According to Siliconera, Sony is filming a teaser for a new Killzone game, which is likely to be revealed at E3.

The game reportedly takes place after the events of Killzone 3, so the logical guess would be that Killzone 4 is set to be revealed, but there is a Killzone game confirmed to be coming to the PlayStation Vita. Silconera reportedly received part of the text that was reportedly written for a woman, reportedly Killzone villian Aurarch Visari’s daughter:

My sons and my daughters, today we take the first step toward our imperial future.

For years, this once-great nation has stagnated in the shadow of its enemies. Governed by scoundrels who flaunted the ideals established by my father, these traitors… these enemies of our race have diluted and exploited the triad of Duty, Obedience, and Loyalty.

This regime, this corrupt regime, has been dissolved. In its place does rise an era of stability and strength. A time of opportunity born from a promise that we shall return our people to their proper sphere of dominance.

Sony has confirmed that developer Guerilla Games is working on as many as four Killzone titles currently.

Sony has announced a new list of $29.99 PS3 Greatest Hits and it does not disappoint:

• Infamous
• Killzone 2
• Little Big Planet – Game of The Year Edition
• God of War Collection (GOW 1&2 remastered)
• Resident Evil 5
• Dead Space
• Resistance 2
• Soul Calibur 4
• UFC Undisputed 2009

These are all good games and some of them are relatively new. Once again, your ninja-like discipline/unavoidable poverty have saved you from paying $60 for a couple kick-ass titles.

The future is an uncertain, scary place.‚  Why not stay in the comfortable confines of the past. You know, because it’s already happened, what can go wrong?

Guerrilla Games, developers of Killzone 2, the Playstation 3 exclusive did just that and are set to release two quasi-new maps, Beach Head and Southern Hills as part of the Flash and Thunder Map Pack set to arrive after the E3 craziness has calmed down June 11.

While you’ll remember the two environments from the original, Guerrilla promises that “both levels have been completely re-envisioned with the Killzone 2 engine and technology.”

That is indeed good to hear, but what about the maps themselves, if say, you’ve forgotten, or skipped over the original entirely.

Guerrilla explains their maps in such a perfect manner that only their descriptions can suffice. Enjoy.

Beach Head- “the Helghast land on the sandy Vektan beaches forcing the ISA to defend their stronghold. Torrential rain and gale-force winds batter the landscape, with the water-filled craters supplying only limited cover. This harsh terrain requires you to keep your “head on a swivel” as enemies lurk around every corner.”

Southern Hills-“takes the battle to a central Helghast base camp located on a hilltop. This version has been beefed up considerably over the original Killzone counterpart, with smaller structures offering plenty of hiding places that lend itself well to close quarters combat and long range sniping. Take cover when you hear alarms going off, as there might be a radioactive surprise headed your way.”

The Flash and Thunder pack hits the PlayStation Store June 11 priced at $5.99, with a promised game patch coming next week.‚  As always stick around for forthcoming details.

As we reported last week, Killzone 2, the heavy weight first person shooter from Guerrilla Games has multiplayer DLC inbound.

Today, Sony dropped the release date for “Steel and Titanium,” allowing gamers everywhere to frag it up on Thursday, April 30^th.

A post on the official PlayStation blog kindly unveiled the release date for the map pack, but made no mention regarding pricing.

The “Steel and Titanium” map pack includes two multiplayer environments, containing, as Sony puts it, “new gameplay elements and strategic twists.”

The two maps, Wasteland Bullet and Vekta Cruiser offer dynamic and unique challenges for ISA troops and Helghast alike.

Wasteland Bullet is set on a rapidly moving train throttling forward testing your ability to remain cognizant of both your enemies, and the changing environment.

Vekta Cruiser on the other hand is an entirely indoor arena complete with tight corners, staircases, and enemies everywhere. ‚ The walls will undoubtedly be caked with ISA and Helghast blood alike after a savage firefight, hopefully not yours!

The lack of a pricing announcement allows the free notion to continue, at least for a little.‚  What are PlayStation 3 gamers willing to fork over for this double dose of KZ2?‚  Let us know in the comments.

via PlayStation blog

Killzone 2, the epic and awe inspiring FPS from Guerilla Games has been released, praised, criticized, and admired by fans everywhere, but we are a testy bunch.‚  Give a gamer a game, and he’ll probably want some more.‚  All corny, children’s book references aside, DLC in any game is what determines the important aspect of longevity.

