Reader Corey sends us this list of trophies for the game, which were updated today to include mention of stuff not previously spoken of by Sony or Guerilla. It appears there'll be two new maps: "Suljeva Cliffside" and "Arctower Landing", along with two new weapons (well, new for multiplayer), the flamethrower and boltgun.

No idea on when these will actually appear, or how much they'll cost, but if they're turning up on official trophy lists, they can't be too far away.

Never mind the fact these were mostly fixed by adjusting the controller sensitivity in the game's options menu. That was too hard for some people. So developers Guerilla Games are about to release a new patch for the game that, among some tweaks to matchmaking and skirmish mode, includes a new "High Precision" control scheme.

Guerilla's Eric Boltjes explains:

When this option is switched on, it makes the analog sticks more responsive to small movements. Turned off, the controls behave exactly as they did before the patch. It's not a radical overhaul of the control system, so the layout and the ‘weight' of the controls remain the same.

Still, a lot of us here at Guerrilla really enjoy the new High Precision option, so we've decided to switch it on by default for new players. Existing Killzone 2 players will have the option turned off by default after patching – we wouldn't want to force a sudden change to the controls on you!

So if you like the existing controls, you keep them, if not, you can change 'em. Wonderful.

Killzone 2 Patch 1.27 Details [PlayStation]

Developers Guerilla Games have issued a curt, ominous statement on the matter, which reads:

Glitchers risk losing their PSN ID altogether. We've been quite lenient so far but that's going to change.

OK, so it's not that ominous. Because there's no money involved, a PSN ID isn't as valuable as, say, an Xbox Live one (though, as some have pointed out in comments, they'd probably lose any and all downloaded content as well). Then again, if you're keen enough to cheat, you're probably self-centred enough to care about your trophies, so hopefully the threat carries weight with some of the no-do-gooders.

[Killzone @ Twitter, via Destructoid]

Yup. As the game's production drew to a close, developers Guerrilla - who are based in the Dutch capital - saw their team size swell from around 45 employees to around 200. And the poor old power system running through their block in Amsterdam couldn't cope with all the extra juice all those extra computers were sucking down.

So Sony had to fork out for a diesel generator to be brought in, so that Guerilla weren't forced to develop via candlelight and pedal-power. Which was lucky for us, otherwise we'd be left with a game that looked so dark it was developed with the lights out and...oh.

Hollywood voor games aan de Herengracht [de Volksrant]

While the majority of reviewers judging Killzone 2 have enjoyed it enough to hand out five stars, ten out of ten, or whatever maximum score allowed under their review systems, Edge wasn't so kind. It strayed from the reviewer pack with a damning 7 out of 10. Brace yourselves.

Obviously, in modern day review terms, in which the scale typically runs from 6 to 10, with 6 being nigh unplayable and 10 being "perfect," we have a problem on our hands. Or do we?

No. We don't.

One of the neat things about Edge is, it has a hard-on for innovation. Even neater, it uses the entire range of the scale, not just just comfortable 6 to 10 zone. Clearly, when reading the written critique of Killzone 2, the issues it takes with the game's characters, story (or lack thereof), and gameplay clichés, the numerical score provided to it — seemingly the most contentious aspect of the review — begins to make more sense.

It just doesn't quite fit in with the Metacritic average, thanks to a broad range of review outlets all being essentially held to the same review process. And, hey, it's better than the average "User Review" score, currently a mix of emotionally invested fanboy rating which we're going to assume are a blend of heated 1s and 10s.

We can't quite say how good Killzone 2 is just yet. We haven't played enough of the game's multiplayer to officially review it — though Brian Crecente has completed the single-player portion of it and is rumored to have really liked it. Personally, I've only played pre-beta builds, giving me almost no indication of the final quality of the game.

But I'm looking forward to it. And looking forward to going in fresh, unfettered by reviews and scores and nonsense. After all, everyone else has praised the game for its "unparalleled graphics, incredibly well-paced single-player campaign," its "extremely deep multiplayer" and a "keen attention to style and detail." And, hey, that sounds pretty good!

Killzone 2: The Edge Verdict [Edge Online]

An unnamed and unconfirmed Sony employee reportedly told game site V For Video Games, "“It would be a lie to say Sony has not invested heavily in Killzone 2 and each individual at Guerilla games has worked even harder to satisfy any expectations kept by the company and their loyal community. I do see the game breaking a barrier with a huge variety of groups and expect it to see sales as good as Metal Gear Solid 4 if not beyond it."

MGS4 had a tremendous amount of hype around it (and that incessant Xbox 360 chatter) that even crossed over to mainstream press. Not quite convinced that Killzone 2 has that kind of buzz.

