Killzone 3 Announced and Playable in 3D

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Well, the title pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?

Our friends in Europe (“where the history comes from”) recently held an event where journalists went hands-on with Killzone 3… in 3D. SCEE’s James Gallagher was there, and he’s got what you want to know: details.

Earlier this month I made my first trip to Amsterdam and while I didn’t get chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum, I did get a different sensory treat: I got to play Killzone 3 in 3D.

The select group of journalists invited had little idea of what to expect as they climbed the stairs to a private cinema in Amsterdam’s Melkweg, but soon Hermen Hulst, Managing Director of Guerrilla Games, took to the podium and revealed all.

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Killzone 3 picks up where its predecessor left off and it’s a much grander experience in terms of scale and ambition. There will be more variety, more enemy types, massive environments and a broader vision of the planet Helghan and its many terrains. The presentation closed with a beautifully violent video montage of the Brutal Melee attacks, which are the new close range attacks.

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I caught up with Hermen after his presentation to ask how community feedback has shaped Killzone 3.

“As you may know, we are always in close contact with the Killzone community,” he said. “The response to Killzone 2 has been fantastic but there is a general response that it had too many ‘corridors.’ We have to temper that with the knowledge that many players really enjoy that gameplay style. Our plan is to solve this dilemma with huge variation in gameplay styles.

“We had plenty of variety in Killzone 2 but much of it was introduced in the second half of the game. This time around, right from the start every new level has its own distinct feel.”

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The level playable at the show was set in an arctic environment and introduced a number of new gameplay elements. One of the most eye-catching is the new jet packs: first you must fight off three Jetpack Troopers, who are quick and heavily armed. Once you defeat them, you discover a spare jetpack that you can strap yourself into. It works like an exaggerated jump, allowing you to soar high into the air and use the forward thrust twice before having to land, and opens up the possibilities for platforming and aerial combat.

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“If you remember, the Jetpack Troopers were in Killzone: Liberation on PSP and we’ve always wanted to bring them back,” explained Hermen. “When you include aerial combat you obviously need plenty of space so the much bigger levels in Killzone 3 have presented us with the opportunity to include this enemy.”

The story is an important part of the Killzone experience so I asked him to set the scene. Warning: there’s a Killzone 2 spoiler in his response.

“We recognise how important the story is in Killzone games,” he replied, “and we’re making great leaps forward with character development and the quality of the dialogue and the writing. We’re going all-out to make Killzone 3 a rounded experience on all fronts.

“So with Visari gone, there’s a power vacuum on Helghan where figures like Stahl, the head of the Helghan weapon producer, are vying for power. Essentially, the surviving ISA soldiers are caught in the middle of a catfight when what they really need is to get the hell off the planet and return to Vekta.

“On the ground, this political situation changes the nature of the conflict. The Helghan are now in the ascendency and they are bringing a great deal of new technology to the fray. The result for the player is that you’ll be encountering new weapons and enemy types with their own distinct behaviour.”

Finally, I was told beforehand that we wouldn’t be mentioning multiplayer at this particular event but I knew you wouldn’t forgive me if I didn’t at least broach it, so I asked how much of the team’s energy is going into this component.

“We always refer to multiplayer as ‘the other half of the game’,” he said, “meaning that it’s just as important to us as single player. It’s an area on which we have key individuals working and I can promise true innovation. Right now we’re looking through all of the feedback we received on Killzone 2, particularly around accessibility.”

I came away with so many thoughts and impressions from the event that I feel like I could write a short novel. Head to over to eu.playstation.com to read an impressions piece that I wrote, which goes into more detail on the incredible stereoscopic 3D. Feel free to ask questions in the comments; I have more info and quotes from Hermen that I can drop in there where relevant.

Thanks, James. As you (and I) salivate over these impressions from Europe, know that we’ll have our own take on things coming very soon. Anything more you’d like to know about Killzone 3? Ask away below and we’ll save those answers for our next post.

