PS3 Fanboy

After spending a considerable amount time with Killzone 2, our very own Andrew Yoon has posted a detailed FAQ on the upcoming first-person shooter. It answers just about every inquiry you could currently have about the PS3 exclusive, ranging from basics like when the release date will be or whether the game will include Trophies to more advance questions such as whether the game will match the pre-rendered target from 05. Take a gander at the FAQ here -- we are sure you'll learn something new.

February 27, 2009. Mark that date on your calendar. That's the day when North Americans can finally push back the Helghast to the wasteland planet where they came from. The news came out of G4TV where a Sony representative showed off some footage of new weapons for Killzone 2. Watch that vid after the break.

Interestingly, Feb. 27 is a Friday and not the usual Tuesday release date we're so used to seeing in North America. Friday is typically the day games come out in Europe, and while SCEE refrains from getting specific, they've told Eurogamer: "We are targeting a similar timeframe for the release of Killzone 2 in the PAL regions." To us, a worldwide release on that day seems very likely.

Source 1 - PS.Blog
Source 2 - Eurogamer

Whoa, hold on just a second there. Are we reading you right, PS3 Fanboy? Did you just write that UK gamers could win a chance to play Killzone 2's campaign mode tonight? This very night? As in, a few hours from now? Oh, yes dear readers, yes.

You see, ThreeSpeech just gave word that there's going to be a private 6pm screening of Aliens tonight at VUE Cinema in Leicester Square (that's in London for every non-Brit reading on with jealousy) and along with this screening comes ten PS3 kiosks blazing with Killzone 2's campaign mode. To attend, SCEE is giving away 35 tickets to UK residents above the age of 18 who also have killzone.com membership. If you happen to meet all three requirements, then send an e-mail to competitionsuk @ scee [dot] net with your full name and age in the message body. If you're extremely lucky, Sony will contact you with further deets. Oh, and in case you just want to pop by and take a peek, here's the address: VUE Cinema at 3 Cranbourn Street, Leicester Square, London. Be careful though, there will be Helghast patrolling the venue (we're not making that up, it's true!) Also, don't forget that this is what you'll be missing if you don't make it.

What else could we possibly say about Killzone 2 that we haven't already said? We're sure you've heard us say words like "amazing" or "visceral." With that said, we're sure you have your own words to describe how you feel when looking upon new screens like these. So use your own words (even made up ones) like ... Helghast-a-licious and check out these images.

You can't really see it in our tiny screenshot above (you'll have to check out the high res version here), but this screenshot details one's personal dossier for the online mode of Killzone 2. It's looking like quite a comprehensive list as you can check out the ribbons and medals you've earned, your attained military rank, and your badge usage in addition to the traditional leaderboard rankings and total games played.

It's all really just stuff we've discussed before in our hands-on with the multiplayer mode. So, you'll probably want to read that again perhaps, but this time with the extra visual aids. To see more shots of the multiplayer mode, click here.

[Thanks frankym and raj!]

Sure, Sony didn't show this new Killzone 2 trailer off at their press conference, but instead snuck it up onto their press site after the show. Why? That's a good question, but don't worry your pretty little head about it. Just check the video out for over a minute of new Killzone 2 footage, including some more gorgeous explosions. We don't mind seeing grey and green 90% of the time when these super-colorful explosions are our reward. More explosions please.

This interview is from X-Play and it is by Adam Sessler (who some will decry has a bias against Sony, but all things considered, he knows what he's talking about). Guerrilla Games spokesperson Steven Ter Heide talks a bit about Killzone 2 -- not a lot of information is really new, but if you've been confused about the hype surrounding the game or missed out on some informative bits, this interview may catch you up to the rest of the crowd.

[via PS3Forums]

Some of you may be wondering why Killzone 2 was pushed back to February of 2009. It's not because the game is glitchy and needs extra work, or isn't performing up to the devs standards. Replying to comment #44, it seems SCEA looked at the Fall 2008 lineup and decided that there were enough high-profile titles (and two other shooters: SOCOM and Resistance 2) competing for holiday dollars. Killzone 2 was the one chosen to move into its own space next year. The decision was purely managerial. The game's fine -- the delay is pretty lame, but at least we know the title is doing just fine.

If you're a big Killzone fan, you might've checked out the limited edition Helghast figurine from press photos of previous Sony events. The "figurine" stands at over six feet tall and, well, intimidates you into playing Killzone. Now you have a chance to own one -- someone has put one of these statues up on eBay for your bidding pleasure.

The statue is fiberglass and can be disassembled for ease of transport and you can tote the StA-52 Light Assault Rifle yourself if you want to go cosplay or something. Or ward off the ignorant masses. It's your call.

[Thanks Ether02!]

Despite what you may have heard indicating otherwise, Guerilla Games have come out and said the alleged "leaked" release date for Killzone 2 is not gospel. In the words of their QA manager, Seb Downie, "sorry folks, as before, please take any release dates, or months with a grain of salt ... If we haven't announced it, it is not gospel." That's really all there is to say. If you don't hear a release date straight from developers' mouths, it's probably safe to say you shouldn't trust that date as far as you can throw it. Since you can't throw a date (unless you're a particularly rude person), well, you get the idea.

[via Joystiq]

We love Killzone 2 as much as you do, so we're bringing you some footage that's touted as new and some commentary, also all new. There's a lot of talk about dynamic lighting and the use of a proprietary engine to bring us the fantastic lighting details in the game, so it's worth it just to hear that. If not, well, you get to see some excellent gameplay. We aren't sure if this game is going to hit shelves anytime soon, but we've been waiting for several years ... what's one more?

Because we just can't get enough of Guerrilla Games' high-profile Killzone 2, we're crashing another interview party that talks about environmental hazards and new gameplay elements. Instead of beating around the bush, we're going to dive right in and pick out all the juicy berries growing on the branches.

• The Helghasts have turned the environment of their home planet into weaponry, like the ARC weapon that harnesses lightning as firepower. While not directly an environmental hazard, there are other things planned to discuss. Like lightning?
• You can't choose different characters to play as in Killzone 2, since you follow the journey of Sev. You will meet up with buddies who have varied abilities, but as far as personal choice goes, you've got Sev. Luckily, he can wield most weapons ... just two at a time.
• Too early to confirm vehicles, but elements from Liberation, like boss battles and healing allies, will probably make appearances.
• You can jump in Killzone 2, but you can't jump and fire your weapons at the same time. There will also be a lot of context-based actions like leaning and peeking against and around things.
• No word on voice actors yet, but it almost sounds like the devs are hiding some bigger names than we'd expect.
• Better AI is a must, what with all the destructible environments and explosive bits found in the battlefield. Enemies and squad allies need to be aware of all that and each other, crafting complex attack and defense strategies on the go.

On a final note, Guerrilla Games gave a nod to the Blu-ray camp, saying the graphics and level of detail found in the game could only be done with large storage space. "It is not a luxury to have Blu-ray, but rather a necessity, as compression only gets you so far. I mean, the level that we showed at E3 and Leipzig topped out around 2GB! Also having the CELL and SPUs means we can offload all of our physics processing to an SPU, or process AI using the SPU's." We're excited to hear more about the game, especially a solid release date. However, we don't expect it to come out anytime soon -- we want them to relax and craft an excellent gaming experience for us.
[Via Digg]