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Blind Sally posted:I spent the last night looking for this gif and I couldn't find it. It's truly a tragedy. nvm, found it:
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Jun 20, 2016 15:34
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Blind Sally posted:nvm, found it: 
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Jun 20, 2016 16:44
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They're all Wankels, I agree.
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Jun 20, 2016 16:45
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Blind Sally posted:nvm, found it: Is this also a shakespeare?
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Jun 20, 2016 17:54
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Carlioo posted:Is this also a shakespeare? It sure looks like one.
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Jun 20, 2016 18:05
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I am so pumped for this 
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Jun 21, 2016 06:11
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Marshal Radisic posted:We've just started, so there isn't much to talk about yet, but there's two things I've been wondering about lately. After working my way through the LPs, I'm wondering if the the gameplay and the storytelling of the Killzone series are in conflict. I mean, you guys have pulled out a lot of associations and themes from the art design and the cutscenes...but games 2 and 3 have you in a Call of Duty mode of run-run-run-shoot-shoot-shoot that keeps the player more focused on simply surviving rather than paying attention to the environment and story, and a lot of what you've guys have talked about regarding the backstory of the conflict comes from outside sources. I'm not entirely sure it could be remedied while keeping the gameplay the same; in this sort of game, diary-reading would just kill the tempo. I'm tempted to say something like Killzone's friendly rival Resistance might be a better fit; the player is a lone character behind enemy lines, so there's an excuse not to be in firefights all the time and to search nooks and crannies. (Speaking of which, Resistance: Fall of Man is something that needs a decent LP. There's weird stuff going on with the story in that one.) I have responses to these questions, I swear, I've just been really busy the few days. I'm about to go to bed so I'm just jotting down notes so I don't forget what I want to talk about. For the first question: something something The Fifth Element something Spec Ops: The Line something General Adams something Joseph Capelli was mishandled. For the second question: I think crow summed up my thoughts better than I could have. I just don't think there's space in the narrative for Natko anymore, just as there was no space for Hakha. Their story arcs are done. If anything, the fact that they're included in co-op is a nice touch since you can imagine they continued to fight alongside their pals and because I really appreciate when devs put in a bit of effort to differentiate between co-op characters rather than just having a second copy of the main character. (I'm looking at you, Halo 1)!
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Jun 23, 2016 06:55
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Okay. So ultimately, I don't think the story and gameplay are in conflict and I have a few reasons for this opinion. First off, Guerrilla has been pretty careful with the Killzone Trilogy so that there are always two simultaneous narratives. In all of the trilogy (let's ignore games outside of the trilogy for a moment), there's always the narrative of "the soldiers on the ground" and "the people who command them". I'm guessing, but it seems like Guerrilla is really interested in the disconnect between soldiers and their commanders. I mean, we see this narrative design in Killzone 1, 2 and 3. Regardless, the "Soldiers" narrative is always focussed purely on survival and combat. Goals and objectives are narrow and short-sighted. You can't see the long-game, so you focus on the immediate battlefield. The "Command" narrative always has its own drama, but it tends to be more personal and political in nature. It's important in that it gives us a greater overall view of the conflict. There's no time with the "Soldiers" for any clever foreshadowing, so the "Command" narrative is the plot device that drops those hints of the future for us. If the characters from the "Soldier"narrative never interact with the characters from the "Command" narrative, then so be it. It's not that important anyways. Think about Luc Besson's The Fifth Element for a moment and compare Bruce Willis's Corbin Dallas character to that of Gary Oldman's Zorg character. Corbin Dallas is an ex-soldier working a poo poo job. He's just trying to get by and is really focussed on the day to day tasks of life. When we first meet him his big goals of the story are driving his lovely taxi and not getting more points on his license. When the plot kicks into gear, it becomes much more focussed on the task of reclaiming the element stones and surviving whatever the forces of evil throw his way. By comparison, Zorg is very much playing the
