Part 3: Blood Meridian

• Chapter 2, with Blind Sally and nine-gear crow
  
• Chapter 2, no commentary

Hey, remember the "Killzone 2 Trailer Controversy" at 2005's E3? A trailer of Killzone 2 was shown. This particular trailer was mindblowing, for the time, and Sony's Jack Tretton claimed it was all real gameplay. Great, right?



Only it wasn't real gameplay. It was a render of what devs thought might be possible on the PS3. Heck, Guerrilla had spent a year working on a Killzone sequel for the PS2, they didn't have time to come up with a PS3 gameplay demo. After that mess, though, Guerrilla really stepped up to the plate. They scrapped their PS2 sequel and focussed on making a game that would live up to that trailer. While Killzone 2 never quite reached those heights, their results were nonetheless impressive.

For comparison, here's said infamous E3 2005 Trailer. Two years later, Guerrilla released real gameplay footage for an actual Killzone sequel in their E3 2007 Trailer. This whole scene, the Vektan soldiers on an intruder high in the clouds, descending to the bleak madness of Helghan, is kept through all iterations of the game up to the final product. The opening scene of the second chapter is that trailer.

(Note: if you want to see that scene without any comparison shots, view the "Chapter 2, no commentary" link in the list above).



Welcome to "Second Verse, Same As The First" The Level.



After an Intruder insertion, Alpha squad fights their way to secure an objective for an ISA convoy. We did that last level, we're doing it here too.

I mean, it's not all the same, as now we're with Avenger Convoy. The first chapter we were working with Punisher Convoy. They're on their way to complete whatever objective in Pyrrhus they're assigned to. Captain Narville, the man in charge of the direct assault on Visari's Palace, is in charge of Avenger Convoy. So we've been tasked to, arguably, the most important front in the entire assault.

Therefore, the fighting is more intense. Also, rather than fighting along the slums and canals by the shores of the Corinth River, we're fighting along the slums and canals by the famed Visari Square, which is further inland from the Corinth River. Minor details, I know, but the scenery is less industrial shipyard, and more poor, run-down Helghan living quarters.



It looks life on Helghan kinda sucks. Well, we already knew that, didn't we. Not that Vekta was perfect, either. There was an entire chapter dedicated to working your way through Vekta City's slums. Still, I appreciate the focussed intensity the game has shown us so far. I mention it in the video, but I'll repeat myself here: Killzone 2 does an excellent job of making you feel like you are truly a part of some larger force that is fighting tooth and nail for every step of ground against a powerful force. The Helghast are a determined foe, and they have no intention of letting you waltz up to the palace. You're going to have to fight them right up to Visari's front door.

Unfortunately, not a tonne else to say about this section of the game, other than it gives more of an opportunity to see how Alpha Squad is treated as the problem-solving force. While the main ISA forces fight against the Helghast's front lines, Alpha Squad gets sent off to the side to search out ways to tip the scales in their favour. Case in point, while Narville and his troops square off with the Helghast in Visari Square, Sev and Garza are tasked with disabling the Mobile Arc Cannons preventing reinforcements from safely dropping.



I do want to just point out this little bit at the end of the video. In the art of combat, Alpha Squad truly are consummate professionals. At this point in the game, Garz and Sev are being chased by Death in the form of a Helghast ATAC. This creepy machine, almost horrifically organic in its movements, is chasing them down raining gunfire upon them. Yet, Garza and Sev still take the time to check their corners when they duck out of a doorway.

Nice touch.



The single biggest mistep Guerrilla made with this game was adding collectibles. Talk about the absolute antithesis of what this game is trying to achieve. You're in the "killzone", you need to fight, constantly, pushing your forward lines closer and closer to Visari's Palace so you can capture him and end the war. Whatever you do in this game, no matter what side-route you might have to take, all leads back to this. Why, oh why distract you with collectibles? Not even Killzone 1 was shameful enough to offer to collectibles.

Anyways, I've collected them all, so you wont see them at all in the LP and after this I won't make mention to them because they're useless. There are two types: intel and icons.



Intel are briefcases scattered about Helghan. They'll be found in corners, on tables, under boxes--where ever. When you get one it'll unlock some item for you on killzone.com. Only problem is, with Shadow Fall and Mercenary out, there's no longer any support for this. Not that I blame, Guerrilla, but I was unable to score any sweet concept art for this LP because back in the day I didn't link my account. So as of now, they are absolutely and effectively useless. Even from a lore standpoint; I can't picture Sev and co. hauling around these briefcases back to command when they spend so little time in the presence of their superiors in the first place.



