Killzone (series)
Encyclopedia
Killzone is a series of shooter games exclusively for Sony Computer Entertainment
's (SCE) video game consoles. The series is developed by Guerilla Games, a subsidiary
of SCE. Killlzone consists of four games for the PlayStation 2
, the PlayStation Portable
, Playstation Vita and the PlayStation 3
respectively. The series began on the PlayStation 2 in November with Killzone
, and continued on the PlayStation Portable in October with Killzone: Liberation
and then again on the PlayStation 3 in February and also an upcoming Vita game. The most recent installment is Killzone 3
, released in February for the PlayStation 3.
s of the series are Cpt/Col. Jan Templar (Killzone and Killzone: Liberation) and Sgt. Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko (Killzone 2 and Killzone 3), while the main antagonist is Helghast Emperor Scolar Visari; his death in Killzone 2 brought about the rise of two new antagonists and the hopeful heirs to Visari's throne, Jorhan Stahl and Admiral Orlock in Killzone 3. The Killzone series follows the continuous war between the ISA and Helghast taking place on both ISA Earth colonies and the planet Helghan, the home planet of the Helghast.
s. Killzone: Liberation
is presented as a third-person shooter
and is the only of that kind in the series to date. All games were developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony
.
Players in the series can only carry two different weapons at any given time. Players can either obtain ammo or swap out their current weapons with any weapon dropped by a downed foe or from those scattered around the various maps. In Killzone 3, players can carry up to three weapons, with the third weapon spot reserved for heavy weapons (e.g. machine gun, rocket launcher, etc.).
Online competitive multi-player features up to 16 players in Killzone, 32 players in Killzone 2 and up to 24 players in Killzone 3. There are various modes of multi-player. There is a rotation mode, called Warzone (Killzone 2 and Killzone 3), where players play all game modes (2 rounds of Assassination, 1 round of Body Count, 1 round of Capture and Hold, 2 rounds of Search and Destroy, and 1 round of Search and Retrieve) one after the other until all modes have been played. Operations is a new mode for Killzone 3 which is a cinematic mini-campaign for the multiplayer mode. Killzone 3 also features a classic team death match mode called Guerilla Warfare. Killzone 3 is the only game in the series to feature split-screen co-op for two players, while the original Killzone is the only game in the series to feature offline split-screen multi-player in the Botzone mode (Botzone is a mode where players can play against AI
bots and is present in each installment). Killzone: Liberation features an online co-op campaign as well as multi-player mode that supports up to 6 players in ad-hoc and up to 8 players on infrastructure.
, November 26, 2004 in Europe
and October 27, 2005 in Japan
. The game is set in an era of space colonization
where the Helghast Empire has recovered from its defeat in the First Helghan War and launched a blitzkrieg
against the outer Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony planet Vekta. Vekta's orbital Strategic Defense (S.D.) platforms failed during the initial assault, allowing the Helghast to land swarms of soldiers onto the surface and making it all the more difficult for the outnumbered ISA forces. Captain Jan Templar, the main protagonist, and his squad are called back to the base for reassignment, and are promptly sent to find the ISA operative Hakha and the key in his possession. During the course of the game, Templar meets other characters who assist him such as Shadow Marshal Luger (a female special operations
assassin
), a heavy weapons specialist Sergeant
Rico Velasquez (a Helghast-hating soldier with an itchy trigger finger), and Colonel
Hakha, a half-Helghast, half-Human spy.
, February 27, 2009 in North America and Europe and April 23, 2009 in the Japan. Killzone 2 follows the events of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, and is set entirely on the planet Helghan, the home-world of the Helghast who invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA has launched an assault on the enemy's homeworld
of Helghan. The ISA goal is to capture the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. The main protagonists is Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a battle-hardened veteran of the special forces unit the "Legion" assigned to Alpha team, who go on a mission to take out the Helghast threat. Captain Jan Templar has been promoted to Colonel and is the Fleet Commander of the New Sun, a Cruiser airship
set up in the clouds of Helghan over its capital city, Pyrrhus, preparing for a final attack. During the invasion
of Helghan, Sev's unit is deployed behind enemy lines to assist the main invasion force. Tasked with securing the enemy capital of Pyrrhus, Helghan's first true city, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a more formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to Helghan's hostile conditions, they have also harnessed the power of the freakish lightning storms that always occur on Helghan which they can now use against the ISA. A cold, barren, unforgiving world, Helghan provides a ready defense with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, and violent surgical lightning storms. Sev discovers his squad is not just fighting enemy forces—their fiercest opponent may be the planet itself.
