Killzone 2: Exclusive Guerilla Interview

Another meaty Killzone 2 feature - we talk to Guerilla's Eric Boltjes and Angie Smets to get every last drop of detail...

Page: 1  2  3  4 

Page 4

Kikizo: The game's out in February. What have you got left to do?

Smets: We're in the polishing and balancing stage. If you don't get the balance right, you really have no fun at all. So it's something you do last, but it's really important to get it right...

Kikizo: Yeah, but haven't you been at the balancing and polishing phase for a few months now?

Smets: For multiplayer, we started our closed alpha gameplay testing last December, that was the first round. And this year in February we had the second round. At that time there were only half the maps - the other four were still being developed. And I think the other four were layout-final by March, and then we did gameplay alpha testing on those as well. So there was definitely some overlap, but everybody's testing and polishing now.

Kikizo: It's been rumoured that the game is in fact finished, and that the reason it isn't coming out this year is that Sony wants to avoid putting it into competition with Resistance 2.

Smets: The time that we still have left is definitely time that we need. As you can see we're still optimising, the frame-rate is still [inconsistent], there are collision errors in there... specifically for multiplayer the whole bug-fixing process, period. A lot of the bugs there will only happen if you have a full game. If you're a programmer and you have a bug fix, you need 32 people to see if your bug-fix actually fixed the bug! And I think that's really why for online multiplayer the process is so much longer, and of course because of the public beta trials, where you have to start really slow and add more people in as you go along.

Kikizo: So it doesn't feel like a luxury, having this extra time...

Smets: It doesn't feel like a luxury! [laughs] The guys are in crunch time.

Kikizo: Well just so you know, we don't think there's anything wrong with changing release dates for strategic purposes. If I were in Mr Yoshida's position, with both Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 in the offing...

Smets: Yeah, it would definitely make sense. I imagine [the winter release] would have been the same week - that would not have been terribly smart, I agree.

Kikizo: Sony certainly has an impressive line-up next spring. Heavy Rain is looking spectacular...

Smets: I'm really looking forward to it. I think the trailer doesn't do justice to how scary the game will be once you play it.

Kikizo: And do you think Killzone 2 is going to be the definitive multiplayer experience on PS3?

Boltjes: It's really quite a unique experience, you know - the Killzone universe, the multiplayer features we have, and I really hope it's going to do well on the PS3 obviously.

Killzone 2's out in February. Interview by Adam, words by Edwin.

Page: 1  2  3  4 

MORE INTERVIEWS >>