sections, especially if Guerrilla manages to cram entire armies on screen at once. Killzone 2 just has to capture that feeling of war, so accurately. They came close with the fi rst game, but the onslaught of bugs completely derailed any potential realism, while the visuals and compressed sound couldn’t quite capture the atmosphere that was necessary.

With 7.1 surround sound, however, and the massive capacity of the Bluray disc, this shouldn’t be a worry. It doesn’t look like every part of the game will push the PS3, anyway. Some of the gameplay footage we’ve seen looks very clichéd, resembling just about every FPS released in recent years – a warehouse, for example, isn’t the most thrilling venue for a shoot-out. Enclosed spaces like this are a particular worry, since Killzone 2’s bland colour palette prevents them from having any impact. There’s no visual fl air in slow, quiet environments like this, whereas the full-on war sections look absolutely thrilling.

Adding variety to proceedings will be a number of vehicle sections, which are still an untested quantity. More information about them is likely to surface at E3, but the idea alone is worthwhile, since the constant cover-shoot-move mechanic is likely to grate. Another item looking to mix things up is the Sixaxis feature… uh-oh! It doesn’t look terrible, but it’s used for inane tasks like twisting valves. We don’t fi nd this particularly interesting.

Still, Killzone 2 might prove itself to be a next-gen extravaganza. Granted, we’re annoyed that it’s slipped from 2008 into 2009, leaving the PS3 with a repeated Christmas line-up from 2006, but maybe the wait is justifi ed. Killzone 2 looks cinematic, bold and entertaining, though standard in many ways. It still has a lot to prove.