Killzone 2

"Each of these weapons and medals also give you more features to play online, and to top it all off, there are more than 100 different player statistics that we track [via Killzone.com], so you can track your own progression as well, such as number of kills, time spent online, or even how many health packs you've picked up," he continues. "As you play the game, you learn more about it, and you learn more about how you want to experience and play the game itself. Some people like sniping, some people like playing in a team, some people like playing with big weapons. We've really tried to support specific player preferences." You can even set up your own clan homepage. Mercy be.

As previously revealed, players can also look forward a class-based "badge" system where you can mix-and-match abilities (such as medic and a scout), and numerous incentives to get involved with clan-based activities, such as a "unique Valour betting system" that encourages clans to duke it out for valour points in various tournaments to climb a leaderboard. Squad options will also feature, and will allow players to create squads in-game, with the ability to switch between voice channels as you play. It's all in the name of "inspiring team play".

With so much information to digest, we aren't perhaps the ideal candidates to be facing off against the designers of the game, but they let us loose anyway, giving us our first opportunity to sample some of this mayhem first-hand. First impressions, sadly, are fleeting, giving us little more than a chance to take in the general look and feel of the environments and a few of the in-game weaponry from both the Helghast perspective as well as the ISA soldiers.

Regarding the former, the session kicks off by spawning us into one of the maps designed for smaller parties. It's a classic symmetrical deathmatch arena - a deserted factory complex, with tight, multi-tiered narrow metal gantries crisscrossing a stark grey building and concrete staircases descending into a gloomy basement. Visually it's very much in-keeping with the crumbling concrete hell that features so prominently in the main game, with cracked walls, filthy floors and a colour palette out of Trainspotting. It's dusty, oppressive, atmospheric and dangerous, and makes Silent Hill look like a Mr. Sheen advert.

Armed with standard assault rifle and pistol, it's a straightforward close-quarters battle. Aiming feels a little spongy at first, but with good use of the claustrophobic zoom view, it proves quite rewarding to look down the sights of the gun and pick enemies off with measured accuracy.

In a second, somewhat bigger map, we also get to experience fighting against big scary robotic airborne sentry drones and turrets that hover and blast you on sight. We're told that players will be able to deploy sentries at strategic locations, but not exactly how we'll go about doing that. Battlefield-style, possibly. Apparently some will depend on the type of terrain: for example, calling in air cover will require line-of-sight, which is only possible in the more expansive outdoor maps.

As we discover, taking on this AI threat adds an extra distraction, so taking them out quickly and efficiently is paramount. Peeking out from behind cover and doing so with a sniper rifle initially proves effective, but also a little risky given the number of times we get shot in the back trying to be sneaky and clever. But that's partly because our opponents actually made the game and doubtlessly second-guessed our intentions, and also because we aren't really paying much attention to the mini-map in the top left of the screen, which offers a vital visual cue as to what was about to blast us to bits.

In summary, your bumbling correspondent is absolutely hopeless, but then so is everyone else who had a go in Leipzig. The most important thing is that Guerrilla clearly wants accessibility and depth; a double-act to rival Halo, in other words, and has an extensive feature-set, a promising engine and a monster website to tie it all together. With the release of the game potentially just six months away, expect some movement on the multiplayer beta in the very near future - along with more expansive impressions of both single-player and multiplayer here on Eurogamer.