gaming and support the PlayStation Move. The game was available in a special "Helghast Edition" (included a Helghast Helmet replica, a 6.5" Cloaking Helghast Marskman action figure, a 100-page hardbound artbook, a copy of Killzone 3, and a Super Voucher with other downloadable content) in North America, Europe, and Australia (Europe and Australia's featured the copy of Killzone 3 is a steelbook case and came with a PSN Voucher instead of the Super Voucher, but has the same content). There was also a "Collector's Edition" version (steelcase book packaging of Killzone 3 and PSN Voucher) available only in Europe and Australia. This is the first Killzone to have a special edition.
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
's (SCE) video game consoles. The series is developed by Guerilla Games, a subsidiary
Subsidiary
A subsidiary company, subsidiary, or daughter company is a company that is completely or partly owned and wholly controlled by another company that owns more than half of the subsidiary's stock. The subsidiary can be a company, corporation, or limited liability company. In some cases it is a...
of SCE. Killlzone consists of four games for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, the PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
, Playstation Vita and the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
respectively. The series began on the PlayStation 2 in November with Killzone
Killzone
Killzone is a first-person shooter exclusive to the PlayStation 2 game console, developed by Netherlands-based Guerrilla Games and released on November 2, 2004 in North America. A sequel, Killzone: Liberation was released on the PlayStation Portable and another followup, Killzone 2 was released for...
, and continued on the PlayStation Portable in October with Killzone: Liberation
Killzone: Liberation
Received IGN's award for Best PSP Offline Multiplayer Game of 2006 .-External links:**...
and then again on the PlayStation 3 in February and also an upcoming Vita game. The most recent installment is Killzone 3
Killzone 3
Killzone 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the fourth installment in the Killzone series, the first game in the series to be presented in 3D and the first to include motion controls using the...
, released in February for the PlayStation 3.
Setting
The series is about the war between the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) and the Helghast. The protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s of the series are Cpt/Col. Jan Templar (Killzone and Killzone: Liberation) and Sgt. Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko (Killzone 2 and Killzone 3), while the main antagonist is Helghast Emperor Scolar Visari; his death in Killzone 2 brought about the rise of two new antagonists and the hopeful heirs to Visari's throne, Jorhan Stahl and Admiral Orlock in Killzone 3. The Killzone series follows the continuous war between the ISA and Helghast taking place on both ISA Earth colonies and the planet Helghan, the home planet of the Helghast.
Gameplay
Killzone, Killzone 2, and Killzone 3 are first-person shooterFirst-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
s. Killzone: Liberation
Killzone: Liberation
Received IGN's award for Best PSP Offline Multiplayer Game of 2006 .-External links:**...
is presented as a third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
and is the only of that kind in the series to date. All games were developed by Guerilla Games and published by Sony
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
.
Players in the series can only carry two different weapons at any given time. Players can either obtain ammo or swap out their current weapons with any weapon dropped by a downed foe or from those scattered around the various maps. In Killzone 3, players can carry up to three weapons, with the third weapon spot reserved for heavy weapons (e.g. machine gun, rocket launcher, etc.).
Online competitive multi-player features up to 16 players in Killzone, 32 players in Killzone 2 and up to 24 players in Killzone 3. There are various modes of multi-player. There is a rotation mode, called Warzone (Killzone 2 and Killzone 3), where players play all game modes (2 rounds of Assassination, 1 round of Body Count, 1 round of Capture and Hold, 2 rounds of Search and Destroy, and 1 round of Search and Retrieve) one after the other until all modes have been played. Operations is a new mode for Killzone 3 which is a cinematic mini-campaign for the multiplayer mode. Killzone 3 also features a classic team death match mode called Guerilla Warfare. Killzone 3 is the only game in the series to feature split-screen co-op for two players, while the original Killzone is the only game in the series to feature offline split-screen multi-player in the Botzone mode (Botzone is a mode where players can play against AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
bots and is present in each installment). Killzone: Liberation features an online co-op campaign as well as multi-player mode that supports up to 6 players in ad-hoc and up to 8 players on infrastructure.
