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Killzone 2

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Killzone 2
Developer(s)Guerrilla Games
Publisher(s)SCEE
Designer(s)Mathijs De Jonge (game director)
Neil Alphonso (Lead Level Designer)
Composer(s)Joris de Man
SeriesKillzone
EngineDeferred Rendering engine, Havok (game physics)
Platform(s)PlayStation 3
Release
  • UK: February 27, 2009

Genre(s)First-person shooter, Tactical, action[3]
Mode(s)Single-player, online multiplayer

Killzone 2 is a science fiction first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. It is the third installment in the Killzone franchise that began on the PlayStation 2 with Killzone and continued on the PlayStation Portable with Killzone: Liberation. The game was first announced at E3 2005, with a tech demo on display, while the first gameplay footage was shown two years later at E3 2007.[7] Killzone 2 was released worldwide late February Template:Vgy.

Plot

Killzone 2 follows the events of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, and entirely takes place on the planet Helghan, the home-world of the Helghast, who invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA has launched an assault on the enemy's homeworld of Helghan. The ISA goal is to capture the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari, and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. Players assume the role of Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a battle-hardened veteran of the special forces unit Alpha Team, who go on a mission to take out the Helghast threat.

During the invasion of Helghan, Sev's unit is deployed behind enemy lines to assist the main invasion force. Tasked with securing the enemy capital of Pyrrhus, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a more formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to Helghan's hostile conditions, they have also harnessed the power of the freakish lightning storms that always occur on Helghan which they can now use against the ISA. A cold, barren, unforgiving world, Helghan provides a ready defense with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, and violent surgical lightning storms. Sev discovers his squad is not just fighting enemy forces – their fiercest opponent may be the planet itself.[8]

Story

In the prologue, the ISA sets up their Cruiser airship the "New Sun" up in the clouds of Helghan over the capital city of Pyrrhus. Sev and the rest of the ISA invade the city. The invasion is seemingly successful until the main defense system is brought online, which activates many arc towers throughout the city and much of the first wave of the assult force is obliterated. Scientist Evelyn Batton tracks the power source of the arc towers to an element called Petrusite. She discovers large portions of the unknown element around the outskirts at Tharsis Refinery. Evelyn and Alpha Team travel to the outskirts of the city in an attempt to find a way to disable the arc towers. While Sev and Rico go off to activate a communications tower, Garza, Natko and Evelyn are captured by Helghast. Sev and Rico find their squad, however Rico acts too quickly and Garza is mortally wounded and later dies. The ISA retreats to their base, the New Sun. During Sev's mourning for Garza, the Helghast attack the ISA fleet and invade the New Sun. In the assault, Helghast Colonel Radec successfully advances to the bridge and kills both Evelyn and the ISA colonel, Jan Templar. During Radec's invasion, he steals nuclear strike codes for nuclear weapons that he previously stole. Templar in his last moments manages however to send the New Sun into a collision with Tharsis Refinery, destroying the city's defense grid.

With the Petrusite grid down, the ISA is clear to advance. The ISA forces attempt to regroup near Visari's palace in Pyrrhus, but Radec detonates a nuclear bomb within the city and most of the ISA forces on Helghan are killed. Despite such events, Alpha team and the last remaining ISA assault the palace but take very heavy casualties. During the final assault, Sev and Rico defeat Radec who commits suicide shortly after to prevent himself from being captured. Sev and Rico find Scolar Visari waiting for them. He tells Sev that the war is far from over, and if they capture or kill him, the Helghast would remember him as a martyr and fight fiercer with even more determination than ever and that he is the only one who is keeping the Helghast "Under Control". Rico, who is still angered at the death of Templar and most of the ISA forces, shoots Visari. At which point Visari mutters his last words,"The Madness Begins". Worn and torn from all the occurrences, Sev leaves the palace and sits outside the palace entrance. He sees an overwhelmingly giant Helghast fleet destroying what is left of the ISA fleet and sees first hand what Visari envisioned.

