Games Convention 2008, Previews
Games Convention 2008: Hands-On with Killzone 2 Singleplayer and Multiplayer
In a way, KILLZONE 2 is a coming of age for Dutch developer Guerilla Games. After the original Killzone was labeled a potential “Halo-killer” in a preview by the British gaming magazine EDGE, the studio suddenly found itself with an additional hefty burden placed squarely upon its shoulders. With Killzone 2, Guerilla has shown it can handle that pressure without breaking a sweat; this time, they have set - and raised - the bar all by themselves.
The fulminant Corinth River mission shows the protagonist of Killzone 2, Sev, trying to lead a convoy through Helghast terrain. Given the fact that the game takes place on Helghan, the aptly named Helghast home planet, this proves no easy feat, as every corner is swarming with the grim-looking foes, whose glowing eyes prove advantageous to the player and detrimental to the enemy. If not for the fearsome fiery glow, the Helghast would be practically impossible to spot, as the rest of their uniforms blend in almost entirely with the stylized grey visuals of the game.
The gameplay is reminiscent of a futuristic Call of Duty: You trod along a predetermined path, triggering scripted events and enemy onslaughts as you go - not to say that there is anything wrong with it - but it is admittedly a little formulaic. That being said, it is still a very impressive tour de force in terms of both the PlayStation 3’s hardware and the shooter genre.
It is hard not to be taken aback by the sheer quality of the visuals: both art direction and technical prowess are impressive, most notably the light and smoke effects, which leave even graphical heavy-hitters such as Crysis in the proverbial dust.
The focus of the presentation was the multiplayer this time around, which is as fully-realized as one would expect from an AAA title this generation. “We at Guerilla are about pushing the envelope” says Senior Online Game Designer Eric Boltjes, while demoing the multiplayer modes behind closed doors in Leipzig, “We think of it as shipping two separate games.”
Eight maps will be included with the game with additional DLC coming at a later date. Boltjes is not lying when he says it looks every bit as good as the single player. Now, of course, some of the assets such as weapons and textures are the same as in the story mode, yet their inspired take on the Team Fortress-like class based system truly brings out the best in Guerilla’s designers. Each class is easily identifiable through its distinct visual features.
“We want everyone to be able to play like they want to” says Boltjes, who is talking us
through the badge system that will determine the classes. You can mix and match six different badges, each with a primary and a secondary feature. The primary badge will determine the looks of your character as well as your most important skill and primary weapon. If you combine a Scout with an Engineer, you will be able to snipe, cloak yourself and repair machinery. Reverse the two, and you will be able to build turrets and mark enemies in your line of sight with a blue circle around their respective heads then take them out with the shotgun.
All this will not be available to you when you first put the disk into your PLAYSTATION
3, as accessibility is a key factor for the team. You will be presented with the no-badge option, which is basically the soldier class: It gives you no limitations on what to use as your primary weapon, but does not give you any abilities or special skills either - “the depth has to be unlocked” says Boltjes.
The most intriguing feature has to be the dynamic objectives: the game randomly selects three types of missions for the two teams to compete in. An assassination mission could quickly be followed by a capture and hold scenario that then turns into a search & destroy-esque mode, keeping even seasoned shooter veterans on their toes.
The game will feature “Humanoid AI bots” that can fill up online matches or give you an opportunity to practice online. Add to this the ability to “track every statistic you could possibly think of” via the in-game browser and killzone.com, for “when your sister is using the PS3 to play Singstar”, plus extended community features with clan support and custom games, and you have quite the complete multiplayer package on your hands.
It remains to be seen if the quality of the final offering will be consistently as good as what we’ve seen here in Leipzig, but so far what has been demonstrated is something that everyone at Guerilla, Sony, and PlayStation 3 owners everywhere will proudly present as the crown-jewel of their collection.
Lorand Koncz is editor-in-chief of Austrian gaming site wearetheinternetz.com
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[...] Here are a batch of Killzone 2 multiplayer screenshots from this week’s Games Convention summit. The game is out exclusively on the PlayStation 3 early next year. Be sure to check out our written hands-on preview. [...]