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Who is your favourite Killzone 1 hero?
This poll is closed.
Templar 7 3.24%
Rico 14 6.48%
Luger 23 10.65%
Hakha 64 29.63%
Don't talk to me about Killzone 1 108 50.00%
Total: 216 votes
[Edit Poll (moderators only)]

 
  • Locked thread
Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!


The old monarch, Thread Killzone the First was curséd. Let us purge it from our minds and turn towards a new dawn! All hail Thread Killzone the Second! Sit back in yonder chairs, grab some mutton and sack, and please, enjoy yourselves whilst nine-gear crow and myself needlessly complicate a sci-fi military shooter game.



Our goal is to play through the original quadrilogy, which includes Killzone, Killzone: Liberation, Killzone 2, and Killzone 3. For the main games, we are using the Killzone Trilogy released on the PS3 which includes the HD remaster of Killzone 1. We will be playing through each game's singleplayer campaign and showing off a bit of multiplayer when we can. For the PSP game, we will go through the free Act 5 DLC as well as the standard campaign.



Killzone 1is finished and can be viewed here. (The archived Killzone: Liberation thread is here). With regards to the later games in the series, Killzone: Mercenary and Killzone: Shadow Fall, there are currently no plans to do them and we will be making no promises to change that.



:siren: : : S P O I L E R · P O L I C Y : : : :siren:

There isn't one! Or more specifically, don't dump the entire plot for the series, because that's just rude, but it's not a big deal to talk about stuff that hasn't happened yet. We are trying to treat the series like Shakespeare, and like Shakespeare, the plot story itself isn't quite as important as the performance--a mantra that fits this series well.



The style for this LP was influenced by a couple of really enjoyable threads in Cinema Discusso that utilized a running commentary style of reviewing--specifically, Kyle Hyde's American Psycho thread and Terry van Feleday's Transformers threads. In the spirit of those threads, I want to give a similar treatment to the Killzone franchise.

Let's Continue To Needlessly Complicate The Killzone Quadrilogy

At first glance, the Killzone games are nothing more than pretty, shallow sci-fi FPSes meant to act as glorified tech demos. While that's not entirely false, there's a bit more to the games than just that. Much like Spec Ops: The Line, the Killzone games have a deeper, more challenging, story to tell. Although while Spec Ops is akin to someone shouting in your face with a megaphone, Killzone is often more like someone whispering to you while you sleep--with earplugs. The ideas are subtle, but they're there, and while they're often drowned out by the in-your-face allusions to WW2 and facism, there's plenty of fun stuff to pick out between the lines, including:
  • criticism of war fiction in general
  • criticism of testosterone-laden machismo
  • recurring themes regarding the entropy of war and fears of homogeneity
  • deconstruction of modern and traditional action hero tropes
  • colour-theory
  • notions of good and evil

That list isn't exhaustive, but it's what I'll be focussing on. Please, feel free to add more to the conversation as it comes up.



Ah, good question. These games are, perhaps surprisingly, downright Shakespearean in places. That said, I will not be transcribing the game's script into Ye Olde Shakespearean dialogue, like I did with the first game. What started out as a fun exercise, quickly became un-fun. Have no fear, though, as the acting and drama of Killzone 2 is a far cry from the stiff, clunky performances we were subjected to in Killzone 1. In fact, all joking aside, Killzone 2 and Killzone: Liberation are legit Good Games.

All that aside, thus begins The Lamentable Tragedy of Sevchenkus Andronicus and The Merry Wives Generals Of Vekta:







































Sally fucked around with this message at 06:16 on Dec 29, 2015

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Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!


Welcome to Killzone 2! Same as the first LP, before we go anywhere, we need to take a look at the brilliant opening cinematic. With the first game, it was easy to point to the opening cinematic and say "there, that's the best part of this whole experience". It's harder to do this time around, since Killzone 2 is such an improved game. Harder, I say, but not impossible, because the opening cinematic here is probably the best in the entire series.

Don't take my word for it, though, watch it:

Killzone 2 Introduction Video

The above link is from Machinima, because for whatever reason, someone keeps flagging content for a sound effect, causing the audio to be stripped from the video. Whoever they are, they aren't Guerrilla Games, but there's no "The person filing the claim doesn't own the content" option to dispute it, so c'est la vie. In case Machinima's version gets flagged as well, here's my own workaround video with the audio pitch shifted up. It sounds funny, if nothing else:



Anyways, if you didn't pick up on it right away, the opening cinematic is essentially done in a single-take. It's easier to accomplish this with CGI, than it is real film, but it's still a breath-taking effect, seen more recently used at the hands of director Alfonso Cuarón, who is known for doing it in Children Of Men and Gravity. It's effect helps demonstrate the scale of the war between Vekta and Helghan, as well as show the players that despite the distance between the two planets, the game's societies have reached a point of technology that allows them to bridge the gap relatively quickly.



The game opens with a shot of Visari's face. This is different from the first game, which began with the imagery of the Helghast Triad.



The importance of Visari to the Helghast transcends mere symbols. Really, 'Visari = Helghast'. The inhabitants of Helghan as they are in this game is a product of Visari and his power. The term 'Helghast' was one coined by him. If Visari were to keel over of a heart-attack partway through that speech, he would be deified and his teachings would live on. It makes perfect sense that the enemy's leader, a wonderful amalgamation of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, would be the first image to greet our eyes.