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235 Comments

3 Author Replies

  • Sony make sure u put co op in

  • I am very interested in how the multiplayer will be. MOVE support would be nice, as pointing is better than dual-analog.

  • This sounds incredible but I can’t believe you guys didn’t reveal this at E3. It would have made such a bigger splash.

    This sounds really incredible and I can’t wait for this. Like many people who have never played the first Killzone, when I first grabbed Killzone 2 it felt awkward and strange in the demo and I thought it sucked (I was new to the FPS world and had been spoiled on Resistance Fall of Man) But a little later I picked it up and was hooked.

    Sure the controls felt heavy and everything but it felt so real and intense. Plus the environments were incredible, So few games make you feel like you are in a real war. (Especially not Halo or COD XP)

    Can’t wait guys but are we going to see some split screen? My friend really liked KZ2 and we hated we couldn’t play together.

  • The best part about this story was the Eddie Izzard quote. Gotta like the people that caught that.

  • Yuck, I HATE Killzone.

  • Hell yeah. Sounds like they’re going to do a lot to make a good game unforgettable. But PLEASE add:
    Split Screen
    & Improved Control sensitivity (along the lines of BFBC2)
    That would turn it into an instant classic for sure.
    Day 1 buy for me if it has these.

  • ojk first question is accessible with move second? question 2 anything about a released date early 2011 q4 2010? and finally anything on co-op

  • o0o and i forgot is rico gonna die please say yes he so annoying

  • :) happy

  • cant wait. kz2 is my favorite shooter of all time.
    DONT change the controls!!!

  • Also better kill Rico this time… I don’t think anyone likes him…

  • I can’t believe that Sony has let slip of Socom 4, LBP2 and KZ3 all before E3. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that Sony needed these titles to win the E3 console battle but it makes me wonder what they have up their sleeves..

  • Wonder if they will change the controls since everybody complained about the ‘weighted’ controls. Maybe include 2 settings. ‘Original’ (from KZ2) and ‘Childish” (similar to MW2, Halo, every other FPS). Hopefully KZ3 will be the killer app for 3D. I tested out a 3DTV at Best Buy a bit ago. Meh. Cool, but not quite there.

  • Fantastic, love this game! Some questions:

    1. Will Offline & Online split screen gameplay appear in the game?
    2. PS Move support?
    3. Will there be a collector’s edition (with something cool in it, like a gun replica or figurine)? Hope so.

    Thanks

  • Good on ya for the Eddie Izzard reference there, mate. Totally had me and the girlfriend in stitches =D

  • they just need much more guns and classes and abilities for multiplayer. you should also have different kinds of secondary guns and not just pistols like shotguns or whatever.also customization for your characters. and couch co-op campaign and online with multiple logins so the other guy gets his trophies. they should also have more ranks spread out much better.

  • More details like release date, co-op, and all the multiplayer info should be released at E3. Still can’t wait for this one. Should blow the socks off of everything else out there. With Naughy Gods helping out this is a winner all the way… If they’d put out for pre-order now I’d buy it.

  • Now I would like to fix some of these commenters here:

    1. Sony has said you will never be forced to buy a 3D HDTV or play any of their games in 3D. It will always be an option. Are these screenshots in 3D? NO! Then shut up and wait for info.

    2. If I see one more Killzone Sucks comment, or this games MP will die off just like the firsts comments I’m going to report some people:

    A: I was on KZ2 last night, grand total 400 players in the US alone, world wide number was 24,000! This late in the life of KZ2 and for a console thats vary impressive……

    B: This will fail because its got 3D crap: See reason 1 for why it won’t fail, it will always be optional and Sony is not dumb enough to force people to buy a new HDTV just for 3D effects that they can’t enjoy other wise……

    Get a life nut jobs, and if you hate Killzone then don’t post here.

  • Huh. Well I thought the Hellghast would go straight for an invasion on Earth. I guess this works too.