Killzone 2 Expected To Sell More/Equal Than Metal Gear Solid 4 [V4VG via CVG]

So, thumbs up on the box art? I wish it had a little more black.

Guerilla also released four holiday-themed wallpapers for us to enjoy! You can see how the Helghast and ISA troopers celebrate Christmas after the jump!

You can download the high-res wallpapers below from here.

Killzone 2 Cover Revealed

I’ve already seen a bunch of videos floating around on the ‘net, so when I sat down and got my hands-on time with Guerrilla Games’ much-anticipated shooter, the graphics weren’t a priority on my check-list to see. I knew the game looked good. Once I saw it running on a high-def television, though, it was hard for me not to drool a little.

But my main interests this time were the controls and combat.

I played through the opening level where the ISA troops are sent in on dropships to the Helghast home world, fittingly called Helghan. This has been demoed heavily before, where the main objective is to destroy the lighting gun at the end.

I thought the controls themselves took a while to get used to, particularly remembering which two shoulder buttons were used for hugging the wall and throwing a grenade. Maybe it was my FPS rust showing. Let’s just say my follies early on provided some hilarious outcomes when I tried to hunker-down with my teammates. Speaking of teammates, they do a nice and subtle job of letting you know what to do and where to go if you get stuck somewhere.

Back to the controls. I also thought the aiming wasn’t as precise as I would have liked. This is mainly due to the fact the ISA M82-G (the weapon you start with) is the most accurate assault rifle I got my hands on. The Helghast weapons were, for the most part, useless, especially against the mid-boss fight against the heavily armored Helghast trooper with the mini-gun that you have to shoot in the back. I could never aim where I wanted and I found myself having to really take my time, which caused me to die a lot. This will probably remedy itself once I get to play it more, though.

If you played the first Killzone, you’d know the series wasn’t known for jumping. In fact, there was no jump button at all. But Killzone 2 does include the ability to jump (hooray!). However, in the levels I saw, I really didn’t see a need for it. Something that disappointed me was, yes, the game does a great job of mimicking a “real war” environment and atmosphere, but you can’t really go anywhere, as the levels felt very linear. I couldn’t jump over a small barbed-wire blockade or leap off some railings, as the game puts up those dreaded invisible walls.

Oh, oh, almost forgot to mention the Sixaxis controls. There are situations where you have to rotate the controller to open doors. These are not optional. I actually got stuck here for way too long. Having to open the valve on a door requires you to push and hold the button then turn the controller, then letting go and repeating. There wasn’t any really on-screen guide to help me, either. Anyway, I minor nitpick.

The combat itself was, overall, really satisfying. There were situations where I felt I was safe, but got flanked by a group of on-coming Helghast from the side. You have to really pay attention at times. They also love to throw grenades if you spend too much time hiding. The cover system makes for some great firefights, too, as the there is never a shortage of things to duck behind. I didn't find myself using it as much as I predicated early on, but you will when you start facing more powerful enemies, such as the snipers, you will fall in love with the L2 button.

Also with first Killzone, you had the option to choose from four characters, each with different weapons and abilities. You only play as the same lead role (Sgt. Tomas Sevchenko) the entire game for the sequel. Not that this is a huge problem, but something I enjoyed about the first game was being able to replay levels and find new, hidden routes using each of the character's unique abilities. Not so in Killzone 2.

I was told the single-player campaign will take somewhere between 10 and 12 hours to complete. The Sony rep there also mentioned the review code hasn't even been sent out yet. Taking that into consideration, the game is extremely polished. The only real hiccups I noticed were some chugging and skipping going on when the next section or cutscene in a level was loading. Also, the load time between each level was a bit too long for my liking. But other than those, the framerate is solid (thank god!) and, of course, the graphics and effects look visually stunning.

Here's what I hope to see in the full game:

- Less linear, more open environments

- More exploration and sense of adventure

- Less "kill stuff" mission objectives

Still, with these in mind, this is shaping up to be the Sony's best FPS ever. Only two more months of waiting!

The sequel was infamously confirmed at E3 2005 with a pre-rendered teaser trailer, making the wait almost four years long for Guerrilla Games' futuristic first-person shooter. The game has not yet been dated for other territories, but has been privately beta testing over the past quarter.

SCEA managing producer Kyle Shubel revealed the date along with two new weapons during a Killzone 2 preview on G4 earlier today. A clip from that episode can be seen after the break.

'Killzone 2' Release Date: February 27, 2009!! [G4]

The trailer is after the jump, with a higher definition, more processor taxing version available at Daily Motion.