Fittingly, Visari is also the first thing our player character, Tomas Sevchenko, sees in the game. This is a great shot, and foreshadowing of what's to come with the 'Good Guy' facing off against the 'Bad Guy'. Our mission is to invade Helghan and end the war. To do this, the Vektan ISA need to break through the capitol city's defense, storm the royal palace, and capture Visari. One guess as to which Vektan soldier gets to do the storming.

Following that, more ISA soldiers appear on screen. In these opening moments, we are introduced to the most important characters in the game (that's including Visari):



(This shot is great at establishing relationships. Rico and Jan are clearly old friends, whereas the relationship with the 'new guy' is very much on professional terms.)

In this shot, we have a lot going on. On the surface, Templar wishes Rico, his friend, and Sevchenko "good luck" before they leave for Helghan. What's really happening is a passing of the torch. Jan Templar was the protagonist of Killzone 1 and Killzone: Liberation. In those games, he played the trope of 'ACTION HERO'. He was clean-shaven, young, honest, earnest, loyal, brave, and all that other good stuff. He fought for what he believed in, kicked butt, and saved the day. Unfortunately for Jan, he's run his course. His experience has matured him, literally and metaphorically. Templar has been promoted to Colonel and put in charge of leading the invasion, but as you can see he appears to have also physically aged compared to the first game. Jan is a 'good guy', and the brutality of the war has weighed heavily on him. Having seen what he's seen, he presumably now has the wisdom to order troops to their deaths rather than doing the killing himself. That honour passes on to Rico (who, unlike Jan, was passed over for promotions and commendations (for reasons we will see in Liberation), despite being involved in the same missions) and Sevchenko.

Thus, when Templar shakes Sev's hand:



He is in effect 'passing on' the mantle of 'ACTION HERO' to Sev, much like when Arnie passed on that duty to The Rock.

Now, remember how Killzone 1 ended on the note of 'Hope'? Observe Sev and Rico:



The skies are bright and they're smiling in wonder and excitement. Things are looking up for our heroes, and accordingly, they are literally looking upwards. That sentiment follows us as we blast off with the ISA Crusiers on route to Helghan, leaving behind the beautiful Earth-like Eden that is Vekta. Note that Rico is smiling. Take a picture, because Rico Velasquez is not a man who smiles very often. In fact, I don't think he smiled once in the first game. This is a STRANGE sight to see!



Fun bit of visuals here:



The ISA logo is a circle, a welcoming, protective shape, sometimes even rendered as a sun to suggest their nature as the heroes of the universe.



Note that their cruisers travel in a circular formation! :v:

Anyways, at this point in the cutscene, we're still confident in ISA superiority. We watch as their cruisers swat their Helghast equivalents like flies. (A quick aside on starship sizes in the Killzone universe: the Earth Fleet's cruisers are twice the size of the Vektan cruisers, so that they may ensure their military superiority over their colonies. The Vektan ISA Cruisers are twice the size of the Helghast Cruisers, due to the building restrictions put upon Helghan in the wake of the First Extrasolar War--the events of these games are known as the Second Extrasolar War, in a nod to WWI and WWII).



This confidence begins to waver as we approach Helghan.



The planet looms before us, spilling beyond the screen, hovering dark and ominously. The music quiets and there is the feeling of the calm before the storm. With the word "smite", a bolt of lighting shoots from the planet's surface, as if thrown by Zeus, eradicating an ISA Cruiser in a single blow--the same ISA Cruiser we saw only moments ago that was capable of wiping out a cluster of Helghast Cruisers with a single cluster of missiles.



Truly, a weapon of mythic proportions awaits on Helghan. The Helghast are not about to roll over and surrender that easily, nor would we, the player, have it be that way. This is Killzone, not Play-Nice-Zone.



And so, the ISA dropships, fittingly called Intruders, land on the planets surface, releasing their cargo of soldiers, who are quickly eaten alive by the Helghast war machine. That hope we felt at the end of the first game, that we felt at the beginning of this cutscene, is gone. As we change planets, so does the nature of the war change. On Vekta, the fight was for freedom, and that feeling of hope, underscored by that being the name of the final chapter, was an undercurrent throughout. Here on Helghan, the fight is for total annihilation. The only hope to be found here is the dream that you might survive the onslaught.



Just as the cutscene began with Visari leering at the player, so too does it end that way. Autarch Scolar Visari is the Alpha and the Omega, not only of this cutscene, but of this game, the Helghast, and this entire conflict.

Marshal Radisic posted:

Well, first of all, I wanted to say this in the other thread, but we're over here now, so: Rest in peace, General Animé. You were too yandere for this world.

Something occurred when I was watching that intro movie: the idea of "taking the fight back to the enemy" is one of the clichés of action movie/action video game structure, the sort of thing that happens in the third act. Here it's literally the entire plot of the game, and the first thing we see is the ISA launching its fleet at Helghan. Also, rather the being the invincible heroes, the ISA soldiers are being cut down in waves. It throws you a bit off balance, like a CoD sequel starting up with the United States invading Russia...then cutting to a burning carrier in the Baltic and dead Yankees in the streets of St. Petersburg. The Vektans look less like The Good Guys and more like aggressors who may have pushed things too far.

