Killzone or Area 51 or Band of Brothers for ps2?

dboeren · Post by **dboeren** » Fri May 27, 2005 4:57 pm

I'm looking for a new PS2 game, and decided to go with a FPS this time.

I think got it narrowed down to the following:

1. Killzone
2. Area 51
3. Band of Brothers (squad-based WWII FPS)

However, I will only be playing it by myself, no online or multiplayer. Based on that, I want something with strong replayability. This could mean multiple characters, many ways to go through a level, or playing multiplayer scenarios alone against bots. I don't buy a lot of ps2 games, so I want to make sure I can pick it up again and again and just have fun. Different modes or scenarios could help as well.

For reference, I already own Timesplitters 2 and all the Ratchet & Clank games. I REALLY like Ratchet & Clank, but am not so much into Timesplitters 2. TS2 I think has bad controls, and is way too arcadey. I want something with more strategy in it, and less reliance on hyperactive dual-stick reflexes. I also enjoy the Tenchu series, stalking and planning how I will take out guards and such, so you can factor that in.

I've tried reading reviews, but I can't get a clear read on Killzone. I think a lot of reviewers slammed it unfairly for not being the Halo-killer it was hyped up to be. How bad are the graphical and framerate glitches in Killzone that the reviewers complain about? Area 51 sounds good, but might not have the depth of replayability.

Band of Brothers is an outside candidate, but it sounds pretty interesting. Not sure whether it feels like a FPS or if it's more about management of the squad like a SOCOM or something.

Can you guys help me out here? I trust your opinions a lot more than the kiddies on the typical videogame forums. Thanks!

ps - I know there was a ps2 FPS thread a while back, but the author had somewhat different criteria and resurrected threads never get good responses anyway. We're in "Off Topic", forgive me!

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Fri May 27, 2005 5:13 pm

Killzone is UTTER CRAP, STAY AWAY. It's BRUTALLY choppy and damn near unplayable with all the framerate drops which pretty much make aiming an exercise in futility. This isn't anywhere near average, much less any premiere FPS.

Area 51 is pretty good, nothing amazing but I hear the PS2 port is pretty buggy. A lot of fun.

Brothers in Arms is fun, but note that it's the fighting has a sort of weird tactical aspect to it.

Ord · Post by **Ord** » Fri May 27, 2005 5:16 pm

Band of Brothers is an awsome game, but i'm afraid that the PS2 version is just not that good. There is a good bit of statagy involved and thae squad based stuff isn't really a problem, although it does come down to the same pincer/flank stratagies Brothers In Arms it is a lot of fun.
Killzone is VERY flawed yet fun. There are multiple characters that you can play with, however gameplay isn't really different for each character. The art design in Killzone is really nice and i find the Hellgast to be creepy sons of bitches. The controls aren't that great, and the graghics are quite nice. No real stratagies involved and it's linear. I'm pretty sure you can pick it up real cheap.
Area 51 is a game that I haven't played in too much depth (just 2 demos), but i have read some bad reviews for it. What i have played felt like an average generic shooter with no real outstanding quality.
The PS2 really isn't the console to go for if you fancy FPShooters, and since you didn't really like Timesplitters 2 I can't really recommend the third part even though I find Timesplitters : Future Perfect to be the best FPS on the PS2.
You might want to give XIII a go although i didn't like it loads of others did.

dboeren · Post by **dboeren** » Fri May 27, 2005 5:39 pm

The PS2 really isn't the console to go for if you fancy FPShooters, and since you didn't really like Timesplitters 2 I can't really recommend the third part even though I find Timesplitters: Future Perfect to be the best FPS on the PS2.

I'm not really a huge FPS fan, haven't played Doom 3 or Half-Life 2. Played a little bit of Halo once at a friends house. I wouldn't be able to tell if a game copies another game or isn't state of the art, because I have nothing much to compare against. I was just thinking of picking up a good shooting action title and see what the games are like these days.

I'm assuming that TS: Future Perfect is pretty similar to TS2 in controls and style then? Honestly, I think I might feel like I'm getting less value if I'm buying the same thing I already have.

Good point about Killzone having a bigger 2nd-hand discount than Area 51. Part of the motivation though is that I have a $40 Best Buy gift card that will be expiring in a month or so. So, whatever I get will be purchased to use up the card.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Fri May 27, 2005 6:08 pm

well, i think you should get half-life and an optical USB mouse.

out of the three you mentioned, KillZone was fun despite all its problems (outlined above). wasn't too taken with Area 51 from the snippets i played. and Band of Brothers is great... on Xbox, i have also heard the "not as good on ps2" comments.

sven666 · Post by **sven666** » Fri May 27, 2005 7:50 pm

timesplitters 2

man that game is fun.. and cheap too:)
(havent played 3)

FatCobra · Post by **FatCobra** » Sat May 28, 2005 2:06 am

I rented Timesplitters: Future Perfect, and I really liked it. It's made by the same guys who did Goldeneye 007 and Perfect Dark on the N64.

Plus, it has one thing those other FPS don't have: a map editor. It's easy to use once you get the hang of it, I made a killer base-themed map. It's more of a multiplayer game though, but isn't that what FPS games tend to shoot for, fragging your friends on spilt screen, or random people online?