E3 2005 gave us the infamous MotorStorm and Killzone 2 trailers. They looked amazing - too good to be true. And of course, they were too good to be true, generated as 'target footage' by Sony. MotorStorm came close (sort of) but failed. And now we've got playable preview version of Killzone 2 sitting in our PS3, we can tell you that it doesn't look as good as that early footage.

It looks better.

Don't believe us? Then take a look at this video which shows you the E3 2005 target footage, interspersed with similar scenes from our copy of the game. The overall effect is clear - most of what happens looks better in the real thing.

Our second video compares the 'gameplay footage' officially released by Sony last year with a direct feed from our preview version of the game. The main differences we can see are a vastly reduced fire trail from the downed personnel carrier, and the game does pause to load momentarily as Alpha team lands, where it doesn't in last year's trailer.

We're looking forward to receiving a review copy of the game. In the mean-time, check out our most recent preview, or our experience of the multiplayer mode. But the simple fact is, Killzone 2 looks sensational and not only matches that jaw-dropping early showing but even surpasses it in places. Sony deserves an apology - it really did deliver on this one.

17 Dec, 2008