Thanks to our tipster soldiers for sharing the link love.

Killzone 2 "Helghan" Trailer [DailyMotion]

After a slight delay due to internet issues in the prior presentation, a pack of media people shuffled into a little room to hear all about Killzone 2. Guerilla Games' managing director, Hermen Hulst, looked slightly horrified that the horde of journalists had left the two women in the room to sit on the floor ('Someone please get her a chair!'), but Kotaku writers getting stuck on the floor be damned, the show will go on! Eric Boltjes — senior online game developer — launched into a presentation and explanation of Killzone 2 online multiplayer's unique features and mechanics. After, of course, a nice video showing ... fast action, and lots of explosions! Boltjes underscored the fact that everything we watched was shot in real time on the PS3, and everything still looked nice even with 32 players in a game. We got a long laundry list of features and mechanics, which all seemed to come back to one word, 'customized.' For more from the presentation, hit the jump.

Boltjes laid out four goals for the game: 'everyone can enjoy Killzone 2 online,' 'play just the way you like it,' 'inspiring team play,' and 'create community beyond the game.'

Under the 'everyone can enjoy Killzone 2 online' category, Boltjes mentioned they wanted the hardcore and uh, less hardcore audiences to be happy and have fun, and noted a few features. The quick join feature will ensure that players can just hop into a game suitable for their ability level, but pickier players will be able to search for specific criteria before joining a game. The game will feature a 'slow introduction,' working up to advanced features; the advanced features will hopefully keep the hardcore audience chipper while not demoralizing those who aren't ready for a really steep learning curve. Along with that, there will be transparency in the progression of the game, with twelve military ranks to progress through as you play the game (unlocking more features along the way), with an additional 46 badges and medals to be won for completing specific goals. Stats junkies will also be able to track 'over 100 statistics' regarding their progress and performance.

Boltjes seemed very proud of the 'play just the way you like it' features, which meant customize, customize, customize (within reason). Players will be able to select from six badges; each badge has a primary and a secondary ability. Decide you're really more of a medic-engineer than just a medic? Combine the two to take the medic's primary badge and the engineer's secondary badge (and vice versa if you decide to play as an engineer-medic). Custom games will allow players to select everything from the maps played, types of missions, weapons available, types of badges allowed, and variable settings (how long it takes to revive a player, how long it takes to set/defuse an explosive, etc.)

Under 'inspiring team play,' Boltjes discussed the benefits of having a squad, including the ability to see the stats of other squad members, a squad-only headset channel, and a 'spawn on squad leader' feature. Also under the spawning mechanics is the ability to cycle through available spawn points and check out what's going on in real time. Dynamic missions will also allow several missions to be selected for a game, with another mission starting after one objective has been won (there is also the option to switch in the middle of a round). There can be four members per squad and eight squads per faction.

Boltjes finished up by discussing the clan system and how they want to 'create community beyond the game.' Clans can support up to 64 players, and clan vs. clan matches can handle 16 on each side. Clan matchups will feature a 'valor' betting system, with winner takes all of the predetermined 'valor' bet. It is possible to run out of valor, but by participating in entry fee-free competitions, clans can rebound from a lack of valor. Clan tournaments can be set up in a tier-based system, with a maximum of 256 clans. On the issue of community more broadly, Boltjes talked about the leaderboards — including individuals, friends, clans, and clan member stats — that can be sorted on an all-time, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The Killzone 2 website was also brought out as a more in-depth companion to everything available in game.

During the Q&A, a few more things came up: no, graphics were not downsized for multiplayer (and the game did look nice, at least the parts we were shown). A public beta will be open later this year, and they will be closely monitoring for exploits and vulnerabilities. Killzone 2 will also be functioning on a global server system. Further, more single player news will be out later this year, and while they have some interesting ideas to go with Sony's Home, "we're not discussing it right now."

Rendered or Real-time? The fanboys and girls have gone back and forth in the months since Killzone's showing at E3 with little no information from Killzone developer Guerilla Games. 1UP reports that a post made on the official PlayStation forums by lead tester Seb Downie indicates that new Killzone news is on its way. Downie, to the chagrin of angry forum trolls, then returned to hiding behind his NDA.

Killzone News Soon [1UP]

Gaming-Age reports that Sony acquired Guerilla Games in an effort to strengthen its development core. Guerilla made Killzone, which should be best remembered for being called a Halo-killer, rather than actually being one. Additionally, Guerilla is hard at work making the Killzone sequel for the PS3 and developing a Killzone title for the PSP. I'm sure that excites somebody, right?

Sony Acquires Guerilla Games [Gaming-Age]