Talk Playstation 3 News

The original Killzone was released on the PlayStation 2 on November 26, 2004. Sure it wasn’t the “Halo” killer everybody wanted, but the game still yielded success, with a sequel released back in February on the PlayStation 3.

Killzone.com will be hosting events this week, with Guerrilla Games, Seb Downie playing through the whole campaign of Killzone 1. A Retro Tournament will also be hosted on the Beachhead and Southern Hills maps.

This weekend will also have Double EXP weekend, so you can finally put down Modern Warfare 2, or any other title and level up faster in Killzone 2.

Next week there will be a side by side comparison between Killzone and Killzone 2.

Also, the map pack bundle has been reduced to $9.99 for this occasion until December 10th though, so you better grab it fast.

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A Map Pack bundle will be arrive in todays Playstation Store update for Killzone 2. The bundle will contain maps from from Steel & Titanium, Flash & Thunder and Napalm & Cordite packs.

This pack is mainly aimed at someone who hasn’t downloaded any of the packs yet.

The price of this big bundle pack will cost $11.99 for American and £9.99 for the UK.

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The Talk PlayStation server for Killzone 2 is currently up. The delay was my fault as I lost track of time enjoying the nice weather outside.

The server will be up and running for the next 2-3 hours. Hope to see some of you there.

EDIT: the hosting was no success. We never attracted the crowd we wanted. We hope to have more luck next time with other games.

One of the most requested features of the game (again) is the ability to look at a games/server info. Mainly to find out which options are enabled and disabled and which maps have been selected.

More changed include the decrease of damage of the Sentry bots and preparation for the third DLC named ‘Napalm & Cordite’ (more info later this week).

Check the full list of patch 1.28 out after the break which will be out on July 14th.

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The latest patch for Killzone 2 is now available. This patch will take the game to version 1.27 and the following will happen.

• DLC – Enables support for downloadable content pack #2 “Flash & Thunder”, released on June 11th on the Playstation®Store

• Network errors – Improved handling of large message groupings to decrease network

errors on heavy loads. Should decrease some instances of network errors

• Stability – Fix for potential Quick-join stability issues when DLC pack “Steel & Titanium”

is not installed

• Stability – Removal of DLC could result in stability issues when using game pre-sets
  * Stability – Crash fix for potential Search & Retrieve issue
  * Stability – Fix for infrequent hang on loading when using spectator mode
  * Exploit – Search & Destroy objective exploit fix
  * Exploit – Collision fix for map MP04 – Visari Hammer
  * Exploit – Collision fix for map MP07 – Blood Gracht
  * Exploit – Collision fix for map MP07 – Blood Gracht (2)
  * Exploit – Collision fix for map MP08 – Corinth Crossing
  * Exploit – Collision fix for map MP08 – Corinth Crossing (2)

• Stats – Fix for clans not always receiving the clan match win medal
• Controls – Addition of High precision mode option for both Single Player and Multiplayer.
• New accounts will have this mode set as standard and existing users will have to enable it manually.

• Feature – Players will be automatically placed on the same faction,

if they are friends upon using the ‘Join Friend’ option

• Feature – Players will be automatically placed on the same squad,

if they are friends upon using the ‘Join Friend’ option

• Feature – Squads will remain constant over multiple rounds unless disbanded.

• Feature – Faction balancing only checked when entering the game to the pre-game lobby

or spawn-select New faction select screen on spawn-select

• Feature – In-game faction changing now allowed on heavily unbalanced factions
• Feature – Skirmish – All Badges and Abilities are now unlocked for Skirmish mode to

allow users with lower bandwidth network connections to experience the full range
of weapons and abilities available in Multiplayer mode

• Gameplay – Invulnerability when spawning on a deployable spawn-point outside of a

base-camp is now disabled

• Gameplay – Armor of Assault class reduced from 100 to 50 hit-points
• Gameplay – AI and health of the flying Sentry Bots has been tweaked upwards
• Gameplay – Firing rate of the Sentry Turret’s rocket system has been reduced slightly
• Bug – Cooked grenades dealing friendly fire damage despite the option being disabled
• Bug – DLC Pack 1 “Steel & Titanium” front end text fix for Japanese sku
• Moderation – Enhanced moderation tools for SCE Moderators
• Killzone.com – Revived players now appearing correctly in Battle Replays
• Misc – Various minor bug fixes

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With the prize being a Limited Edition Steelbook copy, the only thing you have to do is draw a picture that will blow them away.