(As an aside, this is why collectibles works in Killzone: Liberation. Templar is basically a lonewolf behind enemy lines. Scrounging for ammunition and intelligence makes perfect sense as a special operative. Like Narville, he even has a direct link to command through his radio uplink, directly communicating with his superiors through Luger and Batton. In Liberation, the story is basically told through the gameplay though, so you really only have one narrative as Templar bridges the gap between "Soldier" and "Command"). If Killzone didn't have what I see as a dual-narrative thing going on, I might expect gameplay to be different so that it reflects the story a little better. However, in that case you might wind up with a Spec Ops: The Line kind of thing where you get generic gameplay and people trying to justify it as a meta commentary or something. I don't believe that's the case. With regards to Killzone 1, I believe Guerrilla were truly trying to make the most enjoyable gaming experience they could. Remember, the game they had made right before Killzone 1 was Shellshock Nam '67--that game plays like a bad knock off of the Conflict: Desert Storm games. No, Spec Ops: The Line was told purely from the perspective of Walker and his squad. Killzone 1 always had the benefit of a dual-narrative. The gameplay wasn't purposely dull or bad--Guerrilla really just wanted it to feel "grounded" or "realistic". This shouldn't come at the expense of the game being fun, so in later iterations, Guerrilla switched up the gameplay. For the better, I might add. If they hadn't, I probably wouldn't have taken the time to play these games and enjoy them so much that I'd want to treat them like a Shakespeare. Finally, to address Resistance, that game did some interesting things with narrative too. With Resistance: Fall of Man, there was almost a dual narrative as well: the "Soldier" narrative, with Nathan Hale just trying to survive, and the "Flashback" narrative where Parker gave us backstory and detail we couldn't have known at the time. It doesn't really work, as Parker just monologues over pictures of maps and charts, but it does give us insight into characters we wouldn't get during gameplay. Speaking of, R:FOM's gameplay is interesting in that sometimes the scrounging for intel really works and sometimes it really doesn't. Levels where Hale needs to crawl through rubble and tunnels and work his way through enemy lines slowly is a great chance to dig for reports or news articles or whatever. However, there's a couple of pure action levels where you're running down the front lines with an army and it feels really out of place and video game-y to be looking for intel. Resistance 2 handles this a bit better, I feel, by removing your character from frontline conflicts and making him a special recon field operative. Then Resistance 3 comes along and ruins the best character in the series. gently caress you, Resistance 3 
Sally fucked around with this message at 06:08 on Oct 28, 2016 |
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Jun 23, 2016 14:16
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Blind Sally posted:
Mind explaining how? I never really payed too much attention to the story in those games. But I thought 3 at least had good gameplay?
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Jun 23, 2016 18:08
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VolticSurge posted:Mind explaining how? I never really payed too much attention to the story in those games. But I thought 3 at least had good gameplay? Not at all. However, I'm gonna need a bit of time to adequately address that. I've been working on that answer for a bit of time now--  --but eventually I will have a long, detailed, and needlessly complicated response.
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Jun 25, 2016 05:02
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  Welcome back for real! We finally get to see some gameplay! Well, sort of... We don't really get to experience any gameplay. You'll see.  Anyways, for the first time in a Killzone game, the story jumps around. So six months after Visari nuked Pyrrhus City and got shot by Rico, here we find ourselves--  --at a massive rally. Only without Visari to give the speeches, Ray Winstone gets the chance to ham it up as Admiral Orlock. It's not bad. Not quite on the same level as Brian Cox, but it hits all the right notes and gets the crowd pumped up. If anyone is gonna replace Visari as the resident speech-giver, Orlock is certainly proving himself capable. As a side note, that mural behind Orlock is the same we saw in Visari's throne room at the end of the last game:  Anyways, Stahl doesn't seem too impressed with Orlock's speech.  No, definitely not impressed at all.  Camera pulls back and we get to see the size and scope of the army that the Helghast leadership was able to put together six months after the initial ISA invasion. It's big. Really big. Like, holy crap, there's still a whole planet of these guys left big. The armada is presumably a lot of what went with Orlock to Konstantine City. Reminder: before Visari nuked Pyrrhus, he had the civilian population evacuated to to Konstantine. I'm assuming Orlock oversaw those operations. Also of note: on the horizon you can see what look like a pair of giant walking mech death machines. They aren't relevant now, but think of them of Chekhov's Mech Death Machines--at some point in the story, someone is going to use them.  Considering how few ISA soldiers were left on Helghan just six months ago, I'd say any survivors are well hosed by this point.  