Killzone Sighted
Oh, hey, that's right, they are making a PS3 Killzone game, aren't they? And guess who saw an exclusive teaser of it last night?
Published: March 7, 2007
Sometimes, it's kinda cool to be one of these fake press people. Few folks in the industry even practice "real" journalism, but that doesn't prevent us from being privy to some rather exciting little tidbits here and there, and of course when we do see them, we squeal like little girls inside. And sometimes outside. When the first few frames of a mysteriously-named "video" where unveiled last night at Sony's pre-GDC press event, almost instantly we knew what it was and started to get excited.
And then we remembered what Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios and Master of the Longest Title Ever, Phil Harrison, told us about the video being merely a showcase of the tech involved and not an actual game, and that we should "couch" our expectations a little as such. He was wise to preface the trailer -- the first (and possibly but not probably) last video footage of the next-gen shooter that got everyone in a tizzy two years ago -- with that warning.
Taken as a game, it was unmistakably rough, but then it wasn't a game, it was merely meant to show off some of the ragdoll effects that pitched and violently nudged a Helghast trooper with bullets smacking into various parts of his body. In fact, in decidedly classic Killzone fashion, bullets had a helping hand in nearly all of the environment getting a little forced renovation. Boxes on shelves, kitchen equipment like pots and pans, bits of furniture, all were punched into the air, shredded, pecked away at, shattered, dented and generally just messed with, all by means of a few lead kisses.
Nearly everyone that witnessed the game sort of made the logical leap to F.E.A.R., which is perfectly understandable, as the two at least superficially share a rather striking aesthetic, but then maybe it was the fact that most of what we saw was seen through the lamp light of a what we can only assume was a headset flashlight. Plenty of greys and browns and soft highlights abound as the camera peered through what looked like a mostly abandoned bunker of some sort. It wasn't scary like F.E.A.R., but even the little peeks we had at the world made it feel a little dreary, which we're guessing was the idea.
When things did go topside for a few bursts of footage at a time, it was insane how much gunfire was being burped back and forth -- or at the very least how many tracers lanced from one side of the screen to the other in what we're guessing indicates some hot, hot multiplayer action (some of the troops had what looked like names over their heads). Vehicles were also present. Tanks were present. We want to climb into these tanks and see what kind of fun erupts with all that happy ragdoll stuff we saw in close-ups.
Alas, that won't be happening until at least E3 in a few months. Painful, yes, but then this wasn't a video that should have been shown to the public. The general spazziness of message boards would have had a field day with what was shown despite the fact that it wasn't a game, and while we're thankful that we even got to see the game (remember, we still don't feel we're actual journos most of the time), we're even more thankful that we were the only folks that did. If the level of destruction in the world coupled with the ragdoll physics can be plied toward something that actually matches that infamous CG target render from 2005, gamers are going to lose their collective shit.
Of course, that's a very, very big "if."
And then we remembered what Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios and Master of the Longest Title Ever, Phil Harrison, told us about the video being merely a showcase of the tech involved and not an actual game, and that we should "couch" our expectations a little as such. He was wise to preface the trailer -- the first (and possibly but not probably) last video footage of the next-gen shooter that got everyone in a tizzy two years ago -- with that warning.
Taken as a game, it was unmistakably rough, but then it wasn't a game, it was merely meant to show off some of the ragdoll effects that pitched and violently nudged a Helghast trooper with bullets smacking into various parts of his body. In fact, in decidedly classic Killzone fashion, bullets had a helping hand in nearly all of the environment getting a little forced renovation. Boxes on shelves, kitchen equipment like pots and pans, bits of furniture, all were punched into the air, shredded, pecked away at, shattered, dented and generally just messed with, all by means of a few lead kisses.
Nearly everyone that witnessed the game sort of made the logical leap to F.E.A.R., which is perfectly understandable, as the two at least superficially share a rather striking aesthetic, but then maybe it was the fact that most of what we saw was seen through the lamp light of a what we can only assume was a headset flashlight. Plenty of greys and browns and soft highlights abound as the camera peered through what looked like a mostly abandoned bunker of some sort. It wasn't scary like F.E.A.R., but even the little peeks we had at the world made it feel a little dreary, which we're guessing was the idea.
When things did go topside for a few bursts of footage at a time, it was insane how much gunfire was being burped back and forth -- or at the very least how many tracers lanced from one side of the screen to the other in what we're guessing indicates some hot, hot multiplayer action (some of the troops had what looked like names over their heads). Vehicles were also present. Tanks were present. We want to climb into these tanks and see what kind of fun erupts with all that happy ragdoll stuff we saw in close-ups.
Alas, that won't be happening until at least E3 in a few months. Painful, yes, but then this wasn't a video that should have been shown to the public. The general spazziness of message boards would have had a field day with what was shown despite the fact that it wasn't a game, and while we're thankful that we even got to see the game (remember, we still don't feel we're actual journos most of the time), we're even more thankful that we were the only folks that did. If the level of destruction in the world coupled with the ragdoll physics can be plied toward something that actually matches that infamous CG target render from 2005, gamers are going to lose their collective shit.
Of course, that's a very, very big "if."
