10 Ways to Not Get Owned in Killzone 2

Your pre-release survival guide for Killzone 2 multiplayer, including level blueprints, artwork and hi-res screens.

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BLOOD GRACHT

Remember that ex, the one who stubbed out cigs on your mother's best tablecloth and poured Guinness over your custom-built Elite by way of an "amicable break-up"? Blood Gracht makes her look like Hermione Granger. It's a savage little thumbscrew of a map, a pint-sized architectural wildcat that will have all but the most level-headed players hurling controllers at passers-by. For that very reason, it also makes you feel like a complete hero when you do, somehow, stumble onto a winning streak - but be prepared for a rough-and-tumble ride.

The Helghast try to take out one of the ISA's drones on the left, and right, Blood Gracht's pride and glory: the trench of doom

The smallest of the beta's maps, the Gracht is dominated by a deep litter-strewn trench, four or five metres across and eighty-ish lengthways, overlooked from the west by a maze of run-down residential blocks. The ISA kick off in some two-storey buildings at the southern end of this trench, linked to the residential blocks by a patchwork iron gangway, while the Helghast hold the higher ground to the north, looking out onto some skeletal platforms. Stairwells link each base to the trench, and a narrow, covered channel juts out halfway down into the midst of the residential complex.

#6: A rock and a hard place

As a gurning, wet-behind-the-ears noob pup, your choices on first setting foot in the Gracht are twofold: you can either hop over the guard rail outside your base and enjoy a few thrilling seconds running for cover in that trench before a bullet peels open your skull like an R-rated Jack-in-the-box, or you can mosey on into those residential blocks, bump around blindly for a bit and get shredded from three directions at once as you stop for a breather.

A Helghast Scout doing his very best Batman impression

If you're not so keen on those apples, best decide in advance which angle you're going to take and kit yourself out appropriately. If you're gunning for the trench, it's Assault class all the way. You aren't totally exposed - there are oil drums, wooden struts and bits of corrugated metal to provide fleeting refuge - so remember Point #2 and improvise. Deploy a drone if you have the capacity - those rattling airborne death insects can be a useful diversion. If you're on the defensive, just bust out a heavy machine gun and dig in like crazy.

If you're off into the rabbit warren, bring a shotgun or SMG. There are three or four linked, parallel routes through the residential blocks, two on the first floor, which permits no end of furtive flanking manoeuvres and surprise counterattacks. Try to move out in groups of three or more - two players to keep an eye on the entrance and exit to a room, a third to provide fire support, toss the odd grenade or heal and revive. Watch those corners, and stay the hell away from the windows.

This chap didn't read Tip #6

#7: Running the gauntlet

Knowing exactly when to exploit that trench, which lets you move directly and rapidly to the other end of the map, can be vital: if everybody's tied up over a few key rooms to the west, it may be worth making a break for it. Having bypassed the battle raging in the blocks, you can either ambush any reinforcements as they re-spawn or double-back and catch the other team in the rear. If you're carrying the beacon in Capture and Retrieve, getting down that trench intact will pretty much guarantee you the match.

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