  • looking forward to this game,
    really enjoyed K2

  • I came. That is all.

  • HELL YES!

    Day one baby!

  • Btw GG?! I am totally in love with your previous game but please remember to add splitscreen this time k? ^^ Oh, and for god sake DON’T change the controls!

  • Cool, but I’m not gonna buy it unless I hear they fix the sluggish sloppy controls KZ2 had and make them like BC2 (the best “weight” and precision in any FPS game). Also the multiplayer should be reduced to 18-24 players as 32 just didn’t work right with the map sizes in KZ2.

    And about the 3D, I could care less about a technology that requires you to buy a new TV or worse put on silly glasses to play. Just stick to making an awesome game please.

  • I’m very excited for the game but I still don’t see myself spending $3,000 plus to play games in 3D. I’m digging 3D but I’m not digging the fact that I need a new TV to have the experience.

  • Online/Offline campaign co-op
    Keep custom soundtracks
    Better controls
    Add more colors

    3D doesn’t suck. I might get a 3D projector.

  • I think the burning question that every competitive FPS gamer wants to know is: how customizable are the controls for KZ3? Can you freely button-map to your heart’s desire, or will it follow suit with KZ2 and stick with schemes and toggling various option tick boxes?

  • Only thing that the multiplayer needs is a party system other than that KZ2 is my favorite shooter of all time and as long as they don’t change too much for KZ3 I will be one happy Killzone 100k vet.

    VGevo Zero for Life.

  • @ 126, that’s even better.

  • Lame. Making the main focus of the game 3-d apparent is a bad move But whatever sales those Sony 3-d tvs’, right Sony? Lame. Really lame. Killzone 2 wasn’t even that good and the first one was near unplayable. I have little hope this one will make good on things.

  • Wow, looking closer at those high-res shots… they look really early. Like, Rico’s face, for example. I’d be surprised if they had something prepared for E3, to be honest.

  • COOP is a must have don’t be a fool and not implement them this time GG!

  • WOW! I have have been waiting for so long to read about an official announcement for Killzone 3, and it is finally here! Thank you so much PS Blog for this exceptional opportunity to know what our favorite shooter is shaping up like.

    I would like you to ask these questions to Hermen, or any other developer at Guerilla studios:

    1. Will there be an option to play the game in third-person mode? In Killzone2, we have seen this already in the game engine, when joining a multiplayer game as spectator.

    2. Will there be offline co-op mode added to the existing Skirmish option?

    3. Will players be able to drive around using buggies, or tanks, and other types of vehicles, other than the Jetpack?

    4. Will all the levels be during the daylight, or will we also have levels during nighttime? We could then have more nice equipments, like night vision goggles, flares, etc.

    Thank you.

  • …nice Eddie Izzard reference…i see what you did there.

  • Now that Sony has shown their hand weeks before E-3 we can only expect to see their new $70 a year PSN service and more PSP and PSP2 junk. Oh, and more boring Home qubis. We can’t have an E-3 without 20 min dedicated to a service that is lackluster in everyway. We gotta have that Home talk. Lame, Sony.

    I bet the big gun at E-3 will be some multiplatform game that Sony has got an exclusive DLC character for. Or The Getaway 3. Sony has nothing at all to show. Nothing. Oh, and MOVE. More gimmicks. We all know Move, 3-d gaming and Home is a bunch of junk.

    Infamous 2 “yank”
    Resistance 3 “big yank”
    Little Big Planet 2
    Kill zone 3

    And we all know Insomniac is making an xbox 360 game. Sony’s gonna knock’em dead this year. Hahahaha.

  • UGH! i just puked. sony is makin me sick. what do ppl do with glasses? very inconsiderate. should i tape red and blu foil on my lenses? Gurrilla Games you guys are a s s h o l e s. (yea i went around the filter, cuz im that disappointed in you)

  • Oh, and Motor-Storm 3. We all know that one is coming too. Sony is so predictable. So lame. So predictable. So out of the loop it’s not even funny.

