FEATURE: Killzone 2 Backlash [UPDATE]
- Scribbled on February 7th, 2009 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Features, Shooter, Sony PlayStation 3
[UPDATE: I inexplicably posted IGN instead of TVG, which awarded Killzone 2 an 8/10. My bad.]
There seems to be a growing backlash against Killzone 2, the hyped PlayStation 3 exclusive shooter that Sony fans have been rallying around. The question is starting to be asked: is Killzone 2 overhyped? It’s become reminiscent of the first Killzone being released with the rally cry of it being a “Halo killer”, but was more of a generic shooter.
Much like the MetaCritic Incident in which fanboys used the review aggregator as a battlefield, Killzone 2 is becoming a hotbed of controversy regarding review scores.
The Game Reviews has noticed that many of the initial glowing reviews for Killzone 2 have come from “official” PlayStation magazines, and from Eurogamer, noting its curious disclaimer:
After the main Eurogamer portal awarded Killzone 2 with a 9/10, alongside the Portuguese 10/10, head editor of the main portal Tom Bramwell posted an editor’s blog entitled ‘Exclusive reviews?’ – explaining that Eurogamer had regional (European presumably) exclusivity on reviewing the game. It’s an interesting read, but it left me questioning why Eurogamer had to defend their integrity and how we know Sony had no say in the score. Money talks. It has actually made me suspicious of a site I enjoy.
What’s going on here?
Regardless, when IGN TVG awarded the game a 8/10 and Edge the game a 7/10, fanboy response has been swift and merciless – despite having not played the game. Some of the complaints already voiced about Killzone 2 are almost identical to that of the original: bland gameplay, stock FPS convention, and wonky controls. Indeed, GameStooge itself became a target when it revealed the poll results of “anticipated game of 2009″ when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 beat out Killzone 2, and while the comments here were more measured (especially since they’re moderated), on the N4G site, the comments were less than tactful.
One must wonder if this is a Gerstmann situation in reverse, in which review exclusivity – which, in my humble opinion, is an evil practice that should be abolished – and corporate pressure makes it harder for a journalist to be objective.
ADDENDUM: Apparently, the Sony Defense Force didn’t get the implications of what I’m saying. Let me ask you a question.
Suppose you’re given a major release by a publisher, who says they’re going to allow you to post the review pre-release, give you major hittage.
You review the game and find it to be an okay game, worthy of a 7 or 8. How easy would it be to just nudge that score to a 9 to please the publisher, so they’ll buy more ad space and give you more hot releases to publish reviews early for?
It already happens in the movie and book industry. All. The. Time.
February 7th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
IGN awarded the game 8/10?
February 7th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
this article is flamebait.i’ve played a15min demo and there’s nothing wrong with the controls.the things that game journalist,are nitpicking at aren’t important,the wasn’t for call of duty(the most cooky cutter fps there is)besides perks,seems to me like you noob ass journalist can’t adjust.calling yourselves gaming professionals seem’s like the only thing being overhyped here.ps3 exclusive are being judge by a different standard,don’t try to defend it,you look stupid
February 7th, 2009 at 7:45 pm
ign gave this 9.4, do you’r research before bashing a game.
February 7th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I think you make some good points. There were like 3 exclusive reviews including IGNs in the US. IGN gave it a 9.4 however.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
Correction:
Last time I checked, IGN awarded Killzone 2 a 9.4
February 7th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
If you knew how to read, IGN gave it 9.0, 9.2 and 9.4 … and the scope of reviews goes far beyond Eurogamer and PSM’s, your statement would have had validity before Feb 3rd, but when the Embargo lifted, so came a plethora of reviews. And there are also reviews from some other mainstream sites, such as 1UP and GT who gave it an A and 9.2 respectively.
Honestly I might have been able to take your opinion at face value, but when you can’t read … any and all respect of your opinion goes straight out the window.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
IGN gave the game 9.4 and IGN UK gave it 9.0. Fail article is fail. Though it would make you less of a fanboy if you wrote the same one for Halo 3.
