Take a look behind the scenes of Killzone 2, as Guerrilla's Managing Director Herman Hulst and Game Director Mathijs de Jonge blow the lid off even more information on the epic title.
What were the most essential elements to convey and bring to the Killzone 2 experience?
Herman Hulst: The ambition for any shooter in first person has to start with the core experience of gaming. It's all about asking the question of how you really immerse the player in the intensity, chaos and action of the game we're creating. The answer simply lies in the name of the game's genre, which seems so obvious but we actually put a lot of thought into thinking this through all the way. With a first person shooter we make sure that we're always in a first person viewpoint - whether we use a cover system or interact with the world, it has to be a first person viewpoint and intuitive.
We had the idea of a large scale, planetary invasion which is great for creating these huge battles with you in the front line. We took this idea and made sure the player has bodies around him most of the time, and there are a great variety and number of enemies to take care of.
The backdrop for all of this is a hostile world - you are on Helghan, and we want to make you feel unwelcome. We're aiming to create a real sense of scale and depth to the experience, a true Hollywood sized experience, that wouldn't be complete without some huge set pieces and great dramatic events. We take the player on quite a journey across the planet, visiting a variety of locations all with their own style and gameplay scenarios.
What sort of challenges have you encountered in the creation of the game?
HH: I think if you look back at the 2005 trailer, it was creating an engine that supports that kind of intensity, graphical detail, the quality of animation... it really is about the quality of production values and core experience across the board, so it's getting everything to that ultimate quality, that's where the time and attention goes to. There's not one particular part of development which has been a major hurdle, it's just spreading the resources - and it's a massive production, so getting everybody to work together towards this massive goal is the biggest thing for us.
Were there any temptations to bring in more alien looking monsters for the player to battle against?
Mathijs de Jonge: We though about that and very carefully experimented with those sort of things in the game - we have these spider critters that attack the player, but if we used more alien type creatures then we end up changing our main enemy, which is the Helghast with those iconic red eyes. So we decided that's not where we want to go. There are still a lot of enemy types we can create within the Helghast template, so gameplay wise there are still a lot of opportunities to explore.
How did the design of the Helghast style Sackboy in LittleBigPlanet's early promotional videos come about?
HH: That was something we designed here! We have our main Designer, the guy who originally came up with the Helghast visual concept, who put it together. It didn't take long compared to what we have to work on here - it was nice to work on!
What are the key points that you're really proud of in Killzone 2?
HH: I go back to the core experience. What I love is the way you hold your weapon, the way it feels and sounds, it really feels like you're actually carrying a weapon. Along with the impact that it's got when you fire it and when you hit an enemy. A game usually has two or three responses when an enemy gets hit - we have over 100. In a way it's very realistic, but it's over the top as well because the responses don't necessarily abide by the laws of physics.
And there's the destructibility of the environments, every single response to the bullet is believable, and that's probably the strength of the game. On top of that is the graphical beauty, but the core experience is probably something I'm even more proud of than the graphical detail, quality and smoothness of it.
What is it like working on PLAYSTATION 3?
HH: I think PS3 has allowed us to do all of this. As a studio we see it as our job to show off the capability of it - it's got a lot of raw power that we harness and it's been a pleasure. It's allowed us to create the game that we've always wanted to create and that's fantastic.
How has the relationship between Guerrilla and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc (SCEI). progressed and evolved over time?
HH: The relationship is very good. We sold the company with a vision to still be culturally independent on one side, but on the other side be under the umbrella of Worldwide Studios with the opportunity to share knowledge, exchange resources, be close to marketing and be involved in these kinds of things. So it's the best of both worlds and I'm very grateful to the publisher that it's allowed us to be this independent because we get a particular culture that we're happy with that we're proud of, and we get to continue that.
MdJ: We're really happy with SCEI, as the company has given us the opportunity to make Killzone 2 as polished as it is now. If it was forced into release, the game couldn't be as good as it is now, so it's given us the exact amount of time to make it what it is. The technical support has also been really good and I'm happy that Sony saw quality in the game, allowed us time to polish it and was so willing to move the shipping date.
The game is very polished. We're really happy with the state of which it's in. You always find new ideas and don't have time to implement them in, but we can save them for the next project [laughs].
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