Killzone, Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 – A brief history of Killzone franchise – Part 2
Killzone had recaptured the gaming public’s attention after the second in-game trailer at Sony’s E3 Press Conference in 2007.
It seemed Guerrilla Games wanted to keep the subtle similarities to World War II intact, as after an attack on the planet Vekta, the planet decided to invade Helghan, the home planet of the antagonist army: the Helghast. The ISA did so by using huge space
vessels and smaller drop ships to drop off their troops. Very similar, one might agree, to the American invasion of Normandy following an attack on Pearl Harbor.
When the game finally was released to the general gaming public in 2009, it made an instant impression as an atmospheric, engaging and intense game with one of the best multiplayer experiences at that point in time.
It had learnt from the mistakes of its predecessor, which is no small task seeing how the original game was on the PlayStation 2 and Killzone 2 was Guerrilla Games’ debut on Sony’s next generation console: the PlayStation 3.
The atmosphere, which had been the original Killzone’s strong point, now became a trademark of the series. Helghan was supposed to be a desolate and barren planet and players really got a feeling of being trapped in a trash can of a planet.
Some of the best parts of Killzone 2 were fighting under stormy clouds, or in an abandoned mining quarry, as they provided a nice backdrop to unrelentingly intense action.
The gameplay was solid too, incorporating first person cover mechanics. Players could now duck behind cover and leak or peek out to take shots at the opposing Helghast forces.
The controls became a major talking point, as people either fell in love with, or absolutely hated the weighty feel of, the weapons and movement. Its problem seemed to be that it was not enough like Call of Duty’s run-and-gun style of gameplay. Though it
has to be said that whether gamers liked it or not, it was a bit of a breath of fresh air.
Another issue was the story; the game seemed to lack depth in the plot and there was little to no character development. That’s not to say that Killzone 2 did not have its moments.
Whenever Colonel Radec, the final boss in the game, was on screen he stole the show and became an instant icon among the Helghast troops. Jan Templar, the protagonist from the first game, met his end in a manner that many soldiers would have been proud of:
guiding his cruiser into a petrusite power grid with his dying breath.
In the end, however, it just ended up being a generic military themed story with no complex plot twists or layers of depth to keep the player interested.
Where the game came into its own however, was in the superb multiplayer. Unlike any multiplayers in the market, Killzone put players on a map and had the modes constantly changing. One minute a player would be playing Bodycount (Killzone’s version of Team
Death Match) and the next second players would be running around trying to either defend or place charges on a specific location.
The constantly changing game dynamics, coupled with one of the best class based systems meant that the game not only encouraged team work, it rewarded it.
Killzone 2 had become Sony’s premier first person shooter with intense action, engaging environments and one of the best multiplayer experiences at the time.
This article and the history of Killzone is continued in: Killzone, Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 – A brief history of Killzone franchise – Part 3
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