So it comes as no surprise that Guerilla Games officially announced an impending multiplayer DLC release scheduled to release at the end of the month.

Revealed on GameTrailers TV early this morning, the Steel & Titanium Pack, features two multiplayer environments, Wasteland Bullet and Vekta Cruiser and aims to keep the fan base blowing each other’s heads off over the PSN.

Watch the GameTrailers TV segment here, which also reveals what Nintendo has planned for E3, the aforesaid KZ2 DLC, Peter Molyneux’s official take on “See the Future,”‚  and the first, exclusive BioShock 2 gameplay!

Wondering if Killzone 2 is right for you?‚  Read on in-depth review of the hell-bent shooter here.

Is Killzone 2 the game for which PS3 owners have been waiting? Will its arrival ease the sting of every SIXAXIS scandal, PR opprobrium, and slapdash port?

I don’t know, and frankly, I don’t care.

I’ve adopted consoles of all shapes and sizes as my own, and like any proud parent, I wish all my charges nothing but success (even when they start wearing faceplates and embracing alternative high-definition formats). When I look at them, I don’t see colors or corporate logos; I see beautiful hunks of plastic and circuitry, all of which I cherish to an equal degree (or maybe, like some parents, I merely pretend to in public, on the rare occasions when I find myself there). When one console goes through an awkward phase, I lavish my attentions on another. I realize that this isn’t an option for everyone, especially in an economy where consoles may soon become more valuable as doorstops (after all, doorstops work for free), but if you can raise the cash, you’ll recoup the initial investment during the time you won’t be spending defending your purchase on message boards.

I won’t venture an opinion on whether Killzone 2 is a “Halo-killer”-the gaming landscape is big enough for both franchises to coexist peacefully. However, I won’t hesitate to report that it’s worth every penny of the hard-earned $60 you’ll be asked to exchange for the privilege of playing it. If you harbor a fondness for well-designed games featuring disembodied arms clasping high-powered weaponry, you’ll enjoy this one immensely.

If you haven’t played the original Killzone, be prepared not to follow its sequel’s plot (I’m speaking from experience here). Shortly after selecting “New Campaign,” you’ll find yourself invading the planet of Helghan, the homeworld of the (presumably) alien Helghast race, as part of a massive Interplanetary Strategic Alliance taskforce. Your motivations for doing so are only vaguely alluded to, but all indications are that the Helghast had it coming. Any qualms you might feel about attempting to, uh…finish the fight in this manner are quickly quelled by their standard issue, villain-class British accents, fascist ideology, striking resemblance to RotJ-era Anakin Skywalker, and frequent attempts to kill you and the rest of your squad. Think The Forever War, without the moral ambiguity (or, if you’d rather spend less time imagining, and more time playing, just think “Starship Troopers”).

It’s a shame that developer Guerrilla Games didn’t demonstrate the same ingenuity in crafting a narrative that it did in honing its product’s gameplay and technical underpinnings, but the cookie-cutter sci-fi plot doesn’t detract from the action, and you won’t have much time to dwell on the lost opportunity once the bullets start flying. Just don’t expect to get to know your enemy before you mow him down.

You’ll spend most of the game fighting to occupy the decimated Helghast capital, Pyrrhus (based on the name, take a wild guess at what sort of victory the successful completion of your mission would represent), an urban center composed of labyrinthine shanty towns, interspersed with imposing, monumental edifices that only a Speer could love. Killzone 2′s level design might be its crowning achievement. Throughout the first half of the game, you’ll be escorting a sluggish convoy through the winding streets of Pyrrhus, which might sound like the antithesis of an action-packed assignment. But the vulnerable column’s reliance on your efforts provides a coherent rationale for all your objectives, and ensures a focus on the collaborative aspects of combat. Though Killzone 2 presents only a moderate challenge on the “Trooper” difficulty level, its inspired level design imparts a genuine sense of accomplishment to be savored after gaining each piece of ground, as well as a palpable sense of fighting on unfamiliar territory against an entrenched foe. On multiple occasions, you’ll spend an entire level taking a roundabout route to a fiercely defended position that was visible from your starting point; often, these extended sequences are followed by exhilarating breakthroughs, when the terrain grows more open and the firefights increase in intensity.