P.S. Some people have played the game. Yes, the FULL game. Nothing but praise up in Neo-Gaf. Have you played the full game?
February 7th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
ign gave it a 9.4
you should research b4 u write
February 7th, 2009 at 8:12 pm
P.S. are you even gonna allow my comment to show up?
February 7th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
N4G are on the mouth of everybody it seems.
BTW, you should look at metacritic.com again because most of the 10/10’s of Killzone 2 aren’t from playstation magazines. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/killzone2?q=killzone 2
I played the Demo and the game’s great but not for everybody because it doesn’t has assisted aim. For me Killzone 2 not having assisted aim was a good choice because it gives more meaning to its cover system.
The other thing is that the inputs kinda lag for a millisecond. But it is another aspect that I like because it gives it a distinctive feeling from the bunch of FPS that are on the market. Killzone 2 has a sense of weight and that’s great.
Killzone 2 is the first FPS that when you jump you feel like you’re really jumping.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Wow, where to begin.
1. Killzone 2 has 40 reviews on Metacritic, with only 3 scores below 90. 70 from Edge (which isn’t up yet), 80 from cvg and 87 from tvg. The other 38 scores are 90 and above. Here are the 100’s:
1up – 100
Gamepro – 100
Eurogamer Pt – 100
OPM Aus – 100
OPM USA – 100
PS3 bloggen (SWE) – 100
G4TV (Xplay) – 100
So to act like this game is getting 100s from only Sony pubs is ridiculous. Also, the link to the editorial claiming this is 404, probably because it’s simply not true.
2. Next, you imply that Sony paid Eurogamer for a good review. This entire generation, Eurogamer has been consistently lower on Metacritic that the actual aggregate, the only exception being LBP. and the main Eurogamer site game KZ2 a 9, so again, what are you trying to say?
If anything, KZ2 got screwed out of 3 great reviews from Jolt, PlayTM and Ferrago. typically, these 3 sites are listed seperately on MC, so for example MGS4 got an 80 from each of these sites. But, right before KZ2 was reviewed, these 3 sites joined, so now KZ2 won’t benefit from 3 96’s. I’m sure you are happy with that little fact.
3. Also, IGN gave KZ2 a 94, not and 8 as you claim.
4. Oh and your poll, with only 251 people voting, was a joke. I would guess 90% of those votes were from Xbots like yourself, because normal gamers wouldn’t be followers of a complete idiot like yourself.
In closing, you are a coward. Edge gave the same score to KZ2 as they did to your precious Halo Wars, which I’m sure is a good game. The fact is that Edge is a joke among journalism (just like this site) and shouldn’t be taken seriously, just like this site.
Do yourself a favor and get a ps3 now, before denial ruins your life.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
IGN score was 9.4/10, not 8/10…
February 7th, 2009 at 8:28 pm
lol ur a noob, and halo wars is considered a let down and a piece of crap, just like your article, please, stop supporting the M$ monopoly with their crappy games and “exclusive” DLC that is aimed to drain your wallets with crappy content that should be free.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
“IGN awarded the game a 8/10 ”
you sure you got your facts right?
looks more like a 9.4!!?
February 7th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
Dude I’ve no problems in you bashing and degrading Killzone 2 as it is totally your opinion and is in no way a fact. And everyone is entitled to his/her own opinion but my suggestion, as a game journalist, is that you shouldn’t go out of the line and present your thoughts as facts.
I am not going to elaborate any further then I already have but I will point out two things which seriously questions your journalistic knowledge and the over all integrity of this article.
1. IGN didn’t give Killzone 2 8/10 rather they gave it an extraordinary 9.4/10 and here is the link to that review. Link:- http://ps3.ign.com/articles/949/949161p1.html
2. The 2009 release of Call Of Duty by Infinity Ward isn’t going to be Modern Warfare 4(FOUR)!!! Its going to be Modern Warfare 2 and that is if they decide to stick to that title.
