So...Killzone 2?

[Destructor]

I have heard that in US you have to have pre-ordered at Gamestop to get in on the demo. Europe is for all.

This is confirmed. You need a special 'code' from the Gamestop preorder to get the demo in the US. In Europe (and possibly if you have a European account period) you can just download the demo like any normal person would.

[Bullwinkle]

Apparently, it's 5PM UK time.  

I do remember people talking about getting a UK account somewhere in this thread.  And I just saw it confirmed* that you need to pre-order through GS.  Damn, I didn't know that.

* And by "just saw it," I did not mean by Destructor.

[denoginizer]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.


I'm not going to screw around creating a new European PSN account, and I'm not buying the game from Gamestop, so I guess no demo for me.

[Kevin Grey]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.

It's a Gamestop thing- for whatever reason preorders are an essential part of their business model so they are very agressive at getting preorder bonus deals from publishers.  Demos have long been one of those bonuses they try to get. 

[gellar]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.


I'm not going to screw around creating a new European PSN account, and I'm not buying the game from Gamestop, so I guess no demo for me.

Agreed.  Pretty lame actually.

gellar

[denoginizer]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.

It's a Gamestop thing- for whatever reason preorders are an essential part of their business model so they are very agressive at getting preorder bonus deals from publishers.  Demos have long been one of those bonuses they try to get. 

It seems like a demo is a strange incentive to give though. I guess it could entice a few people to preorder who would not normally do so. But it seems like you run risk of people cancelling their preorder if they don't like the demo. 

Not a big deal I guess.  I'll be buying the game anyway.  But I would have liked to try out the multiplayer since I've heard that the controls can take some time to get used too. And I fully expect online multiplayer to be unplayable the week of release due to Sony's recent history with online PS3 games when they first come out.

[CeeKay]

I have heard that in US you have to have pre-ordered at Gamestop to get in on the demo. Europe is for all.

This is confirmed. You need a special 'code' from the Gamestop preorder to get the demo in the US. In Europe (and possibly if you have a European account period) you can just download the demo like any normal person would.

so in other words just pay 5 bucks at GS, get the code, try it and then cancel your pre-order if you don't like it or plan on waiting for a price drop.  I'll have to see if the local GS has any codes left.

[Chaz]

I think I'm swinging by GS tonight, so I might do that too. 

I'm fully expecting to hear that the multiplayer is having severe problems for at least two or three weeks after release.  Seems to be the way all Sony's online games go: always being surprised that the marquis game that touts multiplayer has a lot of people looking to play multiplayer.

[CeeKay]

always being surprised that the marquis game that touts multiplayer has a lot of people looking to play multiplayer.

they're making a Marquis de Sade MP game? 

[Kevin Grey]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.

It's a Gamestop thing- for whatever reason preorders are an essential part of their business model so they are very agressive at getting preorder bonus deals from publishers.  Demos have long been one of those bonuses they try to get. 

It seems like a demo is a strange incentive to give though. I guess it could entice a few people to preorder who would not normally do so. But it seems like you run risk of people cancelling their preorder if they don't like the demo. 

Look at it from the stance of the devoted fan- they are going to buy the game no matter what so the demo doesn't serve as an incentive to get the game.  However by offering it as a part of a preorder promotion then Gamestop is able to ensure that said devoted fan is spending the money to get the game at Gamestop and not at Best Buy, Amazon, etc.  

From the publisher's standpoint I imagine they are getting better in store promotion, end caps, etc in return for the arrangement.

Frankly, I'm not convinced that demos are particularly effective at selling games to people who might otherwise not be interested (in large part because most demos are poor).  It's probably impossible to quantify but I strongly suspect that the widesepread availability of demos to download this generation has done more to hurt sales than to help them.  

[metallicorphan]

i havent looked yet,and this is for those who can't add 6 hrs or 8 hrs or wonder whether the UK has daylight saving time etc(its a pain for me to keep up with the U.S time)


...but 5pm UK time....was 25 minutes ago

[denoginizer]

If you already pre-ordered the game why would you need the demo?  It seems like backwards marketing to me.

It's a Gamestop thing- for whatever reason preorders are an essential part of their business model so they are very agressive at getting preorder bonus deals from publishers.  Demos have long been one of those bonuses they try to get. 

It seems like a demo is a strange incentive to give though. I guess it could entice a few people to preorder who would not normally do so. But it seems like you run risk of people cancelling their preorder if they don't like the demo. 