Also, I'd have expected the intro to do something like Killzone 1 did and hype up the threat of Visari and the Helghast. Instead, we don't see any Helghast save for the beginning and end of the movie. Hell, they even marginalize Visari by showing his speech, not uncut in an auditorium with cheering Nuremberg crowds, but played on a TV screen and chopped up for a news segment.

Neruz posted:

It's worth noting that the whole 'taking the fight to the enemy' action movie thing is actually based on a totally legitimate tactical and strategic concept typically called 'seizing the initiative' and basically revolves around the fact that the attacking force has an inherent advantage over the defending force because the defending force must react to what the attacking force is doing, thus the attacking force has more control over the field of battle and is said to have the initiative.

That said, attempting to seize the initiative at the wrong time or place is one of the most effective ways to lose horribly and it is pretty drat rare that action movies\games manage to set the stage such that an attempt to seize the initiative is actually a smart choice, so you typically end up with forces 'taking the fight to the enemy' in a laughably terrible way that works because plot.



Woo! It's been a while since we've had a chance to look at lore for this game, but here we go. Once again, a lot of the really meaty stuff happened off screen. If you were here for Killzone 1, you'll notice some information is a bit old, but has had some of the redacted names added back in. General Adams was indeed a traitor, and since that fact is common knowledge, it has been added back in. The other redacted information is from Killzone: Liberation. It's not critical to the plot of Killzone 2, and I also don't feel like spoiling needlessly even if this LP will be pretty relaxed about spoilers--we'll get to that info soon enough:



Hooray! So that's all a bit of a refresher of the events of Killzone 1. If you're interested in seeing the full history and politics up to this point, it's available in the first few chapters of the first game's LP.

The following gives us a brief summation of Killzone: Liberation. Since we're doing it concurrently with Killzone 2, we'll be seeing all of this unfold ourselves in forthcoming updates. Until then, a bit of backstory will help explain Vekta's persistence for a retaliatory invasion:



So, yeah. Some genius wanted to go ahead with the development of a SECOND orbital defense platform system after the first one did so well. Thankfully, the ISA council stopped that. However, the alternative winds up being 'nukes'. It's not mentioned here, but here's the skinny on these nukes: codenamed 'Red Dust', the bombs developed at Rayhoven are of a 'high yield, low radiation' variety. What that means is that they're going to cause all the destruction of a futuristic nuclear bomb, while producing minimal amounts of radiation. Note, it's not radiationless, but it produces less radiation. The idea is that this slightly 'friendlier' bomb will allow for faster reconstruction of bombed areas.

General Metrac, the guy that replaced Lente, was a far more competent leader. He actually succeeded in his goals, which basically consisted of 1) fight a tactical retreat while causing as much damage as possible, and 2) steal the ISA's nukes. However, as he was left with the remains of Lente's forces, he didn't have the strength to take Vekta and was eventually defeated, the few surviving Helghast fleeing with the Red Dust bombs. With Metrac, Lente, and Adams all defeated, that accounted for all Helghast forces on Vekta. The UCA, Earth's strong arm in the region, felt its job was done. Note at the very end that the Earth Fleet packs up and leaves! Earth's final orders to Vekta are to set up a blockage against Helghan and wait for a neutral party to arrive and investigate the matter.

Ha!

Politics!

I love it!

Of course, the Vektan authority isn't too pleased with that. Given that if you're reading this you've probably already at least watched the opening cutscene, we know that Vekta doesn't sit idle, and in fact launches a counterattack.



Here we get the mission objectives for the game, clearly laid out for us in a three point plan. You'll notice the mention of Battle Group Mandrake? That's us. (Named after General Mandrake, who is in Killzone: Liberation). Colonel Templar, decorated war hero, is given the pleasure of leading Battle Group Mandrake to Helghan's capital city, Pyrrhus. With that in mind, the objective of 'capture Visari' is clearly first and foremost in the minds of our Battle Group. Easy, right? Given this whole invasion is in direct conflict with Earth's orders, as well as the warm welcome received on the surface of the planet, you better prepare yourself for a whole lot of disappointment.

chitoryu12 posted:

Is there anyone reading this who actually needs an explanation as to why the Helghan capital is Pyrrhus?

SgtSteel91 posted:

I'll bite; why is it Pyrrhus?

nine-gear crow posted:

It's named after the ancient Greek general Pyrrhus of Epirus, who was famous for overseeing battles that, although technically victories, came at a cost so high they could almost be seen as defeats. It's where the term Pyrrhic victory comes from.

Naming the city Pyrrhus is simultaneously the Helghast's big giant middle finger to the planet (and universe) that tried its damndest to kill them, and it's Guerrilla being just a tad bit on the nose thematically, but that's all spoilers for what's coming up in Killzone 2.