February 7th, 2009 at 8:52 pm
This article seems biased in itself, Ign Awarded the game no less than a 9, in all territories, and if you read that edge review, then read the gears/halo reviews you can tell that site is quite biased toward them.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:02 pm
IGN gave Killzone 2 a 9.4 not an 8
February 7th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Hey I commented on the site like 3 hour ago, where’s my comment? I didn’t said bad words or insulted anybody. It was a respectful comment… So, where is it?
February 7th, 2009 at 9:15 pm
Your just coming off as stupid….. Honestly, do you even own a PS3? Just sounds like another Xbox person hating on sony again. Also, IGN did give Killzone 2 a 9.4! Pretty outstanding huh? Must be the corrupt corporations of America pressuring our media. Like we havn’t heard that one before…….Hippie….
February 7th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
I’m rather unhappy with how the entire Killzone 2 review process has gone. The fact that there have been at least two versions of review code (neither of which were final retail discs) bugs me. The fact that reviews (even from tiny sites no one ever heard of before) were out a full month before the game was on store shelves bugs me. And when nearly all of these early reviews are spouting nothing but praise, something seems off. Put on top of that the fact that fanboys have been tearing down any less than stellar review or even some stellar ones (9/10 suddenly isn’t good enough?) which puts pressure on any outlets that haven’t reviewed it yet to conform lest they face the wrath of the nerds.
It all smells fishy to me.
February 7th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
this site is a joke.. “when ign awarded the game with an 8..” you need to do some research and end up with the fud.. you are not a real journalist i think, the only thing u’re trying to do is putting doubts in buyers minds.. but it doesn’t work.. people are more smart than u..
February 7th, 2009 at 9:52 pm
There was a backlash? thats a bit extreme, your obviously being overd-dramatic and need to be more “objective”
February 7th, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Every reviewer was paid off by Sony. Pretty soon every game site will be entirely run by Sony, giving Wii and 360 exclusives 6/10 max.
Oh, and I had no idea IGN gave it an 8! Sony must have hacked IGN and switched it to 9.4!
February 7th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Get your facts straight stooges.
February 7th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
1up – 100 – was allowed to post a review pre-release
Gamepro – 100 – was allowed to post a review
Eurogamer Pt – 100 – Europe exclusive review
OPM Aus – 100 – Official PlayStation Magazine
OPM USA – 100 – Official PlayStation Magazine
PS3 bloggen (SWE) – 100 – Official PlayStation Magazine – Official PlayStation Magazine
G4TV (Xplay) – 100 – was allowed to post a review pre-release
IGN too, was allowed to post a review pre-release.
You don’t know how powerful it is to be allowed to post a review of a huge game before release. Give you an example: there were no pre-release reviews of Halo 3 save OXM. Who cares what people score it after it’s released? The post-release reviews can’t be put on ads before release.
Of course, you completely miss the point, don’t notice the bizarre apology, and the fact Sony sent TWO builds of the game, recalling a so-called “finished version”.
I’m having flashbacks of Black & White.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
so u are simply saying that your world is falling? lol, m$ puppet
[Of course, I must be a Microsoft "puppet" if I question review scores - like Kane & Lynch.]
February 7th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I’m talking about Sony fanboys like you on honest reviews of Killzone 2 – and this article.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
thanks for the update
to me i don’t mind a low review score for a game, but what does matters to me is consistency to pass reviews which both TVG and Edge have not been showing to Killzone 2.
and just because a “Fanboy” says something doesn’t mean it’s automatically meaningless or pointless.
February 7th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
“but what does matters to me is consistency to pass reviews which both TVG and Edge have not been showing to Killzone 2.”
Miss the point again, huh? How do you know what “consistency” is til everyone’s posted reviews – you know, sites and magazines that weren’t granted exclusive permission by Sony.