SCEE will be giving away 17 copies and the only limitation to his competition is that you are registered on the PlayStation Forums.
The rules:

All you need to do is draw a picture depicting the peace that should follow between the ISA and Helghast after the war on Helghan…. and you must do it using pencils, crayons and felt tips only!

Sign-up

Eric Boltjes, Head of Multiplayer Design for Killzone 2, sat down with the people at the PlayStation Blog and answered some questions.

He announced Guerrilla will finally make it possible to join a friend in a game and in the same faction as well. But it comes at a cost.

The ‘Join Friend’ option has been changed so that the player can automatically join a friend’s faction and squad – even if faction balancing is on.

This might cause some trouble as clans will try to exploit this option by helping out their friends. We wonder how much the imbalance will be.
Guerilla Games has also enabled the ability to manually switch from factions if you’re in a team with more players then the other team. Switching the other way around won’t be possible. Also players who switch will hold onto their points (sound logical).

For Skirmish mode they have enabled all badges to be active so people could get use to what the different badges offer and precisely do. Many people have said this should have been available from the start to counter certain player advantages and more importantly be activated on Warzone as well. Some of the badges were also tweaked. The Assault Class for example has been made a bit weaker by dropping the Armor ability from 100 to 50 hit points.
The Tactician Badge’s secondary ability (requesting air support) has also been tweaked to make the Sentry Bot more useful. It can aim more accurately now, and its health is a little higher as well.

For the controller a new option will be added

When ‘High Precision’ is switched on, it makes the analog sticks more responsive to small movements. Turned off, the controls behave exactly as they did before the patch. It’s not a radical overhaul of the control system, so the layout and the ‘weight’ of the controls remain the same.
It’s switch it on by default for new players. Existing Killzone 2 players will have the option turned off by default after patching.

The last thing Eric Boltjes talked about was the spawn invulnerability. With custom or mission based (Capture and Hold) spawn spots you will now be vulnerable from the moment you spawn while spawning from the base spots will still give you temporary invulnerability.

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The newest update/patch for Killzone 2 is available and will take the version to 1.25. The file is around 16MB and below are the fixes.

• Fixes minor bugs.
• Adds Steel & Titanium message.
• Speeds up loading screen.
• If you notice once the game is over they shortin time where you could get you’re last kills within 10-15 seconds. Now it’s within 3-5 seconds.

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Sony Computer Entertainment America and MLG Gamebattles have announced the Killzone 2 Online Championships. You will have to get yourself a 4 man team and compete against other teams. So whats up for grabs then? Up for grabs are some amazing PlayStation items, including the authentic Helghast Suits worn at the end of the trailer below, each valued at more than $8,000. Other prizes include StA52 assault rifle replicas, Helghast collectable busts, downloadable content, and collectible Killzone 2 T-shirts.

You can register now to enter this event.

• 1st Place team: T-Shirt, authentic KZN Helghast Suits, DLC codes
• 2nd Place team: T-Shirt, StA 52 assault rifle replicas, DLC codes
• 3rd Place teams (x2): T-Shirt, collectable KZN Busts, DLC codes
• 5th Place teams (x4): T-Shirt, DLC codes
• 9th Place teams (x8) T-Shirt

Total Prize Value = $63,824

Rules

Players per Team: 4
Territories: Residence of US Only
Age Restrictions: Must be 13 years or older to enter

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12 new Trophies for Killzone 2 will be added via the Steel and Titanium DLC pack for Killzone 2. Below are the trophies that will be added. They are all bronze.

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Killzone 2 version 1.24 will fix alot of bugs and others things that were annoying people. The file size of this update is around 57MB. Check out the below information for the full list of fixes. The patch is already available.

