It’s been a long time coming, but I finally bring to you the review of all three Killzone 2 downloadable map packs. With everything that’s gone on here at TPSN over the summer, it’s been hard to find time to sit and play a good few hours of Killzone 2 online. I’ve powered through and I now present to you, my reviews.

Steel & Titanium Map Pack

Steel and Titanium, the first of the three packs released, brings a much needed extension to the online experience. Very rarely, on the original maps, find yourself toe-to-toe with a squad of enemies, battling it out for one small piece of ground. Those looking for close quarters combat in Killzone 2 should look no further.

For the first few games I was almost cursing myself for taking on this review. I would spawn and almost immediately die. It was just that frantic, however, once I got into the swing of things it was great. Walking into a room and facing off against two enemies, swiftly killing them and moving on was not something I had often felt playing online in Killzone 2. Usually I was staying as far away as possible and picking enemies off one by one. Here you have no choice but to run with a group of guys and shoot everything that moves. Thank god, friendly fire wasn’t turned on.

The two maps are plucked, almost directly, from the single player game. The first – Wasteland Bullet – is a recreation of the environment seen when you take the train to The Wastelands. Action on this map can get pretty intense and you might just find yourself needing to be scraped off the underside of a train carriage if you miss the jump between the two trains. This ‘escape route’ can come in handy if you’re under heavy fire. Mistime the jump though, and it’ll have all been for nothing. Snipers won’t find this map too enchanting though. Your view is pretty much obstructed throughout the map and if you do find a spot, prepare to have your head blown off by the enemy. The dust and the sparks add to the eerie atmosphere and, most importantly, impair your vision. If you think you saw something, you’d better be shooting it.

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The other map – Vekta Cruiser – is similar to the ISA Ship you leave at the beginning of the campaign. This is a completely different experience to that of Wastleland Bullet, you won’t find any mist here. Although sparks are sure to fly in the narrow corridors. If you’ve played the single player, you’ll know that Helgan isn’t the most pretty of places, so the change of scenery here is quite nice. Gone are the dull brown environments, replaced by shining chrome. Not that it matters when you’re getting blown to pieces by some angry Helgast.

The multi-tiered layout of the map also makes a change. This gives the game a lot more verticality and the height advantage can certainly help when you’re pushing for the win. However, it’s not all good. The environment might be different from the other maps in the game, but areas within this map can look identical. Something that doesn’t help someone like myself who has no sense of direction. That said, people have told me it’s easy to get lost here, something that doesn’t help (and will often get you killed) in an online shooter.

Overall, I think Steel & Titanium delivered something old and something new to Killzone fans. The Wasteland Bullet map is ok, but it’s just reminiscent of the rest of the maps. Vekta Cruiser not only changes up the environment, it also changes up the gameplay. A good experience with both maps, but for close to £5, I expected a little more. Two maps for a fiver seems a little stingy to me Guerrilla.

7.5/10

Flash & Thunder Map Pack

Guerrilla’s Herman Hulst said that this pack would have a bit of a “retro vibe” to it, and that it does. This pack will be great for those who played the original Killzone (not many of you then). Once again Guerrilla have made a map pack that changes up the environment a little more. Moving away from the drab locales of Helgan to…the drab locales of Vekta.

Unlike the previous pack, the maps here are a little on the large side. Something that will annoy some, but something I quite like. As I said, i’ll often take a ‘back seat’ role and prefer to pick off the enemy from afar. The first map – Southern Hills – allowed me to do just that. The action tends to occur towards the edges of the map and the mass solider corridor made it easy for me to take a few guys out unnoticed. I found that sitting back was the proffered option of most of my fellow players as those out in the open could easily be killed by the nuclear explosion that occurs on this map. That’s right, not only can the opposing side kill you. The map itself is a weapon. You are warned before the attack strikes, but there’s always a few that can’t get indoors quick enough. The addition of a ‘killer map’ is quite a cool one actually. It might seem cheap, but it definitely intensifies the experience and makes Southern Hills one of the more interesting maps to play.

The second map – Beach Head – is a much smaller, more vertical map. Due to it’s size the action here is pretty fast paced. Sure, you can sit and snipe, but don’t be setting up camp, even the snipers have to be on their toes. Like Wasteland Bullet, spawning on this map can be a kick in the balls. The number of times I spawned on a tacticians spawn grenade and died instantly became a running joke with me and the rest of my squad. That joke got old real fast. I started to hate the map and, unlike before, this hate never really wained. I found myself quitting out of games when playing this map and, had I not been on the review, I would’ve refused to play the map completely.

Flash & Thunder is a pretty good map. If you could buy these maps individually, i’d be recommending you stick with Southern Hills. The ‘killbox’ nature of Beach Head was reminiscent of Call Of Duty 4′s ‘Shipment’. This pack is a little like Marmite, you’ll either love it or hate it. I can’t stand Beach Head and playing that map ruined many a night’s games for me.

6/10

Napalm & Cordite Map Pack

The third and final pack in this review is Napalm & Cordite. Guerrilla have really surprised me with their constant content releases and patches. Doing what the community want and really supporting the game. It makes a welcome change from the lack of content released for some of Sony’s other exclusive shooters.

Napalm and Cordite is, by far, the best of the three packs. Steel & Titanium might offer a little more variety but this pack will appease both the Killzone hardcore and the more casual player. This pack is also the best value for money. Not only does the pack include two new maps, but there’s also two new weapons available for use exclusively in this pack.

These are probably two of the most powerful weapons in the game and I expected them to be pretty cheap. However, I was pleasantly surprised. That isn’t the case. I particularly expected the Boltgun to be a thorn in my side, alas I was only killed a few times with it in my time with the maps and, more often than not, those using it were doing so for the explosion and not directly hitting the enemy (although that could have just been the guys I was playing with). The flamethrower is only worth a brief mention. It rarely has an effect and is useless at close range. Once again, used tactically, it has it’s uses. However, as a full blown weapon, I wouldn’t recomend it.

The first map – Arctower Landing – is another of those small maps. However, rather than frustrating, I found this one quite fun. I enjoyed my time with it and, even though I died quite a bit, I never felt cheated like I did with Beach Head. This map is quite tight, so prepare to see a lot of shotgun shells flying, which can get frustrating. However, I think this map works best in short burts rather than longer games. I think in a typical Warzone situation some could find this annoying, stick with shorter games and you’ll have fun with this one.

The second map in Napalm & Cordite is Suljeva Cliffside. This is definitely the better of the two maps. Once again, it’s a larger map making it ideal for camping snipers and oportunistic riflemen (that’s me!).

The layout of this map is great, there’s loads of crevices to hide in and a good ammount of verticality for snipers. This seems like the most balanced of the downloadable maps and seems to have something for every class. The only ‘problem’ I found, is that there’s a distinct lack of cover here. The map is very open, which can lead to some frustration, but, like the first map, I never felt cheated if someone killed me.

Like I said, I think this is the best of the packs Guerrilla have released and can’t wait to see what they’ve got in store for us next. The maps are fun and well balanced and I can see a lot of people just buying this one. Based on my time with the game and the packs, I can assure you that this is the pack to get if you’ve only got a fiver to spare. It would be nice to see Guerilla create something completely original next time around, if there is one that is.

8.5/10

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