The scene ends with the iconic Helghast triad. In many ways, this feels like it really should have been the game's opening speech. It strikes me as a little more similar in vein to what Visari delivers in the beginning of Killzone 1 and 2. Can't have a Killzone game begin without Visari, I suppose, so here we are getting the propaganda rally after the introduction.  Elsewhere, at one of Jorhan Stahl's major weapons facilities--  --a gondola approaches the facility proper, a massive mountain top factory, heavily armed and armoured. The image of a giant futuristic facility is reminiscent of the ISA base on Vekta that we saw at the end of Killzone 1:  There's a reason for this, but again, it's something I'm going to touch on later.  We finally get control of a character and find ourselves within the goggles of a Helghast uniform playing as part of a Helghast unit, Argus Two. As it turns out, the world doesn't look like a blurry orange hellscape behind those lenses. Vision is fine--if perhaps a bit obscured by numerous readouts on the heads-up display. Spoiler alert, though, so don't get too excited: we aren't actually playing as a Helghast. This section is one big fake-out. Argus Two is actually Alpha Squad; Sev and Rico (and Natko) have infiltrated Stahl's facility.  Another note: this is all Stahl's stuff, no regular Helghast military at all. Observe the symbol. It's not Helghast iconography, it's Stahl iconography. He's the single wealthiest man on Helghan, richer than Visari even. There would be no Helghast without Visari, but Visari wouldn't have been able to create the Helghast without Stahl. You see, Stahl Arms is the single largest arms corporation on the planet. It's focus is primarily on weapons development and production for the Helghast military and they are good at it. Pretty much everything you see worn, used, and driven by the Helghast has been manufactured by Stahl Arms. Though Jorhan Stahl has been the CEO for (presumably) the past several games, it was his father, Khage Stahl, who originally founded the company. Whatever happened to Khage, we'll never know. Dead, missing, retired--it's never brought up. Jorhan Stahl is in charge and that's all the matters. The biggest competitor for Stahl Arms is Visari Corporation. Whereas Stahl Arms focuses on mass-produced firearms, armour, and vehicles for the Helghast infantry, Visari Corp has always been about high-tech, experimental weaponry and medical equipment. That said, Stahl Arms has never been adverse to a little competition and has its own experimental and high-tech weapons division that it has been expanding rapidly--though much of it is still under wraps to even the Helghan High Command.  Moving through the facility, we see a number of things. First of all, the soldiers in the Stahl Arms facility are dressed somewhat differently than the Helghast soldiers we are used to seeing. That's because they're all Stahl's private military, Armoured HAZMAT Soldiers. They get the best and most up-to-date equipment available at the facility. (In combat, they're especially brutal, often armed with Arc Cannons and able to take obscene amounts of fire). We also see a dropship land and offload a pair of prisoners. They're both ISA and the one taking up the rear is Captain Narville himself. They are led away and all we can do is make our way through the facility.  As we get funneled towards the end of the level, we get a chance to see how heavily armed Stahl's personal fortress is. Beyond the soldiers and security drones, Arc Towers ring the mountain as anti-air defenses. Stahl's even got his own personal navy standing watch.  Deeper inside we find a room full of ISA prisoners. You have to wonder if the Helghast High Command or the Helghast military proper know they're here. Regardless, there's nothing we can do for Stahl's guests at the moment.  The "weapons testing" is boring and is bog-standard FPS fare. Tutorials in previous Killzones at least had the decency of being woven seamlessly into a combat level. Shooting at targets is not exciting--though it is funny that the "correct" targets to shoot at are unarmed, surrendering ISA soldiers. Remember what we said about the Helghast being the bad guys?  Continuing on we see some sort of control room with an ominous holographic of Earth. I swear it'll be relevant later, but once again, I'm going to focus on it later.  We move through a testing facility filled with various Helghast HAZMAT soldiers, both of the scientist and military variety, and eventually find ourselves in the execution chamber. "Argus Two" take positions around the sci-fi weapon tripod. (Natko is standing just off camera).  Here we see Stahl giving his own speech. I'm guessing he didn't much care for Orlock's version, so he decided to fly to his secret base to record his own. Like Orlock, Stahl also has a flair for rhetoric.  Unlike Orlock, Stahl has in his possession the commanding officer of the ISA soldiers that killed Visari. As far as Stahl is concerned, Narville might as well have given Rico the order to shoot. Things don't look too bright for Narville, but then he doesn't realize Sev is standing in as his "executioner".  The look on Stahl's face when Sev points the gun at him is priceless. I get the feeling that Stahl isn't used to having things not go his way.   