Killzone 2 Message Board

Love the Helghast, but hate getting schooled in Killzone's online battlefield? Then you may want to try your hand on a fan-made CCG adaptation, instead. Created by "thepineapple1," the Killzone card game has you dueling one-on-one against another player. With your "Action Points," you'll be able to command and promote soldiers, equip weapons, and even use vehicles. But don't expect to jump into the game immediately. Like many other games in the genre, you'll have to sit down and learn the rules; the downloadable starter kit includes a detailed nine page rule book.

With some patience (and a decent color printer), the Killzone card game looks like a rather interesting diversion. Download the Helghast starer pack here, and the ISA starter pack here.

The E3 2005 trailer for Killzone 2 quickly became well-known (infamous, even) for its supposedly unatainable levels of in-game graphical prowess. But the initial trailer for the game that would become the original Killzone has been much less well known ... until this past week at GDC Europe.
Guerilla Games Managing Director Hermen Hulst showed off the circa-1999 concept video in a keynote speech in Cologne earlier this week, calling it a "showcase of technical competence" prepared for their first meeting with Sony. Even though Hulst admits there's "nothing really 'Killzone' about it" at this early stage (for instance, the Helghast and their glowing eyes don't even make a cameo appearance) we thought it was an interesting look at the pre-history of one of Sony's biggest exclusive franchises. To see the video in full, follow us past the break.

Organizers for the Cologne-based gaming industry get-together, GDC Europe, have announced who will deliver this year's keynote address: Guerrilla Games managing director Hermen Hulst. According to the press release announcing Hulst's keynoting duties, his speech will focus on "how the studio has matured, which obstacles had to be overcome and what some of the ingredients behind the success of the Killzone series are."

The presser also mentions Hulst's speech "will be located somewhere in the field of tension between hardware and software." We thought we were familiar with the Cologne Congress Center, but we have no idea where that is. Is it close to the cafeteria? Maybe?

Although Killzone 2 didn't win many Game of the Year awards from gaming sites, it has managed to garner a number of other noteworthy nods. In addition to winning a Roses Design award in November, Guerrilla's PS3-exclusive FPS has now won a Ivor Novello award for "Best Original Video Game Score."

Composer Joris de Man has the special honor of not only winning the award, but winning the very first award given to a video game in the organization's 55-year history. Should you want to re-experience the now-award winning score, the soundtrack can be found on iTunes for $10.

[Via CVG]

He doesn't know exactly when the third Killzone game will be announced, but SCEA prez Jack Tretton does know that it's gonna happen. When pushed by GTTV host Geoff Keighley about a sequel to last year's Killzone 2 on last night's episode, the Sony exec openly answered, "You know, we own Guerrilla Studios, and uh, they did a great job on Killzone 1 and 2 ... I don't know when you'll see announcements about it, but I can promise you a Killzone 3." Pretty straightforward, Jack!

Though he didn't make any promises regarding Killzone for E3, he did additionally note that the news from Sony out of GDC was "the icing on the cake," referring to big announcements at E3 this year as "the batter." And if there's one thing we really, really like, Jack, it's cake batter. You've won this round.

While Army of Two's focus has always been cooperative gameplay, EA Montreal's Eric Chartrand is responsible for designing the competitive multiplayer aspects of The 40th Day. In an interview with with That VideoGame Blog, Chartrand notes that one of the big changes for the AoT sequel is to adapt the multiplayer aspect, and make it play differently from the campaign mode. Whereas the story can feature designed bottlenecks (such as doors that require both players to open), multiplayer cannot, simply because humans play differently than AI. "The toolset we use in single-player has to be different from the one we use in multiplayer," Chartrand explains. Interestingly, Chartrand notes two games as his main inspiration for The 40th Day's multiplayer offerings: the decade old Counter-Strike and the recently-released Killzone 2. "What works in Counter-Strike is that you don't get progression," a stark contrast to the level-up gimmick common in most online shooters. "So why it works is because the gameplay in it. The second-to-second, the movement of the character, the shooting, the intensity of the combat is still fresh, even ten years after. So that's why we wanted to craft an experience that is as close to this as possible." Chartrand has even more praise for Guerrilla's FPS. "Killzone 2 has great maps, probably the best maps out there," he admits. However, what inspired Chartrand the most appear to be the game's community features, particularly its stats-laden website. "This link between stats, profile, friends, leaderboard ... all the community aspects, I think the Killzone guys did a very good job and we strive to imitate them."

It's been five years since Guerrilla released the original Killzone on PS2. Five years, one console generation, and seven PPEs later, Guerrilla crafted what remains one of the best looking games to date: Killzone 2. In its retrospective piece, Guerrilla compares how the tech and characters have changed in the five years spanning the two console games. Perhaps most surprising about the comparison is not how improved the PS3 game is -- rather, we're impressed at how well the PS2 game has stood the test of time. Perhaps it's time to revisit the PS2 original, for those of you lucky enough to own a backwards-compatible PS3.

Just in time for your Turkey Day weekend, Killzone 2 will be activating double XP on all multiplayer games from November 27th to November 30th. In addition to double XP, Guerrilla will host a Killzone 2 "retro tournament" using only the Beach Head and Southern Hills maps from the second DLC pack, both remakes of Killzone 1 maps. If you don't have the DLC yet and don't want to drop "money" on it you'll want to check out Killzone.com -- free codes will be given away later this week.

Do you want to transform your boring morning commute into an epic war set in an alien battlefield? If the answer is "yes," you may want to pick up the newly released Killzone 2 soundtrack from iTunes. The 29-track digital album can be downloaded for $9.99 and includes composer Joris de Man's orchestral accompaniment to warfare. With titles like "Heavy Resistance" and "Nuked," you can expect every piece of this score to be quite rousing.[Via PlayStation.Blog]

Been waiting to get your hands on the Killzone 2 DLC? Get them all in one handy bundle.

Brandish your bolt guns and flamethrowers in this map pack for Killzone 2's multiplayer mode.