Category: Games

Prince of Persia
Genre(s)	Cinematic platformer Action-adventure
Developer(s)	Broderbund Red Orb Entertainment Avalanche Software Ubisoft Montreal Pipeworks Software Gameloft Ubisoft Quebec Ubisoft Pune Ubisoft Montpellier Evil Empire
Publisher(s)	Broderbund The Learning Company Mattel Interactive Ubisoft Gameloft
Creator(s)	Jordan Mechner
Platform(s)	MS-DOS Android Java ME Microsoft Windows iOS Xbox Xbox 360 Xbox One Xbox Series X/S Amiga Apple II Atari ST Dreamcast Master System FM Towns Mac OS X Game Boy Advance Game Boy Color GameCube Nintendo DS Nintendo Entertainment System PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 PlayStation 5 PlayStation Portable SAM Coupé Genesis Super NES TurboGrafx-CD Wii, NEC PC-9801, Sharp X68000, Amstrad CPC, Game Boy, Sega CD, Macintosh, Game Gear, BlackBerry, Nintendo 3DS Nintendo Switch
First release	Prince of Persia October 3, 1989
Latest release	Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown January 18, 2024

Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. It is centered around a series of action-adventure games focused on various incarnations of the eponymous Prince, set in ancient and medieval Persia.

The first two games in the series, Prince of Persia (1989) and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame (1993), were published by Broderbund. Prince of Persia 3D (1999), named for being the first installment to use 3D computer graphics, was developed by Red Orb Entertainment and published by The Learning Company on PC; the Dreamcast version was developed by Avalanche Software and published by Mattel Interactive. Ubisoft bought the rights to the franchise in 2001 and rebooted it with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003). Ubisoft has since developed and published five additional entries in the series: Prince of Persia: Warrior Within (2004), Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones (2005), Prince of Persia (2008), Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (2010), and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024), as well as a number of spin-offs and games for mobile devices.

Outside of the games, the franchise includes a film adaptation based on The Sands of Time, written in part by Mechner, and released by Walt Disney Pictures in 2010; a graphic novel; and the Lego Prince of Persia toyline. Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed franchise is considered to be the spiritual successor to the series.^[1][2][3]

Games[edit]

Original trilogy[edit]

The first game in the series was created by Jordan Mechner after the success of Karateka. Drawing from multiple general sources of inspiration, including the One Thousand and One Nights stories,^[4] and films like Raiders of the Lost Ark^[5] and The Adventures of Robin Hood,^[6] the protagonist's character animation was created using a technique called rotoscoping, with Mechner using his brother as the model for the titular prince.^[7] The original Prince of Persia, with its more than 20 platform ports, is one of the most ported games in video game history.^[8][9]

Mechner enrolled in New York University's film department, producing an award-winning short film during his time there, before returning to design and direct a sequel to the original game.^[10] The sequel, Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, was developed internally at Broderbund with Mechner's supervision. The game, like its predecessor, received critical acclaim and high sales. Broderbund was subsequently purchased by The Learning Company,^[11] which was later acquired by US game company Mattel Interactive.^[12] In 1999, Prince of Persia 3D was developed and released under Broderbund's Red Orb label.^[10] Released for PC and the Dreamcast only,^[13] it was criticized by many users as being buggy, and was a commercial disappointment.^[10] The Broderbund/Learning Company's games division, the assets of which included the Prince of Persia franchise, was subsequently sold to Ubisoft.^[14]

The Sands of Time series[edit]

Mechner, who owned the Prince of Persia intellectual property, was brought in to work with Ubisoft on a reboot of the franchise, titled The Sands of Time, although he was originally wary after the failure of Prince of Persia 3D.^[15] The team they worked with was also working on Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: their aim with the game was to "breathe new life into the action-adventure genre".^[16][17]

Mechner did not take part in the production of the next game, Prince of Persia: Warrior Within, and he commented on finding the dark atmosphere and heightened level of violence unappealing.^[18] The changes also provoked mixed reactions from critics, but sales were strong and a third game, eventually titled Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, went into production.^[19] For The Two Thrones, the developers and artists tried to strike a balance between the light, cartoon-like tones of The Sands of Time, and the grittier mediums of Warrior Within.^[20]