Characters

Main article: List of characters in Killzone
  • Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko is the main character of Killzone 2, and part of the ISA Special Forces Alpha Team. He is a withdrawn and unusually contemplative man. At age 25 he's already been in several successful campaigns, but they've also exacted a toll on him. He's an imperfect soldier in a perfect army.[9]
  • Corporal Dante Garza is a member of the ISA Special Forces Alpha Team. Smart-mouthed and young, Garza is a loyal, optimistic and trusty soldier who has earned his elite status. A close companion of Sev, the pair have served together in several campaigns before being picked for Alpha.
  • Sergeant Rico Velasquez is a veteran of the ISA. He is a human tank who prefers to shoot first and ask questions later, if at all. He's all attitude but despite this he has a good heart. Rico prefers an up-front fight and is a character of extremes; he can get agitated very quickly and doesn't hold back on anything. During the orbital defense platform crisis, Rico was left stranded by a brutal Helghast attack and consequently befriended Templar, Luger and Hakha. Later, he became embedded with Alpha Team to spearhead the invasion on Helghan’s capital, Pyrrhus.
  • Corporal Shawn Natko is the demolitions expert for the ISA Special Forces Alpha Team. An experience soldier of the same generation as Rico, Natko made a steady rise through ISA ranks before joining Alpha Squad.
  • Colonel Jan Templar is the commander of the ISA fleet and the cruiser 'New Sun'. Protagonist of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, he leads the invasion of Helghan from the sky, without actually being in the field.
  • Scolar Visari is the leader of Helghast forces and ruler of Helghan planet. He is responsible for the re-militarization of the Helghan troops after their defeat following the First Helghan War. He has succeeded in launching an invasion of one of ISA colonial planets, Vekta, to avenge what he sees as the abandonment and abuse of the Helghast. He is voiced by Brian Cox.
  • Colonel Mael Radec is the commander of the Helghast Imperial Guard- Visari's personal guard and defends planet Helghan, he is shown to have a desire for killing and prefers action rather than planning. Determined and ruthless, he is called the hound of Visari.

Gameplay

Campaign

Killzone 2 at E3 2007.

With Killzone 2, Guerrilla Games aims to provide the player with an immersive and cinematic gameplay experience that is grounded in reality with what they call "Hollywood Realism". The game is presented almost entirely from a first person perspective, aside from vehicular combat. Killzone 2 features a "lean and peek" cover system which allows the player to take cover behind an object and then pop out to fire at enemies. The "lean and peek" mechanic stays in first person view at all times. It is also possible for Sev to pilot vehicles at two points in the game: a tank and an exoskeleton. Many classic weapons and vehicles from previous Killzone installments returns, such as the M82-G and the StA-52 LAR.[10] The Sixaxis motion control feature is also utilized in performing certain actions such as turning a valve, arming an explosive charge and sniping. Game director Mathijs de Jonge has confirmed there are currently no plans to have co-op in Killzone 2.[11]

Multiplayer

Warzone, the title of the multiplayer component of Killzone 2 has been developed by Guerrilla Games in conjunction with the game's single-player campaign.[12] The multiplayer gameplay is class-based, meaning the player can choose a class of character which is specialized for a specific role to better suit the player's needs in battle. There are 7 classes in total, in which the player can mix and match two according to their playing style, and can switch abilities upon death.

Players play as either the ISA or Helghast, with no gameplay difference pending on which team one is assigned to other than character model. Each class levels up with experience gained from killing or completing mission objectives, with enough experience they unlock new weapons, skills etc. as well as a new class that is unlocked. Each class has two badges, the Primary badge selects the class and their specified skill, the secondary badge has an extra skill for the specified class but can be swapped to custom create your own class.

Warzone plays out through dynamic matches where multiple game types are played in a single round. The game ships with five different game types including Assassination, Search & Retrieve, Search & Destroy, Bodycount and Capture & Hold.[13] Online matches can connect 2 to 32 players, and they can group into squads of up to four players. Furthermore, two squads can group together as a faction of eight players. If an online match does not have a full 32 players, computer-generated "bots" can be added in to create bigger teams. Killzone 2 also offers a clan system, which allows clans of up to 64 players to compete for "Valor Points", an in-game currency that clans can use to bet on tournaments.

