Killzone 2
Killzone 2 is an upcoming first-person shooter for the Playstation 3 video game console, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the third installment in the Killzone franchise that originally began on the PlayStation 2. It was first announced at E³ 2005 in Los Angeles, California,[1] and is set for release in 2008.[2]
Storyline
Of the few screenshots and game demonstrations released thus far by Guerrilla Games, it appears that (at the very least) a substantial portion of the game takes place on the Helghast home planet of Helghan – shifting from the ISA colony planet of Vekta featured entirely in the two previous games. The media released by Guerrilla Games thus far depicts an ISA orbital invasion using drop ships carrying ISA infantry down to the Helghast capital city of Pyrrhus (despite heavy Anti-Aircraft fire) on the plant's surface. It is still unknown whether this is a full scale invasion intended to occupy Helghan completely or merely a retaliatory strike by the ISA for the events that took place on Vekta during the Helghast invasion. The media released depicts street battles and heavy resistance by the Helghast defenders.
Current development
A trailer was shown behind closed doors at the GDC 2007. It showed a variety of battles ranging on foot and on vehicles, plus destructible environments.[3]
Name confusion
Although the working title of the game was Killzone (Playstation 3), many referred to the game as Killzone 2. However, Guerilla Games revealed that Killzone 2 was actually Killzone: Liberation; therefore many speculated that the actual title to the game will be Killzone 3 instead. In spite of this, the game was officially dubbed Killzone 2 at E3 2007.
Graphical expectations
Critics in the media argued that the trailer shown at the E3 2005 trade show did not show actual gameplay footage, as its high level of visual detail has been argued to be impossible to render in real-time even with the PlayStation 3's processing power. SCEA's Vice President, Jack Tretton, was quoted as saying that the Killzone footage, that was believed to be pre-rendered,"is possibly real" and "is real prerendered gameplay", but it was later claimed that Tretton was referring to Resistance: Fall of Man, not Killzone. Several days after the demo, Phil Harrison, SCEA Europe's VP of development, stated in an interview that all of the PS3 game footages at E3 2005 was "running off video" which was "done to PS3 spec" using "in-game assets" and "some things were rendered".[4] Tim Miller of the CG studio Blur stated in 2006 that they had turned down the offer to create the Killzone 2 clip, and that "a company in Scotland had worked on it".[5]
Recently, Michal Valient of Guerrilla Games announced their intentions to explain the details of their Killzone 2 Engine at a Developers Conference in July. In said interview he explained that Killzone uses a Deferred Rendering engine that integrates MSAA (Multisample Anti Aliasing). Cell will also parallel process geometry and indirect lighting, among other things.[6]
It was also announced that Killzone 2 will run in 720p and at 30fps. The game's levels are expected to take upwards of 2GB each and the number of polygons used in rendering an original Killzone level is roughly equivalent to the number used to render a face in the sequel.
Multiplayer
Very little information has been given out about Killzone 2's online aspect of the game although there will in fact be one. Only a few words were given out by Sebastian Downie, the QA manager, in a short blog on the official website. "Me and my boys have been mostly busy testing Online this past week and making sure that the rewards and ranking are working as intended as well as checking the collision and geometry for MP02, also known as “Road Block” currently, but I’m sure it’ll get a much more exciting name before release. I can’t really give you much in the way of details about Multiplayer otherwise, even though I am itching to share it all with you. I guess you’ll have to wait a wee while longer though."[7]
Beta
Downie revealed in posting on the forums: "Of course there is going to be a public beta. I have always said that any game that has an online mode needs to go through a public beta to ensure it works as intended...More on a beta later this year,"[8] were his concluding words.
E3 2007
Killzone 2 was shown to a panel of journalists at a special pre-E3 2007 event in Culver, California, and then the next day to the public at Sony's E3 press conference. [9] An in-game trailer showing real-time gameplay of Killzone 2 was also released,[10] along with several videos of extended gameplay.[11]
A number of media outlets since E3, such as the BBC,[12] have referred to Killzone 2 as being "one of the most cinematic and immersive games ever produced on a console."[13]
See also
External links
- Official Killzone Website
- Guerrilla-Games
- Killzone Message Board
- Killzone 2 at IMDb
- 25 minute developer walkthrough
References
- ^ Sulic, Ivan (2005-05-16). "E3 2005: First PS3 Game Confirmations". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The Ultimate First-Person Shooter Emerges, Introducing Players to an Intense 'Theater of War' With Killzone 2 for PlayStation 3" (Press release). Sony Computer Entertainment. 2007-07-11. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
{{cite press release}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "PS3 Killzone resurfaces". Gamespot.com.
- ^ Gamesindustry.biz. E3: SCEE's Phil Harrison talks PlayStation 3. May 19, 2005.
- ^ SpikeTV. Interview with Tim Miller.
- ^ 2007 Games Conference in Leipzig,Germany Developers Conference - Deferred Rendering in Killzone 2 (PDF File)
- ^ [http://www.ps3focus.nl/v3/bekijk.php?id=6627.
- ^ [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=164027
- ^ E3 2007: Killzone 2 Impressions. IGN
- ^ Killzone 2 E3 2007 Trailer
- ^ [1]
- ^ State of Play: Killzone 2 hands on [2]
- ^ [3]