Such indignant rage. Anyways, the screen goes dark at this point and we time-skip back to six months earlier, moments after Rico Velasquez left Visari bleeding out on the floor--  --moments after a horrified Captain Narville and Shawn Natko arrived only to discover they were too late--  --moments after Orlock's fleet returned from Konstantine City--  --and moments after a disillusioned Sevchenko, resigned to his fate, sat down on the steps of Visari Palace and wept.  Next update we get to deal with the immediate fallout of these events.  Presented against my better judgement and the will of Blind Sally, in loving memory of CJacobs, and in defiance of peace and sanity, I give to you here and now, Let Us Playeth Killzone the 3rd, the Alternate Reading. Joining me for the duration of these first three chapters are visiting scholars ChaosArgate and Jobbo_Fett.   I [Crow] have been progressively dragging ChaosArgate closer and closer into my orbit of insanity via Ace Combat and now Killzone, and he has, up till now, been a rather good sport about it. Argate has tackled LPs of (among other things), Saints Row IV, No More Heroes 1 & 2, Sleeping Dogs (with Jobbo), and the Restless Leg Syndrome-curingly* amazing Devil's Third (with Jobbo and my LP nemesis Artix). Jobbo_Fett, meanwhile is no stranger to the Killzone LP threads. In addition to joining Argate for Devils Third, Sleeping Dogs and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, he also helmed an LP of 007 Legends with Argate, and is currently running LPs of Panzer Corps and  )* NOTE: Watching the Devil's Third LP will not cure Restless Leg Syndrome. Please consult a doctor before viewing.  There's been some changes between Killzone 2 and Killzone 3. Some not-so-good, but for the most part, they're improvements. I want to talk about them, but we didn't really get any gameplay this video, so instead I'm going to hold off on that for the next update.     The knuckleheads all return. It's sort of a poorly kept secret at this point. Thanks to co-op, it's pretty easy to see the "SEV" and "NATKO" words hovering above each player's character. With that in mind, it's not too hard to put two-and-two together and realize that the other member of Argus Two is actually Rico Velasquez. Since we're starting this game in media res, we currently have no idea why the three of them are dressed up in Helghast uniforms infiltrating one of the largest weapons facilities on the planet. It'll all make sense in due time now that we find ourselves back at the end of Killzone 2. Just wait.  Captain Narville also returns. Although how he got from were he was at the end of Killzone 2 to being a POW at the hands of Stahl is all still a mystery to us. What matters is Alpha Squad seem to be staging a prison break. Like the others, we'll soon find out how Narville got to this point.   HAZMAT Soldiers Stahl's personal elite soldiers. Heavily armed and armoured. Their armour lets them take more punishment than most other Helghast regular army soldiers and their experimental weapons mean they're one of the most dangerous enemies in the game. Fortunately, there's aren't a lot of them. We see a handful hanging around Stahl Arms and there's usually a couple around Stahl himself. Since it's usually the Arc Cannon they're armed with, taking them out from a distance is usually the best tactic--that heavy ordnance. One annoying thing about this enemies is that you can't pick up their Arc Cannons when they die. I guess they're finger-printed or something, if we're going to give Guerrilla the benefit of the doubt. What that means in practical terms is that there's no Arc Cannon gun in Killzone 3.  Lightning Gun (and nine-gear crow's "Lightning Gun Returns" joke)There are also hooded varients of the HAZMAT soldiers. They function as scientists and you don't really see them in combat. They can be seen milling about Stahl Arms working on the various experimental equipment his facility produces.   Arc Cruiser Advanced offshoots of the standard Helghast Cruiser utilizing petrusite ore. Includes a long-range warp jump generator and four under-belly mounted petrusite cannons, perfect for air-to-ground bombardment and long-range ship combat--a weakness present in the original Helghast Cruisers that allowed the ISA Cruisers to wreak havoc on them. They carry far fewer leech pods than standard Helghast Cruisers, presumably because the petrusite generator take up that space. Although it's probably also because the petrusite cannons make for better ranged combat, meaning there's less of a need for the Helghast Cruisers to rely on boarding tactics for victory. Regardless, they're better at standing up against ISA Cruisers in a straight fight.    Just a bunch of returning weapons in this video. The StA-52 Assault Rifle and StA-18 Pistol remain the standard go-to guns for the Helghast military. They function the same as they did in Killzone 2.  Stahl Arms Deep South Facility concept art:   Stahl Arms skybox:  Concept art of the HAZMAT scientists in Stahl Arms:  More concept art of Stahl's HAZMAT soldiers: 
Sally fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Jul 7, 2016 |
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Jun 26, 2016 04:05
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I'll admit,I loved the fakeout. My friend,a Helghast fanboy,got really salty and almost threw his PS Move controller at the TV in frustration. And yes,he also thinks the Zeons are the good guys in Gundam,before anyone asks. It makes me wonder whether the Devs put that in on purpose to troll the "Sieg Helghan" guys.