A fourth installment in The Sands of Time series, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands, was released in May 2010.^[21] The Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game filled in some of the narrative gap between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within, whereas the PSP, Wii, and the DS versions each feature their own alternative storylines. The game was released as a tie in to The Sands of Time film adaptation.^[22]

Trilogy collection[edit]

The Prince of Persia Trilogy (known as Prince of Persia Trilogy 3D on the remastered collection's title screen) is a collection of The Sands of Time trilogy released on the PlayStation 2 and subsequently on the PlayStation 3 as part of the Classics HD range.^[23] The collection includes The Sands of Time, Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, all previously released on the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Microsoft Windows. The games were remastered in high-definition for the PlayStation 3 with 3D and PlayStation Network Trophy support on one Blu-ray Disc. The PlayStation 2 collection was released on October 27, 2006, in Europe,^{[citation needed]} while the remastered collection was released on November 19, 2010, on Blu-ray in PAL regions. The release marks the first Classics HD title to not be published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

In North America, the three games were originally released separately as downloadable-only titles on the PlayStation Store. The first, The Sands of Time, was released on November 16, 2010, while the other two games followed in December.^[24] The Blu-ray version was to be released in North America on March 22, 2011^[25] but the collection ended up being delayed until April 19.

Prince of Persia 2008 reboot series[edit]

In 2006, concept designs surfaced hinting at another entry in the franchise.^[26] The game, titled simply Prince of Persia, is a second reboot of the franchise, with its level and combat design harking back to the original 1989 game.^[27] The game was released in December 2008, receiving positive reviews from most video game outlets and decent sales.^[28] Alongside the main game, Ubisoft's Casablanca branch developed a direct sequel and spin-off for the Nintendo DS, titled Prince of Persia: The Fallen King,^[29] which received fair reviews.^{[30][31][32][19]}

Spin-offs and remakes[edit]

The first spin-off of the series was developed alongside and released in the same year as The Two Thrones for the Nintendo DS. Battles of Prince of Persia is a turn-based strategy game set between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.^[33] It received mediocre reviews from critics.^[34][35]

In 2007, Gameloft and Ubisoft released Prince of Persia Classic, an enhanced remake of the original Prince of Persia for Java ME, Android, iOS, Xbox 360 (XBLA), and PlayStation 3 (PSN).^[36] The visual style was upgraded to resemble Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and the Prince himself was given some additional moves, such as the ability to roll, backflip, wall jump and stop time briefly during combat. However, the core gameplay remains the same as the original – the player must defeat Jaffar within one hour while watching out for the many traps and defeating the guards they encounter.

There have been a number of mobile games for Java ME-based phones developed by Gameloft, some based on older PC or console titles with 2D graphics and others loosely based on contemporary games but with 2D graphics and different gameplay due to technology constraints. Gameloft has also developed some ports for both the iPhone and the iPad.^[37] The first spin-off by Gameloft was titled Prince of Persia: Harem Adventures, released for Java phones in 2003.^[38] Specifically, the company has developed HD remakes of the original Prince of Persia in 2007,^[39] and its sequel The Shadow and the Flame in July 2013.^[40][41]

In 2018, Ubisoft under the banner of its entity Ketchapp released Prince of Persia: Escape,^[42] a mobile game for Android and iOS. It is a runner game made up of different levels,^[43] and the player can customize the protagonist with outfits from past games. Reviewing for Pocket Gamer, Cameron Bald called Prince of Persia: Escape a "mundane game crushed under the weight of excessive greed".^[44] In August 2022, a follow-up, Prince of Persia: Escape 2, was released.^[45]

In January 2024, Ubisoft released the first major installment in the series since The Forgotten Sands, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. It is a 2.5D side-scrolling platformer and introduces a new storyline and protagonist, Sargon, a member of the Immortals.^[46]

Future games[edit]

A remake of the Sands of Time, formally announced at Ubisoft Forward 2020, was originally scheduled for release on January 21, 2021, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but Ubisoft delayed the remake indefinitely.^[47] In its quarterly financial report, Ubisoft stated that the remake was expected to be out sometime during its 2022–23 fiscal year.^[48] The remake's development was moved to Ubisoft Montréal, a change from Ubisoft Mumbai and Ubisoft Pune. The company said the 2023 fiscal year release target was no longer being targeted.^[49] A new release window of 2026 was announced at Ubisoft Forward 2024.^[50]

