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Who is your favourite Killzone 1 hero? This poll is closed. |
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| Templar |
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7 | 3.24% |
| Rico |
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14 | 6.48% |
| Luger |
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23 | 10.65% |
| Hakha |
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64 | 29.63% |
| Don't talk to me about Killzone 1 |
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108 | 50.00% |
| Total: | 216 votes | ||
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Blind Sally posted:The Nazi salute was derived from the so-called "Roman Salute", which presumably originates from this painting:
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Apr 21, 2015 17:31
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Technically America used the same salute until WW2 came around, then the salute went to hand-over-heart.
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Apr 21, 2015 23:18
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Blind Sally posted:I don't know what your last question is referencing  That would be my go-to image for every time a conversation takes a turn towards "let's talk about people burning to death!" EDIT: Okay yeah adding warnings. The link goes to a bbc article where the image preview is shrunk and partly censored, so you've got two layers of "oh god I don't like where this is going" here. Fish Noise fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 01:28
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Fish Noise posted:That would be my go-to image for every time a conversation takes a turn towards "let's talk about people burning to death!"  holy poo poo. i've never seen that picture.
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Apr 22, 2015 02:25
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Yeah that's all sorts of hosed up. Warning to others: view the full version at your peril.
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Apr 22, 2015 03:21
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 Joining us this video is CJacobs! You may remember CJacobs as a guest from the previous LP. I assure you, he still knows next to nothing about Killzone as a franchise. CJacobs is currently working his way through a Resident Evil: Revelations 2 LP. You should check it out of you like evil and residents, and especially if you like revelations. nine-gear crow and I have also helped CJacobs create an abomination. If you like abominations, boy howdy, you should take a peek. Anyways, we continue right where we left off last video. With Lazyfire, we trudged through Salamun District to get to the final intact bridge to Visari Palace: Salamun Bridge. Expect a fight.  The fight up Salaman Bridge is slow and violent. It's exhilarating to play, but I've reserved much of my praise for the Gameplay section below, because ultimately, the intense action isn't what I want to focus on here. What is most important about the bridge fight occurs in the background and can easily be missed--marked only by the AI chatter:  Hello, B-Plot. We've seen big blue explosions before. Think "arc technology". Oh, what was it Batton said about the material we found last episode? Oh yeah, "unstable". (Also, I love the lighting in this shot. Whatever is going off next to me, a grenade or whatever, look at the way the light shines through the scope. Pretty slick.)  Yes, yes it is the same poo poo from the arc tower. What else could is possibly be? (I love Garza's facial expression here).  It hasn't been spelled out for us yet, but if you're paying attention, the pieces should be falling into place. From last video:  It looks like the distribution system is an underground pipeline. It's no wonder that the ISA couldn't spot it from orbit--and still couldn't spot it when their ships started getting shot down. The mystery deepens! Literally, because now it's underground! Get it?! The bulk of this post update takes place in Radec Academy:  As CJacobs notes, the design for the building is very brutalist. Now, I'm not an expert on brutalist architecture, so I'm not even going to try to pretend. I know the name comes from the materials used, that the buildings are meant to display function rather than comfort, and that the whole movement was seen by some as a reaction to the frivolity of a bygone era. If you're more familiar with this type of construction, please let me know. That said, the building itself is full of all sorts of iconography (including an actual destructible icon that goes towards your trophy count), art, and maxims courtesy of the Helghast. For one, the Helghast triad is incorporated just about everywhere in the design:  There are a pair of art pieces that could be seen as a monstrous homage to Visari. That, or a futuristic 1984 Big Brother reference:  Repeated on metal plaques around the building are these sayings: quote:"Violence has its own economy, therefore be thoughtful and precise in your investment." quote:"If you want peace, prepare for war." That last one, especially, is reminiscent of the Party's slogans in 1984, particularly "War is Peace". Aside from that, dead trees litter the space:  As Garza notes, this is the nicest architecture we've seen yet. This, here. This place where Helghan's soldiers are trained to become elite killing machines. This place that was named after one of its most brutal living war commanders. This is some of the nicest Helghan has to offer and it's still monstrous and horrible. Anywho, back to our B-Plot, which as been simmering nicely in the background. Remember when we overheard Radec talking about a "defense system"? You know how Evelyn said they weren't able to pinpoint how the Helghast were powering their arc weapons? Heh. Heh heh. *sigh*     There is not a big enough. Oh, and sorry to disappoint, but Natko survives. If there's one thing he's good at, it's not dying in a cutscene.Anyways, cut to Radec:  This is a great shot. Radec is overlooking Pyrrhus City, gazing down on the destruction wrought upon and by the ISA. The ocean is off in the distance, and what is presumably Corinth River comes up towards the palace. Judging by this shot, I'm willing to hazard a guess that this is our overall progress through the game so far. From where we landed, way out by the shore, through the canal and slums, Visari Square, Salamun District, across the bridge, and right up to the palace gate. Too bad there's a massive underground Tesla cannon network blocking the way. I love that you can see the arc electricity surging across the streets. Better shot of where we would have landed back in Chapter 1:  Killzone is all about the details, and I love this glimpse at our progress--even if it is just the ISA cutting a burning swath of destruction through the capital city.  