February 8th, 2009 at 12:07 am
yea 9 from AU
9.2 from UK
and 9.4 from US
note before you write a article you may want to do some reserch to prevent yourself from looking like a complete dumb ass
February 8th, 2009 at 12:25 am
Maybe you should read the Update before posting to prevent yourself from looking like one.
February 8th, 2009 at 1:05 am
First of all thanks for correcting your mistake but there still was one more mistake that I pointed out. Please read my earlier comment and correct that as well.
Second, do you know what you are doing by senselessly blaming the game journalists and indirectly accusing them of being bribed by Sony (With all due respect)??? Well I am not even going to drag this topic any further but I am posting a link of Sessler’s soapbox of G4TV and I strongly urge you to hear him out and then rethink of what you have said. Link:- http://g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/692992/Sesslers-Soapbox-Killzone-Mailbag.html
February 8th, 2009 at 2:58 am
I wish I was as smart as Jonah.
February 8th, 2009 at 3:40 am
@Jonah Falcon
High there. Long time reader first time commentator. Why do you feel the need to single out this game? You’re coming out a bit..um Anti-Sony. “Give you an example: there were no pre-release reviews of Halo 3 save OXM.”
Where there also no “gift bags” from MS? You know what I’m talking ’bout
February 8th, 2009 at 3:58 am
I wouldn’t know. I never got jack from Microsoft.
February 8th, 2009 at 4:31 am
Then how do you know about Sony? Have they ever paid you jack???
February 8th, 2009 at 4:57 am
killzone 2 is awfull
February 8th, 2009 at 8:24 am
“I wouldn’t know. I never got jack from Microsoft.”
But other people did. Hell I think Kotaku even returned their gift bag.
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2007/09/halo_3_xbox_360_swag_bag_is_in_2.html
Yeah don’t say you didn’t know about this.
http://vgmwatch.com/?p=1123
February 8th, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hold on. Everyone in the industry gets swag. Everyone. Sony, Microsoft, Ubisoft, etc. You should have seen the desks at EGM.
February 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
*sighs*
February 8th, 2009 at 3:02 pm
Wow! what a [bleeping] fanboy this Johan Falcon is and the bullshit no name website is. [bleeping] hating [bleeping]!
[This guy is accusing me of being a fanboy, then writes]
Go play you [bleep] [bleep] 360! oh wait, that’s right, you cant, cuz either A.) its broken or B.) has no games coming out for it to play.
[Wheee!]
Im sick of all this Killzone 2/PS3 hate. I dont even think Killzone is that impressive or have a PS3.
[Please don't lie.]
But the level of hate and pettiness by the Microsoft Attack Force is just ridiculous. Play your [bleeping] games, you [bleeping] [bleeps] and stop hating the PS3 so much.
[Says he doesn't have a PS3 and not a fanboy but trashes the 360 and tells people to stop hating the PS3.]
February 8th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Jonah -
You know, I really feel sorry for you. Honestly, I do. You have such venom pent up for Sony and/or the PS3, I just can’t understand it all. More over, I can’t understand how on Earth you can live knowing – knowing as in fact – that Sony now has what is shaping up to be a highly rated, successful title in Killzone 2. The idea that you twist scores of reviews touting how good the game is into some sort of twisted conspiracy is simply pathetic.
I do feel sorry for you. You have your mind closed to a system that is now starting to give the consumer – us gamers – titles worth playing. I own all the major consoles, and have since the original PlayStation. I play the games, not the consoles, so I have the wonderful position of playing truly great games like Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid 4, and Super Mario Sunshine…all without watching my blood pressure jump out of hatred for any manufacturer.
However, with that said, who I REALLY feel sorry for are Doodirock and DSmooth over at 2old2play.com. The idea that you are co-branding with that extraordinary site is a travesty of epic proportion. This site was a nice idea of theirs to get going, but your repetative pisspoor journalism (or at least attempts to that end) drags that name into the muck. I can’t do anything but shake my head.
