Guns. Turrets. Squad based team play. Yup, it’s official. Killzone 2 is by far the best first-person shooter available on the PS 3. Sure, there are plenty of first person shooters on the market. In fact, there are so many out there that it’s almost impossible to decide which one to pick up. Well, we’re about to answer that question for you. The campaign mode serves as a continuation to the events of Killzone, originally released on the PS 2. In retaliation to the Helghast attack from the original game, the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (I.S.A.) launches an attack on Helghan, the Helghast home planet. This is where you come in. Playing through the story as Sergeant Thomas “Sev” Sevchenko, it is your job to infiltrate the enemy planet and capture their leader, Scolar Visari. Playing through the story mode has many advantages. For starters, you learn what the game is about. As I said before, there are plenty of first-person shooters in the world, but it’s hard to come across one with a cool story line. Still, probably the most important reason to play through the campaign mode is that it will help you familiarize yourself with all of the games weapons. Of course you’ll find plenty of guns you are familiar with from other shooters, including shotguns, assault riffles, light machine guns, rocket launchers, snipers and, of course, the always trusty pistol. However, you have to learn the shot timing, rate of fire, and reload times of Killzone. Once you familiarize yourself with the guns, you will be ready for the online play. Killzone’s online play is what really makes this game stand out. For starters, you don’t just play one game type as you would with other shooters. For example, slayer mode in Halo. Rather, each match consists of a variety of game types that is constantly changing. In Body Count, both teams try to rack up as many points as possible by killing the other team. Then there is Assassination. One character is selected as the target, then the teammates of that character must defend them while the other team is hunting them down. In Capture and Hold, both teams fight over specific areas and try to maintain the territories as long as possible. With Search and Destroy, one team must defend two targets while the other team attempts to plant and detonate C4. Lastly, there is Search and Retrieve. Both teams must track and retrieve an item known as the propaganda speaker and bring it back to a specific location. However, in this mode, both teams are after the same item so it’s easier said then done. Killzone 2 also has a role-playing-style leveling system. At the beginning of each match you choose your team, Helghast or I.S.A. Upon completion of each match you receive experience points for your individual kills and goals, as well as a team bonus of an extra 50 percent experience modifier if your team emerges victorious. As you rank up you unlock the ability to create a squad. Creating a squad is cool because it allows players to spawn with their squad leader, supposing they are not dead. Ranking up will also allow you access to more guns and different job classes. The job class system is by far the coolest thing about the online play. When you first begin your career in the online realm of Killzone 2 you start off as a Riffleman. With no specific abilities, the Riffleman is advantageous because he can use every weapon. However you still have to achieve the weapons by leveling up your character. The Medic is the first class you’ll unlock and has the ability to revive downed teammates. There is also an Engineer that can create sentry turrets. The Scout job is able to cloak itself near enemies and believe me, this is a pain. Probably the most essential job is the Tactician. They have the ability to throw a smoke grenade which acts as a spawn point. There’s also the Assault character who comes equipped with double body armor. The final job class is the sneaky Saboteur who has the ability to make themselves appear as one of your own teammates. The trick to defeating them is looking for the red in their name. If that wasn’t enough, each job class can be upgraded by obtaining class specific badges. After obtaining eight of the same job specific badges you earn yourself a medal, which unlocks more features for each specific job class. For example, after obtaining the medic badge, the Medic can throw an energy pack on the floor which will heal a teammate. Or the Tactician would be able to summon an aerial bot that could rain bullets down on enemies. But remember, you have to earn these secondary abilities by playing the job classes to which the abilities are specifically for. However, there is a limit to how much and what you can have on the field at once. For example, you can only have four sentry turrets at a time so it would be pointless for everyone on the team to be Engineers. If too many people on the same time use the same job, the team becomes hindered and limited to its special abilities. With that in mind, a good team will consist of a balance of all classes. Killzone 2 is a must have for PS 3 owners. It has a great story and even better online play. If you’ve been looking for a new game to play, then I believe you just found what you are looking for.