In the beginning there was Doom. And it was good. But lately it’s been getting hard out there for a First-Person Shooter. The modern-day FPS market is flooded—only Wii waggle games have seen more shovelware—which makes it increasingly important for a new shooter to arrive guns a-blazing, which is what Sony is banking on with their long-awaited, and much-needed, Killzone 2.

Of course, KZ 2 is lugging heavy expectations onto the battlefield. It was first announced back at E3 2005 as the future jewel in the PS3 crown but immediately came under attack when the mind-blowing graphics of the now-infamous trailer were revealed to come not from real-time gameplay but pre-rendered video.

But Sony and Guerilla Games took their time and rose to the occasion. Graphically, it is one of the best-looking games ever (as long as you don’t favour art direction over realism, in which case go download Flower) by using 40 gigs on the PS3’s blue-ray disc, an option no other console can offer. This is important to Sony because with console sales dropping for the past few months—the recession has favoured the lower-priced Wii and Xbox360 "arcade"—their pro-PS3 argument is still its powerhouse-osity. KZ2's post-industrial Helghan hellscapes show that off nicely.

Do great graphics make a great game? Well, no, not necessarily. But when paired with Killzone’s super-smart AI, stunning set-pieces (including a section driving a giant Robotech-ish Mecha), well-plotted pacing, sprawling multiplayer and smartly designed gameplay favouring strategy over run-and-gunning, it comes close.

Still, Killzone 2 is missing one vital element. Many argue a FPS just needs intense action, not an innovative narrative. Me, I'd prefer both. Just as the title is unimaginably unimaginative, so is its sci-fi story which didn’t even beat Gears of War 2 to the invade the aliens' home turf angle. KZ2’s mission to kill a warmongering dictator hints at the invasions of Nazi Germany and/or Iraq, but Guerilla seems to have no new ideas to offer about the nature of war.

But if script fails to inspire, as a FPS rallying cry, a multiplayer masterwork and a PS3 demo, Killzone 2 hits its target.