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In The Third Zone |
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At the recent Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, STACK caught up with Guerrilla Games Development Director, Arjan Brussee, to talk about and play with the latest game from the Killzone universe, KILLZONE 3. |
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Considering that Arjan Brussee has been sat in the same hot, noisy, European Press room for two days answering hundreds of journalist’s questions, he still seems to be enjoying his E3.
He is happy the Electronic Entertainment Expo is “back to its former glory” and clearly relishing the praise being bestowed upon Killzone 3.
Arjan eagerly answers our enquiries in between playing through a level in Killzone 3 where ice-capped cliff tops loom, surrounded by a seething polar ocean.
Snow drifts across the screen as a brutal firefight unfolds – the environments, even at this early stage, look incredibly impressive. Killzone 3 is shaping up to be one hell of a game.
I do remember Guerrilla saying at the completion of Killzone 2 that they would be leaving the property alone for a while. You’re back already. What happened to that idea?
AB: I think that maybe we were all tired after Killzone 2 – that was a very long project. But this one has only been a year and a half in the making. This one is a mission packed sequel and we’re particularly proud of it.
When you develop a game like Killzone 3, how much notice do you take of fan and forum feedback? Do you listen to what fans are saying?
AB: Absolutely. We read all the reviews and feedback – it’s all part of the equation. We have to be attuned to the fanbase. As a developer, we own Killzone, so it’s important to take notice of the criticism. We listened to the concerns about the controls in Killzone 2, the lack of variety and all of those kind of things, so we really took that onboard and refocused on what a blockbuster Killzone title should be.
How different is it developing a title in 3D. What challenges did this bring to the development cycle?
AB: Well, the engine is geared for stereoscopic 3D, so you can render 3D in any different camera position. Where we had problems was with the aiming crosshairs in the game; where should we be focusing this?
We also struggled with the text and where we should be asking gamers to focus on the text on the screen. Where do you put a HUD when you’re trying to integrate it into all the differing environments in Killzone 3?
These are some of the challenges we had to overcome. Obviously we have to render the screen twice for each eye and the televisions are delivering this at really fast speeds to each eye, so potentially, this is doubling the amount that you’re drawing. We had to keep the game running at 30 fames per second so as you can appreciate, with all the extra drawing, this was a lot of work.
So what we are seeing here today is pre-alpha code, yeah?
AB: Yeah, we have a release date set for February 2011 so what we are concentrating on now is the polish. This is the really boring stage as a developer – most of the fun stuff has already been done, but it is important that we get the polish just right. We will be listening to user feedback too. Currently, we are not happy with the load times; they’re too slow and we also need to make the controls super tight and responsive.
What do you think is the secret to a good first-person shooter?
AB: For us it’s the graphics. We learnt that with Killzone 2, but I think you also have to get the weapons right. You have to have a variety with distances because if you give a guy a weapon that consistently and perfectly kills enemies at say, 50 metres, then your character will never encounter an enemy at close range. You want to be able to kill them up close and feel their pain, right [laughs]?
So what we always try to do with our games is make it really immersive and to feel like you are actually in the game. Our weapons feel real – we don’t want to allow people to play their traditional style of gaming in a shooter. You need to make them work.
The jet pack is featured in Killzone: Liberation. Why did you decide to bring it back in Killzone 3?
AB: Not many people realise that the jet pack was used in one of our games before. For us, it’s not new, but at the beginning of the Killzone 3 development cycle we looked at all the Killzone games and thought it would be cool to reintroduce the jet pack.
It literally takes combat to a new level. Strategically, you now have the ability to outflank the enemy from above, but it will only feature in a few levels. There is also an element of aerial combat with the enemy too. We need to give gamers variety – that is the secret to making a good game great.
On that note, what new weapons have you introduced in Killzone 3?
AB: Well, we have the mini-gun which previously has only been a fixed weapon. We also have multi-warhead missile launchers and something called Ultimate Fire that will rain fire down on your enemies. You have to be careful with some weapons though, as they will overheat and then you’re in real trouble.
We have also really improved on the close combat aspect of the game. When you have run out of bullets for instance, we have a system known as Brutal Melee which is a military state system that is environmentally aware. What this means is, if the enemy is low down, you can smash their heads on objects or knee them in the face or kick them over railings. If you take the risk of going up close with the enemy, your knife comes into play as well and you end up with a gratifying kill move – it’s almost like an old school fighting game.
And all in 3D too, right! You can’t go wrong!
Look out for Killzone 3 at JB Hi-Fi » |
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