Oh, and if you haven't been paying attention to the B-Plot at this point, Evelyn spells it out for you. Note: you can see Pyrrhus City burning in the background. Lastly, I'm going to end this update with a shot of Rico because it shows that, if nothing else, he is a professional. Observe:  TRIGGER DISCIPLINE!  Here we're introduced to what is probably my favourite aspect of Killzone 2: really fighting for every inch of ground against the Helghast. Essentially, you're fighting down a corridor--so like pretty much every console shooter, but hear me out! Each side has a limited number of commanders and an unlimited number of grunts. The infinitely respawning soldiers keeps the action constant and gives the illusion of two massive forces crashing against one another. However, kill a commander, and your side pushes further up while theirs retreats. Keep killing the command units, and you'll break their advance force. Some people disliked this part of the game because they don't like infinitely spawning enemies, but I think it works here. The AI commanders stick out and are programmed to be aggressive, so they're often out front. The "commanders" are enemies with powerful weapons: rocket launchers, flamethrowers, sniper rifles, and grenade launchers. Really, you're going to wind up prioritizing them anyways because their weapons make them so dangerous. If you're playing in such a way that you're focussing on the standard riflemen first, then yeah, you're gonna have a bad time. Your progress is marked in several ways. One, your soldiers will run up to and take cover at what the game considers your "frontline". In this level, it's represented alternately by an ISA APC:  And an ISA tank:  In later areas, they'll follow your lead, advancing when you advance, and retreating when you retreat. The nice thing about Salamun Bridge is that the vehicles prevent the Helghast forces from regaining ground. This won't always be the case. In later levels, if the Helghast push you back, they will retake ground. Which is the other way of figuring out your progress: look for where the Helghast are standing. They will reinforce themselves so that they can provide covering fire for each other. As I've mentioned before, I feel Killzone 2 is one of the few war games that is able to successfully recreate the feeling that you are fighting for each step you take in a war zone. It's intensely satisfying. So, props to Guerrilla Games for that.   Voiced by Jules de Jongh, who is predominantly known for her work in children's television, particularly Thomas & Friends (as in Thomas The Tank Engine). She has done a number of video game roles, aside from Evelyn Batton, such as Faith in Mirror's Edge and Triss in the first The Witcher. She's also done a number of Need For Speed games, voices in Ni No Kuni, Dead Nation, Escape From Dead Island, Remember Me, Overlord II, and a few other games. So she's done some stuff. Evelyn Batton is one of the ISA's chief nuclear scientists and was tasked by General Stratson to develop the Red Dust nuclear bomb--the nuclear bomb that the Helghast stole. In fact, Batton's sole reason for being here this far from Vekta is to try and help locate and secure the Red Dust nuke. Her research is considered to be years ahead many of her colleagues, not just on Vekta or Helghan, but across all ISA colonies and Earth. Usually seen with a revolver sidearm. I neglected to give her a bio up to this point, but I figure now is appropriate because she's going to be getting a whole lot more screen time soon.   Grenadier In the heat of a battle, they aren't easily discernible from other Helghast, but their weapons will quickly give away their locations. The grenades fired by their guns not only leave a trail, but they flash and beep loudly. Also, though the grenades explode upon impacting a living target, the grenadiers tend not to fire directly at you. Rather, they fire around you to flush you out of cover for other Helghast to hit. So not only are they easy to find, but they often don't pose too much of a threat. Really, they provide more of an interesting break in standard combat than anything else. Note, they will switch to a pistol if you rush them.  Mounted Gunner Trained to use the mounted machine guns, these guys usually don't post much of a problem unless you're terrible at taking cover or a bad shot. When out of cover, they'll use the shotgun. Sometimes you encounter them without any mounted machine gun, so that you go straight to the shotgun part! Treat them like basic infantry, as their tactics and health aren't any different. The only problem is if they get up close, because the shotgun can quickly put you down.   