Players can also play offline against AIs with Skirmish mode.

Eight multiplayer maps are included on disc at release,[14] Guerrilla has stated that further maps will be made available as future downloadable content. Vehicles have also been confirmed to be part of the multiplayer experience and are to be patched soon.[15]

Downloadable Content

On April 10, 2009 [16] Hermen Hulst, Managing Director from Guerrilla Games announced on GameTrailers TV[17] that Killzone 2 will be getting a DLC map pack named "Steel & Titanium" which will contain two new maps called Wasteland Bullet and Vekta Cruiser. With new gameplay elements and strategic twists[18][19]. The release date is confirmed for Thursday April 30th [20][21], the price for the DLC is still unconfirmed. Hulst stated that the next Killzone 2 DLC map pack that they will be releasing will have a 'Retro Vibe' to it.[22]

Development

File:Killzone 2 E305.jpg
Killzone 2 at E3 2005.

At E3 2005, Killzone 2 was debuted with a trailer depicting soldiers landing in a hostile war-zone on Helghan and fighting Helghast forces. Critics in the media argued that the trailer shown at the 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 on the PlayStation 3 and the audio mix of the trailer was slightly delayed. SCEA's Vice President, Jack Tretton, stated that the footage of Killzone 2, that was believed to be pre-rendered, "is real gameplay everybody's seeing out there".[23] Several days later, Phil Harrison, SCE Europe's Vice President of Development, stated in an interview that all of the footage of PlayStation 3 games at E3 2005 were "running off video" which was "done to PS3 spec".[24]

At the Game Developers Conference in 2007, a Killzone 2 teaser was shown behind closed doors, and was never released to the public. It featured various battles, destructible environments, and lighting effects among others.[25] 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.[26] An in-game trailer showing real-time gameplay of Killzone 2 was also released,[27] along with several videos of extended gameplay.[28] A number of media outlets since E3, such as the BBC, have referred to Killzone 2 as being "one of the most cinematic and immersive games ever produced on a console."[29] At the Leipzig Games Convention in 2007, Killzone 2 was presented in playable form to the media. It was the same demo level as shown at E3 2007, although journalists were allowed to play it hands-on.[30] At Sony's PlayStation Day 2008, the first level in Killzone 2’s single-player campaign was presented, named "Corinth River".[31]

File:Killzone 2 PS Day.jpg
Screenshots of the "Corinth River" level from Sony's PlayStation Day 2008

Beta

Beta access was given to a select number of North American and European PlayStation Network subscribers. The beta consisted of three online multiplayer maps; "Blood Gracht" (small), "Radec Academy" (medium) and "Salamun Market" (large), with unlockable ranks and character classes ("badges"). Beta testers had their own statistics and have the ability to enter clan competitions. Beta access was private and thus could not be shared with other PlayStation Network accounts. Also, beta testers are tied with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. by a non-disclosure agreement; therefore they were not allowed to reveal contents of the beta experience.

A technical demo of one of Killzone 2's TV commercials, known as the "Bullet" trailer, was released on the PlayStation Store on April 2, 2009.[32] The demo features the commercial itself, the ability to change angles, and speed, and several explanations from Guerilla Games.

Demo

On February 5, SCEE released a single player demo of Killzone 2 on the European/Oceanic PlayStation Store.[33] The demo includes the first two sections of ‘Corinth River’ (the first level of the game) as well as the tutorial sequence from the final game.[34]

A demo card, granting access to a Killzone 2 demo was also offered to US gamers who pre-ordered the game at GameStop. The US demo was also made available to those customers on February 5, 2009.

In the North American PlayStation Home, if users found an avatar dressed in a Helghast costume, the avatar with the Helghast costume would give that user a code for the demo. This occurred on February 16, 2009. Also with PlayStation Home, if users preordered Killzone 2 from Amazon.com, users received free I.S.A. and Helghast costumes for their avatar. [35]

On February 26, the demo was made available for download from the PlayStation Store in North America.