Look at it from the stance of the devoted fan- they are going to buy the game no matter what so the demo doesn't serve as an incentive to get the game.  However by offering it as a part of a preorder promotion then Gamestop is able to ensure that said devoted fan is spending the money to get the game at Gamestop and not at Best Buy, Amazon, etc.  

From the publisher's standpoint I imagine they are getting better in store promotion, end caps, etc in return for the arrangement.

Frankly, I'm not convinced that demos are particularly effective at selling games to people who might otherwise not be interested (in large part because most demos are poor).  It's probably impossible to quantify but I strongly suspect that the widesepread availability of demos to download this generation has done more to hurt sales than to help them.  

I agree about demos hurting sales more than helping in most cases. I can think of many demos which have stopped me from buying a game.  While the only 2 demos I can think that convinced me to buy a game I otherwise would not have purchased were Crackdown and Burnout Paradise.

Concerning the gamestop demo exclusivity, if I were Gamestop I would offer perks for preordering that required people to actually follow through and purchase the game to take advantage of.   But the demo is certainly better than nothing I guess.  

[TheMissingLink]

It takes hardly any time at all to create a European account, 'fellas.

[Turtle]

Going to make one once I get home.  Easy as pie, good wholesome American pie. 

[TiLT]

... Aaaand I just finished the European demo. Nifty, if short. The controls are going to take some time getting used to after the excellent ones in Resistance 2. It feels hard to tweak your aiming.

[semiconscious]

It takes hardly any time at all to create a European account, 'fellas.

seriously... tech genius i'm not - & even i have euro/japan/hk accounts. it can be done ...

[Destructor]

It takes hardly any time at all to create a European account, 'fellas.

I've heard that yes, you can make a European account and VERY easily get around the 'protection' of this demo. I still say this was a dumb idea of Sony's though.

BTW - I'm also hearing that the demo is out right this very minute (or has been for a bit anyway).

[Maggot]

Yeah for some reason it would show up on danish psn so i registered a UK one in 2 min... Just wrote dsahjdsa sapiposaf asjf kdsjf in about every field and it worked.

I recommend you turning off all HUD and crosshairs, really amazing playing on a all clean screen.

[denoginizer]

Personally I know I will be getting the game so I'm not going to bother getting an EU account just so I can play a demo.

[Bullwinkle]

Yeah for some reason it would show up on danish psn so i registered a UK one in 2 min... Just wrote dsahjdsa sapiposaf asjf kdsjf in about every field and it worked.

I recommend you turning off all HUD and crosshairs, really amazing playing on a all clean screen.

Don't you have to enter e-mails and such?

[semiconscious]

one more time:

illustrated guide to creating a japanese account...

also, a more general guide (including email suggestions)...

probably won't change your life, but there's some interesting stuff to be found (& being able to use sony cards opens things up even more) ...

[Maggot]

Yeah for some reason it would show up on danish psn so i registered a UK one in 2 min... Just wrote dsahjdsa sapiposaf asjf kdsjf in about every field and it worked.

I recommend you turning off all HUD and crosshairs, really amazing playing on a all clean screen.

Don't you have to enter e-mails and such?

Yeah i just wrote something like hahshdash@.com and post number which i had trouble with in the US i just wrote 5 random numbers and it worked.

[metallicorphan]

well,i started to watch a DVD ,and thought to myself that i may as well download the demo while i watch the DVD(futurama,season 4 disc 1)..when the DVD finished so had the download..so i installed and played(over 1200mb)

the demo is not very long at all,5 minutes..maybe more,no more than 10

the graphics are nice,i still reckon GoW are better but anyway

the controls aren't to my likeing at all,first off i hate playing a FPS on a PS3 controller,it feels terrible to me(Resistance controls felt okay though,so not sure really)

but the button assignment didnt help either

R1 =Fire(fine)
R2=grenade(hmm)
R3=iron sights<<<hopefully this button especially can be changed

L2=crouch(err..)
L1=melee(well..)


O=heal team mates(fine)
X=Jump(fine)
Triangle=change weapons(fine)

the enemy who are more or less all identical,do actually keep beneath cover that looks impressive,and makes you look down the sights to pinpoint your fire to try and catch the top of the enemies head,or his leg sticking out etc,and they do try and flank you..but again,i didnt like how i was using R3 to look down the sights and R1 to fire(meaning both being on the same side of the controller,R1 to fire was fine)...hopefully you can change the controller layout..but its still feels extremely fragile/delicate using the Sixaxis/Dualshock to pinpoint your fire...on a 360 controller i can just pick that up and aim away,but i just have to keep adjusting the right stick to get my aim right..prolly wont be an issue to PS3 FPS players

there is only one difficulty level available in the demo(the full game will have 4)..the option you play is normal(the full game will have easy,hard and mega hard..in the form of rookie,recruit,soldier etc)

i am in no doubt whatsoever that this will still be loved,and maybe the PS3 lovers will like it more than Halo 3 and GoW..i am not even a massive fan of those two(GoW/Halo),but i certainly like them better than this..its a good game(from what i have played of the demo)..but the demo doesnt make me believe its the game the PS3 has been waiting for