• AI – Bots now skipping disabled/destroyed MGs in warzone when requesting mounted guns.
• AI – Do not claim waypoints for the previous character when it’s dead.
• AI – Fixes bots getting stuck trying to arm/disarm S&D object when mission is already over.
• Campaign – Fix for potential progression bug in Salamun Bridge.
• Clans – User name, not users clan displayed in rankings.
• Clans – Winning 10 Clan Challenges causes the user to become stuck on the medal awards screen.
• Controls – Lean & Peak – Zoom hold on and out of ammo it switches between regular/scope view rapidly.
• Cosmetic – Blue screen tint which indicates scout cloak is occasionally enabled and will remain indefinitely.
• Cosmetic – White squares on the grenade counter merge together when displayed in 1080p.
• Create Game – “Badge Combination” option does not work properly.
• Create Game – Online – “clan only” presets apply even after a player leaves a clan.
• DLC – DLC pack 1 – ‘Steel & Titanium’ support.
• DLC – New Loading screens advertising the first DLC pack.
• Exploit – Helghan Industries – Player getting out of map fix.
• Exploit – Radec Academy – User is able to gain access to the roof when revived in a specific location.
• Exploit – Reviving player stuck in wall collision can result in him spawning outside level.
• Exploit – Salamun Market – One sided wall allows people to be seen and shot from outside where they cant see or fire out.
• Exploit – Tharsis Depot – Player can get out of the “normal” play area and can get into some sniper/camp spots.
• Feature – Invite player from friends list.
• Feature – Join Clan Member list added.
• Feature – Join Game – 17-24 players filter.
• Feature – MP – Moving while seeing scores after pressing SELECT.
• Feature – The radar/map now has a larger radius.
• Feature – Three additional ‘Harcore’ Ranks added to the top limits.
• Front-End – Add support to display more than 8 maps when creating a game /challenge/tournament.
• Front-End – Sorting ascending and decending ranks working better in ‘Rankings’.
• Front-End – When in a squad, the Valor Trophy is visible in the Squad Tab, however the users rank is not being displayed on top of it.
• Mods – Official tournament to be displayed first followed by custom created tournaments.
• Mods – Additional functionality made avalable to the in-game moderators.
• Network – Server side fix for full games being displayed incorrectly.
• Network – User is unable to use the ‘Join Clan Member’ tab due to Network Error Code 20002.
• Online – File-synching with the Japanese release of Killzone 2 on the 23rd of April.
• Sound – Turret placing sound continues when killed.
• Stability – Crash when synching gamestate after a full mapcycle.
• Stability – Hang on a screen with a blank message window just before a message appears.
• Stability – Reducing the load on the server related to syncing the buddylist.
• Stats – If a clan wins 24 Clan Challenges and goes to the result screen, the medal acquisition screen, which normally displays when you win 25 games, will display.
• Stats – Number of air-support grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
• Stats – Number of spawn-grenades used by tacticians does not add to the stats of joined user correctly.
• Stats – User sometimes does not receive 1000 valor award when winning 10 Clan Challenges.
• Text – % character not displayed correctly on the creating game dialogue box after selecting to create game.
• Text – If a client receives an invite from a clan which has a ‘$’ character in the clan name, the recipient will get kicked.
• Text – Italian localization fix.
• Text – Japanese localization fix.
• Tournament – Game decides winner if one of the two teams doesn’t spawn in.
• Trophies – Wargod trophy unlocking pre-maturely.

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Steel & Titanium is the name of the first downloadable map pack for Killzone 2. The pack will feature two new maps, here’s a trailer.

The map pack will be released on the Playstation Store on the 30th of April 2009 for $5.99.

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When asked a possible implementation of a party system for Killzone 2, Guerilla Games stated via Twitter that they are investigating the possibilities of adding such needed feature.

We’re investigating various possibilities for implementing a party system.

This is a needed feature because the only other way is to create a clan and not everyone wants to be in a clan.

That’s the question Naughty Dog is asking through twitter.

Though we missed a special/collectors edition with Killzone 2, God of War III will definitely be getting one. Now the question remains if gamers value a 80 plus euro/pound/dollar edition, which usually included an art book and a behind the scene’s disc.

But is that all we want in a special edition? For me no. Example, Fallout 3. The lunch box and bobble head made the choice for my purchase. Grand Theft Auto 4 also had it with the bag, locker box and key chain.
Such special/collector edition make it worth getting.

But what can you include in a Uncharted edition? You tell us.

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If you missed yesterdays announcement, patch 1.21 is now live for Killzone 2.
The download shouldn’t take that long before you can enjoy your game again.