A Dizzying Experience
March 3rd, 2009My copy of Killzone 2 arrived last Friday and other than it (at least initially) seeming like another case of a game’s hype exceeding its accomplishments (and inflating its reviews), the game unfortunately has another nasty side effect on me: dizziness.
Now, this has happened to me before with maybe one or two other games, but this is *not* something that happens to me with every first person shooter. I just played through Call of Duty: World at War with no problems and I’ve logged plenty of hours of time in Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead. None of those gave me any problems.
So why Killzone 2? I’m not really sure, though at least one part of the formula is probably because I’m playing on a 61″ TV. Theoretically, I’ve made sure I’m sitting back at what’s considered the “ideal” distance, but at that distance, the screen still fills most of my vision (which is the point, really). But since it doesn’t happen to me with every game, there must be some component of the game that makes it happen.
So, for Killzone 2 my guess is that it has to do with the framerate (which if I had to guess hovers at just a frame or 2 under 30FPS, but that’s just a guess) and the intended amount of motion that the game puts in in order to “simulate” a more lumbering sort of soldier-like movement. Oh, and the menus and loading screens don’t help either, with all of them acting sort of “blippy” and moving around somewhat “jaggedly” for… some purpose I’m not really sure about.
In any case, I’ll have more to say on the game (which, while I do think has been somewhat overrated by some sites, but is still good… other companies will steal the way it does multiplayer, I guarantee it), but wanted to know if anyone else has been experiencing this with the game, and if there’s any way to help it. It isn’t so bad that it’s impossible for me to play, but it probably does limit the amount of time I would sometimes like to play the game. Maybe dramamine would help…
Posted in Etc, Jeff, PS3 |
March 4th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
It’s a bit disorienting, my issue is the controls. i got carpel tunnel from 3 hours of playing. That has never happened to me before. And the single player controls are just plain broken. It seems like I’m the only one who feels that killzone 2 feels like a game from the last generation in terms of gameplay and features. How in the days of gears and COD, and halo, can a game company ship a game with such broken controls and such limited fetaures?
I am glad that someone seems to feel slightly similarly.
March 4th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Not sure the controls are broken, but I think I know what you mean… You feel very heavy and slow-moving in single player… more like a tank than a person, in some ways. In multiplayer they actually improve your motion (I think) so that it doesn’t feel quite as stiff and lumbering. Though even in multiplayer I have trouble aiming properly, sometimes… like the analog sticks aren’t quite sensitive enough.
Some of the visual and sound effects really are outstanding in the game… but I do think that the CoDs actually do a better overall job with their single player games than KZ2 does, and the CoDs still look great to boot. They don’t pull off QUITE as many graphical flourishes (basically lose the improved shadowing and fog/environmental effects), but the scripting seems far more exciting to me and what the CoD4 engine accomplishes even in those regards is nothing to sneeze at. Oh, and I guess the AI is a bit better in KZ2… guys are actually hesitant to pop out and do a better job of actually flanking you.
All that said, multiplayer definitely seems to be where this game is at, which is ok, I guess, since I’m stuck at fighting an ATAC in single player right now (major pain in the ass).
March 5th, 2009 at 12:16 pm
That’s an annoying boss.
Shoot the blue power nodes when it gets nearby, then spam rockets.
March 5th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Dave-
Yeah, I just went back to him last night and managed to clear him on my first try… I found out that actually using the “cover” button substantially reduces the missile damage (seemingly even if the missile hits close to you). Still almost died a bunch of times since the damn missiles make it very difficult to tell where it is headed, but managed to just barely stay alive long enough to take him down.
March 6th, 2009 at 12:10 am
To be honest I never used cover. I found it just makes you a stationary target. lukily for you, that’s the most challenging boss in the game.