VC32 Sniper Rifle Manufactured by Visari Corp. Seeing as the Stahl Arms sniper rifle seen in Killzone 1 was a loving joke, Visari Corp set out to fix that problem by provided a standard sniper rifle (based off the StA-14 Rifle) that actually worked. Nothing fancy. No weird aiming reticle, or orange overlay, but a bog-standard sniper rifle with a helical drum. Has two zoom modes and has six shots. Slow rate of fire, but does high amounts of damage. You really don't need anything else in a sniper rifle, right? But is it good? Well, it's a sniper rifle. If you're terrible with them, ditch it. There aren't enough areas that really need it to justify hauling it around if you perform better with a different gun. Note: you can actually get this gun in Chapter 3 - Visari Square. When you claim the square and have the fend off the Helghast, Garza will climb up onto a small building before the gondola to cover you. If you follow him, there will be a sniper rifle lying nearby.  StA-18 Pistol Brought to you by Stahl Arms, this gun is standard issue for the Helghast military and replaces the joke of a gun, IvP-18 Tropov Machine Pistol, that we saw in Killzone 1. Despite looking remarkably similar to its predecessor, the StA-18 is actually good and fun! It lacks the burst fire, but it fires single shots more quickly. Despite being the sidearm of choice for EVERY HELGHAST SOLDIER, the gun doesn't automatically drop. If you see a Rifleman switch to the pistol, killing him will cause the rifle to drop. Bummer. The pistol only drops in certain locations, Salamun Bridge being the earliest you can grab one. It doesn't pack quite the punch that the ISA M4 Revolver does, and it's damage output is more drastically affected by range. That said, it's still possible to get one-hit kill headshots. The fast fire rate, combined with sidearms having infinite ammo, makes this a great weapon. I prefer it to the M4 Revolver, in fact, because if I miss a shot with the revolver it takes longer to squeeze off a second round. With the StA-18, I can at the very least throw out a few bullets, as you only need one or two to stun a Helghast, giving me time to properly line up the killing shot. I'd say take this over the revolver any time. Note: in multiplayer, this pistol is the default sidearm for both Helghast and ISA forces. It's also clearly the weaker weapon compared to the M4 Revolver, so much so, that'd recommend you switch to the M4 the moment you unlock it. You can't make a human player flinch in multiplayer, so the StA-18 loses its advantage.  M327 Grenade Launcher Developed by ISA Laboratories, this is essentially the same gun we saw in Killzone 1 but without the proximity mine second functions. It detonates upon impacting an enemy, but otherwise has a short timer--as you saw in the opening of the video. As a weapon, it's okay, I guess. It appears occasionally, but its usefulness is really dependent on the situation, and rarely do you find yourself in a situation in Killzone 2 that necessitates the use of a grenade launcher. I'd much rather use standard frag grenades or seek out a rocket launcher. I pick it up here to show off, but I don't think I ever bother grabbing one again in this LP. The top folding stock is never used in this game. Or in any Killzones, for that matter. It's just there and sort of bounces around a bit whenever you fire the gun. Cool detail, but yeah, it never gets unfolded.   ISA Jeep Aka the ISA Buggy. All-terrain, fast, meant for hit-and-run assaults. It's very lightly armoured, making it susceptible to small arms fire. It does come with a mounted machine gun that can rotate 360 degrees. Usually deployed alongside heavier armour, such as the ISA Archer Tank. We don't get to drive these ever in the series, so really they're just here for cutscenes and lore purposes.  Concept art for the Academy suggested it might look more sterile than what we got in the final version:  Interestingly, a lot of architecture on Vekta looks kinda like this by the time we get to Mercenary and Shadow Fall. The academy looks a bit different in multiplayer. For one, you can access multiple floors. Also, the layout is been slightly altered. The Radec Academy map is one of the more popular ones online, and you can still find people regularly playing it:  Here's some concept art for the statues in the academy courtyard: .jpg) There appears to be an Abraham Radec statue--oh, and there's a heroic looking Visari statue in the corner. I really enjoy the Helghast soldiers, armed, just hanging out looking at art. Here's concept art leaning more in the modern art direction: 
Sally fucked around with this message at 05:25 on Jan 1, 2016 |
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Apr 22, 2015 03:49
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Yikes, realized I forgot to do some write-ups for Chapter 4. Added info for the Pyro Trooper, Commando, and LS13 Shotgun for anyone interested.
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Apr 22, 2015 04:11
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So does a good shotgun make an appearance later or is the apparently underwhelming LS13 what you get?
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Apr 22, 2015 04:42
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There's a Shotgun Pistol in Killzone 3 that makes a useful sidearm, but the LS13 itself actually becomes somewhat fun as well. It gets a boost to firerate and accuracy (complete with an optical scope), making it, at the very least, usable in my opinion. That said, Killzone: Mercenary provides in spades for shotguns, including the aforementioned pistol shotgun, the pyro shotgun I brought up earlier, and a proper semi-automatic armour piercing shotgun. I can't speak for Shadow Fall, having not actually played it myself. edit: even the shotgun in Liberation is good. As far as my experience goes, only in Killzone 1 and 2 is it utterly useless. Sally fucked around with this message at 05:55 on Apr 22, 2015 |
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Apr 22, 2015 04:56
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The phrase "If you want peace, prepare for war" comes from the latin si vis pacem, para bellum, which itself originates from the Roman writer Vegetius's "De Re Militari." The tract is more or less the Roman version of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Additionally, it's where the name of the 9x19 Parabellum round comes from, a bullet used in the German Luger pistols.
