Killzone 2
Looking back at my time with Gears of War 2, Killzone 2 brings new revelations to the experience. It feels more or less like the same game only first-person, comparable high-quality rendering with bland and monotonous environments, finely tuned gameplay heavily focused on cover and controlling ground as well as using your partner to do so – even the machismo caricatures that form the plot are the same.
To say that I liked either game would be something of an overstatement, but the one thing i definitely did not like about Killzone 2 was the infrequent placement and triggering of checkpoints – although this could have been just as bad in Gears 2, only since I played it in co-op we didn’t die simultaneously often enough to notice. Which is my main point and insight, Killzone 2 doesn’t have a co-op campaign so the one thing that can always pull an otherwise (for me) mediochre experience to new and inspiring heights is missing. Would the Gears of War games have been as – let’s call it “uninspiring” – if I didn’t have a buddy around? most likely.
So is this a valid argument or just an oversight? while most games are improved by including co-op, not all are as finely adjusted to it as Gears 2 was, so I would hold that it’s the better game for it. At least for me. But then again, both games are intended to be played online with and against other people and as I’m not interested in that complaining about the games feel like bitching about the color of the plates at a steakhouse. I’m barking up the wrong tree trying to get any enjoyment from mindless shooters and I should know it by know, so I guess the only one deserving of mockery is me.