:hist101:



Returning characters:

Most of the faces we see in this opening are familiar to us. Captain Jan Templar, now a Colonel, is the plucky hero from the first two games. The stereotypical action hero, he's also a bit of a love-sick doofus--but hey, he gets over that. He is such a plain and generic action hero that it hurts. He even loses his father figure early on in the series to provide himself a fridged character as motivation! Can't stay mad at him, though, as he at least has the decency to bow out of this game.
Templar is voiced by Kal Webber in the first game. In Liberation he is voiced by Nigel Whitmey. Here, he is voiced by Qarie Marshall. Truly, Templar is the generic action every-man as evidenced by the fact that it seems he can be voiced by any man.

Blind Sally posted:

Most CO's in Killzone don't seem to bother with hats. General Vaughton and Adams displayed their ranks on their uniforms, but I don't think they saw much frontline combat, so it didn't really matter for them. Ranking officers on the ground are dressed pretty much like other ISA soldiers. Don't want to make themselves a target for snipers, right?

w/r/t Jan Templar, the man looks like he's aged 10 years between games (only 2 years passed). Seriously, he's like, 30ish in Killzone 1, but looks to be about 40ish in Killzone 2:



Also, his trucker hat is for his ship, the New Sun. I assume it's something that all crewmembers of the New Sun can get and hope that there's a whole bunch of engineers and pilots on board wearing similarly goofy hats:



Sergeant Rico Velasquez is another story. The 'tough guy' trope, Rico is a unrepentant scumbag. He's rude, vulgar, and violent. He's also a space-racist. He hates everything Helghast, and isn't afraid to let you now--much to the annoyance of everyone. Still, the Rico we knew in the first game was just kind of an annoyance. The Rico of this game is now in charge. He is our protagonist's Commanding Officer. The opens up all sorts of possibilities for abuse of power.
Tom Clark Hill provided his voice in the first two games, but he is voiced by Charles Everett here.

Autarch Scolar Visari is played by none other than Brian Cox. The enigmatic and charismatic leader of the Helghast has made his presence felt since the beginning moments of the PS2 classic, Killzone The First. We finally have an opportunity to get face-to-face with him here. There's nothing else I can say at the moment, other than Cox absolutely owns this role.


Voiced by Demetri Goritsas, who has had small parts in films such as Saving Private Ryan, X-Men First Class, and The Bourne Identity.

Sergeant Tomas 'Sev' Sevchenko is the first truly new character to the series, and is our playable character for the duration. That's right, singular on that one. Though we are once again in a four-person squad, Guerrilla wisely decided not to stretch themselves thin, and limit you to Sev's POV. Sev was born to a fairly affluent family on Vekta. Against his parents' wishes, he enlisted in the military. Originally out of boredom, it's galvanized into true desire to protect his homeland when the Heghast invade Vekta. In the attack, his mother and father are killed. His sister, Amy, survives, but is so traumatized by having witnessed the death of her family, that she is rendered catatonic. Read all about this in more in the novelization of Killzone 3, by Sam "No, we're not related" Bradbury! (Why did I subject myself to that horror).

Anyways, there's more to be said about Sevchenko, but I won't do it here. All I'm going to say is that he is 'a new breed of action hero', somewhat grittier and realistic compared to what Templar represented.




ISA Cruiser

Unlike the Helghast and UCN Cruisers, which are built along a horizontal axis, the ISA Cruiser is built along a vertical one--not that it really matters in zero-g. At approximately 700 meters in length, it's half the size of a UCN Cruiser, but twice the size of a Helghast Cruiser. It's the most advanced vessel in the ISA fleets, with enough firepower to level cities several times over. These include missile barrages, as seen in the cutscene, quad-cannon turrets for defensive purposes, and nuclear-powered laser weapon technology akin to what we saw on the ISA's SD Platforms in Killzone 1. They feature a type of dispersive armour, which allows them to 'tank' multiple direct hits. The also have an automated deployment system which allows them to rapidly launch aerial assaults. The ISA on Vekta don't own as many of these as they'd like, since they were largely phased out in favour of the ill-fated SD Platform program. Still, what they have is more than enough to get them to Helghan.


ISA Intruder

Small, lightweight, maneuverable, fast, and modular in design. It's a rather reliable craft, despite the reputation it gets as a junker--though that's more likely due to the fact that it is lightly armoured and provides no cover or comfort to passengers. It was originally designed to be an ammo lift, but during a historical conflict, it was serviced into use as an evacuation craft for wounded soldiers. From there, its use as a troop transport was inevitable. It's armament is light, with twin-mounted rockets and a single front-mounted turret--though the nature of the craft allow for passengers to carry whatever they'd like onboard.

The interesting thing about the Intruder, apart from its suggestive name, is how starkly it contrasts with the Helghast dropship design. For reference:



It's effectively a flying tank. There's a lot more to be said about the Intruder vs. the Helghast Dropship, but this post is already quite lengthy, so I'll leave it at that.



Visari concept art:



Intruder and ISA Cruiser concept art:



ISA first wave attack concept art:

Sally fucked around with this message at 07:19 on Dec 29, 2015

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





:siren::siren::siren:THIS IS THE GOOD KILLZONE, PEOPLE!!!:siren::siren::siren:

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013








Not that I intend to overwhelm you with all this Killzone at once, but we are also going to be doing Killzone: Liberation in tandem with Killzone 2. The reason being that much of what happens in the later part of Liberation informs key events all throughout Killzone 2.