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Jun 26, 2016 04:38
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One thing that struck me about KZ3 is the sound. The guns, especially the Helghan ones, all sound sharp, crisp, and loud when shot.
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Jun 26, 2016 07:15
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oh yes oh god yes form the head FORM THE HEAD unghhhh...
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Yeah, I've always enjoyed the gun sound design in this series. It's something that they've gotten consistently right since even Killzone 1--it's only gotten better as it's gone on. Also, next update is gonna have some proper shooting badguys gameplay, so I wanted to preempt it by announcing the thread's contest.  That's right, I'm bringing it back. The thread death contest has returned, and this time I'm confident we'll actually get to the end of the game to declare a winner! Basically, crow and I are going to play the game in about equal parts. Don't worry, the entire LP won't be co-op--we just wanted to show it off a bit in the beginning. For the most part, it'll be played straight through as single-player, though we're going to take turns on different levels. For the contest, you only have to guess two numbers: how many times I die and how many times nine-gear crow dies. Once you've guessed, you cannot change your numbers. The person whose two numbers are the closest to being correct wins--we play by Price is Right rules, so it's the closest guesses without going over. Also, guesses cannot be identical, though you can guess the same number for one person. That is to say, this is a legitimate guess: Example Goon 1 posted:Blind Sally: 10, nine-gear crow: 8 And this is a legitimate guess: Example Goon 2 posted:Blind Sally: 10, nine-gear crow: 34 But this is NO LONGER a legitimate guess: Example Goon 3 posted:Blind Sally: 10, nine-gear crow: 8 As "Example Goon 1" had already made that guess. Too slow, "Example Goon 3"! Winner gets an avatar lovingly purchased for them by nine-gear crow. Sally fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Jun 28, 2016 |
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Jun 28, 2016 05:51
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Blind Sally posted:Yeah, I've always enjoyed the gun sound design in this series. It's something that they've gotten consistently right since even Killzone 1--it's only gotten better as it's gone on. Blind Sally: 7; nine-gear-crow: 23
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Jun 28, 2016 06:11
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I have three words for anyone thinking of lowballing this contest: "Kaznan Jungle Meltdown"  Get. loving. IN.
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Jun 28, 2016 09:29
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Blind Sally: 39 Nine-Gear Crow: 50
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Jun 28, 2016 11:06
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Blind Sally: 23 nine-gear crow: 30
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Jun 28, 2016 13:44
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Blind Sally 6 Nine Gear Crow 48 (EDIT: Hrm... I'm sensing a trend here...)
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Jun 28, 2016 15:18
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Blind Sally: 15 Nine-Gear Crow: 25
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Jun 28, 2016 15:30
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Blind Sally: 34; nine-gear-crow: 10 I believe in crow! no I don't e: VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV A good vote FoolyCharged fucked around with this message at 18:28 on Jun 28, 2016 |
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Jun 28, 2016 18:07
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Blind Sally: 69 Nine-Gear Crow: 420
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Jun 28, 2016 18:12
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CJacobs posted:Blind Sally: 69 drat, I was gonna say this too! Wait Blind Sally: 420 Nine-Gear Crow: 69
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Jun 28, 2016 18:29
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Blind Sally: 23 Nine-Gear Crow: 23 FNORD
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Jun 28, 2016 18:29
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I will go against the curve and say Nine-Gear Crow: Not that many, I guess, no big deal. Blind Sally: LIKE A MILLION
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Jun 28, 2016 18:50
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Octatonic posted:I will go against the curve and say To be honest, neither crow or I kept track of our numerous deaths, so I'm interested to see which way the curve goes.
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Jun 28, 2016 18:59
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Blind Sally posted:To be honest, neither crow or I kept track of our numerous deaths, so I'm interested to see which way the curve goes. I think what's most important is who can get the most sick-rear end MLG PRO GAMER supercut video with his footage.