Killzone
Killzone was released for the PlayStation 2 on November 2, 2004 in North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, November 26, 2004 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and October 27, 2005 in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The game is set in an era of space colonization
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
where the Helghast Empire has recovered from its defeat in the First Helghan War and launched a blitzkrieg
Blitzkrieg
For other uses of the word, see: Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg is an anglicized word describing all-motorised force concentration of tanks, infantry, artillery, combat engineers and air power, concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines, and, once the lines are broken,...
against the outer Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony planet Vekta. Vekta's orbital Strategic Defense (S.D.) platforms failed during the initial assault, allowing the Helghast to land swarms of soldiers onto the surface and making it all the more difficult for the outnumbered ISA forces. Captain Jan Templar, the main protagonist, and his squad are called back to the base for reassignment, and are promptly sent to find the ISA operative Hakha and the key in his possession. During the course of the game, Templar meets other characters who assist him such as Shadow Marshal Luger (a female special operations
Special operations
Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" .Special operations are typically performed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does...
assassin
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
), a heavy weapons specialist Sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
Rico Velasquez (a Helghast-hating soldier with an itchy trigger finger), and Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Hakha, a half-Helghast, half-Human spy.
Killzone 2
Killzone 2 was released for the PlayStation 3 on February 26, 2009 in AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, February 27, 2009 in North America and Europe and April 23, 2009 in the Japan. Killzone 2 follows the events of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, and is set entirely on the planet Helghan, the home-world of the Helghast who invaded an Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA) colony. Two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA has launched an assault on the enemy's homeworld
Core worlds
Core worlds or core planets often exist in works of science fiction, especially space operas. They are usually at the center of the galaxy or of colonized space, occasionally both. Core worlds are densely populated with long histories, advanced technology, and/or highly-developed culture. The...
of Helghan. The ISA goal is to capture the Helghast leader, Scolar Visari and bring the Helghast war machine to a halt. The main protagonists is Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a battle-hardened veteran of the special forces unit the "Legion" assigned to Alpha team, who go on a mission to take out the Helghast threat. Captain Jan Templar has been promoted to Colonel and is the Fleet Commander of the New Sun, a Cruiser airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
set up in the clouds of Helghan over its capital city, Pyrrhus, preparing for a final attack. During the invasion
Invasion
An invasion is a military offensive consisting of all, or large parts of the armed forces of one geopolitical entity aggressively entering territory controlled by another such entity, generally with the objective of either conquering, liberating or re-establishing control or authority over a...
of Helghan, Sev's unit is deployed behind enemy lines to assist the main invasion force. Tasked with securing the enemy capital of Pyrrhus, Helghan's first true city, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are a more formidable enemy on their home planet. Not only have they adjusted to Helghan's hostile conditions, they have also harnessed the power of the freakish lightning storms that always occur on Helghan which they can now use against the ISA. A cold, barren, unforgiving world, Helghan provides a ready defense with thick, acidic air, dust clouds, and violent surgical lightning storms. Sev discovers his squad is not just fighting enemy forces—their fiercest opponent may be the planet itself.
Killzone 3
Killzone 3 was released for the PlayStation 3 on February 22, 2011 in North America, February 24, 2011 in Japan and February 25, 2011 in Europe and Australia. It immediately follows the events of Killzone 2. This is the first game in the series to utilize 3DStereoscopy
Stereoscopy refers to a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by presenting two offset images separately to the left and right eye of the viewer. Both of these 2-D offset images are then combined in the brain to give the perception of 3-D depth...
gaming and support the PlayStation Move. The game was available in a special "Helghast Edition" (included a Helghast Helmet replica, a 6.5" Cloaking Helghast Marskman action figure, a 100-page hardbound artbook, a copy of Killzone 3, and a Super Voucher with other downloadable content) in North America, Europe, and Australia (Europe and Australia's featured the copy of Killzone 3 is a steelbook case and came with a PSN Voucher instead of the Super Voucher, but has the same content). There was also a "Collector's Edition" version (steelcase book packaging of Killzone 3 and PSN Voucher) available only in Europe and Australia. This is the first Killzone to have a special edition.