Killzone: Liberation, for the curious, is the mid-quel for the PlayStation Portable which takes place a short time after the original Killzone and a few months prior to the beginning of Killzone 2. Liberation is our last hurrah with “Team Templar” as it were, but we’ll get to them in due time.



Liberation's intro cinematic is the outlier among the OG Killzone games in that it foregoes any sort of introductory monologue from Scolar Visari. Maybe Guerrilla couldn't afford Brian Cox on PSP money? I don't know. As such, Liberation begins on an oddly silent note.



We pick up the narrative two months after the destruction of the SD Platform and the death of General Adams. The opening shot of the intro shows what you would expect to see after the end of Killzone 1, remnants of the broken Helghast army after a seemingly decisive ISA victory.



But because this is Killzone, things aren't that clear cut, and it turns out that Luger's dire prediction that the Helghast wouldn't give up on Vekta that easily are proving true.



Because while the Helghast Third Army under General Lente was routed by the ISA in short order, in Vekta's southern hemisphere, the second prong of Visari's assault on the planet is proving a little harder to dislodge.



And this would be the reason why, Helghast General Armin Metrac and his right hand man, Colonel Tendon Cobar. Metrac and Lente were sent to secure Vekta together, each man taking a hemisphere of the planet for themself. It's only natural that Lente would be the one who the ISA would focus on expelling first, because most of Vekta's vital infrastructure is located in its northern hemisphere, and he was also working in conjunction with General Adams, so of course there would be a stronger political push to deal with Lente first while Metrac twisted in the wind... Or so the prevailing logic went.

With the focus off his forces, Metrac, however, made out like gangbusters in southern Vekta, and his forces (bolstered by the remnants of Lente's third army, now fled south to join him) have dug in to an intractable degree.

This is why the game is called Liberation, we will be spending it liberating the rest of Vekta from the remaining Helghast forces.



You can already tell just by looking at him that there's something different about Metrac (HE HAS HAIR :byodood:). There's a few explanations for this, which I will get into in his character profile.



We also see here more shades of "Helghast as Nazi army" imagery in the intro, as a pair of Helghast soldiers turn loose a pair of German Sheppard-like K9 soliders on the ISA regulars to supplement their human(oid) forces. Also note the dogs are also decked out in Helghast army equipment. I have no idea what if anything the Helghan atmosphere and radiology has done to its non-human immigrants, but I can only imagine that these dogs also have some level of natural (and unnatural) enhancements to them.



So despite the title of the final chapter of Killzone 1 being "Hope", it's now clear that it was a false hope, or at the very least a fleeting hope, as the war never really ended, and the role Templar, Luger, Rico, and Hakha played in the ISA's "victory," is looking to be a very small and hollow one indeed.



Here's another example of Metrac being a slightly smarter cookie than Lente proved to be. Metrac formed the Helghast Air Trooper battalion to employ the Stahl Arms SL-06 Personal Jet Propulsion system in combat after live-fire trials with it exceeded the expectations of the Helghan army analysis. The SL-06 jetpack featured an onboard weapons suite, including dual machine guns and a rocket launcher.

We'll be seeing these guys with more regularity in Killzones 2 and 3.



Now, ever the hero, Jan Templar has volunteered to head to southern Vekta and liberate it from Metrac's grasp, though it looks like he might have his work cut out for him.



Because Metrac has his own objective he's perilously close to achieving in the south, something that could alter the course of the entire war, and perhaps the course of Helghan-Vektan history itself.




I'll cover our returning heroes once we get into actual gameplay for Liberation, but for now let's focus on our primary antagonists for the game, both of whom are quietly introduced here in the opening cinematic.


Voiced by Chris Fairbank, who has an impressively long resume of roles in TV shows, miniseries, movies, and video games such as Tim Burton's Batman, Alien 3, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, Law & Order: UK, Demon's Souls, and The Last Story (as the game's narrator).

Armin Metrac is one of the highest ranking members of the Helghast military, handpicked by Scolar Visari himself along with Joseph Lente to spearhead the assault on Vekta. Along with Lente, he is one of Visari's closest military advisors and played an integral role in his ascension to the autarchy. He rose quickly through the ranks of the Helghan army and developed a reputation for his cruelty, sadism, determination, and cunning.

Metrac is a member of Helghan's upper class citizenry, who were able to afford dwellings and healthcare that shielded them from the more harmful and mutative qualities of Helghan's toxic atmosphere and natural background radiation as their descendants acclimatized to the planet over several generations. As such, he's one of a number of Helghast who will be appearing throughout the rest of the Killzone series who retain a number of "human" qualities, namely body hair, and less overall body mass than the average Helghast grunt. Regardless, Metrac considers himself to be an "evolved" Helghast.

Much like Adams and Lente before him, Metrac is going to be our stand-in for Scolar Visari in this game. He will be the adversary of our heroic quest to defeat in Visari's place. As such, he gets a face we can identify in order to make matters between him and Templar (the player) a more personal one.


Voiced by Blake Ritson, another actor with a growing resume of TV shows, movies, miniseries, and video games to his name such as Titus (Shakespeare's, not Christopher's), World Without End, DaVinci's Demons, Upstairs Downstaris, Xenoblade Chronicles, The Last Story, and The Order: 1886.