    This whole 3-d gaming push is really making me sick. Let’s rush it to market so we can say we were the first to do it. Let’s force people into buying 3000 dollar tv’s when they just got new HDtv’s to play our system on in the 1st place. Sony you are sickening.

  • PushinNshovinMe

    I am praying for more Mech-type gameplay, I thought for sure they would’ve added to the KZ2 multiplayer at some point but all we got was maps. :(

  • The game’s looking freaking awesome and from what I’ve read so far it’s gonna be EPIC, I can’t wait, KILLZON3D!!! 8)

  • PushinNshovinMe

    @Baltis you don’t know what you are talking about at all. Move looks amazing, 3D is an addition not a requirement, Insomniac is Sony-owned so they can’t make an X360 game, you can’t know what will be at E3 (Twisted Metal?), Getaway was canned, $70/year for something that is still speculation?

  • @Pushin

    Ummm, Insomniac isn’t owned by Sony. They are independent and they are making a multiplatform game. Sony might “publish” their R&C and Resistance junk but that is where the tie that binds them stops. Insomniac isn’t chained to Sony at all. So, you don’t know what you’re talking about at all.

    Move is lame. It is the wii without the buttons. The Getaway was not canned. Twisted Metal sucked then and it’ll suck now. Take it.

  • PushinNshovinMe

    Sorry they are partners with SCEA, Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog. They would not step outside those partnerships when SCEA has been their sole-publisher for 16 games.

  • I have a question.. Why are you guys announcing everything right before E3?? You ruin the surprise that way.. Do you have any surprises left to announce?

  • PushinNshovinMe

    @Baltis so you hate everything, then?

  • I am going to miss general Radek and leader Visari.

  • YAY FOR Killzone 3!! :D

    Hope there will be Beta testing.

  • @Push

    Get use to disappointment then. Insomniac whores themselves out to Microsoft and shows off new game at their press conference at E-3. Wait and see. Ted Price steps on stage at Microsoft’s E-3 presentation. I’m calling it now. I just have that feeling.

  • FIRST DAY BUY!!!

    But really they need to enhance the story telling in this game, and make the main characters more BADASS!!. Rico is a fat dude that is swearing lots of time, Zev for a main character was cool but; he needs to do some EPIC stuff through the story of the game in order for you to have a special bond with the character just like with Snake, or Kratos.

    And finally the other two guys. Well one is dead and I dont give a damn about the other one.

  • The story of the game is great, but the way it unfolds is really unimpressive. I was really expecting an UC2 or MGS4 kind of story-telling. Obviously the videos doesn’t need to be that long, but they should have that kind of quality story events.

    I don’t know, as an example of what I mean is that in KZ3 GG could show that in some part of the game you are following a Hellgahst Commander, and when you reach some point in turns into a cinematic camera and you fall into a trap, and you end up separated from your squad platoon, also loosing all your weapons, but not your knife. So the cutscene follows, showing how Zev in the middle of the trap with only his knife is being swarmed by a lot of Hellgahsts, so Zev kills some of them in some BADASS WAY!!! and after that you have control again of the character.

  • While you are killing some Hellgasts with some EPIC Soundtrack, you receive a transmission of Rico telling you that the platoon is trying to find a way to reach you, so you have to SURVIVE till they arrive.

    Zev fights some waves of Hellgahst that have electric batons and dog hounds; and after you kill almost everyone, the game turn into the cinematic camera and shows that your squad arrives, but only to receive a barrage of rockets that comes from a METAL GEAR!! lol XD. Jokes aside, when zev looks at the mech or a huge battle tank fortress (which MUST look awesome) a voice comes from the speakers of the mech, speaking (a BADASS BOSS speech) directly to you that is when Zev realize that it is piloted by the Hellghast Commander you were pursuing. After some nice chit-chat between the two characters about liberty, war, and some other war topics; he begins to attack you, but you only have your knife; so you dodge and cover.

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