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Apr 22, 2015 10:43
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oh yes oh god yes form the head FORM THE HEAD unghhhh...
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Dogs, Tesla Coils... So, when will the Desolators from Red Alert 2 make an appearance?
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Apr 22, 2015 16:28
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IronSaber posted:The phrase "If you want peace, prepare for war" comes from the latin si vis pacem, para bellum, which itself originates from the Roman writer Vegetius's "De Re Militari." The tract is more or less the Roman version of "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu. Additionally, it's where the name of the 9x19 Parabellum round comes from, a bullet used in the German Luger pistols. Not only made for the Luger, but currently the single most popular and common combat pistol round in the world and the NATO standard handgun and submachine gun round. Whenever you hear someone generically refer to a "nine millimeter", they're likely referring to 9x19mm Parabellum.
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Apr 22, 2015 18:10
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SelenicMartian posted:Dogs, Tesla Coils... So, when will the Desolators from Red Alert 2 make an appearance? I'm just waiting for blind sally to hear "Rubber shoes in motion" and then immediately get killed by one of the games lightning guns.
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Apr 22, 2015 21:24
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It challenges my suspension of disbelief that the ISA wouldn't immediately shoot the weird tower things popping up even before they know what they are. It's Helghan. Whatever their function, it is probably not good and they should be shot before they can activate.
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Apr 23, 2015 00:46
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Cythereal posted:It challenges my suspension of disbelief that the ISA wouldn't immediately shoot the weird tower things popping up even before they know what they are. It's Helghan. Whatever their function, it is probably not good and they should be shot before they can activate. The way they all stood there like "duuuuhhhh whaaaat??" is part of the reason I was all like YEAH OH YEAH GET hosed because if you see something like that and don't immediately think "good thing I'm wearing my anti-static wristband", you deserve the incoming zap at least a little. edit: The other part is because tesla coils are awesome
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Apr 23, 2015 00:54
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To be fair they didn't really have any way of seeing 'lightning guns' coming. Yeah they should have reacted to the obviously dangerous structures in some way, but I can't blame them for not expecting Helghan to have goddamn lightning guns.
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Apr 23, 2015 02:11
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Neruz posted:To be fair they didn't really have any way of seeing 'lightning guns' coming. Except they've seen several goddamn lightning guns already. Giant fuckoff towers rising out of the street is undoubtedly a bad thing, and worthy of some ordinance, considering it does look like something obviously conductive and they've already taken heavy losses from things that shoot lightning. Nope, ISA collectively held the idiot ball.
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Apr 23, 2015 02:40
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Man, where is my head-- I've gone back and added write-ups for the Helghast pistol and the grenade launcher in the latest update, both of which I forgot. Lazy Bear posted:Except they've seen several goddamn lightning guns already. Giant fuckoff towers rising out of the street is undoubtedly a bad thing, and worthy of some ordinance, considering it does look like something obviously conductive and they've already taken heavy losses from things that shoot lightning. Nope, ISA collectively held the idiot ball. To be fair to the ISA, those particular defense systems look nothing like any of the Arc Towers/Cannons they would have encountered up to this point:      That said, I absolutely agree that they stood around too long. Maybe they were overconfident? They've managed to steamroll through the Corinth River beach defenses, the Visari Square defenses, and claimed Salamun Bridge and Radec Academy. I figure there's too much adrenaline to excuse them for being tired and unalert, but overconfidence I could see. They should have fallen back the moment something weird and ominous popped out of the ground--though maybe they thought it was an antennae array? 
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Apr 23, 2015 02:51
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Lazy Bear posted:Except they've seen several goddamn lightning guns already. Giant fuckoff towers rising out of the street is undoubtedly a bad thing, and worthy of some ordinance, considering it does look like something obviously conductive and they've already taken heavy losses from things that shoot lightning. Nope, ISA collectively held the idiot ball. Oh you meant that part specifically, yeah they probably should have figured out what the towers were fairly quickly. That said given the ISA's equipment and the approach they took to the invasion, yeah they've had the idiot ball for awhile now. Smart people do not design flying APCs where the soldiers are expected to just sit on the outside and hang on.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:11
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Neruz posted:Oh you meant that part specifically, yeah they probably should have figured out what the towers were fairly quickly. For me, it boils down to the ISA not going "Hmmm. We're invading a hostile planet with weird technology we know nothing about, and as we're pushing into the capital strange towers are rising out of the streets. Shoot them immediately, figure out what they're for later." It's not even that the ISA may not have known what they were, it's that they saw weird towers rising out of the streets and didn't immediately destroy them on principle.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:14
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Cythereal posted:For me, it boils down to the ISA not going "Hmmm. We're invading a hostile planet with weird technology we know nothing about, and as we're pushing into the capital strange towers are rising out of the streets. Shoot them immediately, figure out what they're for later." Sure but we're talking about the same faction that invaded a hostile planet from space by parking spaceships in the atmosphere and then dropping flying APCs with men literally hanging on to railings on the outside. They didn't bother checking to see if Helghan had any kind of anti-orbital defenses. Hell they didn't bother with any recon at all and just marched in with their mans and their military assuming they'd just sweep Helghan before them with no trouble and the war would be over by christm- ohgodlightningabglfswksgn. Yeah the ISA are holding the idiot ball; they've been holding it since the start of the game at least and if the backstory is any indication for quite awhile before then too.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:20
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Neruz posted:They didn't bother checking to see if Helghan had any kind of anti-orbital defenses. Hell they didn't bother with any recon at all and just marched in with their mans and their military assuming they'd just sweep Helghan before them with no trouble and the war would be over by christm- ohgodlightningabglfswksgn. Well, it's not that they didn't bother with any recon, its that they made too many assumptions about their own military might. It's all hubris! But can you blame'em? Look at how quickly the ISA Crusiers shoot down the Helghast Cruisers in the opening video--they slice through'em like butter! They just figured they'd be able steamroll in and be knocking on Visari's front door in no time. Now, it's true that they weren't able to get any recon on the Helghast's Arc Technology. Like, at all. It's the Helghast's best kept secret. But hold on, I'm gonna go boot up my copy of Mercenary, as I think there's some data logs that have pertinent information regarding the initial ISA invasion and their reconnaissance.