The Rogue Prince of Persia is an upcoming 2.5D roguelike title developed by Evil Empire and set to release in Early Access on May 14, 2024. The game entered development around 2019, after a discussion between Evil Empire and Ubisoft at GDC, and its art direction is heavily inspired by Franco-Belgian comics. The game will be Ubisoft's first day-one Steam release in five years, as well as their first title to be released in Early Access before a full release.^[51]

Canceled and unreleased games[edit]

Prince of Persia Redemption[edit]

In 2012, leaked images from a project entitled Osiris were assumed to be the next Prince of Persia title.^[52] Jordan Mechner even commented on his Twitter account that the images were not from a Prince of Persia game.^[53] A year later, Yannis Mallat, CEO of Ubisoft Montreal, said that the franchise was being "paused", saying that "as soon as we have something to show, we will".^[54] In the following months, Ubisoft confirmed that it was either planning or considering next-generation entries in multiple franchises, including Prince of Persia.^[55] A video uploaded by a Ubisoft Montreal artist in 2012 but only discovered in 2020 showed a gameplay trailer for Prince of Persia Redemption which would have been released for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.^[56][57][58] According to Jonathan Cooper, a former Ubisoft animator at the time, the trailer was a mockup of the planned gameplay for the title created by Khai Nguyen, used to pitch the game concept. The game never developed beyond that point, though the work on the pitch trailer was used to prepare a similar trailer for Assassin's Creed III.^[59]

Adaptations[edit]

Graphic novel[edit]

Jordan Mechner finished writing the story for a graphic novel in 2007. The novel was written by A.B. Sina, and illustrated by Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham. It was released by First Second Books in autumn 2008.^[60][61] The story follows two Princes, jumping between the 9th and 13th centuries. Although it belongs to the franchise the plot is not related to any of the game continuities or that of the 2010 film.^[62]

Film adaptation[edit]

In 2010, a film adaptation of The Sands of Time was released by Walt Disney Pictures. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Prince Dastan, it would go on to receive mixed reception, but still gross $336 million in theaters.^[63] Besides The Sands of Time, the film also incorporated elements from Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, the two other titles from the Sands of Time trilogy of the Prince of Persia video game franchise.

Upon the film's release, it was accompanied by Before the Sandstorm, a 2010 one-shot comic book published by Disney Publishing Worldwide. This comic serves as both a direct prequel and sequel to the feature film, and explains the motives and backgrounds of some characters. It was written by Jordan Mechner and featured illustrations by Todd McFarlane, Niko Henrichon, David Lopez and Bernard Chang.

Lego Prince of Persia was released by The Lego Group in 2010, as part of the company's strategy to produce sets based on Disney properties.^[64] Based on the feature film, Lego released six sets within the theme, as well as a short animated film, before discontinuing it.^[65][66]

Reception[edit]

Awards[edit]

The success of the Prince of Persia series resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 6 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include First Motion-Capture Animation in a Video Game and Highest Rated Platformer on PS2 and Xbox.

Impact and legacy[edit]

South Korean singer-songwriter Kim Kwang-Jin released the song 'Magic Castle', with lyrics inspired from the storyline of the original Prince of Persia.^[67]

In 1992, Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a book called A Werewolf Problem in Central Russia and Other Stories, in which there is a short story called "Prince of Gosplan". The story is greatly influenced by the game; the main hero of the story lives in a mixed reality of the real world and video games and identifies himself as Prince of Persia. He tries to understand if his life is real or if he is just seeing it on a computer display.^[68]

The feel of the gameplay in Tomb Raider was intended to evoke that of the original Prince of Persia.^[69]

The Assassin's Creed series originated out of ideas for a sequel for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Its critical and financial success led Ubisoft to request Ubisoft Montreal to develop a sequel, aiming for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The Ubisoft Montreal team decided on taking the gameplay from The Sands of Time into an open world approach, taking advantage of the improved processing power to render larger spaces and crowds. Narratively, the team wanted to move away from the Prince being someone next in line for the throne but to have to work for it; combined with research into secret societies led them to focus on the Assassins, heavily borrowing from the novel Alamut.^[70] They developed a narrative where the player would control an Assassin that served as a bodyguard for a non-playable Prince, leading them to call this game Prince of Persia: Assassin. The "Animus" device allowed them to explain certain facets of gameplay, such as accounting when the player fails a mission, in the same way they had done in The Sands of Time.^[70]

