Killzone retrospective
Recently we celebrated Killzone’s fifth birthday, and to further mark the occasion we’re going to take a look down memory lane and revisit Killzone’s turbulent space history.
In 2004, Killzone was released on the PlayStation 2 to much fanfare. I recall going into the city center (Dublin) to pick it up and noticing Sony had bombarded the cities billboards and poster hoards with Helghast logos. The big mistake there, of course, was that with the huge marketing push, the posters didn’t say what the game was. So those who weren’t in-the-know had no idea what was being pushed. Given the PS2 dominated the market, it was a huge mis-step on Sony’s part.
The game was released after a lengthy marketing campaign to mixed reviews. OPM UK gave it 9/10 with most others hovering around the 7 or 8 mark. Great scores, but not after a multi million euro marketing campaign to rival anyone.
KZ1 had beautiful lighting, even on a PS2
The main issue this title had was simply that it was compared to Halo. I recall attending the launch event in the venue now known as the Twisted Pepper in Abbey St. The smattering of fans and press clashed as most of the press, then “normal” journalists who still thought games were for children, asked gamers at random if the game was better then Halo. Of course we all answered yes in the moment as we stood in the jungle-themed basement filled with free food and beer. The real answer, though, is no. Not because it was worse then Halo, but because the two games share little or no similarities other then the fact that they fit into the same genre. You don’t compare The Fifth Element and Blade Runner in the same context, do you?
The game’s mechanics were clunky, but deliberately. In order to give a sense of realism to the game, it made the player “feel” the weight of the gun and force you to get used to unbelievable recoil associated with big guns as well as deal with the fact that, yes, enemies with armour can take a few bullets before dropping to the ground. The helghan enemies were also quite smart for a PS2 game. Instead of running around aimlessly waiting to be shot, they would hide behind cover and try not to be taken down, often working in teams to murder you. This lead to lengthy and brilliant firefights, but sometimes the game mechanics failed when you had to kill everyone in order to make it to the next waypoint. When the helghast is taking cover and you cannot see him, that can become a problem.
The story focused on you, a member of the ISA – a sort of earth alliance. In a future where humans are dispersed over a bunch of colonial planets, they live fairly happily. Of course, humans being humans, some of them decided to separate entirely and try to impose their evil regime on the good folk. So, the Helghast (who took home on the planet Helghan, which forced mutation because of bad air, and stuff…) invade Vekta. In the end, our heroes win, unsurprisingly. But the fight is not over.
Liberation was stunning, despite being on a tiny device
Instead of releasing a fully fledged title, Guerilla, in the face of PS3 announcements, battened down the hatches and began hiring a lot of new staff, bumping their numbers up to about 200 in their offices in Amsterdam. In this time they began work on a side-story to Killzone, called Liberation on Sony’s shiny handheld system, the PSP.
This game is not a first-person shooter like the original title, instead overcoming the constraints of only having one analog nub by giving gamers an isometric viewpoint. For the PSP, this is a technical marvel. How the graphics look so slick and the game runs so smooth on a device in your hand is mind blowing. On top of that, the game is not easy. Despite the fact that it’s on a PSP, a console that regularly comes in stupid colours – pink, purple, blue etc. – the game cranks up the difficulty levels to make for a really challenging effort.
The technical achievements in this game gave Guerilla some credibility they may have lost in the internet-fodder in the wake of Killzone. They were accused of creating a great game, but with a lot of bugs. Which was true, but these technical foibles were prevalent in every major release at the time. The consoles of the era just couldn’t handle the vision the developers had. Interestingly, Guerilla approached Sony with an engine, not a game or franchise, destined for “next generation” consoles (i.e. PS3) but Sony wanted to drive some cash from the company, getting a game out the door before a PS3 arrived a few years later.
The story takes place soon after the events of Killzone 1, where our heroes make moves to completely drive the Helghan from the planet, Vekta. This game introduced new gaming ideas, such as driving tanks around (being attacked by Helghan with RPGs). Often frustrating, but always brilliant. Later, Guerilla released some free DLC, adding a whole new level and some new multi player maps to the game.
Yes, it really does look THIS good
And so we hit 2009, 5 years after Killzone, Killzone 2 – the much-delayed and much-discussed game is released. Ever since Sony showed it off with a pre-rendered target video, gamers had no trust in the idea that this game would happen. 2 years later, Guerilla show up at e3 with a new video, in-game, which looks dangerously close to the pre-rendered footage previously shown. This turns the tide towards Guerilla and the franchise.
So, the technology is mind blowing. No game looks this good. It rivals Crysis, but manages to do it on a console that costs a fraction of a PC rig required to run Crysis. A huge new focus is placed on the online section of this game, featuring league tables, clans and a whole part of their website dedicated to tracking stats, and of course, showing those stats off. DLC comes later on in the form of 3 packs with new multi-player maps and weapons. One of which features Killzone 2 remakes of original Killzone maps.
DLC levels are a worthy investment
The story revolves around the counter-attack from the ISA to Helghan, giving some amazing settings akin to Nazi Germany. Lots of monolithic buildings, scary weapons and bad weather. New mechanics include using the SIXAXIS to incorporate gameplay elements (like arming bombs) to the story. The game cost about €30 million to produce, making it the most expensive single piece of entertainment (movies, music or games) released from the Netherlands.
Guerilla are currently hiring new staff, particularly on the programming end. With no new DLC for KZ2 in sight, it’s very possible KZ3 is due – or maybe even an all new franchise featuring their wonderful in-house engine. Who knows? Well, hopefully we’ll find out sometime soon. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what comes from a studio very much in the ascendency.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Kevin and Shoryuken, Paul Whyte. Paul Whyte said: RT @shoryuken_ie: New on shoryuken.ie: Killzone retrospective http://bit.ly/55fkYA
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Halo and Killzone (thankfully) are worlds apart. I love them both for different reasons. I love the Killzone 2 single player, the cover based shootout are just so damn tense and exhaustingly fun while online is genius.
I'm glad that its doing its own thing now and I'm glad its doing it well. Liberation was a great game fierce tuff in places though! Yet, while the first killzone had some great idea's (I loved the little pistol grenade launcher) it was riddles with glitches and odd mission structures. KZ2 deserves to be in the GOTY top 5's!!
nice post. wasnt a huge fan of the 1st kz but kz2 really shows off the ps3
Halo doesnt even compare to KZ1 or 2. Best single player campaign and online game ever.
KZ1 passed by the radar for me, came too late in the ps2 i guess, like a lot of other titles.
what a game. ace!