PlayStation Home

A Home space for the PlayStation 3's virtual online world, PlayStation Home, has been confirmed as well as Game Launching. [36]

Production

Michal Valient, a Senior Programmer at Guerrilla Games, presented details of their Killzone 2 proprietary game engine at a Developers Conference in July 2007.[37] As with many other titles published by SCE, including LittleBigPlanet and inFamous, Killzone 2 uses a deferred shading engine which enables far greater control over the game's characteristic lighting palette, while maximising processor throughput and limiting shader complexity. Other games to use similar approaches include Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV and GSC Game World's Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl. However, this approach does create some additional problems; notably with respect to anti-aliasing and transparencies. The former was solved using a MSAA Quincunx (multisample anti-aliasing) solution, and the latter by the addition of a standard forward rendering path. The game's graphics were universally praised by critics.[38]

The animation was done in Maya 8.5 with some motion capture animations tweaked in MotionBuilder. 3D artists, animators and level designers used Maya as their production environment, which is unusual considering that most 3D games are produced using 3ds max. A large library of custom Maya tools and scripts was created to support these different disciplines.[39] Tools like "Hyperion" which replaced Maya’s viewport rendering software with a lightmap rendering software. In-game animation was assisted with another tool they created called AnimationBlender and Particle effects were edited using a tool called "Particle Editor". They also created a tool called "ColorTweaker", which gave them the possibility to do color correction on the PS3 in real-time. [40]

Most of the animation was done using motion capture with some animations like the guns reload animation done by hand. Facial animation was done using blendshapes with bones for the jaw and the eyes. Lead tech artist,Paulus Bannink, explains that "The main reason for going with blendshapes was the relative ease with which they can be transferred to different faces, it would also provide a more artist friendly way of editing the facial animation rig.".[40] The cut scene facial animation was done using marker motion capture. In game dialog was done generically using MotionBuilder after audio files were plugged in. The game was developed not only by artists in amsterdam but also by people living in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Korea, the UK and the US. The gigabytes big data files were sent over the internet.[41]

Soundtrack

The score to Killzone 2 was composed by Joris de Man, who scored 60 minutes of in-game music and 30-minutes of live orchestral score for the game, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, with the Nimrod Studio Orchestra.[42]

Reception

Killzone 2 has been received with high acclaim. Based on 92 reviews, Killzone 2 currently holds a Metacritic score of 92/100[49] and 91% on Game Rankings based on 70 reviews.[56]

In Issue 27 of the Australian Official PlayStation Magazine, Killzone 2 received a 10/10, and the game was said to have "amazing, fluid graphics and animation, the best game ever made" as well as "beautifully constructed levels and intense sweaty-palmed action." The review concluded saying "Killzone 2 is the best console first person shooter ever made." In their February 2009 issue, the US version of Official PlayStation Magazine gave Killzone 2 a score of 5/5, stating players "will instantly tag this sequel as a powerful contender for best game of 2009."[58] In the February 2009 issue of the Official UK Playstation Magazine, they awarded Killzone 2 a 9/10 with the editor Tim Clark stating, "The most surprising thing isn't the visuals - anyone who's seen recent footage will know it's the most handsome thing on the system - but the fact it's got the gameplay to match." [59]

Gamepro gave a perfect score[60] praising graphics technology and multiplayer depth.

In their review, Edge gave Killzone 2 a 7/10, praising the online multiplayer, attention to detail, "unparalleled graphics" and the pacing of the single-player campaign, but included criticism of the game's use of "gameplay clichés" and its weak storyline and characters.[44][61]

GameSpot did not review the game until after its release so that they could experience its online multiplayer features in more depth. Reviewer Kevin VanOrd gave Killzone 2 a 9/10 saying: "Killzone 2 boasts amazing visuals, an intense campaign, and extraordinary online play that will keep you coming back for more." but described the game's story and characters as "forgettable" and said that the motion controls seemed "tacked-on".[62]