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Apr 23, 2015 03:35
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Blind Sally posted:Well, it's not that they didn't bother with any recon, its that they made too many assumptions about their own military might. It's all hubris! But can you blame'em? Look at how quickly the ISA Crusiers shoot down the Helghast Cruisers in the opening video--they slice through'em like butter! They just figured they'd be able steamroll in and be knocking on Visari's front door in no time. That's my point exactly; making that kind of assumption is one of the calling cards of stupid naivete.
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Apr 23, 2015 04:07
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Mmmm, okay, nope, nevermind, there's no evidence to suggest that the ISA had much knowledge of Helghast defenses before the invasion. In the two years between Killzone 1 and Killzone 2, the ISA focussed on building up their armada, presumably planning to glass the Helghast from orbit. In this time, the Helghast developed their arc defenses in secret--interestingly, it looks like good ol'Stahl Arms was put entirely in charge of developing the Arc Towers and Arc Cannons before turning them over to the Helghast military for deployment. The Helghast Fleet, what wasn't used as a pitiful obstacle to lull the ISA into a false sense of security, were pulled back to the Helghan city of Constantine, where the civilian populace of Pyrrhus had also been evacuated. There were placed on stand-by in the event that the ISA broke through the arc defenses. So, yeah, the ISA kind of went off half cocked.
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Apr 23, 2015 04:07
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Considering this is the same group who decided they didn't need spaceships because big orbital satellite guns would be good enough them going off half-cocked shouldn't surprise anyone.
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Apr 23, 2015 04:09
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Blind Sally posted:Mmmm, okay, nope, nevermind, there's no evidence to suggest that the ISA had much knowledge of Helghast defenses before the invasion. In the two years between Killzone 1 and Killzone 2, the ISA focussed on building up their armada, presumably planning to glass the Helghast from orbit. In this time, the Helghast developed their arc defenses in secret--interestingly, it looks like good ol'Stahl Arms was put entirely in charge of developing the Arc Towers and Arc Cannons before turning them over to the Helghast military for deployment. "It's perfectly fine, we'll get the supplies from the Russians!" (Napoleon) "It's alright chaps, the war will be over by christmas!" (Britain) "It's a sure thing, we have better technology, this jungle won't matter in the slightest!" (America) "Oh, stop worrying, our SD Platforms are guaranteed to stop all manner of planetbound threats!" (ISA) "Oh yeah, we'll be in and out with Visari's head in no time!" (ISA) Wars.txt, aka The Killzone Series, aka Nobody Learns Anything. 
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Apr 23, 2015 06:26
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Historically people have been pretty bad at learning from war mistakes. Everyone thinks it will be different this time because they're better than the last people, they won't make the same mistakes etc etc.
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Apr 23, 2015 06:32
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CJacobs posted:The architect who designed this building was an rear end in a top hat. Blind Sally posted:An rear end in a top hat with style.
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Apr 23, 2015 07:25
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Are we going to get an answer to the question posed in the thread title? Why is Sevchenko?
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Apr 23, 2015 18:51
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Gargamel Gibson posted:Are we going to get an answer to the question posed in the thread title? Why is Sevchenko? Because the alternative is Rico...
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Apr 23, 2015 22:45
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Gargamel Gibson posted:Are we going to get an answer to the question posed in the thread title? Why is Sevchenko? 
