Some slowdowns/frame drops aside and other minor issues which are clearly going to be fixed (like voice over), Killzone 2 is a rollercoaster of a shooter.
What I liked the most (technicalities aside as vids speak for themselves) is how non-linear the approach to firefight is. On the one side, you have the AI acting unpredictably so everytime you re-do the same fight, it actually plays out differently (Video 01 shows this quite clearly when I repeat the last section after dieing). On the other side, levels are designed so that you can change approaches to the same confrontation quite radically. You can see this in one of the Welcome vids when I go upstairs while Garza stays down near the stairs. I have three options there. Shooting from above. Use the turret. Turn the corner ahead and go down the stairs to hit the HGHs from behind. There are many situations with such tactical freedom.
I also liked the Lean & Peak mechanics and overall controls. Coming from two online beta phases I got used to the standard configuration and it kinda makes more sense with the L&P mechanic in place. Anyway, L&P works pretty well. You push L2 to crouch, and if you are close to something, you stick to it as long as you keep L2 presses. What I liked about this is that you never feel "trapped" when you are behind cover. On the one side, you are free to slide and peak in any direction you want. But you can also rotate 360° no problem (gun automatically points ahead when there is no wall). So I don't feel too "scared" about being attacked from the side. And being it a Hold rather than Toggle thing, you cannot fuck it up when detaching yourself from cover to get behind another one. It works really, REALLY well. To the point that I seriously think I wouldn't mind having the option to use it online as well.
What I liked the less are changes occurred to some levels. Especially how Visari Square looks now. IMO, it's too bright and colorful. Blue pavement, orange lights and greenish structure in the background? I liked the darker version more. I hope GG is not too afraid of the B/W stigma and adding colors to avoid it.
As for my "quick fix", I'd suggest adding more flying drones. They are criminally underused IMO. In the first 6 levels at least. In Resistance 2, flying drones are very cleverly used to spice things up and force you to swap from ground-to-ground to ground-to-air combat. And move from cover to cover. Not so in KZ2. In the preview code levels. Perhaps shit hits the fan later.