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Jun 28, 2016 19:06
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Blind Sally: 20 Nine-Gear Crow: 50
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Jun 28, 2016 19:11
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This is Killzone so we have to make sure to include subtle references to nazis in places. Blind Sally: 14 Nine-Gear Crow: 88
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Jun 28, 2016 19:14
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Blind Sally posted:To be honest, neither crow or I kept track of our numerous deaths, so I'm interested to see which way the curve goes. It does not matter, for you see, no matter who loses, you both win 
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Jun 28, 2016 20:09
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Blind Sally: 3 Nine-Gear Crow: 5 I have faith in you guys 
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Jun 28, 2016 21:00
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 Here we are, back at the ending of Killzone 2. Pyrrhus City has been nuked, nearly all of the ISA's ground forces on Helghan have been eradicated, and Visari is dead at Rico Velasquez's hands.  No, Rico, nothing is okay.  For all those Helghast fanboys and girls who hoped that Visari would survive his gunshot wounds, this moment is for you. Scolar Visari is dead. ISA medics could not resuscitate him and even declared his time of death.  IT'S OFFICIAL: AUTARCH SCOLAR VISARI IS DEAD  This scene very clearly shows off Narville's role in the story: he's the connection between the ISA grunts on the ground and the commanders who are overseeing the battlefield. As one of those grunts on the ground, this gives Narville a privileged position--a unique point of view that the rest of the ISA soldiers, including Sevchenko and Velasquez, aren't privy to. This is why he's the Captain. This is why the ISA need to follow his orders. He knows things they don't and can act accordingly. This may very well seem obvious and, well, it should be. I'm emphasizing it, though, as it's about to become a critical plot point. (Believe it or not).  The game also gives us a brief taste of what the relationship dynamics are going to be for Killzone 3: Rico and Narville are beyond pissed off at each other, Sevchenko is caught between the power struggle of these two gently caress-off massive egos, and Natko has been dropped from the plot with such speed that he has literally disintegrated from the timeline and no longer exists. It's going to be fun!  Of note, the ISA evac zone is within the blast crater. I mean, I guess that makes sense. The Helghan armada is bearing down upon the remaining ISA cruisers so they take cover in the fog of war created by the blast to protect themselves from destruction. Better than just hanging out in the middle of the sky, I suppose. Makes them less obvious targets. And yeah, that's a nuclear mushroom cloud, but Red Dust is a futuristic space nuke. Most of the radiation from the initial blast has already dissipated. That's cloud is probably harmless by now. Which is good, because we're going to drive right into it.  I also want to address a mistake I made in the commentary of this video. Although the generators appear to be glowing green, the arc energy they fire is not. It's just regular petrusite. In fact, I don't think we're supposed to identify the green generator glow as irradiated petrusite at all and wonder if it was a colouring error on the part of the animators. It's been a while since the Killzone 2 LP, but as far as in-universe timelines are concerned, Pyrrhus has only JUST been bombed. No one's had a chance to study irradiated petrusite yet. (Though we know the timeline in this game jumps six months into the future, so hey).  Anyways, we're going back into Pyrrhus. Last time we were there it was already being bombed to pieces, but it's reached a whole new level of destruction. Before it looked like a warzone, but now it's been absolutely devastated. Not a lot to note here. We go through some buildings and see some ruined atriums and paintings--but it's not really anything we haven't seen before.creatures and vehicles from Killzone 2 reappear and we see some concept art as artwork in the background, but nothing really important is going on besides the fact that it's in ruins.  We do come across irradiated petrusite. Now this is new. It was hinted at in the second game when Templar crashed the New Sun into the petrusite grid and blew it up:  (The image here doesn't totally do it justice, but in the cutscene the explosive blasts are a greenish colour instead of the bluish-white hue we've come to expect with petrusite).  Once again, petrusite plays the role as the B Plot to the main story. Right now it's not important that we delve into the specifics of irradiated petrusite, it's important that we realize that a certain opportunistic someone has already sent in soldiers to collect samples for research. Note the armour: they're the same new Helghast soldiers we saw in Stahl Arms in the first chapter. The soldiers work for Stahl.  We also learn that, for as volatile as petrusite is, irradiated petrusite is even more volatile. The electrical currents will grab onto anything that moves quickly enough. Something about kinetic energy? Who knows. Make no sudden movements around irradiated petrusite, though.  