There are also icons. These are simply Helghast logos you can shoot. They are also all over the place, but are placed on walls, above doorways, or on various Helghan structures. This makes more sense lore-wise, since in breaking the Helghast triad, you are metaphorically smashing their ideals. Garza made a remark about wiping out the Helghast last video. If he meant that, you're not gonna wipe them out by only killing them, but you'll have to kill their ideals too. Ultimately, though, it's pointless and neither of them are worth anything but trophies now.

Pah.

With regards to Liberation, the collectibles make absolute sense because it's a very tactical game. crow and I rush through it because we didn't want slow down the action for LP-sake, but most players will work their way through levels more slowly, planning their attack and defense. Part of that is making sure Templar is well stocked on health, ammo, and explosives. It's necessary here due to how different the nature of the game is compared to the rest of the series. Taking the time to scope out briefcases of Vektan cash to better equip yourself for upcoming missions fits within the framework set by an ISA scrambling to sort itself out in the aftermath of a devastating surprise invasion.

So yeah, they worked there. They also work in Mercenary, again partly due to the narrative of the game: mercenaries want wealth and need intel to do that. Guerrilla realized this and were wise enough to leave collectibles out of Killzone 3 entirely, so good on them.

Hey, let's talk about some good gameplay mechanics!!

We saw this a bit in the first Chapter: Six Axis Controls!



Yes, that's right, Six Axis Controls. Guerrilla made excellent use of the Six Axis by having it work as a supplement or an enhancement to gameplay, rather than a core mechanic. When turning these wheels, for example. Kinda cool. Press either shoulder button to have your hands grip the wheel, and tilt the controller to spin it. Neat!



Twist it back and forth to arm D-Charges, too! The "D" stands for "Damn, I really appreciate that Guerrilla added these Six Axis controls in such a novel and harmless way, rather than making them horrible, broken, core components of gameplay, like in Lair, or something".

Cheers, Guerrilla!




Voiced by Mikey O'Conner, who notably did the voice of Travis Grady in Silent Hill: Origins. Otherwise, his work has largely consisted of doing "Additional Voices" in such games as Crysis 3, Haze, The Witcher, Mirror's Edge, and of all possible games, Killzone: Shadow Fall.

One of the Vekta ISA's star soldiers, Captain Narville was on secondment to the UCA on Earth when the Helghast struck his home planet. Angry and ashamed that he wasn't there to defend his home, he has been a strong force in the Helghan invasion, eager to prove his worth and earn a little payback. As such, he is put in charge Avenger Convoy and charged with fighting his way to Visari Palace itself. As one of our guests in a later video points out, he's basically R Lee Ermey from Full Metal Jacket.



A new section! Whoa! We never really bothered with this in Killzone 1, since enemy types didn't really matter. They sometimes wore slightly different armour, but they were all effectively bullet sponges. Guerrilla put more effort into their enemy types, so I'll put more effort into showcasing them. Enemies from the first Chapter will be shown in this particular update.

(Fun Fact: if you melee all fifteen standard enemy types, you get a trophy!)


Assault Infantry

Your standard Helghast soldier. Unlike the ones we encountered in Killzone 1, these guys know how to flank, take cover, and outmaneuver you on the battlefield. They will flush you out with grenade, they will melee you to death, and they will mock you as the world fades to black. Armed with assault rifles.

If you play Killzone 2 on Elite difficulty, you will come to fear these bog standard soldiers just as you would fear any of the more highly trained or better equipped Helghast soldier.


Support Trooper

Standard rocket launcher enemies. What I like about this game is that it isn't afraid to throw them at you. You're getting rockets shot at you within the first dozen enemies you encounter in the first level. I appreciate that. If you get too close for their blast radius, they'll flee in terror since they don't have any sidearms on them. I mean, once they get a safe distance away they'll try to rocket you again, but it's pretty funny standing next to them and seeing the AI panic and struggle to get away.


Rifleman

Not too many of these soldiers. In most mid-ranged encounters, it's against soldiers armed with light machine guns or assault rifles. Occasionally, though, these guys appear. Not super threatening if you keep moving or use cover. If you get too close, they'll switch to pistols to take you down.