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Apr 24, 2015 00:32
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Soooo, I've been having fun editing the next update--
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Apr 24, 2015 07:39
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 CJacobs joins us again, for the halfway point in the game. Up until now, the entirety of Killzone 2 has taken place in a, more or less, straight line from the beaches to the front gate of Visari Palace. These first five chapters have been one extended "kill zone", if you will. The ISA weren't exactly prepared for what they found on Helghan, but they made due and progressed quite far. But now we're stuck. I'm making assumptions, but if I were to take a guess, our progress so far would more or less look like this:  So close, and yet so far away. Here is the point, halfway through the game, where the game's main plot (capturing Visari and reclaiming the stolen nukes) must give away to the B-plot that has been existing in our periphery. Now is the time to figure out just what exactly is going on with the Helghast's Arc Tech and whatever petrusite is. Narville and Avenger Convoy have been able to wing it up to this point, but now we've hit a wall. Of electricity. Our new objective is to get as much intel on the Arc Tech as possible to hopefully find a way through the defense systems. Oh, and before you say "get Battle Group Mandrake's cruisers to glass the place from orbit", know that massive Arc Towers and anti-aircraft batteries surround Visari's Palace, currently preventing aerial landings and assaults. Not even the ISA's hired mercenaries can currently infiltrate the defenses. The level opens up with Natko griping about something. While that's not anything new, the tone of his voice suggests he's actually concerned this time.  I'll grant Natko this: he's part of Alpha Squad. This four-person team is depended upon by the New Sun and Avenger Convoy to fix problems. Any problems. Doesn't matter. Throw Alpha Squad at it. To be a member, you have to be highly trained and highly competent. Natko's a poo poo-heel, but he's good at his job. He's complained and joked throughout the game thus far, knowing that no matter what came at him, he'd have the rest of Alpha at his side--again, highly trained and competent soldiers. Now he's been put in charge of escorting a civilian. The "dead weight" comment is rude, but it strikes me as Natko being genuinely nervous about the current mission. (And as we see, it turns out he's not entirely incorrect).  I don't know what this is. Some weird space tech communication beacon? Field lab for analysing petrusite? Probably the latter. We discover a scout team was sent in ahead of Alpha to set up a comm link to the New Sun, but that was at a station in the village, not with whatever this is. I dunno. The beginning of this level is a marked change from most stages. Barring the opening of the first chapter (aboard the New Sun), most of the chapters have started off in the middle of explosions and gunfire. Here, it's quiet. Peaceful. Serene, even. Desolate, sure, but serene.  Suljeva Village is a small settlement built up around a refinery. As crow pointed out, it's probably a work camp. Partway through the stage we wind getting in a fight with the locals. They're armed with Stahl Arms weaponry and they know how to use it, so there seems to be some link with the Helghast Military. Whether or not they fight out of an intense loyalty to their masters, or out of fear of repercussions is unknown, but they fight nonetheless. There are many factories and refineries across the Helghan landscape, and as ores and minerals are exhausted in one place, it'll be abandoned so that work can continue elsewhere. It's noted in some Killzone: Mercenary intel, that these abandoned sites quickly become shantytowns where the poorer populace of Helghan congregate. They're tolerated by the the Helghast Administration, but they're known to be sites of illicit trade, rampant with crime and violence. That said, Helghan slums still often become vibrant cyberpunk communities:   Suljeva Village is not one of those communities. Far from the ocean, deep in the Helghast desert, Suljeva Village is going to be slowly buried by Helghan sands and winds, choking it until it is nothing more than a memory, a faded mark on an old map of Helghan industrial centers, tucked away in a dusty drawer in some filing cabinet in some government building.  It'll look pretty, though.  And unforgiving. To really give you the impression that Suljeva Village was a dead or dying settlement, Guerrilla even went so far as to design the level so that it looked like you were walking through the desiccated remains of some massive fallen beast. Specifically, it's rib cage:  Not only that, but from the get-go, the place is seen crawling with Cadaver Beetles, presumably feasting off the "carcass" that is Suljeva Village. Though they're probably there due to the number of Helghast and ISA bodies, but their presence only helps reinforce the image that this place is dead, or at the very least, a place where people go to die:  As Rico puts it, "some drat mining village? Frickin' butcher's shop". The way the dead ISA soldiers are presented, they present several ideas. One, reinforcing Suljeva as a place people go to die. The fact that they were tortured before death also adds another war crime to the list that the Helghast have committed. Not only that, but it resonates with Rico's later line about the "butcher's shop", as the one ISA soldier strung up is reminiscent of meat hung to drain of blood. A morbid detail, but it's there. Further helping to create this terrible atmosphere, is the presence of these fellas:  (Note its size next to the already disgustingly large cadaver beetle). Ah, yes. The elusive Helghan Spider.  