References[edit]

Killzone 2
Developer(s)	Guerrilla Games
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)	Mathijs de Jonge
Designer(s)	Neil Alphonso
Programmer(s)	Michiel van der Leeuw
Artist(s)	Jan-Bart van Beek Bas Uterwijk
Composer(s)	Joris de Man
Series	Killzone
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release	AU: February 26, 2009 NA: February 27, 2009 EU: February 27, 2009
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Killzone 2 is a 2009 first-person shooter developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the second main installment in the Killzone series, following 2004's Killzone.

Similar to its predecessor, Killzone 2 takes place in the 24th century and chronicles the war between two human factions; the Vektans, and the Helghast. The game takes place two years after the events of Killzone and follows protagonist Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko as he and his unit battle the Helghast as the Vektans invade Helghan. The protagonist of Killzone and Killzone: Liberation, Cpt./Col. Jan Templar, returns in a supporting role, along with Rico Velasquez. Killzone 2 is played from a first-person view and allows the player to use a variety of weapons. It was released worldwide in February 2009.

Killzone 2 was widely anticipated prior to its release. It was critically acclaimed by critics and fans, who praised it as a superior title to the original Killzone. Additional praise was given to the game's visuals, action, multiplayer modes, soundtrack and atmosphere, although criticism was directed at the narrative. The game's critical and commercial success led to a sequel, Killzone 3, which was released in February 2011.

The official servers for Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 were shut down in March 2018. However, in 2021, a game preservation group called PSONE restored most of the game's online capability on their own set of servers.

Gameplay[edit]

Campaign[edit]

The game is presented almost entirely from a first person perspective, aside from vehicular combat. Killzone 2 features a "lean and peek" cover system which allows the player to take cover behind an object and then pop out to fire at enemies. The "lean and peek" mechanic stays in first-person view at all times. It is also possible for the player to pilot vehicles at two points in the game: a tank and an exoskeleton. Many classic weapons and vehicles from previous Killzone installments return, such as the M82-G and the StA-52 LAR.^{[citation needed]} The Sixaxis motion control feature is also utilized in performing certain actions such as turning a valve, arming an explosive charge and sniping.

Multiplayer[edit]

Warzone, the title of the online multiplayer component of Killzone 2 has been developed by Guerrilla Games in conjunction with the game's single-player campaign.^{[citation needed]} The online multiplayer gameplay is class-based, meaning the player can choose a class of character which is specialized for a specific role to better suit the player's needs in battle. There are 7 classes in total, in which the player can mix and match a main and sub ability according to their playing style, and can switch abilities upon death. There are 15 weapons available to the player, most of which cannot be used until the player reaches a certain rank. Two of these weapons are secondary firearms, and a further two weapons, the Boltgun and Flamethrower, are exclusive to the downloadable maps "Suljeva Cliffside" and "Arctower Landing".

Players play as either the ISA or Helghast, with a few gameplay differences. The character model and respawn points, and the "lean and peek" cover systems were removed. Each class levels up with experience gained from killing enemies or completing mission objectives. With enough experience, players unlock new weapons and skills, as well as a new class. Each class has two badges, the Primary badge selects the class and their specified skill. The secondary badge has an extra skill for the specified class but can be swapped to create own custom class.

Warzone plays out through dynamic matches where multiple game types are played in a single round. The game does not reset between game types, instead flowing between them, with the winning team determined by who wins the most modes. The game ships with five different game types including Assassination, Search & Retrieve, Search & Destroy, Bodycount and Capture & Hold.^[1] Online matches can connect 2 to 32 players, and they can group into six squads of up to four players. If an online match does not have a full 32 players, computer-generated "bots" can be added in to create bigger teams (but only in an unranked match). Killzone 2 also offers a clan system, which allows clans of up to 64 players to compete for "Valor Points", an in-game currency that clans can use to bet on tournaments.

Players can also play offline against AIs with Skirmish mode and unranked online multiplayer, but there is no offline multiplayer mode for splitscreen players.

Eight multiplayer maps are included on disc at release,^[2] but Guerrilla has released more maps as downloadable content. 6 more maps have been added to multiplayer since release via downloadable content purchasable from the PlayStation Store.

