Improving Killzone 2's multiplayer

3:00 PM on 03.08.2009   |   Jim Sterling

72 comments

As if you couldn't have already guessed from our 9.5 review, I have become a huge fan of Killzone 2. While the single player campaign was decent, the multiplayer has been an absolute blast and one of the most addictive online experiences I've had since I discovered pornography.

As great as Killzone 2's multiplayer is, however, there are a few things that could stand to be changed in order to make the experience even more enjoyable. After spending at least a few hours every day with the game, I've noticed a few things that ought to be tweaked, tightened up or added, and because I am an arrogant videogames blogger who feels he knows better than experienced game developers, I'm going to write down these potential improvements as if anybody involved with Killzone actually cares. 

Read on then, for Destructoid's suggestions for improving the Killzone 2 multiplayer. 

Deepen The Class Progression

I'm loving the class system in Killzone 2, even if it does take a load of ideas from Team Fortress, but I can't help thinking that they could have done more with each individual. For example, I'm usually rocking the Medic, but once I'd achieved his secondary ability and leveled it up, there was nowhere else to go with him. Something resembling more of a skill tree, or deeper customization options, would have given each class more to play with, so you haven't maxed out your favorite within an hour of obtaining him. 

I'm not expecting a Final Fantasy X level of depth, of course, but a few more additional abilities to unlock or even just more badges to be earned using individual classes in different ways would have given each character more work to do. 

Auto-Select Sides As Standard

I've noticed a rather annoying trend while playing Killzone 2, and that's the fact that all the good gamers seem to only ever play as the ISA. As a fan of the Helghast, it's very annoying that for some reason they almost always lose. I can't be the only one to have noticed this, and it's leading to incredibly one-sided battles. In fact, more than a few times I've played ridiculous matches where there only a handful of Helghast players while the ISA forces outnumber them by at least two to one. 

Forcing randomized sides may not be very democratic, but it would stop fights being so predictable, and it would stop the Helghast being full of crap players. I don't know why the best players have such a hard-on for the ISA, since the Helghast have much cooler character models anyway. It must just be their fear of English accents and ability to only sympathize with cigar-chewing Marines. 

Fix The Shitty Flybots

One of the most common complaints is that the Air Support ability is absolutely worthless. While I understand that their presence is supposed to be a distraction more than a killer, the so-called sentry bots are so utterly broken that they need a complete revamp to even perform their intended role efficiently. 

The only thing Air Support is good for right now is the enemy team. If I see an enemy Flybot, I actually get quite happy because it means I shoot at the thing, kill it with ridiculous ease, and earn myself a free point for doing so. An ability should not exist to give the enemy team points, and since the ability comes with the Tactician, it's doubly ridiculous. Them's some rather crappy tactics. 

Also, if they're supposed to be a distraction, WHY does the secondary Tactician badge demand you get five kills in one match with it, EIGHT times in a row? I have used Air Support in a lot of matches, and the most damage I've managed to do is about two kills. I haven't even earned one ribbon, let alone eight, and this is an incredibly common complaint. Guerrilla, please don't design something that's not intended to kill players, and then demand that we kill players with it. 

Something should be done to fix them. The ribbon requirements need to change, the Flybots need to be stronger, or at the very least, their defense needs to be raised. They can be downed in less than one clip of rifle fire, and there are even anti-air turrets that defeat them in a second. Distraction, my arse. Right now they're a points-fest for the enemy, and nothing else.

Reward The Tactician

This develops our previous point, since Air Support is the Tactician's secondary ability. In any competitive match, the Tactician is absolutely crucial, an essential part of any successful team. His ability to create spawn points at key positions can make the difference between victory and defeat, especially in Search & Destroy or Assassination gametypes. However, despite his importance, the Tactician class has no extra ability to accrue points. 