February 8th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
I don’t have any more or less hate for Sony and the PS3. I’m anti-stupid (such as Jack Tretton’s baldfaced lies during the PS3 launch, and Sony’s idiotic PS3 commercials – I guess Derrick’s anti-PS3, right? Or maybe he’s anti-stupid, too.) Stop assigning motivations that aren’t there. If that were true, why would I be creating and more or less maintaining the MLB 09: The Show Wikipedia page, for example?
Or maybe I’m anti-Nintendo.
http://www.gamestooge.com/2007/03/18/nintendo-too-much-recycling/
I’ve also been critical of Microsoft’s mishandling of Live for Windows/Games for Windows.
Maybe I’m anti-videogaming altogether. (rolling eyes)
(And of course, this is like a Carly Simon song – “You’re so vain, you probably think this article is about Killzone 2.”)
February 9th, 2009 at 12:32 am
No [bleep] Jonah Falcon(awesome name). I’m not trying to be rude but the schwag bags had upwards of $800 US worth of [bleep] in them. If your not gonna question the ethics of a reviewer keeping the gifts then you gonna look pretty biased.
“You review the game and find it to be an okay game, worthy of a 7 or 8. How easy would it be to just nudge that score to a 9 to please the publisher, so they’ll buy more ad space and give you more hot releases to publish reviews early for?”
Now how the [bleep] are you gonna ask this question then ignore the fact that reviewers got very expensive “bribe” bags. Yes I said it. This game scored super high for what was basically Halo 2 with replays. I’m in no way saying it was a bad game but even Edge, I mean freaking EDGE gave it a 10!
[And a map editor, and improved AI, an incredible story with a classic ending. Stop making it sound like Halo is some Red Faction knockoff. And Microsoft didn't bribe 3M+ people into preordering. Incidentally, people are still playing Halo 3 a ton of Live - 2+ years after release. And are you saying Sony doesn't give away tons of swag? Are you seriously implying that? Yeah, sure. And Sony doesn't sacrifice live goats to promote a game, either.]
Further more you have no proof of Sony paying anyone and that’s that.
[Um, Sony is "paying" them in web hits that they'll get because only they have the reviews and no one else will - and the future in which Sony will give them more exclusives. That isn't "proof" - that's fact. You still haven't addressed the fact Eurogamer is bending over backwards to reassure everyone Sony didn't influence them - why? And you have those Official PlayStation Magazines...]
But if you do please present it.
Until then maybe you should change your article in whole and actually question the whole industry instead of picking on the It game to gain hits.
[No. I'm citing a specific example. I did it with Black & White years ago. Sony did the same thing with Heavenly Sword and Lair - or have you forgotten them sending a "reviewer's guide"?]
February 9th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Hey thanks for putting words in my mouth dude. I wasn’t trying to be rude but F you.
“Stop making it sound like Halo is some Red Faction knockoff.” -When the f**k did I say anything about Halo 3 being a knock off of anything, or being a bad game for that matter? In fact it was a very good game.
“And a map editor, and improved AI, an incredible story with a classic ending.” -Does this make it the ‘best gAme evaH!!’ for you? S**t, these things have been done before and guess what, I’ve heard lots of people say it had a crappy ending. And yes I have seen the ending. Nothing classic about it but hey guess what, it’s an opinion. Not a fact!.
“And Microsoft didn’t bribe 3M people into preordering.” -Yet Sony bribed 1.1 million people into pre-ordering Killzone 2 and over 2 million into buying Killzone. Am I doing it right?
“And are you saying Sony doesn’t give away tons of swag? Are you seriously implying that? Yeah, sure.” -Let me direct you to what I wrote since you’re so selective–> “actually question the whole industry” Guess what, bribing is bribing regardless of who does it.
“And Sony doesn’t sacrifice live goats to promote a game, either.” Not very relevant but go to a slaughter house if you want to see depraved.
