Killzone 2

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. Killzone 2 was and will be released worldwide late February 2009.

Early reviews of the game were largely positive, while pre-orders of the game have topped 1.1 million units in Europe alone.



Story

Killzone 2 follows the events of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, and will take place entirely 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, Emperor 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.

Killzone 2 Slideshow

Characters

1. 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 He is a withdrawn and unusually contemplative man.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.
2. Corporal Dante Garza is a member of the ISA Special Forces Alpha Team. Smart-mouthed and young, Garza is still a loyal and trusty soldier who has earned his elite status.
3. 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.
4. Corporal Shawn Natko is the demolitions expert for the ISA Special Forces Alpha Team.
5. Colonel Jan Templar is the commander of the ISA cruiser 'New Sun'. Protagonist of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, he leads the invasion of Helghan from the sky, without actually being in the field.
6. Emperor 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.
7. Colonel Radec is the commander of 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

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 has also been announced that Sev is able to pilot vehicles, such as tanks. Many classic weapons and vehicles from previous Killzone installments will be returning, such as the M82-G and the StA-52 LAR. The Sixaxis motion control feature will also be utilized in performing certain actions such as turning a valve, arming an explosive charge and sniping. Game director Mathjis de Jonge has confirmed there are currently no plans to have co-op in Killzone 2.

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. 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 will be 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. 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, 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 post-release.