Joystiq hands-on: Killzone 2 multiplayer
Killzone 2's multiplayer gameplay was shown off behind closed doors at the Leipzig Game Convention this week and we were there to get our hands well and truly on. As is customary for these breakdown sessions, we were given a short presentation by members of the development team.
We were told about the Squad system, which allows players to form 4-man groups mid-game. Doing so will show your squadmates' health bars, allow you a private headset channel and let you use the squad leader as a spawn point, keeping you together constantly. Setting up squads is easily done in the spawn menu. When a player receives a squad invite, they will receive a flashing notification. Accepting or declining takes only a couple of button presses from that point, making sure you're kept in the game at all times.
Guerilla Games also ran through the extensive community features found in the game. Full clan support, featuring 64 players each, 16 vs 16 clan challenges, four separate leaderboards, a mind-boggling array of stats being tracked and a clan currency system. "Valor" is wagered by each clan at the start of inter-clan skirmishes, with the total being awarded to the winner. Earning valor will propel you up the leaderboards and the intention is to host official clan tournaments, made up of 256 clans, with the entire valor pot going to the overall winner.
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Community features are all very well, but without a game to back it up it's all a bit moot. Thankfully, Killzone 2 is an exceptional multiplayer experience. It's fast paced, frantic and, most importantly, fun. This is aided mostly by the class system, which adds a tremendous amount of depth to the game. You'll start life as a lowly soldier. No special abilities to your name, but you do have the best selection of weapons. Rising through the ranks will reward you with new "badges" (classes) at specific intervals. These have been strategically managed so that they are awarded in order, with those that affect gameplay least being the easiest to obtain.
We played at first as a Helghast scout; a three-eyed hooded assassin. With a sniper rifle. Each class has two abilities: A primary ability that's set in stone (invisibility, in our case) and a secondary ability which can be swapped out for any other class' secondary ability. We stuck with the scout's enemy location tagging. These skills may seem powerful, but they have their limitations. Whilst standing still our invisibility cloak works perfectly, but whilst moving the integrity of the invisibility weakens. Firing a weapon removes it completely and we can only reactivate it if the ability has refreshed, WoW style. All skills have a refresh period like this.
The level we played was pretty vast and, despite playing against Guerilla Games employees in Amsterdam, lag was non-existent. The graphics are indistinguishable from the single player gameplay and the motion blur and (incredibly) pretty explosions are ever-present. We've seen this game a few times now and we're still amazed by how good it looks whenever we get a chance to play. According to our copilot, Guerilla Games' Simon Larouche, the only limitation they have to take into account for multiplayer is destructibility. Physics objects such as locker doors will still exist in multiplayer, but fully destructible walls will not.
Team Deathmatch works via a tug-of-war style system. Each faction has a meter which shows how close they are to winning. The more enemies that are killed, the more your meter fills. Being killed reduces your team's meter, however, so if two opposing factions are equally matched the game could go on for quite a while. You won't mind, though. The class system allows you to mix up your gameplay style after any death, Team Fortress style.
The level was huge and, at first, a bit daunting. There were also a few frustrating moments when we were looking around for enemies for what felt like five minutes only to be shotgunned in the face when we found someone. Despite the lack of headsets, teamwork was prevalent with medics healing the wounded and team mates rushing to help those between a rock and a hard place. There's something about the game which makes you feel more connected to the others on your faction.
An open beta is on the cards, but won't be released until after the Resistance 2 and SOCOM betas, for obvious reasons. The game will not be suffering from any region locking – when you start a match you are the server, so anyone across the world can join. If you're searching for an already set-up online game, then the default is to be shown games in your territory, but you're also given the choice to search worldwide if you wish to.
Killzone 2's multiplayer is more than just a mere bullet point for the back of the box. Considering all the hype has been about the single player for so long, we never expected the multiplayer to be so fleshed out. It remains to be seen if Killzone 2 can trump Resistance 2's 60-player online battles or Call of Duty 4's stranglehold on gamer's multiplayer time, but Guerilla is putting up quite a fight.