Why a hands on, given some outlets have already published their reviews of the game? Despite having a copy for review, we would prefer to test the game in its actual form after release when the multiplayer servers are full to the brim with brand new Killzone 2 owners. This will give us a better indication of what the retail version is like upon its release. But no worries, this hands-on will go into detail about some of the important points that stuck out to me as I played the game, and if you take a look at the gallery, you’ll get a look at a pair of Blast exclusive screenshots, the first from multiplayer and the second from the campaign.

I tested out the single-player campaign, which takes place on the Helghast’s home planet-the theme, from the introductory movie, is that you are taking the fight back to the Helghast. This is a highly-realistic shooter, in the sense that recoil, aiming, and the damage done by bullets is something you need to be aware of at all times, more so than in many first-person shooters. Just a few shots will take you down, and you need to be aware of this so you can duck behind cover. You can’t just hold steady on a headshot you’ve lined up either and continue to pull the trigger, as enemies will do their best to get out of the way at the same time your gun is flying around from recoil. Luckily, Killzone 2 has a nifty first-person oriented cover system that allows you to take your time lining up shots.

Simply press L2 to “stick” behind cover, like you would in many third-person shooters. Rather than switching to a third-person view though, you remain in first person. In order to stick your head and gun out from cover, press the left analog stick forward and then aim where you need to. You can still use your sights from behind cover by pressing R3, and if you want to scoot back behind cover to avoid enemy fire, just let go of the left stick. It’s an intriguing system with a lot of possibilities-especially since you can “cook” grenades in order to time their explosion and the damage they deal out more effectively–and one you will have to use given the lack of bullets you can take in before going down.

I know the question you are all wondering, and the answer is “yes”. Visually and atmospherically, developer Guerilla has done an excellent job of recreating the look from that infamous E3 movie, so anyone looking to discredit this game for its visuals because they didn’t meet up to the standards set by that presentation is going to have to come up with something new to complain about. This is easily the most graphically powerful first-person shooter out there, with richly detailed environments, weapons, characters, explosions-if you can see it, it looks amazing. In addition to the look, that sense of scale, the epic feel that you get while outdoors because everything around you is just so huge, does a lot to making you feel like you’re in the midst of war, something some games have struggled with when not pulling from source material.

From the moment you are thrown into battle, the scale of everything hits you. You and your men are pinned down, with Helghast having both the height and numbers advantage on you. One of the first things you need to do is blow a bridge up using an RPG, in order to even things out and allow your fellow soldiers to advance-which, by the way, is a visual treat, and a good way to get the player excited about the mission they are embarking on in the title.

Not every area you travel through has that feeling. Much of the time I was playing Killzone 2, I was in the middle of corridors or hallways, moving from one room full of Helghast to the next room full of them until I reached whatever switch or level I needed to get to, before either turning back or moving on to the next room full of Helghast. The more exciting moments take place outdoors, because that’s when Killzone 2 feels like more than another (albeit absolutely stunning to look at) shooter.

Speaking of switches and the like, Killzone 2 uses Six Axis motion controls to perform a variety of tasks. This is something that worked very well for Nintendo and Retro Studios when Metroid Prime 3 arrived on the Wii, as you felt like the Wii Remote was an extension of your own arm and hand, that you were actually controlling the movement of Samus’ hand. In my experience with Killzone 2, I turned a wheel using Six Axis controls, and it was not nearly as intuitive; you needed to depress the triggers to let the game know you wanted to turn the wheel, and then release them and depress them again after resetting your hands on the wheel in order to turn it more. The first time I tried, I left the Helghast across the way alive to see how much time I would have to do the task I was sent to do; bad idea. Make sure you have a clear path before you do this, as the time it takes to move something like a wheel is more than long enough to get shot down. More time will need to be spent using Six Axis controls before coming to a conclusion about their usefulness (or lack thereof), and that’s something you will see in the full review.

This isn’t meant to be an extensive look at the full game that covers every bit of information, but more the things that stuck out to me during my time with it. I played on Hard since I wasn’t trying to plow through the whole game, and the difficulty only seemed very high if you didn’t utilize cover when you were supposed to. Of course, this was also the opening mission, so we’ll have more details on just how difficult Killzone 2 is once the full review is in after the game’s release. For now, I look forward to spending more time with the game, as it has done far more things right than wrong thus far.