Returning to Alpha Squad and Avenger Convoy, we see that Narville has managed to regroup a number of soldiers back to the cause. We have a number of vehicles as well. A bunch of them returning from the previous game and some new ones. They're just in time for us to get pelted by Helghast gunfire. In fact, this gets brought up--  And here it is--Killzone 3 is turning a blinding spotlight on the different points of view on a battlefield. What we have is different people with different views of the battlefield who all have different opinions, but not all of them have the same information. This is going to become a core conceit of this game and will lead to some interesting storytelling. But first, because I want to make sure I'm being clear about this, here is a diagram demonstrating my point:  Okay, so at the very top of the diagram is the ISA general that was talking to Narville. We don't know who they are and honestly it doesn't really matter. They aren't really in the game other than the fact that they give orders to Narville who then passes on the orders to his troops. The general sits at the top because he's in charge. Also, because they have the greatest view of the battlefield. They have the most intel. They have to make decisions that impact hundreds or thousands of soldiers, decisions that will impact the very tide of war. They're playing Risk while Sev and Rico play Checkers. The general is also literally above everyone because they are sitting in an ISA cruiser floating about the planet's surface. Narville sits in the middle. He's the bridge between the guys on the ground and the general in the sky. His of the battlefield is limited by the fact that he is on the ground with Avenger Convoy and Alpha Squad. However, thanks to his connection with the generals, he has a greater understanding of the battlefield (and thus a broader point of view). Sev and Rico are wholly grunts on the ground. They focus on what is in front of them because that's what they need to do to survive. There seems to be a bit of push and pull in the storyline between a great overall narrative and then the gameplay segments which focus on just shooting and surviving. When we play as Sevchenko, we are caught up in his world. He doesn't really know what's going on other than the fact that Helghast are running at him trying to kill him. He isn't away of what is over the horizon, he's working with what limited information he has--what information Narville is able to share with him. Which brings me to what's going on here. In the very beginning of the game, Narville clearly got some orders from the generals to get the gently caress out of there. What Narville knows is that the ISA invasion force has been decimated. Aside from a few scattered pockets on the ground, his Avenger Convoy is the only functional spearhead on the planet. Backup from the ISA cruisers is impossible because there's only three left and they're having a helluva time holding off the approaching Helghan armada. By then end of the video, Narville reveals to us that at least 12 Helghast cruisers have pinpointed the location of the remaining ISA ships and are closing in. Time is running out, and fast. Narville knows that if they don't make a beeline to those cruisers, there's a very real possibility that none of the soldiers in his convoy are going home, including himself, Sev, Sev and Rico don't really know all of this. What they know is that Narville is rushing his forces across the ground, forcing them to spread themselves thin while they work their way down the highway through Helghast occupied Pyrrhus. They point out that it's not such a good idea to rush as, after all, it'll allow the Helghast to more easily pick them off. This is true and, as we see, the Helghast do indeed inflict pretty heavy casualties on the convoy. What they don't realize is that there really isn't time to slow down and consolidate their forces. If they did that, the ISA cruisers would either get destroyed waiting for them or be forced to flee without them. So we have a situation where Narville is correct in rushing the ISA forces despite opening them up to greater casualties, and where Sev and Rico are correct in realizing that waiting for the ISA forces to regroup will allow them to better defend against a Helghast attack. They're caught between a rock and a hard place. While neither choice is ideal, it's interesting how Guerrilla chooses to present it. Since you're playing as Sev, the game seems to portray his option as the "correct" one. Since Narville is a bit displaced from the main character (Rico spends way more time with Sev than Narville does), his choice seems to get portrayed as the "incorrect" one. I'm still not sure if this was a conscious decision, but perhaps we can decide as a thread as the game goes on.  If ever there was a case to be made for Killzone 3 having an unsung MVP, it’s definitely Corporal Hooper. Hooper is Narville’s right-hand man throughout Killzone 3, his logistics and procurement officer. Crow compares him in the video to Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly from M*A*S*H, who filled a similar role as being the hyper-competent yet quietly understated workhorse character who keeps everything running smoothly for our outrageous heroes. Alongside Sev, Hooper is one of the few Capital-G “Good” soldiers left in the ISA’s ranks. He has a specific job to do, and he does it well, without running his goddamn mouth off about it or expecting his rear end to be kissed with validation like Rico constantly does. New gameplay summed up in a gif:  You can now slide and there are brutal melee kills. Okay, so if you're sprinting and you press the crouch button, you will start sliding. If you slide into cover, you will automatically snap against the wall. It's useful for getting to safety quickly. If you do this while charging an enemy, you will slide tackle them, knocking them to the ground. That part is loving awesome!! Anyways, little addition to gameplay, but huge fun. Allows you to do some fun things in combat.  