I must confess: until now, I have only had a passing interest in Killzone 2. The immense hype for the title, along with Guerrilla’s admissions of touching up their game’s screenshots -- twice -- has made me extremely suspicious, and the apparent lack of any palpable story screams “just another good-looking gray/brown FPS.” However, the “Helghan” trailer above finally provides me with a reason to give a damn.

In addition to all the graphically-intensive fighting on display, we’re finally given some semblance of a story -- and unless I’m reading into it too much, it sounds a lot like subtle political commentary on the Iraq War. I was reminded of Anthony’s brilliant article from last year regarding Call of Duty 4; I highly recommend checking it out. The voice-over talks about how the army’s commanding officers told the foot soldiers that their superior weaponry would quickly blow away an already-demoralized enemy, one who could only put up “moderate to low resistance.” Sound familiar? Remember Operation: Shock and Awe? How about the woefully premature “Mission Accomplished” banner?

Well, “someone forgot to tell the Helghast.” The trailer also features some inspiring oration from a man that I assume is the Helghan leader, Scolar Visari. He was voiced by Brian Cox in the original game, but I can’t quite tell if Cox is reprising his role this time around, or if Guerrilla has merely hired someone who sounds a lot like him. Either way, Killzone 2 is now officially on my radar -- it looks like Resident Evil 5 is going to have some tough competition for shooter sales next February. Head over to the game’s official Web site for more.

As an aside, Guerrilla is currently running a closed beta for Killzone 2, and I’m in on it. I can’t say anything, though; they’re super cereal about confidentiality. So for now, I’ll just hold it over you folks.