Plot[edit]

Two years after the attempted Helghast invasion of Vekta, an ISA fleet led by Colonel Jan Templar is sent to attack Pyrrhus, the capital city of Helghan, with the goal of deposing and arresting Emperor Scolar Visari on charges of war crimes. Among the ISA units taking part in the attack is Alpha Squad, led by Jan's old comrade Ricardo "Rico" Velasquez. Sergeant Tomas "Sev" Sevchenko, a veteran of the ISA "Legion" battalion, is assigned to serve as his second-in-command.

Tasked with securing Pyrrhus against the fierce resistance of the Helghan Second Army, the team quickly discovers that the Helghast are well prepared for an invasion. Using Helghan's harsh environment to their advantage, they have developed new weapons and equipment, none of which the ISA has ever seen before. Furthermore, the planet's fog-like atmosphere, gritty deserts, and constant storms pose almost as much of a threat to the invaders as the enemy themselves.

Story[edit]

Led by Jan's flagship, the New Sun, the ISA bombard Pyrrhus as cover for a massive ground assault on the city. Despite stiff resistance from well-armed Helghast divisions, they steadily advance towards the Imperial Palace, ultimately capturing both Visari Square and the Helghan Military Academy. Just as the main convoy is set to attack the palace, Colonel Mael Radec, commander of the Second Army, activates a network of arc towers hidden beneath Pyrrhus, killing hundreds of ISA soldiers and breaking their momentum.

Dante Garza, a member of Alpha Squad and close friend of Tomas's, retrieves a piece of a destroyed tower and sends it to ISA researcher Evelyn Batton, who learns that the towers are powered by Petrusite, a mineral capable of generating and channeling electricity. She also identifies an old mining outpost on the outskirts of Pyrrhus where the Helghast have been secretly extracting it for military use.

While working to restore the outpost's communication antenna, Tomas and Rico are separated from the rest of Alpha Squad, allowing Radec's men to capture them. The two fight their way through the refinery where the captives were taken, stumbling upon an interrogation overseen by Radec himself. Oddly enough, he demands that Evelyn give him the launch codes to a set of stolen nuclear warheads in Helghast custody. Rico loses his temper and surprises Radec, saving the captives but leaving Garza mortally wounded when one of Radec's men Rico kills discharges his weapon and Garza is shot in the process. Blaming him for his friend's death, Tomas and the squad return to the New Sun.

Before Garza can be properly mourned, an elite Helghast battalion led by Radec mounts a surprise attack on the fleet, boarding or destroying several ships including the Sun. The ship's crew manages to evacuate, but Radec reaches the bridge, mortally wounds Jan and executes Evelyn, downloading the codes before they can be deleted. With the last of his strength and before succumbing to his wounds, Jan maneuvers the ship to crash into the center of Helghan's Petrusite distribution grid, causing it to explode and disrupt the arc network.

Seizing the opportunity, the survivors attempt to regroup, only to witness Visari detonate the warheads over Pyrrhus, destroying it and killing both the entire population and most of the remaining ISA forces.

With ISA captain Jason Narville leading an offensive on the remnants of the Second Army, Alpha Squad breaches the palace, where they encounter Radec and the imperial guard. After a pitched battle, the wounded commander and his men commit mass suicide out of disgrace, clearing the way to Visari's throne room.

As Tomas moves to arrest him, Visari gloats that he has still won, as the Helghast are now united against the ISA, and without him, they cannot be stopped. Overcome with guilt and wanting revenge for Templar and Garza's deaths, Rico kills him on the spot.

Weary from fighting, Tomas exits the palace and sits on the steps. Above him, a large armada belonging to the Helghan First Army begins its attack on what is left of the ISA invasion force.

