More On: Killzone: Liberation

MdJ : My name is Mathijs de Jonge. I’m the Game Director and Lead Designer on Killzone: Liberation. I started as a 3D designer at a multimedia company called Lost Boys. After 2 years or so I joined their games division which eventually merged with 2 other Dutch companies into Guerrilla. This is my 7^th game that I worked on from start to finish and it is definitely the one that I’m most proud of.

 

MdJ : We wanted to create a new experience within the Killzone Universe. Pulling out the camera to a third person perspective was the thing that we thought would change the experience most. So when we started working on this game this was the very first we tried. Then we decided to stick with it as it gave us a lot of inspiration for new mechanics and areas of focus such as improving the AI system.

 

MdJ : The story for Killzone: Liberation continues 2 months after the end of Killzone. The earth fleet has arrived and the Helghast troops have been scattered. But there is a new general, general Armin Metrac. He’s the fearsome commander of the troops in the south and he’s rapidly gaining ground and capturing cities. The player Jan Templar is send in to take him down.

Unfortunately I’m not allowed to say anything about Killzone for the PS3.

 

MdJ : Oh yes, certainly! The game is specifically designed for the PSP with handheld gaming in mind for Killzone fans as well as gamers that like to play action games.

Killzone: Liberation is very easy to pickup and play, but we’ve made sure that there are enough layers of dept in terms of mechanics for the more experienced gamers.

 

MdJ : Killzone: Liberation is all about variation; there are many game-play mechanics, different game modes, unlockable assets, new weapons, multiplayer characters and of course different environments as well. We have 12 very different surroundings in the game. And we’ve spent a lot of time making these as dynamic and alive as possible which helps the immersion.

MdJ : Yes, there are three vehicles the player can use, a tank, a hovercraft and a jetpack. Driving around in the tank is a lot of fun. Especially when you crush barriers and squash some enemies in the process. The Hovercraft is of course amphibious which means that you can travel over water and land. It also has a lot of firepower like the tank. The Jetpack is equipped with a high damage machine gun and is designed to hover over gaps in the landscapes. This allows the player to access areas that are normally out of reach.

 

The vehicle-based missions can also be played on-foot so the player is free to choose how to play the mission. The tank and hovercraft are also controllable in Co-op, where one player controls the vehicle and a primary weapons and the second player controls the secondary weapon.

 

MdJ : There are similar weapons such as the Helghast Assault Riffle but all have been specifically designed and tweaked to fit into this game. There are 10 very different weapons such as a shotgun, sniper rifle, rocket launcher and a crossbow with explosive bolts. At first the player can only access one weapon, by collecting Vektan money, he unlocks more weapons and weapon upgrades.

 

The player can not pickup weapons from dead enemies but has to enter Depots, where they can choose their weapons of preference. In Depots, the player can also replenish his health, stock grenades, etc.

MdJ : The player can not directly control the camera. However we’ve designed the camera so that there is never a need or a desire for it. What happens is that as soon as an enemy approaches the player the camera will intelligently pan and zoom to frame the situation in the best possible way. This happens so subtlety that the player in most cases won’t even notice. We designed a camera system we call PICS, Pseudo-isometric Intelligent Camera System.

 

MdJ : Well the comparison to the view is easily made, but the game itself is nothing like  Metal Gear Solid. Early previews also stated that Killzone: Liberation would be a stealth game but that’s not the case, there is no stealth involved. It’s an action packed title filled with explosions and high-paced gameplay.

 

MdJ : There are 16 different single player Campaign missions that can also be played in Co-op.

We also created Challenge games in which the player can hone his skills and unlock abilities that he/she can use in the single player Campaign.

 

There are many things I like about Killzone: Liberation such as the high overall quality we achieved, but what I like most are the different mechanics that work really well together and deliver a different gaming experience each time you play.

 

 

GamingNexus would like to thank Mathijs for taking the time to answer our questions and Scott at Sony for helping to coordinate the interview.