[Chaz]

Hmm...I hate when games (360 or PS3) make me hold down a stick while moving it, particularly something as precise as aiming.  I generally don't like having those buttons functional, since I tend to apply pressure to the sticks inadvertently when I'm in a stressful situation, which can lead to accidental crouching/uncrouching/meleeing when I least want to be doing those things.

[metallicorphan]

Hmm...I hate when games (360 or PS3) make me hold down a stick while moving it, particularly something as precise as aiming.  I generally don't like having those buttons functional, since I tend to apply pressure to the sticks inadvertently when I'm in a stressful situation, which can lead to accidental crouching/uncrouching/meleeing when I least want to be doing those things.

i get that in COD,when someone jumps in front and starts to shoot at me,i feel a prize dick,when i swipe my knife at them,even though they are stood a good 10 feet away,i try and reassign my knife,but then when i need it,i always press the R3 button,forgetting that i have reassigned it,so i keep it there,and look a dick every now and then

i better add as well,that my impressions for most games/demos seem to dissagree with the best of you(i'm like an unpopular Fonze...hey,i'm still cool!!)..so dont be in anyway put off from what you have read in my impressions,although i think that it would take more than what i have said to put most of you off

EDIT:oh and Chaz-its click to go into iron sights,you dont have to keep it held down..and then click again to go out of it

[Teggy]

R1 =Fire(fine)
R2=grenade(hmm)
R3=iron sights<<<hopefully this button especially can be changed

L2=crouch(err..)
L1=melee(well..)


O=heal team mates(fine)
X=Jump(fine)
Triangle=change weapons(fine)

L2 is also cover, correct? That kind of makes sense in that it is sort of the Kill.Switch method of cover. You have to hold it down or no?

But L1 as melee and R3 as aim makes no sense. That's the reverse of every other recent shooter. I know Resistance 1 had aim on R3 and I never used it because of that. They smartly moved it to L1 in Resistance 2. Hopefully you can swap those.

[metallicorphan]

yeah sorry L2 is also cover,you have to keep hold of L2 to cover,let go and you resume standing etc..you also can't(well i couldnt anyway)look down the sights when in cover mode..iwas trying to look round a corner and look down the sights but it wouldnt let me


the controller can be reassigned to different styles(as i have just found out)

Standard 1

as i described above

Standard 2

as Standard 1,but

R1=Grenade
R2=Fire

they just swapped those buttons around for that one

Standard 3

as standard 1 but

L3=Iron Sights
R3=Sprint

hmm,LOL now having sprint on the R2 stick

Standard 4

Standard 2 and 3 combined

R1=grenade
R2=Fire
L3=Iron Sights
R2=Sprint

Alternate 1

as standard 1 but

L1=Grenade
R2=Swap weapon
R1=Fire
Triangle=Close Combat


Alternate 2

this is the one i am interested in

as standard 1,but

L1=Iron sights..horray at least they are on the oppersite side now
R3=Melee

so,pretty much COD controls..except the iron sights are L1 instead of L2..but this i way i will definetly be trying out

[Teggy]

Yeah, alternate 2 appears to basically be Resistance 2 controls, except for the way L2 is used (crouch and run in Resistance, crouch and cover in this). Also, from what I understand, looking down the sights is a toggle, rather than like in Resistance/CoD where you hold it down. I don't know if I will bother creating a European account (pre-ordered through Amazon) but I'd like to try it out.

For Standard 3, I assume you mean R3 for sprint?

[metallicorphan]

thanks,i corrected it

yup,looking down the sights is toggle

as its a short demo,i wouldnt bother making a new account,but thats me

one good thing i just found out-there is a sensitivety selection,which means the fiddling with the sixaxis could be better for me(just felt too delicate)

and two bad things i forgot to mention

all the enemies look the same,didnt the first game get ripped for having all identical enemies?,i am hoping that there is some variety in the enemies,or it may get old real fast

and at the beginning you are in a flying machine,and a guy next to you with a Bandana on his head looks like a Poor mans Marcus Fenix..could of done without IMO

[DamageInc]

Just finished the very short demo

The graphics are phenomenal
The controls, aiming and animations are very fluid and precise.
I thought the targeting was spot on.

