Killzone 2 was and is a firebrand of a game.  From the very moment the game was “officially” announced back at E3 ‘05 to this very day, it has inspired “spirited debate” among a whole host of people.  And of course by “spirited debate,” I mean idiot fanboys squealing at each other like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.

Overzealous PS3 fanboys heralded it as the second coming of Jesus H. Christ.  It wasn’t.  Insecure 360 fanboys said the game would be recycled garbage.  It wasn’t.  Call Of Duty fanboys swore up and down that the controls were broken.  They weren’t.  Wii fanboys exercised their right to remain silent, because they and the Wii sucks ass.

Honestly, as I’ve said before, the game is just plain fucking awesome.  Like every other game out there, it’s complete awesomeness fell somewhat short of perfection, and with the impending release of Killzone 3, PS3 gamers are coming out of the woodwork with their suggestions for improvement.

Now…certainly Co-op and splitscreen MP are two things that were missing from Killzone 2 and should absolutely be included in Killzone 3, but if you read the Killzone forums, the Playstation forums and even a few articles on IGN, you’ll find people asking for things that they call “improvements” that would really only serve to bring the quality of the game down.

The prime example of this would be the weighty controls.  Killzone 2 didn’t allow for unlimited sprinting, the weapons all had a very real sense of heft and recoil to them and melee attacks typically required two hits to be lethal.  Not to single anyone out, but CoD fanboy hates this.

For those who aren’t aware, CoD is an arcade shooter.  There’s almost no degree of combat realism to the gameplay:  a simple slice of a knife that would more likely than not cause only a flesh wound is a one hit kill, all of the weapons have the heft of a squirt gun, the rate of fire is incredibly jacked up, the recoil is incredibly subdued and with perks like Marathon, Slight Of Hand and Lightweight, things like running, reloading and snap aiming can all be done with the speed of someone on a meth binge.

One of the reasons that Killzone 2 is the heighth of badassery is the feel of the combat, which is best described as frenetic.  Not “frenetic” like running through teems of enemies who respawn infinitely, not “frenetic” like run here, do this, run there, do that, sprint there and ZOMG!!!  ZOMBIES!!!!!

No…not at all.  The game is frenetic in that the combat just continues and continues.  There’s no infinite respawning of enemies but the waves of enemies continue to come at you, they come at you from directions you don’t expect and the AI doesn’t repeat itself, rather it reacts to the situations that confront it.  Killzone 2 is a game where the player slogs through teems of enemies who utilize cover, flank you and find new and exciting angles from which to shoot you…and that’s what makes Killzone 2’s freneticism more realistic.

Now…there’s also the issue of Gun Turrets and Aerial Sentries.  If you look over the PS forums, you’re bound to find people crying about them.  DON’T YOU LISTEN!!  Seriously, turrets and bots are absolutely perfect.  They’re NOT overpowered and it doesn’t take an Act Of God to destroy them.  Compared to the Sentry Guns and Air Support Killstreaks in MW2, they’re fucking nothing.

Seriously, getting the Turret Ribbon (8 matches with at least 5 turret kills) and Aerial Sentry Ribbon (8 matches with at least 5 airbot kills) were two of the more challenging things to do in the freaking game.  In MW2, Sentry Guns are fucking GATLING GUNS that cut people down in two seconds and Harriers, AC 130s and Chopper Gunners will typically net AT LEAST five kills when called in.

So please…don’t listen to the whiners who complain that turrets and bots are overpowered and too hard to destroy.  Those bitches just fucking suck at Killzone 2 online…probably at life, too.  Fuck that.  The turrets and airbots are just about perfect the way they are, and anyone who thinks differently just needs to get fucking good.

Also a subject of woe for some was “the story” behind Killzone 2.  I never really understood that.  Certainly, there wasn’t much “story” in the first place, but the game is a chronicle of a Special Forces Sergeant taking part in an interplanetary invasion.  Guerrilla chose to forego melodramatics, plot twists and 20 minute cutscenes in favor of presenting what is probably the most accurate representation of what a ground war is like from the perspective of infantry.

I would imagine in such circumstances there’s a definite lack of 10 minute Tarantinoesque monologues, dramatic pauses and schwerves…at least that’s what common sense tells me.

One funny note is that a lot of the people who bemoaned the lack of cutscenes and narrative in Killzone 2 also complained that Metal Gear Solid 4 had too much narrative and overly long cutscenes, proving that there are some people who simply cannot be appeased.

However some people also complained about the curse ridden script, which I think had the in game characters use the word “fuck” roughly 1,376 times.  Personally, I’m a fan of the word “fuck,” which you’ve probably noticed by now.  Like college basketball legend Robert Montgomery Knight, I find the word “fuck” to be one of the most versatile words in the English language.

My own preference aside…THESE GUYS ARE SOLDIERS IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR!!  I and many people that I know have used the word “fuck” pervasively in times of stress and/or anger…AND NONE OF THOSE TIMES WERE WE IN A HAIL OF BULLETS OR A STORM OF SHRAPNEL!

Seriously…back at the battle of Stalingrad, when the Nazis were fucking their shit up, I’m pretty sure the Russian soldiers let their equivalent of the words “fuck” and “shit” go.  Not sure why anyone would really question the language of soldiers in such an instance, but I guess it probably has something to do with either naivety or stupidity on the part of those who had a problem with it.  Probably a little of both.

Finally, one thing that Killzone 2 definitely skimped on was variety of weapons.  Games like Halo, Modern Warfare and Borderlands showered gamers with a multitude of weapons and a veritable bevy (if you will) of attachments with which to outfit said firearms.  In fact games like Modern Warfare 2 become addicting to people because most firearms and attachments are only unlocked by levelling up or hitting certain benchmarks with weapon use through multiplayer.

Killzone 2 offers three assault rifles, two LMGs, a single shot midrange rifle, a shotgun, a sniper rifle and a few RLs and GLs for the bitches who aren’t good enough to kill people with bullets.  There are no attachments to be had, no dual wielding capabilities to unlock or any of that stupid shit.  It’s you and your weapon against the other guy and his…no bullshit perks, no cheapass killstreaks, no gay fucking deathstreaks…it’s simply soldier vs. soldier and may the better player win.

Shotguns won’t get off 4 blasts in a second, you can’t strafe left and right with a fucking Gatling gun in your hands, there’s no Blast Shield or Danger Close to make you impervious to grenades…it’s Killzone and despite the fact that you’re a space Marine or a space Nazi, the game offers the most realistic combat experience that a console FPS has to offer.  Please let that stand pat.  Leave the arcadey bubblegum nonsense to those other games, please.

Now, certainly with the addition of Jetpacks, the degree of “combat realism” will take a bit of a hit…but that’s just Fucking A fine with me.  Jetpacks = awesomeness.  They were pretty cool for the brief moments that they were in Killzone Liberation, and I’m positively drooling about trying one out in Killzone 3.  From the little I’ve read from the priviledged few who’ve been able to test them out, you guys nailed it.  Thank you…jetpacks complete me.

So please, Guerrilla Games…don’t dumb down Killzone 3.  There’s games like MW2, Resistance 2 and a whole host of others for the Arcade Style FPS crowd to fawn over.  Killzone is a badass experience…both single player and online multiplayer…and it provides as realistic a depiction of infantry combat as possible on a gaming console.

True greatness is found by carving out your own niche and making the absolute most of what you have once you’ve gotten there.  Killzone 2 was pretty fucking great.  Please, GG…don’t take a step back.  Keep taking steps forward.  There will be haters, but they come out whenever someone pushes boundaries.  Fight through that shit…fuck them and their inability to see past their noses.