The Medic gets a point for every downed player he revives; the Engineer gets a point whenever one of his turrets claims a kill; the Assault, Saboteur and Scout classes have abilities or weapons that allow them to gain more frags per round. The Tactician, however, can't earn any extra points from his unique abilities. Perhaps if the Tactician earned a point for a certain amount of players using his spawn point, or if for a number of kills or objectives earned by players who spawned thanks to him, he'd reap some personal reward for his activities, but the Tactician seems to have been shafted in this regard.

He only gets standard weaponry, too. If his spawn grenades can't earn him points, at least let him use a few of the better weapons. Oh, and fix those shitty Flybots of his. It bears repeating. 

Vehicles 

The single-player campaign introduced a number of vehicles, namely the buggies, the tanks and the battle walkers. It's a shame that none of these were carried over into the multiplayer. While I wouldn't want them on every map, a few extra maps built around vehicular combat would have been very interesting. I am imagining that this is in mind for DLC, but it's still a worthwhile suggestion. It seems odd that the game would include these brand-new elements and barely use them. The mech and tank sections only make up about ten or fifteen minutes of gameplay combined, while you don't even get to drive the buggy yourself. 

A large, open map based around vehicles would be terrific. Let's do more with a tank than just use it in one token gameplay section. 

Stop Double Revives

As a regular user of the Medic class, nothing is more frustrating than managing to use up your revival ability without earning a point for it. While Medics are in no danger of not earning some good points, it still feels like an incredible rip-off for you to use your revive ability and not be the one who actually revived the player, but get stuck waiting for your ability to recharge just because it got that far into the revive animation. This usually happens when two Medics try and heal the same player at once. Only one Medic will get the point, but both Medics will lose their ability. That's just silly. 

It's a very simple system -- don't take Revive away if you're not going to give out a point. That kind of bait-and-switch attitude is what leads to high school rape, and nobody likes high school rape. Except high school rapists, obviously. 

Make Mute-All An Easy Button Press

Nine times out of ten, I want to play games against people. What I don't want to do is hear them, mostly because it justifies my depressing misanthropy and disappointment in all mankind's endeavors. I've been made aware that you can go into the options and turn the headset volume down to minimal, which will destroy the voices of inanity in a scorched-earth policy, but I'd prefer a quick mute-all button which can be turned on or off with a simple button press. 

I don't mind in-game noise, but the lobbies right now are an unbearable cacophony as up to thirty-two people try and speak at the same time. I'd like to have that off while keeping the in-game noise up, and I'd like to easily switch whenever I feel like it. Not a crucial requirement, but it would be very handy. 

Make The Battlefield Sound More Alive

If there's one thing I really enjoy about Gears of War's multiplayer, it's the amount of character that the game has. Battle cries and various vocal cues are carried over from single to multiplayer, and it makes the game sound so much more alive. I've spoken before of my love for Theron Guards and their hissing voices, and I was hoping that the Helghast would provide as much entertainment in multiplayer.

At least more vocal death screams and frag celebrations would be welcome. Right now, the multiplayer sounds a bit alienating as characters silently kill each other and only occasionally make a few half-hearted grunts. I'd have loved each class to have specialized voices and phrases, but alas, right now their aesthetic differences are purely cosmetic.

Have More Useful Secondary Abilities

Right now, only a handful of secondary abilities are really worth having. Health packs and repair, and occasionally boost, are the only ones I can think of that truly have a use. C4 is cute, but not all that effective. We've already talked about Flybots. While I understand the argument that Perks in Call of Duty could be overpowered (they're not, but I understand why some would think so), I think most of the secondary abilities are underpowered, and simply not worth earning. As already discussed, there are often some silly requirements demanded of them in order to earn the ribbons. 

Dinosaurs

I'm just of the opinion that dinosaurs improve everything. 

These are the issues I feel that could really tighten up the multiplayer and provide possibly the best console FPS online experience this generation. While the game is a ridiculous amount of fun as it is, these improvements would personally push it over the edge for me. Especially the dinosaur bit.

If you disagree, or have your own ideas for improvements, feel free to let us know. Not that we can do anything about it, of course, but we can pretend.