Brutal melee is a bit of a step back from the Rambo knife kill thing we had in Killzone 2 but not quite as terrible as the weird damage threshold to trigger a canned animation kill of Killzone 1. You can melee people to stagger them and hurt them--even kill them. But if they are standing in the right position or are near the correct environmental object to activate the trigger, then you can do a canned "Brutal Melee" animation where Sevchenko just straight up murders a dude with his bare hands. This YouTube video is a great summation of what the Brutal Melee mechanic entails: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPJj2mvYMHE Basically, it's a lot of knives through eyes. Now, it's not as effective as the Rambo knife, since you can't use it to absolutely trivialize sections of the campaign even on the hardest difficulty, but it works and is satisfying, so there's that. More returning vehicles. We see various Helghast cruisers, the retrofitted Heghast mining tank, the ISA APC, the ISA tank, and the Exo suit. There's also a new one that gets driven in the cutscenes:  HAMR IFV The HAMR has the firepower of a light tank but is waaaay faster an maneuverable. It functions as an inbetween from the ISA tank and the ISA jeep that we saw used in the previous game. It's armed with a standard ISA .50 caliber M224 HOMAG machine gun and a high-explosive-armor-piercing 35mm autocannon. Not the most powerful ordnance on the battlefield, but it has an extremely high rate of fire that lets it literally hammer targets to dust. Get it? "Hammer"?  More weapons return, notably the Helghast submachine gun. More importantly, we get a new gun:  StA-62 Minigun Thank you, Stahl, you beautiful bastard, for this blessing of the single greatest gun in the game! When mounted, the Minigun has infinite bullets. When unmounted (heck yes, Killzone 3, bless you for letting us unmount them!) it only has 300 rounds. Unfortunately, it burns through those rounds incredibly quickly. The upside to this is that any enemy caught in the crossfire dies basically instantly--also armoured Helghast vehicles are also very susceptible (see: the numerous Helghast Dropships crow and I liquidate). Fortunately, any ammo box found in the gameworld will replenish a Minigun's ammunition to max. Also, ammo boxes never run out of ammo. So basically, no matter what difficulty you play this game on, if you find a Minigun, you better drat well grab it. It's the single most powerful and most useful gun in the game, full stop. Ruined Pyrrhus concept art:  That nuke, though   Note: ISA Crusiers can be seen hovering near the mushroom cloud. Sally fucked around with this message at 05:16 on Jul 23, 2016 |
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Jun 30, 2016 09:17
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CommissarMega posted:Blind Sally: 3 Sorry. We let you down in a single video.
Sally fucked around with this message at 09:43 on Jun 30, 2016 |
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Jun 30, 2016 09:18
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Blind Sally posted:Sorry. That was fast. Also, one thing I forgot to comment on is that the end of the prologue mission is brilliant in that it implies so much. Just the way Stahl reacts to Sev's reveal says so much at what is going to happen in between the beginning of the game proper and up to the point where that happens and how much of an obvious thorn in Stahl's side Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumbass has been. It's perfect.
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Jun 30, 2016 11:45
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Being knocked down isn't a death. 
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Jun 30, 2016 12:03
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Honestly,I hated Narville the first time through,I kept hoping that a Hig would shoot him and then got disappointed when one never did . But looking at it again,and seeing what giant fuckups both Rico and Sev (to a lesser extent) are,I actually like the guy. I honestly get South Burning vibes from the dude-a grouchy old officer trying to keep a bunch of dumbass,chest-bumping meatheads from killing themselves/each other. Except he doesn't die .
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Jun 30, 2016 13:14
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Blind Sally posted:Sorry. No worries. Your failure is your own punishment 
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Jun 30, 2016 14:04
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I can't be the only one starting to get sci-fi Vietnam vibes, am I?
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Jun 30, 2016 15:38
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Jobbo_Fett posted:Being knocked down isn't a death. It counts as a death in multiplayer 
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Jun 30, 2016 16:23
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crow pointed out that I neglected to properly point out the new character we were briefly introduced to. Here' is crow's write-up, which has since been edited into the post:quote:
It's a good write-up, if I do say so myself. Only problem is, the guy in that picture isn't Hooper. Yeah, Hooper is a generic looking ISA space marine guy and it's easy to confuse them, but he's not that generic looking ISA space marine guy in particular. So crow and I quickly went to task getting different screen grabs of Hooper for a new, more accurate, portrait. Unfortunately, they're both hilariously awkward and I love them both and can't decide on which one to keep in the post. Instead, we figured to let the thread decide. Which does everyone prefer:  Catching-flies-in-his-mouth Hooper? or Sad-meme-face Hooper?
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Jun 30, 2016 22:46
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