References

  1. ^ "Europe Gets Killzone 2 First". Gamezine. December 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-26.
  2. ^ "Killzone® 2 Release Date Confirmed". NZ.PlayStation.com. January 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  3. ^ "Killzone 2 Page". GamePro. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  4. ^ "Killzone 2 Patch 1.21". PS3blog.net. April 03, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "Killzone 2 will have native 1080i support". Qj.net. 2008-11-27.
  6. ^ "GC 2007: Killzone 2 Blowout". au.ps3.ign.com. August 24, 2007. Retrieved March 5, 2009.
  7. ^ Sulic, Ivan (2005-05-16). "E3 2005: First PS3 Game Confirmations". IGN. Retrieved 2007-07-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ Killzone 2 Storyline
  9. ^ "Tomas Sevchenko Biography". Joystiq [PlayStation].
  10. ^ GameTrailers.com Interview with Steven Ter Heide
  11. ^ Guerrilla Games: "No plans for co-op in Killzone 2"
  12. ^ GameTrailers interview
  13. ^ Multiplayer Video Rundown
  14. ^ Multiplayer Maps Preview
  15. ^ Killzone 2 Patch Adds Vehicles
  16. ^ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/04/09/whats-up-with-killzone-2-dlc/
  17. ^ http://www.spike.com/show/20265
  18. ^ http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3173668
  19. ^ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/04/14/download-killzone-2-steel-and-titanium-april-30th/
  20. ^ http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-309587.aspx
  21. ^ http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/04/14/download-killzone-2-steel-and-titanium-april-30th/
  22. ^ http://www.spike.com/show/20265
  23. ^ G4TV's E3 2005 Jack Tretton Interview
  24. ^ Gamesindustry.biz. E3: SCEE's Phil Harrison talks PlayStation 3. May 19, 2005.
  25. ^ GameSpot Killzone 2 GDC 07 Impressions
  26. ^ E3 2007: Killzone 2 Impressions. IGN
  27. ^ Killzone 2 E3 2007 Trailer
  28. ^ Gametrailers.com - Killzone 2: Reviews, Trailers, and Interviews
  29. ^ BBC NEWS | Technology | State of Play: Killzone 2 hands on
  30. ^ Killzone 2 impressions at GC '07 by IGN
  31. ^ Corinth River: Killzone.com News
  32. ^ "Killzone 2 "Behind the Bullet" Interactive Demo Available Today". PlayStation.Blog.
  33. ^ Killzone 2 demo available now
  34. ^ Killzone 2 demo coming Thursday 5th Feb
  35. ^ "Helghast invade Home armed with Killzone 2 demo keys". Joystiq [PlayStation].
  36. ^ "Killzone 2 Home space confirmed". N4G.com.
  37. ^ 2007 Killzone 2 Deferred Rendering Engine Presentation (PDF File)
  38. ^ http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/killzone2/video/6205378/killzone-2-video-review?hd=1
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  40. ^ a b Rizkalla, Peter (2009-03-17). "Killzone 2". CGSociety. p. 2. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  41. ^ Rizkalla, Peter (2009-03-17). "Killzone 2". CGSociety. p. 3. Retrieved 2009-03-20.
  42. ^ Dan Goldwasser (2009-03-02). "Joris de Man scores Killzone 2 at Abbey Road". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  43. ^ "Killzone 2 (PS3)". February 3, 2009.
  44. ^ a b "Killzone 2: The Edge Verdict". Edge-online.com.
  45. ^ KZ2 Review "Killzone 2 EuroGamer Review". Retrieved 2009-01-28. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  46. ^ "Killzone 2 on MetaCritic". Retrieved 2009-01-27.
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  48. ^ "Killzone 2 video review, [[GameSpot]]". GameSpot. 27/02/2009. Retrieved 02.27.2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  49. ^ a b c d "Killzone 2 on MetaCritic". Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  50. ^ "Killzone 2 Gamesmaster review". Gamesmaster. March 2009. pp. 58–61.
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  55. ^ "Review: Killzone 2". Play. 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
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  60. ^ "Review: Killzone 2 (PS3)- from GamePro.com". Retrieved 2009-02-27.
  61. ^ "Killzone 2 Review Party Crashed By Edge Bullies". Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  62. ^ "Killzone 2 review, [[GameSpot]]". GameSpot. 27.02.2009. Retrieved 27. February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)

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