Like the 360 version, which features characters from Gears Of War, the PS3 version contains it’s own platform-specific characters. The two Helghast skins will be available on the PSN in July and they’ll be able to fight alongside characters from Monster Hunter, Albert Wesker of Resident Evil and Dead Rising’s Frank West.

Looks like MVC 3 might have some competition when it comes to character choice.

The skins are planned to hit the Japan PSN on 28th Jan, closely followed by the vs map packs on 25th Feb and the co-op maps on 15th April.

So far there is no idea on a release date for these in Europe but I would expect an announcement in the near future.

Source: CVG

A surprise inclusion to many, but it was hard not to include a package like this. Assault On Dark Athena is a completely new Riddick tale, but the fact that PS3 owners can now experience, the fantastic, Escape From Butcher Bay was more than enough for this to make the cut.

Fantastic gameplay and an interesting story, it’s hard to believe that this is a lisenced game. There’s not many that could pull something like this off. Alas, it isn’t perfect. Hence why it sits at number five on our list.

4. Borderlands

Some might say it’s an RPG, but it’s really a first person shooter with some, pretty extensive, RPG elements. Borderlands came as a shock to many (us included), albeit a nice one.

The expansive world of Pandora, the fantastic art style and the ability to play the whole game with three friends makes Borderlands an enticing experience. A good mix of FPS and RPG and certainly a game fans of both genres don’t want to miss out on.

3. Battlefield 1943

Battlefield 1943: While it can’t really be considered a true sequel to the critically acclaimed Battlefield 1942, Battlefield 1943 is great for a first person shooter fix. It stays true to it’s Battlefield roots, and looks fantastic. It runs on the Frostbite engine, which for a downloadable title is quite impressive. With enough content to last you a good while and a great community behind it, you can’t go wrong here. Oh yeah, it’s only $15.

2. Killzone 2

When it was first shown way back when, many thought such a task impossible. Well earlier this year Guerrilla proved everyone wrong. The mind-blowingly stunning, Killzone 2 is the second game on our list and should not be sniffed at.

It’s not all beauty though, the gameplay is superb and offers a more realistic (believe it or not) experience compared to something like Modern Warfare 2 or Battlefield 1943. Although you’ll all be focussing on number one, please give Killzone 2 a chance.

1. Modern Warfare 2

Most gamers will admit that the first Modern Warfare game was the pinnacle of the first person shooter genre. It revolutionised story telling in FPS games and introduced to us a multi-player gaming experience that until now was unrivaled. MW2 has taken everything that made the first game such a sucess and improved it, perfected it and polished it to within an inch of its life.

The graphics engine has been vastly improved and the lighting and effects delivered are fantastic. The story is now spread over numerous locations and you will find yourself fighting in much more diverse environments including ice climbing and an epic battle through a fortified gulag. Controllable vehicles have made an appearance and big set pieces are never far away but don’t feel forced.

Once the single player is polished off you have a new Spec Ops mode, which is short three minute 1 or 2 player set pieces to rival Treyarch Nazi Zombie mode. You will spend weeks trying to get 3 stars in all of them. Final the multi-player has returned and it makes COD4 look like a demo. The weapons attachments, perks, maps, etc make for the best online experience you can find on PS3.

To conclude it is fantastic and easily in my opinion the first person shooter of 2009.

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

Napalm and Cordite in the morning? No that doesn’t sound right. No, I wasn’t trying to quote from classic movies I was trying to inform you, dear reader, in an odd, but witty way. Read on to find out what the hell i’m talking about.

Napalm and Cordite happens to be the third piece of downloadable content for, Guerrilla Games’ first person shooter, Killzone 2. The pack will add two new maps plucked straight from the single player as well as new weapons (including a flamethrower) which will be able to be picked up by any player on these maps. A pretty cool piece of DLC indeed.

The pack will be released next week on July 23rd, a good week for PSN. Possibly the best of 2009.

Killzone 2′s new patch has been delayed. The patch that will add a good amount of content to the game including a party system, something that Killzone 2 really needs.

The patch was also going to add improved controls and some tweaks to the skirmish modes. There was no reason given for the patch delay but it was said that it would be released soon. I’ve got a feeling that it’s going to be released alongside the new DLC, Flash & Thunder, early next month.

Hopefully we’ll get more news fairly soon, because i’d play a lot more online Killzone if there was a party system.

[Via Twitter]

No i’m not talking about Kojima’s teaser again. This time it’s Guerrilla’s time to deliver us some news about their next piece of DLC.

After Seb Downie said that it was one of the nicest thing his team has ever worked on the bar seemed to be set pretty high. I’ll tell you something I think Seb was right. The new stuff looks really good.

The maps are two remakes of games from the original Killzone – Beach Head and The Southern Hills. The pack will be available on June 11th and will cost $5.99

Guerrilla’s Seb Downie was talking to Next Gamer and has said some, rather nice, words about the next batch of downloadable content for Killzone 2.

With the ‘Steel & Titanum’ DLC already going down a storm with the Killzone 2 community, it only seems right that other packs would be on the way. About the new DLC, Downie said “it’s the best looking thing we’ve ever made”

Take from that what you will, but if this new content is “the best” then i’m expecting something pretty special, as are, I assume, the rest of the Killzone 2 player waiting in patient anticipation.

Killzone 2′s new downloadable content will bring with it 12 new bronze trophies. The ‘Steel & Titanium’ DLC adds six new trophies per map to Guerrilla’s, million selling, first person shooter.

These new trophies will encourage the use of multiple classes and tactics available in the multiplayer mode.

Guerrilla have got a busy schedule in April haven’t they.

Details are out concerning the new patch and downloadable content for Killzone 2. The new patch will be coming April 22nd (tomorrow) and will increase the rank cap in the online mode as well as adding some other cool features and tweaks.

Today we also got word that the, recently announced, Steel & Titanium DLC (available April 30th) will be made available for $5.99.

The free patch definitely sounds good, it might get some people who have gotten to that top rank playing some more online Killzone and as for the DLC, we’ll have to wait and see, but for two maps that seems a little steep. You never know, they might be well worth it. There’s a video after the jump of said DLC.