Nicknamed the "White Death" for his distinctive white uniform, Tendon Cobar quickly rose through the ranks of the Helghast army after Metrac personally selected him to be a part of his immediate retinue. The story has it that Metrac saved Cobar from death row after then-Private Cobar murdered his military instructor when the instructor ordered a stop to a training exercise to clear a critically injured cadet off the battlefield. Cobar believed that such an act of mercy was unbecoming of a true Helghast soldier and his instructor was thereby guilty of treason and deserved swift execution. His superiors disagreed. Upon learning the details of the incident, Metrac had Cobar's prosecuting JAG executed in Cobar's stead and freed the private from death row on the condition Cobar swear to serve him personally. Under Metrac's guidance, Cobar soared through the ranks with unparalleled speed, becoming a full Colonel in a frighteningly short time. Cobar has come to Vekta alongside Metrac to serve as his aide-de-camp/attack dog.

His position in the Helghan military is an incredibly unique one, being one of only three underclass Helghans in the Helghast military command, the others being Colonels Mael Radec and Vyktor Kratek. Radec, we will be meeting later in Killzone 2, while Kratek appears extensively throughout Killzone: Mercenary. Cobar is described even by those who know and respect him as an utter psychopath and a zealot. He was one of the strongest supporters of Visari's rise of power on Helghan, and serves the Visari regime with an almost religious fervor.




DOGE


such deadly. very mutant. wow.

Living proof there is not a drat thing in the universe that Jorhan Stahl won't strap a set of glowing orange lights to, the Helghast remnant on Vekta has begun supplementing their forces with K9 attack dogs. Contrary to what I said earlier, these dogs have in fact been affected by the Helghan atmosphere and natural radioactivity, and are completely hairless and possess a larger and more dense musculoskeletal system than "normal" Earth or Vektan dogs do. Much like the human elements of the Helghast army, Helghan attack dogs also have rebreather masks designed to supply their mutated lungs with Helghanized air while they're serving on Vekta.

According to Killzone lore, Metrac ordered the use of attack dogs for his troops because the sentry drones Lente brought to Vekta were experiencing high rates of malfunction and he wasn't about to go replicating any of Lente's (numerous) bungles if he could avoid them. (Read: they were ineffective and bleeding useless, never posed any threat to Templar and co., and were consistently shot down). Attack dogs like the ones seen in the intro will be recurring enemies throughout Killzone: Liberation, though for one reason or another they only turn up in Liberation itself, so they're kind of a one-off deal.

nine-gear crow fucked around with this message at 13:01 on Nov 10, 2015

Marshal Radisic
Oct 9, 2012


Well, first of all, I wanted to say this in the other thread, but we're over here now, so: Rest in peace, General Animé. You were too yandere for this world.

Something occurred when I was watching that intro movie: the idea of "taking the fight back to the enemy" is one of the clichés of action movie/action video game structure, the sort of thing that happens in the third act. Here it's literally the entire plot of the game, and the first thing we see is the ISA launching its fleet at Helghan. Also, rather the being the invincible heroes, the ISA soldiers are being cut down in waves. It throws you a bit off balance, like a CoD sequel starting up with the United States invading Russia...then cutting to a burning carrier in the Baltic and dead Yankees in the streets of St. Petersburg. The Vektans look less like The Good Guys and more like aggressors who may have pushed things too far.

Also, I'd have expected the intro to do something like Killzone 1 did and hype up the threat of Visari and the Helghast. Instead, we don't see any Helghast save for the beginning and end of the movie. Hell, they even marginalize Visari by showing his speech, not uncut in an auditorium with cheering Nuremberg crowds, but played on a TV screen and chopped up for a news segment.

Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness
It's worth noting that the whole 'taking the fight to the enemy' action movie thing is actually based on a totally legitimate tactical and strategic concept typically called 'seizing the initiative' and basically revolves around the fact that the attacking force has an inherent advantage over the defending force because the defending force must react to what the attacking force is doing, thus the attacking force has more control over the field of battle and is said to have the initiative.

That said, attempting to seize the initiative at the wrong time or place is one of the most effective ways to lose horribly and it is pretty drat rare that action movies\games manage to set the stage such that an attempt to seize the initiative is actually a smart choice, so you typically end up with forces 'taking the fight to the enemy' in a laughably terrible way that works because plot.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

Is there anyone reading this who actually needs an explanation as to why the Helghan capital is Pyrrhus?

SgtSteel91
Oct 21, 2010

I'll bite; why is it Pyrrhus?

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





SgtSteel91 posted:

I'll bite; why is it Pyrrhus?

It's named after the ancient Greek general Pyrrhus of Epirus, who was famous for overseeing battles that, although technically victories, came at a cost so high they could almost be seen as defeats. It's where the term Pyrrhic victory comes from.

Naming the city Pyrrhus is simultaneously the Helghast's big giant middle finger to the planet (and universe) that tried its damndest to kill them, and it's Guerrilla being just a tad bit on the nose thematically, but that's all spoilers for what's coming up in Killzone 2.

:hist101:

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!
According to Wikipedia, Pyrrhus was a great commander of his time, who was held alongside Hannibal of Carthage as one of the greatest commanders. Clearly, this does not bode well for our heroes protagonists.