Development[edit]

At E3 2005, Killzone 2 was debuted with a trailer depicting soldiers landing in a hostile war-zone on Helghan and fighting Helghast forces. Critics in the media argued that the trailer shown at the trade show did not show actual gameplay footage, as its high level of visual detail has been argued to be impossible to render in real-time on the PlayStation 3 and the audio mix of the trailer was slightly delayed. SCEA's Vice President, Jack Tretton, stated that the footage of Killzone 2, that was believed to be pre-rendered, "is real gameplay everybody's seeing out there".^[3] Several days later, Phil Harrison, SCE Europe's Vice President of Development, stated in an interview that all of the footage of PlayStation 3 games at E3 2005 were "running off video" which was "done to PS3 spec".^[4] Further interviews eventually revealed the trailer was indeed a "target render", a prerendered video showing the developer's goals for the finished product.^[5]

At the Game Developers Conference in 2007, a Killzone 2 teaser was shown behind closed doors, and was never released to the public. It featured various battles, destructible environments, and lighting effects among others.^[6] Killzone 2 was shown to a panel of journalists at a special pre-E3 2007 event in Culver City, California, and then the next day to the public at Sony's E3 press conference.^[7] An in-game trailer showing real-time gameplay of Killzone 2 was also released,^[8] along with several videos of extended gameplay.^[9] A number of media outlets since E3, such as the BBC, have referred to Killzone 2 as being "one of the most cinematic and immersive games ever produced on a console".^[10] At the Leipzig Games Convention in 2007, Killzone 2 was presented in playable form to the media. It was the same demo level as shown at E3 2007, although journalists were allowed to play it hands-on.^[11] At Sony's PlayStation Day 2008, the first level in Killzone 2's single-player campaign was presented, named "Corinth River".^[12]

Michal Valient, a Senior Programmer at Guerrilla Games, presented details of their Killzone 2 proprietary game engine at a Developers Conference in July 2007.^[13] As with many other titles published by SCE, including LittleBigPlanet and Infamous, Killzone 2 uses a deferred shading engine which enables far greater control over the game's characteristic lighting palette, while maximising processor throughput and limiting shader complexity. Other games to use similar approaches include Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV and GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. However, this approach does create some additional problems, notably with respect to anti-aliasing and transparencies. The former was solved using a MSAA Quincunx (multisample anti-aliasing) solution, and the latter by the addition of a standard forward rendering path. The game's graphics were universally praised by critics.^[14]

The animation was done in Maya 8.5 with some motion capture animations tweaked in MotionBuilder. 3D artists, animators and level designers used Maya as their production environment, which is unusual considering that most 3D games are produced using 3ds max. A large library of custom Maya tools and scripts was created to support these different disciplines.^[15] Tools like "Hyperion", a lightmap rendering software, were used in place of Maya's viewport rendering software. In-game animation was assisted with another tool they created called "AnimationBlender" and particle effects were edited using a tool called "Particle Editor". They also created a tool called "ColorTweaker", which gave them the possibility to do color correction on the PS3 in real-time.^[15]

Most of the animation was done using motion capture with some animations, reload animations for example, done by hand. Facial animation was done using blendshapes with bones for the jaw and the eyes. Lead tech artist, Paulus Bannink, explains that "The main reason for going with blendshapes was the relative ease with which they can be transferred to different faces, it would also provide a more artist friendly way of editing the facial animation rig.".^[15] The cut scene facial animation was done using marker motion capture. In game dialog was done generically using MotionBuilder after audio files were plugged in. The game was developed not only by artists in Amsterdam, but also by people living in New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Korea, the UK and the US. The data files, gigabytes in size, were sent over the internet.^[15]

Killzone 2's budget was originally US$20 million but rose to US$40–45 million at the end of the development, with a team of 120.^{[16][17][18][19]}

Soundtrack[edit]

The score to Killzone 2 was composed by Joris de Man, who scored 60 minutes of in-game music and 30-minutes of live orchestral score for the game, recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, with the Nimrod Studio Orchestra.^[20] The score was produced and mixed by Rich Aitken, regular mix partner for Joris de Man and Marc Canham, at Nimrod Productions.

Release[edit]

Beta access was given to a select number of North American and European PlayStation Network subscribers. The beta consisted of three online multiplayer maps; "Blood Gracht" (small), "Radec Academy" (medium) and "Salamun Market" (large), with unlockable ranks and character classes ("badges"). Beta testers had their own statistics and have the ability to enter clan competitions. Beta access was private and thus could not be shared with other PlayStation Network accounts. Also, beta testers are tied with Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. by a non-disclosure agreement; therefore they were not allowed to reveal contents of the beta experience. A technical demo of one of Killzone 2's TV commercials, known as the "Bullet" trailer, was released on the PlayStation Store on April 2, 2009.^[21] The demo features the commercial itself, the ability to shift camera angles and film speed, and several commentaries from key development staff at Guerrilla Games.