Massive creatures, they happen to feed on petrusite, giving their eyes that creepy blow glow, as well as endowing them with a particularly dangerous defense mechanism. While not poisonous, its bite is electric. Yes. Electric. Like, Arc Tech electric. Other predators quickly learn to avoid Helghan Spiders, because aside from being extremely aggressive, going so far as to chase larger creatures, biting them repeatedly until they die, they also explode violently and electrically upon death. This isn't a big deal unless you're really low on health--which is rare in their presence--but it's a nice touch. What I really love about the Helghan Spiders, is that they aren't presented in such a way that they're a genuine threat. You experience them when you're alone, away from the Helghast regulars and the Helghan miners. They chase you through caverns and corridors, attacking you, harassing you, but never proving to be genuinely threatening. They're an annoyance, really, as you really have to go out of your way to get killed by one. What they're here for is texture. It's another detail in a game all about details. Welcome to planet Helghan. It's ugly, it's poisonous, it's all sorts of terrible, now meet the wildlife. Really, what the Helghan Spiders are here for is to repulse and horrify you. Case in point, this is how they attack:  It doesn't deal very much damage at all, but man if that isn't the most terrifying way to attack you. They jump up to eye-level so that they can bite you. Going at it from a lore perspective, I'd hazard a guess that they quickly evolved to learn that jumping up into the face of larger prey was the quickest and most effective way to scare away Helghan miners, keeping them out of their territory and away from their nests. Makes sense. Clever, really. It makes for one of my favourite Rico moments: Overall, this whole level is design to evoke fear and horror. Even the Sentry Bots, normally totally mundane and harmless, are portrayed as creepy, insect-like, alien monsters in Suljeva:  They're still harmless. The bots that attack you while you're restoring power have terrible aim and will struggle to hit you through the metal girders. You don't even need to kill them, as when you head back down they tend not to follow you. Still, it's the image of them hanging there in the sky like some eldritch Lovecraftian horror that adds to the atmosphere of this chapter. Get lost while playing Killzone 2? It's pretty straight-forward, so that's pretty surprising, but hey, Guerrilla has your back anyways:  With the press of a button, you will be instantly reminded of where you need to go. It's a small addition, but Guerrilla is intent that you remain in the action. In the rare occasion that you do get turned around, they would prefer you get back on track immediately rather than waste even half a minute back tracking. Thank you, Guerrilla, for having your priorities straight. (I'd count Helghan Spiders as enemies, but I gave them a write-up above, so I won't repeat it here).  Miner Are the Helghast Military? Are the Helghan civilians? Are they a guerrilla force? Who knows! Who cares?! They seem to have a link to the military given their battlefield competence and the fact that they're all equipped with Stahl Arms LMGs, but as I've mentioned, we don't know if they're fighting out of loyalty or fear--or if they're just trying to defend their land from trespassers. Miners can be difficult. They don't make use of cover as often as regular Helghast soldiers--whether that's due to a lack of training, or hubris because they have such big guns, we won't know--but they're very aggressive. On their own, they'll quickly fall back or switch to cover, but when in a group, they're quick to rush forward, guns blazing, out in the open. The part where I first encountered them in this video is another spike in difficulty if you're playing on Elite mode. The big problem is that the StA-3 does a tonne of damage, meaning you can't take many hits from them, and their aggressive tactics makes it hard to avoid taking said hits. The shotgun is a bust for getting through here, since the lack of reticle on Elite makes it go from near useless to useless. The normally useful StA-3 loses a lot of its utility without the reticle as well--as does the boltgun. What you're left with to fight this fight is a choice between the Helghast assault rifle, picked up on a weapon rack next to the dead ISA torture victims, or grabbing an ISA assault rifle off the rack on the Intruder when you and Rico first get off the elevator. I would highly recommend the ISA rifle due to its better accuracy and optical sight, but use whatever works for you. What follows, then, is a slow and tedious fight. The miners you encounter when they first break down the door are easy enough to kill (as long as you don't let any of the three retreat), so it'll be their back up that will give you the most trouble. When you exit the building, immediately to the right and above you are a pair of miners that will target you. They're probably the best to get next since their actually pretty much cut off from the other miners. You can climb a nearby ladder to reach them, but that gets you on the catwalk which makes you vulnerable to several other miners. Still, they're probably who you want to take out next, because once you go past the catwalk, either above it or below it, you're going to be surrounded by miners and the ones on the catwalk can pick you off with impunity. The hardest part is clearing out the first wave of miners and the ones on the catwalk. If you can clear the high ground or take it for yourself, it becomes easier to pick them off one-by-one. They aren't as aggressive when they're on their own, so breaking them up quickly is desirable. On easier difficulties, they aren't much of a concern at all, and they only appear in this section of the game, so eh.  Scout Sniper These guys are actually fairly rare in Killzone 2. This part here is where you encounter them, but nowhere else. It makes for a nice set-piece, but they really aren't intimidating enough to be much of a threat. They lack the cloaking mechanism given to them in multiplayer mode, so it's easy to track them down. Look for the laser sight and kill them. The sniper rifle is powerful and will kill you in two shots even on the easiest difficulty, but it's easy to dodge as they need time to lock onto you with the laser sight before firing. Not really much of a threat at all. Most interesting is how they've developed over the games. In Killzone 1, they have some pretty goofy looking optical sights:  In Killzone: Liberation they seem to be wearing raincoats, but otherwise look like normal Helghast:  Here in Killzone 2, they at least look super threatening and weird and alien. I like their design, even if they are pretty useless outside multiplayer.  