The cover system is a little loose, but still effective.
The game uses a GoW style blood/pain meter to show damage

In fact a lot of it reminded me of Gears

The grenades have a cool meter to show how long you have cooked it

Sound effects, music, etc was pretty comparable to an A-list next-gen game

I am pretty excited for this title since I barely use my PS3 and I am glad I pre-ordered it.

[JuniorDan]

I hated the controls and now I am not as excited for the game as I was before. I will still get it but I felt like I was playing a budget version of GoW with horrendous controls. 

[denoginizer]

all the enemies look the same,didnt the first game get ripped for having all identical enemies?,i am hoping that there is some variety in the enemies,or it may get old real fast

That was my biggest (non framerate related) issue with Killzone 1.

[Teggy]

all the enemies look the same,didnt the first game get ripped for having all identical enemies?,i am hoping that there is some variety in the enemies,or it may get old real fast

That was my biggest (non framerate related) issue with Killzone 1.

I guess it is a valid gripe, but in something like CoD you fight against 1 enemy type the whole time. Killzone is a  sci-fi shooter, but not an alien shooter like Halo/Resistance/Gears where you are fighting against multiple species. So given the storyline I probably don't care too much.

[pingwrx]

I hate the controls too been playing too much cod I guess hope you can change them in the release version.

[Bullwinkle]

all the enemies look the same,didnt the first game get ripped for having all identical enemies?,i am hoping that there is some variety in the enemies,or it may get old real fast

That was my biggest (non framerate related) issue with Killzone 1.

I guess it is a valid gripe, but in something like CoD you fight against 1 enemy type the whole time. Killzone is a  sci-fi shooter, but not an alien shooter like Halo/Resistance/Gears where you are fighting against multiple species. So given the storyline I probably don't care too much.

Do they at least say different things?  My biggest complaint wasn't so much that they all looked the same as that they sounded exactly the same (and they had horrible accents on top of it).

[Turtle]

Yeah, they do say a lot of things.  They'll bark orders, give witty comments, and and lots of screaming when they got shot.  They're much, much livelier than in KZ1, they're also much, much better than any CoD game, or even games like Gears.

There are also different variations on troops, each with different tactics and weapons.  Early on these aren't so common and you mainly face the standard trooper.  You'll see scout/recon guys, special forces, heavy weapons, snipers, etc...

[ATB]

I hate the controls too been playing too much cod I guess hope you can change them in the release version.

According to one of the parts of that video review, you can customize the controls quite a bit...

[Caine]

you can look down the sights when crouched behind cover, but i wasn't able to do it while standing at the edge of a wall.  you have to look up first though, so it's not as fluid as it should have been. 

one thing that always annoys me about control configurations.  why the H don't they just let us define whatever the hell we want rather than go with a handful of presets?  you could set up all of your fps games to play pretty much the same without much hassle. 

demo was shorter than the time it took to make the account and download it, but it was decent.  great graphics and competent ai, which is pretty much what i was looking for here. 

was anyone else getting a sense of deja vu when the end sequence played in slow mo?  it felt like the end of the f.e.a.r demo long ago and made me think that kz2 is f.e.a.r without the slow mo gameplay and the shock you moments.

[Turtle]

Eh, it's not the controls that take getting used to, it's the inertia/acceleration when you change the angle of your aim.  Reviewers were right in mentioning it's slower than people are used to, but eventually I got used to it.  I do think it needs a tiny bit of tweaking though, make the acceleration of the turn rate kick in slower to allow medium sized aim adjustments of about 2-4 screen inches to be more smoother.  Otherwise I can deal with it.  I have a sneaking suspicion that the turn rate slowness is also due to technical issues, they probably have so much in memory that they literally have to load in new stuff every time you turn around. 

My one problem with playing this is that when I play shooters, I tend to get really focused and have a bit of tunnel vision.  This makes it so that I miss a lot of cool effects and such as I try to hunt down each guy.

[depward]

Played the demo - I already had some flavor of how KZ2 played by playing on TML's machine for the MP beta, but wow the game looks fantastic.  Plays pretty well too.  It does take some time to adjust to a slower-type FPS game and the control configuration but once I did, it was awesome.  Loved shooting random stuff in the warehouse    Shot one of those thingies, it did a hissing sound and went rolling into a pile of others and the explosion was huuuuge.

Thought this was sorta cool - when your buddy hoists you up, if you jump down, he'll have another animation to hoist you up again, but from him being on the platform.  Just a little thing that made me think, "Hey, that's pretty cool" when playing