Shock Trooper

Armed with sub machine guns, these soldiers are the first to rush into a fight. I mean that, too. They'll run forward, spraying you with bullets, looking for a chance to gut you with a knife. They're fond of the "action roll" to close ground and dodge attacks. Do not underestimate. Do retrieve their gun after killing them.


Helghast Heavy

Aha, the first boss! Super-easy if you know what you're doing. In fact, beating him within a minute nets you the Giant-Slayer Trophy. (There's a mythical theme in boss trophies). Heavies have a massive machine gun with an underslung grenade launcher--I guess they were jealous of what Rico was doing in the first game. They also have nigh-impenetrable armour. There are no visible goggles on their helmets, which leads me to believe they have video screens in there--so, yeah, no potential weakspots.

Except the glowing red explosive tanks on their lower back.

Yup.

Shoot them in the head to disorient them and they'll spin around giving you a clear shot. If you're fast and accurate, it's possible to detonate them within a single spin. Otherwise, you'll have to try it more than once. Super easy once you know the pattern. In fact, like in many JRPGs, these fellas will eventually start appearing as standard enemies.

As a further note, if you don't want to go the whole "shooting the tanks" route, it's possible to kill them with a couple of direct rocket launcher shots.




A.T.A.C. (Agile Tactical Air Component)

What happened to the tiny, non-menacing Sentry Bots from Killzone 1

Quick and lethal. They were originally designed to have a single pilot in them, similar to the Jet Bikes, but the high speeds led to lots of crashes. It was instead decided that they would work better as unmanned drones. So, yeah. Drones. The Helghast have them. Lots of them.

The Helghast were still working on prototypes during the invasion of Vekta. With the threat of Vektan retaliation, they were forced to fast-track them into service to defend their homeplanet. Armed with several rocket launchers and machine guns. These things move like creepy, horrific monsters. They are metal nightmares and I love them as enemies. It's too bad they're used to sparingly--or, perhaps that works in their favour.

Fun Fact: the aircraft seen and shot down at the end of the 2005 E3 demo trailer is the early model ATAC. That's the model that would have had a single Helghast pilot. (I like the new ATAC better--mostly because its acronym makes it sound like a Star Wars weapon).


The People's Car

I'm assuming these depressing vehicles we see about Helghan are some sort of civilian transport? Somehow I can't picture Helgast military using them. I imagine they'd mock them or look down on them. These depressing things will be seen throughout our adventure, in varying states of decay. Heck, we'll even wind up destroying some ourselves.




StA-11 Submachine Gun

A brilliant weapon. Fast firing rate and large ammunition clip. This is a great close-ranged urban combat weapon. In fact, it will more or less replace the shotgun from your inventory. Why? Well, the shotgun has three big issues with it:

1) It's Natko's weapon of choice.
2) It's not much better than its Killzone 1 equivalent, and in fact lost its unique "triple-barrel" function for a decorative flashlight.
3) It's Natko's weapon of choice.

I'd say use this gun all the time, but its range is its biggest draw-back. In close-quarters it's your best friends, but if you find yourself in a distance fight, you'd better find a new gun.

The best part of all is that it's based off of a real-world weapon.



Arc Weaponry

Oh man, oh man! Sci-fi weapons! Lighting guns! Yes!!!

So, for whatever reason, the Helghast have lightning guns. Garza surmises it's something to do with the weird atmosphere or something. He's not far off. There's something about the planet that allows the Helghast to create such amazing weapons. Keep this in mind. It's sort of on the backburner right now, as we're more focussed on moving the convoy through the city. This source of power is actually going to become a core plot point as the game progresses!

What we know about the technology so far: it shoots lightning and is super awesome.

Also, that the Helghast have various "calibres" of arc weaponry. There's the massive Arc Batteries which can shoot down ISA Cruisers in a single blast. Then there's the slightly smaller Arc Towers, which can still wreak havoc on Cruisers. Mobile Arc Towers (which we blow up in this mission) and Arc Cannons are smaller still and act as sci-fi AA guns. Not much more to say at the moment, other than they're awesome and highly volatile.


Auto-Mortars

Background decoration, really. These mortars swivel about and occasionally fire artillery in, presumably, the direction of other ISA soldiers. You can ignore them, but if you want to, you can blow them out with enough explosives.



Heavy Canal fight concept art:



Also, I'm so happy this exists:



http://www.desktopaper.com/spectacu...igh-definition/