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!
I can't stop laughing at the poll results.

Poor Jan can't catch a break.

Also, who in their right mind voted for Rico!?!?!

whowhatwhere
Mar 15, 2010

SHINee's back

Blind Sally posted:

I can't stop laughing at the poll results.

Poor Jan can't catch a break.

Also, who in their right mind voted for Rico!?!?!

Well, I guess based on Killzone 1 I can't hate him and can see how he might be considered the most entertaining character.

Night10194
Feb 13, 2012

We'll start,
like many good things,
with a bear.

Blind Sally posted:

I can't stop laughing at the poll results.

Poor Jan can't catch a break.

Also, who in their right mind voted for Rico!?!?!

Jan is a really, really boring character is all. Rico is a psychopath and actively hateable, but kinda entertaining in his What The Hell Is A Shakespeare loving Fuckers gently caress gently caress way, but Jan is just forgettable.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Here's something amusing I noticed about the Killzone 2 intro: just before the camera pulls away from Visari's boardcast to reveal Sev for the first time, the last update on the UCBN chyron ticker says "Combat helmets: are they really necessary?"

I find that to be an amusing in-joke, seeing as how the protagonists who don't wear helmets in-game tend to survive improbable events, while the grunts who wear helmets themselves tend to die in droves.

anilEhilated
Feb 17, 2014

But I say fuck the rain.

Grimey Drawer

Blind Sally posted:

Also, who in their right mind voted for Rico!?!?!
That would be me. And it's your goddamn fault for introducing him the way you did. Single most memorable moment of Killzone and it's not even in the game.

Anyway, the helmets are entirely necessary as they make it more difficult to see that you're fighting an army of identical clones or something. It's a pretty good in-joke that way.

anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 10:02 on Mar 5, 2015

Delta Green
Nov 2, 2012

Blind Sally posted:

I can't stop laughing at the poll results.

Poor Jan can't catch a break.

Also, who in their right mind voted for Rico!?!?!

I just gave Jan a break. Poor guy deserved it.

Incidentally, anyone noticed that Earth's response would have actually made the situation better for everyone involved?

Delta Green fucked around with this message at 10:49 on Mar 5, 2015

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




nine-gear crow posted:

Here's something amusing I noticed about the Killzone 2 intro: just before the camera pulls away from Visari's boardcast to reveal Sev for the first time, the last update on the UCBN chyron ticker says "Combat helmets: are they really necessary?"

I find that to be an amusing in-joke, seeing as how the protagonists who don't wear helmets in-game tend to survive improbable events, while the grunts who wear helmets themselves tend to die in droves.

I was wonder if one of you were going to mention that or not when I saw the line.

Also,


That hat is ridiculous and I don't like it one bit.

chitoryu12
Apr 24, 2014

nine-gear crow posted:

Here's something amusing I noticed about the Killzone 2 intro: just before the camera pulls away from Visari's boardcast to reveal Sev for the first time, the last update on the UCBN chyron ticker says "Combat helmets: are they really necessary?"

I find that to be an amusing in-joke, seeing as how the protagonists who don't wear helmets in-game tend to survive improbable events, while the grunts who wear helmets themselves tend to die in droves.

Gears of War also made fun of it, where Fenix mentioned that he doesn't wear helmets because they just block his vision. Even Edge of Tomorrow Live Die Repeat mentioned it, with Tom Cruise always hurling his helmet away to keep his peripheral vision.

Erd
Jun 6, 2011

Blind Sally posted:

It makes perfect sense that the enemy's leader, a wonderful amalgamation of Mussolini, Hitler, and Stalin, would be the first image to greet our eyes.

He's... Serpentor?

Neruz
Jul 23, 2012

A paragon of manliness

chitoryu12 posted:

Even Edge of Tomorrow Live Die Repeat mentioned it, with Tom Cruise always hurling his helmet away to keep his peripheral vision.

To be fair considering the thing that is actually quite sensible as knowing what is going to happen is literally his most powerful weapon; thus anything that restricts his ability to perceive the world around him is in fact a terrible idea especially when he doesn't need the helmet anyway.

Cythereal
Nov 8, 2009

I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

chitoryu12 posted:

Gears of War also made fun of it, where Fenix mentioned that he doesn't wear helmets because they just block his vision. Even Edge of Tomorrow Live Die Repeat mentioned it, with Tom Cruise always hurling his helmet away to keep his peripheral vision.

Warhammer 40k also cracks several jokes about it, mostly along the lines of how hot and awful-smelling those helmets get. Then usually getting a mook shot several times in the face while the protagonist comments that he should have worn his helmet.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Cooked Auto posted:

That hat is ridiculous and I don't like it one bit.

Templar, Galactic Space Trucker.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Jobbo_Fett posted:

Templar, Galactic Space Trucker.

My god, it pretty much is a trucker hat now that you mention it. :aaa:3
So does this mean that all ISA higher up wear that or do the hats change per rank?

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Cooked Auto posted:

My god, it pretty much is a trucker hat now that you mention it. :aaa:3
So does this mean that all ISA higher up wear that or do the hats change per rank?

Do ISA soldiers even display ranks on their uniforms? It's been a while since I played KZ2.