On February 5, 2009, SCEE released a single player demo of Killzone 2 on the European/Oceanic PlayStation Store.^[22] The demo includes the first two sections of 'Corinth River' (the first level of the game) as well as the tutorial sequence from the final game.^[23] A demo card, granting access to a Killzone 2 demo was also offered to US gamers who pre-ordered the game at GameStop. The US demo was also made available to those customers on February 5. In the North American version of PlayStation Home, if users found an avatar dressed in a Helghast costume, the avatar with the Helghast costume would give that user a code for the demo. This occurred on February 16.^[24] On February 26, the demo was made available for download from the PlayStation Store in North America.

The servers for Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 were shut down on March 29, 2018. They have since been offline and can no longer be played online.^[25]

PlayStation Home[edit]

In the North American version of PlayStation Home, if users pre-ordered Killzone 2 from Amazon.com, users received free male and female I.S.A. and Helghast uniforms for their avatar.^[26] In the European version of PlayStation Home, if users participated in the "Killzone AM" event that took place on Saturday March 28, 2009, at 11 am CET for one full round, the Home Managers gave the participants a code for the Killzone 2 uniforms. Requirement was that users had to have a United Kingdom PSN account.^[27] For a limited time in Japanese Home, users received an I.S.A. uniform for watching the Killzone 2 trailer and answering a questionnaire. To get the Helghast uniform in Japan, users had to do a pre-order. In Home's shopping complex, there are fourteen — seven for male and seven for female — Killzone 2 themed shirts available for purchase as well as the Helghast Tactician uniform. A costume for Radec was released on March 4, 2010, to the European Home and has been released in the North American.

Guerrilla Games have released a Killzone 2 themed apartment called the "Visari Throne Room" for Home. The Visari Throne Room apartment is based on the throne room inside Visari's Palace from the final mission of Killzone 2. For the Visari Throne Room, there are five pieces of furniture based on actual palace furnishings from Killzone 2: two types of Visari-style chairs, an administrative desk, a plant container with authentic Helghan vegetation, and a freestanding painting which portrays an important moment in the colonial history of the Helghast. The Visari Throne Room and matching furniture were made available to the European Home on July 2, 2009,^[28] the North American on August 27, 2009,^[29] and the Asian^[30] and Japanese Home on October 9, 2009.^[31]

Downloadable content[edit]

On April 10, 2009^[32] Hermen Hulst, Managing Director from Guerrilla Games announced on GameTrailers TV^{[citation needed]} that Killzone 2 would get a DLC map pack named "Steel & Titanium" which would contain two new maps called Wasteland Bullet and Vekta Cruiser. With new gameplay elements and strategic twists.^[33][34] The first DLC map pack was released on Thursday, April 30.^[34][35] Hulst stated that the next Killzone 2 DLC map pack that they were releasing would have a 'Retro Vibe' to it.^{[citation needed]}

The second map pack was officially announced on May 20, 2009 as "Flash and Thunder", and features two maps previously seen in Killzone called "Beach Head" and "The Southern Hills". Both maps followed the first map pack by bringing new gameplay elements and strategic twists; Beach Head, the wide open battlefield, with rain-filled trenches, and Southern Hills with its intermittent nuke explosion. It was released on June 11, 2009.^[36] Both map packs have twelve trophies that go along with them, six for each map.

On July 10 the third map pack was officially announced, even though Sony stated that there were no plans for a third pack. The DLC "Napalm and Cordite" was released on July 23, 2009, it contained two new maps "Suljeva Cliffside" and "Arctower Landing", in addition to the maps the Flamethrower and the Boltgun both from singleplayer made their debut in multiplayer.^[37] The Flamethrower is found in the Suljeva Cliffside map and the Boltgun is found in the Arctower Landing map. A multiplayer map pack bundle was also released to coincide with the release of Napalm and Cordite, containing all six maps from the DLC packs, for the price of four maps.^[38] The downloadable content pack three has eight trophies that go along with it, four for each map which are for the new weapons. With the fifth anniversary of the original Killzone taking place, the map pack "Flash & Thunder" was reduced in price in North America and Europe.

Reception[edit]