I still don’t own a PS3, and there have been very few games so far that make me feel like I’m missing out. Wipeout HD for sure. Uncharted 2 looks spectacular. And I was curious about Killzone 2 after the ridiculous E3 video that Guerilla would never be able to match—but then almost did. So when my friend Sheng invited me over for a PS3-fest, I was eager to check it out.

I hate that game.

Seriously, it’s not very good. It certainly looks spectacular, easily surpassing anything I’ve seen on 360 in pure graphical oomph. But it’s kind of soul-less. The world doesn’t feel nearly as complete as Halo or Gears, its closest competitors. You fight the same string of red-eyed Helghast that barely behave differently. There’s one big guy with a lightning bolt gun that you fight a little differently. There was one shitty tank scene that made me miss Halo‘s Scorpion so much it hurt. A couple turret sections. That’s pretty much it.

The story is awful and incoherent, making Gears look good in comparison. All of the characters are unlikable assholes who scream “Fuck!” and make “your mom” jokes throughout. That might be awesome if I were half my age. (It still wouldn’t be.)

But mostly of all, the shooting just isn’t very good. If you’re going to base your gameplay on a cover system, please make sure the cover system works. It really doesn’t. The guns are dull, and as far as I found, there was only one type of grenade. Boring. Shouldn’t shooting people be, like, fun? It just isn’t in Killzone 2. It plays very much like a poor man’s Modern Warfare set in a pauper’s Gears of War. Guerilla should have spent a lot less time on the graphics and more time making it fun. I got to the penultimate level and don’t feel compelled to ever pick it up again.