Advanced Assault Infantry The elite of the elite. Or at least the more advanced. These guys are highly trained versions of the standard Assault Infantry. They have more health/armour, they move faster, they shoot faster, and are overall more aggressive. But only slightly. Lore would make them out to be terrifying, but they're only slightly more of a nuisance than standard Assault Infantry. On Elite, yeah, all Helghast are super lethal, but there's a problem with these guys that makes them slightly less dangerous. They can't deflect headshots. Your standard Assault Infantry have always had the opportunity of deflecting headshots. It's the whole thing where you shoot off their helmets first, right? You can't shoot off the helmets on the Advanced Infantry, so they can't "tank" a headshot, making it easier to kill them quickly. Ha! So much for being more lethal.  Sentry Bot Upgraded versions of those pitiful jokes General Lente threw at us in Killzone 1. They're bigger, faster, and have more health, but still go down relatively quickly with small arms fire. They are nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to ATACs. They look mean, but are more of a nuisance. It's only in multiplayer that they can truly become a threat.  StA-3 Light Machine Gun Old reliable. Sadly, it's no longer as effective as it was in the first game. When all guns were inaccurate, the one with the most bullets was king. Now it's--only okay. The clip is slightly smaller, 96 down from 100, but it's still nearly twice the size of the ISA' equivalent LMG. Its firerate is impressive, but the gun is more affected by recoil this time around. It also lacks iron sights, being a hip-fire only weapon, though the game does provide you with a limited zoom function. Ultimately, it's only okay this time around. We'll mostly be using it as a turret, because it's what the Helghast use for their emplacement guns. It works pretty well in most difficulties due to the reticle on screen, but you're still going to want to crouch when you fire to maximize your accuracy (you can see me doing this throughout the video). It loses pretty much all reliability in Elite mode, though, as it's nearly impossible to reliably aim it without the reticle.  VC21 Boltgun Like many of the vehicles in Helghast employ, this was originally a mining tool that was later modified into a weapon. Fires high-speeed bolts that explode after a timed delay. They can pierce infanty armour rather easily, allowing you to pin enemies to the wall before their internal organs explode. There's no way to test whether or not they'd pierce Heavy Trooper armour, since this essentially a novelty weapon and will never appear on a level that has Heavies. This weapon is a one-hit-kill on all humanoid targets. The explosion at the end isn't even that large, so it's more of a comment on Helghast weaponry being over-engineered and overkill than anything. This gun is remarkably accurate, but due to its design, doesn't function well at long ranges. That said, it's available on a DLC multiplayer map, and some players have proven to be incredibly skilled with distance headshots. It's fun to use, but as I mentioned before, basically a novelty weapon. As an aside, the Killzone 3 novelization reveals that Sev's father was killed by this gun during the Helghast invasion. I have no idea which Helghast thought bringing one of these to Vekta was a good idea, but sure, we'll go with it.  Wasteland Bullet High-speed train used on Helghan to quickly transport materials to and from work sites. Who wants to guess where the next level takes place? Nothing to really right home about these trains. They're effectively just big platforms with boxes on them. There was a DLC multiplayer map released that took place on two adjacent trains--hence the image. The map was called the "Wasteland Bullet". Concept art for the "rib cage" section of Suljeva Village, where you engage the snipers:  And here is a shot of the environment of Suljeva Village. I made the Dune reference, because honestly, this area is what I sort of imagined a sietch would look like: 
Sally fucked around with this message at 05:53 on Jan 1, 2016 |
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Apr 25, 2015 00:01
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gently caress spiders
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Apr 25, 2015 00:11
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The boltgun kind of reminds me of the HV Penetrator from F.E.A.R. Also why is Evelyn wearing a skirt when she's in the field 
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Apr 25, 2015 00:46
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CJacobs posted:gently caress spiders I would emptyquote this for eternity if I could.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:25
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To be honest I'd call it the HV Penetrator on Steroids considering the exploding bolts.CJacobs posted:gently caress spiders Remember, killing them only makes the next generation smarter.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:49
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And the mosquitoes more numerous.
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Apr 25, 2015 01:52
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You know what this game needs? An optional Natko skin where he's dressed up like a UN peacekeeper. A UNatko skin if you would.
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Apr 25, 2015 02:30
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FoolyCharged posted:You know what this game needs? An optional Natko skin where he's dressed up like a UN peacekeeper. A UNatko skin if you would. A three-level joke. Well done, good sir. But seriously, I have a question... If this mineral is the power source for, as Evelyn said, half the universe, how do the Vektans not recognize it on sight?
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Apr 25, 2015 06:13
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