Awesome
Killzone finally breaks cover. See the screens, read the details and start psyching yourself up for the most explosive shooter on PS2.
Finally, the phoney war is over. For over a year now we\'ve been sworn to secrecy. Forced to bite our lips as the rumour mill went into overdrive. As far back as April last year, we knew that Guerilla Games (then known as Lost Boys Games) was working on an apparently groundbreaking shooter with the working title of Kin. Today we can confirm that the game is very much a reality. It\'s called Killzone. We\'ve seen it. And it looks like the absolute bomb.
Killzone is set in the near future. Mankind is busy colonising the galaxy when a vicious interplanetary war breaks out between the ISA (which is still loyal to Earth) and a militaristic faction know as the Helghast. Despite the sci-fi premise, we aren\'t expecting to see any outlandish aliens scampering across the battlefield. Killzone is based on 20th-century warfare, and the term itself refers to a tactic used to force enemies into an area where they can be easily wiped out.
The single-player game tells the story of four ISA soldiers who are operating deep behind enemy lines on a near suicidal mission. It\'s thought that the game begins in the immediate aftermath of a devastating Helghast attack. Earlier this year OPS2 was shown a video of in-game action which seemed to confirm that the game will start with your squad trapped in a killzone. From what we\'ve seen you\'re pinned down in a derelict building and surrounded by the Helghast. To make matters considerably worse, more stormtroopers abseil in from the Aliens-style dropship hovering overhead. Within seconds the bullets are flying and jaws are dropping.
What really looks impressive about Killzone though - other than the teeth-rattling bark of the assault rifles and the lush, richly detailed environments - is the sense of being caught in the middle of a massive conflict. We watched soldiers wading through shallow rivers, coshing each other with rifle butts (just wait until you see the glorious reload animation as you slap another magazine in) and manning fixed machine gun emplacements. Oh, and the sniper scope looks particularly creamy, as do the diffuse lighting effects, originally pioneered by Ico.
As for the visuals, there are several cinematic influences, with Starship Troopers and, inevitably, Aliens being the most obvious. Certainly the body armour worn by the ISA soldiers is instantly reminiscent of James Cameron\'s bug hunting epic. The gritty style also suggests the art team at Guerilla has been watching a lot of Black Hawk Down. We also reckon there must be a 2000AD fan at the Netherlands-based developer because there definitely seems to be a hint of Rogue Trooper too.
As far as multiplayer modes go, there\'s no official word yet, but you can probably guess why we\'re so excited. You can expect a barrage of info on the game between now and its release. But for now, gaze at the first ever genuine screenshots. You\'re looking at the future.
Killzone will be released next year through Sony.
The game is squad-based and, although players only control one character, three more will provide covering fire. Each character boasts different abilities (one is handy with heavy weapons, for instance, while another specialises in stealth) and you\'ll be able to play through the game four times - each time with a separate character. Developers Guerrilla say that this will give the player different challenges and experiences.
There will be a total of 21 weapons in the game - each of which will also have a secondary fire function - including rocket-launchers, grenades, mini-guns and missile-launchers. In addition, there will be at least five fixed-position weapons.
The player\'s heath meter works in a way similar to that of Master Chief\'s shield in Halo: whenever damage isn\'t being taken, it gradually returns to full health.
The current version of the game already houses three playable levels set in slums, a shopping mall and a river bed. Apart from the occasional drop in frame-rate, it\'s looking very promising indeed. Visually, it offers some of the most detailed and aesthetically pleasing textures on PS2.
Killzone\'s structure is set around set pieces, of which there will be around two \'memorable moments\' in each of the 26 levels. Set pieces unveiled so far include a gunship dispatching several abseiling enemy troops and another based around a collapsing bridge. The game will also support full online multiplayer games, although this has yet to be seen up and running.
The game, which is due to be released in autumn 2004, takes major 20th century theatres of war as its inspiration, from the trenches of the Somme to the street fighting of Stalingrad to the guerrilla warfare of Vietnam.
Set in the near future, in a period of planetary colonisation, it revolves around a savage conflict between forces that are still loyal to Earth (the ISA) and a separatist, militaristic faction who call themselves the Helghast. The game follows your squad of four soldiers on a suicidal mission behind enemy lines, as they fight to undermine and defeat the Helghast forces following their devastating Blitzkrieg attack on the human colony.
Adds Edge, "As the game takes place in the near future, you won\'t find any laser guns, aliens or warp holes. \'We wanted to come up with our own epic war,\' says [commercial director at Guerrilla] Martin de Ronde. \'However, we drew inspiration from many 20th century conflicts because we wanted everything to be recognisable. To have weapons that fire green blobs may look nice as a special effect but it takes away from the gratifying aspects of war.\'
