It begins with a peculiar feeling in the gut. It tingles a bit. Soon it becomes hard to ignore. It rushes forth within you, and cognitive function becomes impossible. You find yourself unable to hide it. It continues to build and build until it reaches its peak. And finally, release. Satisfaction has been achieved until next time. Rinse and repeat.

Such is the roller coaster that is known as riding the wave of hype. In this particular instance, the big wave is Killzone 2. I avoided the hype, resisted the hype, faced the hype, and now, welcome the hype with open arms.



For myself, I was not the biggest fan of Killzone. The most impressive thing about the original were the reload animations of the game. Unfortunately, even that particular element of the game would be overshadowed by the highly underrated Black. Killzone would go on to be a victim of trying to fly too close to the sun.

I did not see the E3 trailer for Killzone 2, which apparently caused a lot of controversy for some reason.

I had avoided all trailers for Killzone 2. I had not clicked on any of the previews about the multiplayer, the single player, didn't download the demo, and had not read any reviews for it. I was too busy thinking about Street Fighter IV.

But the superficial article titles and glowing red eyes from "click on me" ads began to take hold.



I noticed more and more articles that dealt with the game, and even though I didn't read them, they became ingrained in the back of my mind. Curiosity it seemed, had been triggered. As a natural reaction, I shunned this response, and tried to not give in to this new found interest.

But it couldn't be helped. I broke down. I looked at the videos, I read the reviews, I checked out the bulletin boards, I had succumb to the hype machine. It had worked as intended.

I purchased the game from Amazon with release date delivery. Today, I religiously checked my email until I finally got the answer I was waiting for. Item has been shipped, my email said. Estimated delivery date- February 27. Completion would be coming soon and I cannot wait. I for one welcome our new Helghast overlords.



In fact, I now have unrealistically high expectations for this game, and can only become disappointed when they are not met. Such is the price of riding the wave of hype.



I tend to think that I can resist the hype machine as it churns out its wave for us all to surf on. In this instance, I could not. However, I'm sure I'll be able to resist Resident Evil 5. At least, I hope I can. Maybe. Or not.

PS- (Totally unrelated, but I found this hilarious)-