I would imagine it to be pretty hilarious if CO's were distinguished by rank based on headgear. Generals probably have to wear a beanie propeller cap.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Jobbo_Fett posted:

I would imagine it to be pretty hilarious if CO's were distinguished by rank based on headgear. Generals probably have to wear a beanie propeller cap.

Well no wonder Adams got pissed and became a traitor then, he didn't get his allotted hat.

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!

Jobbo_Fett posted:

Do ISA soldiers even display ranks on their uniforms? It's been a while since I played KZ2.

I would imagine it to be pretty hilarious if CO's were distinguished by rank based on headgear. Generals probably have to wear a beanie propeller cap.

Most CO's in Killzone don't seem to bother with hats. General Vaughton and Adams displayed their ranks on their uniforms, but I don't think they saw much frontline combat, so it didn't really matter for them. Ranking officers on the ground are dressed pretty much like other ISA soldiers. Don't want to make themselves a target for snipers, right?

w/r/t Jan Templar, the man looks like he's aged 10 years between games (only 2 years passed). Seriously, he's like, 30ish in Killzone 1, but looks to be about 40ish in Killzone 2:



Also, his trucker hat is for his ship, the New Sun. I assume it's something that all crewmembers of the New Sun can get and hope that there's a whole bunch of engineers and pilots on board wearing similarly goofy hats:



Erd posted:

He's... Serpentor?

I don't what that is. Who is Serpentor?

Cythereal
Nov 8, 2009

I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Blind Sally posted:

Also, his trucker hat is for his ship, the New Sun. I assume it's something that all crewmembers of the New Sun can get and hope that there's a whole bunch of engineers and pilots on board wearing similarly goofy hats:

Looks very similar to the caps worn by several real-life navies, including the labels and badges for the specific ship. Has the laurels you can see on the guy on the right in this picture, which I think denotes the ship's captain.

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Cythereal posted:

Looks very similar to the caps worn by several real-life navies, including the labels and badges for the specific ship. Has the laurels you can see on the guy on the right in this picture, which I think denotes the ship's captain.

The issue is that Templar doesn't wear his hat properly, so its more resting on top of his head which gives it the heightened (And slightly comical) appearance we see in the intro.

Cooked Auto
Aug 4, 2007

If you will not serve in combat, you will serve on the firing line!




Blind Sally posted:

w/r/t Jan Templar, the man looks like he's aged 10 years between games (only 2 years passed). Seriously, he's like, 30ish in Killzone 1, but looks to be about 40ish in Killzone 2:

Fighting against the Helghast makes men out of boys and grizzled old veterans out of men.

FoolyCharged
Oct 11, 2012

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Somebody call for an ant?

You know, replace the helghast with spacebugs and I'd swear the landing was accidentally done on Klendathu.

Cythereal
Nov 8, 2009

I love the potoo,
and the potoo loves you.

Jobbo_Fett posted:

The issue is that Templar doesn't wear his hat properly, so its more resting on top of his head which gives it the heightened (And slightly comical) appearance we see in the intro.

He also isn't on a surface ship with sun he needs to keep out of his eyes, the purpose of those caps in real life navies. :v:

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

Cythereal posted:

He also isn't on a surface ship with sun he needs to keep out of his eyes, the purpose of those caps in real life navies. :v:

He's on the bridge of a ship that floats in space where every source of light outside the ship is a sun :v:

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!
The ship is called the "New Sun" :suicide:

Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!

Delta Green posted:

Incidentally, anyone noticed that Earth's response would have actually made the situation better for everyone involved?

Yeah, the EarthGov in Killzone isn't quite as incompetent as the EarthGovs I've seen in other games. It's a pretty measured response considering Helghan tried to shake off Earth power, decimated swaths of Vekta, and blew up a couple UCN Crusiers.

Monocled Falcon
Oct 30, 2011
Course, then they leave.

nine-gear crow
Aug 10, 2013





Monocled Falcon posted:

Course, then they leave.

Well, duh. It took them, what, a whole week to jump from Sol to Alpha Centauri? Who's got that kind of time to spend hopping back and forth just to make sure the kids are playing nice together? :v:

Jobbo_Fett
Mar 7, 2014

Slava Ukrayini

Clapping Larry

nine-gear crow posted:

Well, duh. It took them, what, a whole week to jump from Sol to Alpha Centauri? Who's got that kind of time to spend hopping back and forth just to make sure the kids are playing nice together? :v:

Maybe they became sublimed and are on a higher plain of existence?

FoolyCharged
Oct 11, 2012

Cheating at a raffle? I sentence you to 1 year in jail! No! Two years! Three! Four! Five years! Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah!
Somebody call for an ant?

I really hope this series ends with earth getting tired of the colonist's poo poo and just invading the hell out of vekta and helghan. I mean at this point they both pretty blatantly violated the rules of their benevolent overlords.

VolticSurge
Jul 23, 2013

Just your friendly neighborhood photobomb raptor.



Blind Sally posted:

I don't what that is. Who is Serpentor?

This guy.

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Sally
Jan 9, 2007


Don't post Small Dash!

:psyduck:

I had to look up video of this guy--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUdmetykD6o

:psyboom:

I didn't think his name would be pronounced that way.

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