“Killzone 2 delivers a visual masterpiece with unparalleled graphics”

Sony

Epic

Guerrilla Games

1

1

Microsoft

FPS

n/a

n/a

Shooter

Release: 02/28/09

n/a

n/a

Release: 11/23/08

ESRB: M

Low

Med

ESRB: M

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		Head2Head – Killzone 2 vs Gears of War 2 * Please enable your audio* Length: 00:04:08 Killzone 2 delivers a visual masterpiece.

Gears of War 2 was released last November by Epic Games, which showed an advanced version of their Unreal 3 engine utilizing various improvements from their original Gears of War game which ran flawlessly on the Xbox 360. Once again Epic Games with their Unreal engine raised the bar for graphics on console this generation. That is until now! With the recently released Killzone 2 demo we were able to examine both these games side by side and by doing so revealed a new graphics king for this generation.

The first segment of this video focuses on Character models. Both games produce highly detailed character models each with their own unique art style.  Killzone 2 took a more streamlined look for their characters design, while  Gears of War 2 took a bulkier approach.

The second segment of the video focuses on environment effects, and this is where Killzone 2 dramatically jumps ahead of the competition. Utilizing a technique called Deferred Rendering, this process uses extensive post-process effects allowing the Killzone 2 engine to create highly dynamic lighting in environments with complex geometry. At a glance smoke filled rooms are realistically penetrated with cascading beams of sunlight intermingling with the gradually fading smoke plumes of a recently exploded gas container. One would need to experience this first hand to really comprehend the sure amounts of effects rendering to the screen at once without any performance drops.

Next up are bullet effects and explosions. Killzone 2 raises the bar again for interactivity from player’s bullets with objects in the world. Each round fired from your rifle interacts differently depending on the material the bullets collides with. For example shooting a concrete wall would expel volumetric smoke trails while leaving behind a creator filled wall actual making the player feel like his/her actions really affect the look and feel of the environment. Also bullets that penetrate enemies utilize a hit response system by combining motion captured animations with physics impulses to create death animations and hit responses with very convincing weight and presence.

Killzone 2 delivers a visual masterpiece with unparalleled graphics setting the new bar for this generation. Considering that this comparison was based of the Killzone 2 demo the retail version will only guarantee that Killzone 2 reins supreme amongst the industries best. The only question remaining is “Does it look better than Killzone 2″?