“Um, Sony is “paying” them in web hits that they’ll get because only they have the reviews and no one else will – and the future in which Sony will give them more exclusives.” -I hope you don’t believe that Sony is the only one who does this since you only seem to want to stick it to them. This how the sites make money. Not saying its ethical but please no double standards.
“You still haven’t addressed the fact Eurogamer is bending over backwards to reassure everyone Sony didn’t influence them – why?” -You still haven’t addressed the fact that EGM was trying to reassure everyone that the two Halo 3-themed 360 controllers, Halo 3-edition Elite 360, Master Chief collectible helmet, Xbox Live headset, dog tags, health kit, and some military meals didn’t affect their Halo 3 review. But whatever, I’m the Sony Defence Force right?
Hey manipulating reviews is bad but that’s not the argument.
You seem to have a vendetta against KZ2. Like you’re [bleep] that some people are enjoying it or something. I called it, I knew Killzone 2 was gonna be the most nitpicked game this generation and one of the most controversial but this is getting ridiculous.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:13 am
And you have those Official PlayStation Magazines… So their opinions are nullified because they’re the official magazines? GTFO. If you read these reviews and didn’t just look at the score you would realise they are PS fans, not fanboys but whatever.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:26 am
Dude, get a life. Seriously. You can dismiss everything I said as “anti-Sony bias”, but the fact is this: you’re a fanboy and you’re defending a huge corporation that doesn’t need your defending.
You’re exactly like Nintendo fanboys who went on the rampage when Super Smash Bros. Brawl got panned by Yahtzee:
http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/05/08/zero-punctuation-reviews-fanboys/
February 10th, 2009 at 7:50 am
im SICK of people complaining that it does not control like COD 4.
if you want all FPS to feel like COD 4 fine ive got one game for you guess what it is ……
nope
its COD4.
its suppose to be REAL, when your carrying armor and a back pack ammo ect your weighed down.
the recoil is there because have you ever fired a real gun?
i have used a single bolt riffle, and it feels like its going to fly out of your hand.
ok now take that single shot and imagine that happening several times in quick succession.
the only thing i did not like about the demo, is its cover shoot, cover shoot, cover shoot. thats it,
you would think that the enemy would try and flank you but nope. the bit where theres 2 enemy jeep things.
all you can do is take cover and shoot, if you run up to them you can kill 2 or 3 but than you will die.
so basically all you can do is pop and shoot gets boring they need to spice it up. but hey it is a demo so im shure theres alot more to the game than pop shoot run turn valve repeat……. i hope
o yea n HOW THE HELL ARE YOU SUPPOSE TO TELL WHERE A GRENADE IS?
theres no indicator like in R2,Uncharted or yes COD but you do need it. its annoying that i have to look for grenades every time i hear that beeping,
only to find either i cant see them or there on the other side of the map.
February 10th, 2009 at 10:16 am
Do you want realism or fun?
February 12th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
both and KZ 2 gives me both, Not like RE 5 .
A game has NEVER pissed me off as much NEVER and ive been playing games for 10 years.
its a fast paced action game,
its like your a 90 year old granny trying to outrun zombies in a racing car.
you can pop a few off but once you run out of ammo and you will very quickly 3 shots to the head does not kill them ????
so all you can do is run around like a head less chook waiting for shila to save your ass.
i think ill pass.
ahhh the good old days when they new how to make a proper survival horror game. its turning into action game with scary cut scenes wheres the suspense?
February 12th, 2009 at 10:54 pm
and you know funny enough, i haven’t been able to enjoy a game since i played the KZ2 demo.
i absolutely loved fear 2 now after playing the killzone 2 demo im bored of fear 2.
well that shows how high GG have set the bar.
congtatz its about time some one produced a non generic FPS.
February 12th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
Killzone 2 is as generic an FPS as you get.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:05 am
Jonah Falcon is awesome. He’s a HUUUUUUUGE gaming fan. I haven’t played Killzone 2.
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:11 am
JonahFalcon is awesome.