The second installment was remarkable; it was nominated for many gameplay, graphical achievement awards. And, though this announcement isn’t a surprise, it’s nice to get some official reassurance. That said, Jack Tretton, President and CEO of SCEA, told GameTrailers TV that there will indeed be a third installment into the Killzone series.

“You know, we own Guerrilla Studios, and uh, they did a great job on Killzone 1 and 2 … I don’t know when you’ll see announcements about it, but I can promise you a Killzone 3,” said Tretton to GameTrailers TV. Though Tretton didn’t have any details on hand, he did say that Sony will “absolutely bring the heat” at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo.

That’s right. Sony has just announced the second DLC from Killzone 2 and, as they hinted all the way back at GDC, the second DLC pack for Killzone 2 will be a “retro” level pack.

The content pack will give you the ability to journey all the way back to the original Killzone by providing you two new levels that Guerrilla Games likes to call “Flash and Thunder” pack.

The two levels are odes to the Beach Head and Southern Hills levels from the first Killzone.  Both are fan favorites from the first game, but have been re-envisioned with Killzone 2‘s engine and overall technology.  The levels also offer a unique twist that will truly keep players on their toes, so watch out for an explosive gameplay element that will have you running for cover, or risk a quick death.

In the Beach Head map, the ISA must defend their stronghold after the Helghast land on the sandy Vektan beaches. As torrential rain and gale-force winds batter the landscape, the relatively small size of the level creates a frantic hand-to-hand battleground, with the water filled craters supplying only limited cover. Picking your way across the harsh terrain, you will find many opportunities to sneak up on the enemy and take them down at close range. And if you’re able to get to them in one piece, there are also lots of higher ground sniper spots to explore…
 
In the Southern Hills map, the battle takes place around a central Helghast base on top of a hill. The compound is surrounded by smaller structures, creating a level that facilitates close-quarter fights within the built-up areas, as well as long-range shoot-outs in-between them. Ideal for 24 to 32 player games, the base camps in this version have been beefed up considerably, so expect to find more hiding places than in the original Killzone counterpart.
 

We all knew that the content was going to release on April 30th, but we really weren’t sure as to how the price tag was going to look like. However, your wonders will now seems to disappear.

Today, the price tag was given for the newest content for Killzone 2 entitled ‘Steel & Titanium’ – the first of the DLC – at about $5.99, which will feature two maps; New Sun, which is on a ISA flagship; and Wasteland Bullet, which is on 2 Helghan trains running right next to one another with environmental gotchas.

After Guerilla Games announced that Killzone 2 would be getting DLC, rumors popped up on the web stating that the downloadable content would feature a co-op mutli-player mode, which was missing from within the game when it released.

But, however, when GameInformer interviewed Co-founder and Managing Director of Guerrilla Games, Hermen Hulst, he revealed that Killzone 2 will not be receiving co-op as downloadable content.

“We looked at all the different flavors of co-op early on, but decided our first priority would have to be the single-player experience and the multiplayer,” Hulst informed. “Rather than just tack on co-op, it would have to be integrated and done to a similar standard as the single and multiplayer.”

“Having looked at it again now. I do not think we would want to add it as DLC,” he added.

[Guerilla Games: no downloadable co-op for Killzone 2 via PSU]

Earlier on today on GameTrailers TV, it was revealed by one of the developers at Guerrilla Games that they’re currently finishing up work on their upcoming DLC for their hit PS3 title Killzone 2 entitled “Steel & Titanium”.

He also revealed that the content pack is indeed a Map Pack and that it will feature two maps; New Sun, which is on a ISA flagship; and Wasteland Bullet, which is on 2 Helghan trains running right next to one another with environmental gotchas.

Meanwhile, we have learned through a press release that Sony is planning to release the content on April 30.

What happened two weeks ago? What you don’t remember… Well, just so that you know, that’s when Killzone 2 released, however, now it seems that the PS3 exclusive has now sold over 1 million copies.

On the games opening weekend, Killzone 2 went on to sell 700,000 copies in both North America and Europe. And, of course, the following week it went on to sell another 300,000 copies, which, according to the charts, is about over a 50% drop in sales – a pretty decent showing considering the title was launched in a non-holiday sales period.

In total, the game has sold about 1.05 million copies thus far. With it’s Japanese release coming next month, the title should manage to stay on the charts for a while, hopefully.

For years now Sony has been searching for the perfect game to conquer Microsoft’s Halo. Back when the first version of Killzone was released it got mediocre review scores because it was a “cracked shooter.” Now, it seems that Killzone has made a return, but this time it isn’t promising to be a “Halo killer,” it’s promising to be a new and redefined experience. But, can it deliver? Yes, I can say that it has but what qualities of this title deliver such an experience?

In Killzone 2, you play as a new character to the series, Sergeant Tomas Sevchenko. Instead of calling him Tomas they call him “Sev,” which can sound a lot like “Sav” at some points. Sev is a part of a four-man team known as Alpha Squad, led by series-known character Rico, who was in the first two games, including the PSP title. You and your teammates, Garza and Natko, fight your way through Helghan completing a vast amount of missions. Most importantly, you find yourself trying to capture Emperor Scolar Visari, the Helghast leader.

Taking place two years after the Helghast assault on Vekta, the ISA (Interplanetary Strategic Alliance) has launched an attack on the enemy’s homeland, Helghan. Their goal: take out the leader, Visari. That’s the story, in a nutshell, and MAN, is it good, on both paper and in playing out. But, I’ll say that there are some very weak points in the story. As for one thing, Rico really isn’t a likable character because he’s just annoying. This shows a weakness in the game’s story when it comes to the emotional department. But, other than that, the story is very strong. Sometimes, though, the game’s progression feels a bit sluggish.

Being the most visible part of the title, the game’s visuals stick out like a sore thumb all over. This really is the best-looking game to date. The character models are amazing and the graphical details in the game are, I don’t think that I can say this in a review, off the chain! But, there are some very bad low-res features to be seen, like the zip that comes out of the healer gun and the fire that shoots out the Flamethrower – they are just very last-gen, graphically. Looking into it, the game also has some strong features; the water effects shine and when it comes to the cut scenes the game put on its mega top hat and showed us a step or two.

To add to the graphical detail, the game has a very strong pick-up-and-play control mechanic, which works almost perfectly with most players. However, just like Superman, even this has its kryptonite. Luckily, the game allows you to change the control type, and there are multiple schemes to choose from. Fortunately, the cover mechanics are also very indebted. On the other hand, it kind of feels as though it was dragged on at some points. But, when you finally get how it works, there’s no stopping you.

The AI is very strong in every way, but one thing I didn’t get was why the AI always advance when you are near them. I know that it’s just a video game, but it feels as if they want you to kill them. Don’t get me wrong, they do perform the very technical things that most AI characters do – taking cover and being intelligent – but that’s just one thing that makes me upset. They can also be very resourceful and fighting a group of them at some points can be a BIG challenge, most of the time. Also, they come featured in many character types and each time you respond it feels like as if you are playing a new level.

Killzone 2 gives you an enormous array of weapons to pick from, such as flamethowers and more – you wouldn’t be bored with the weapons in this title. There also is the unique aspect to each weapon, giving you the chance to build your own strategies. You can only carry 2 weapons at a time, the primary weapon and secondary weapon – which generally deals with heavier weaponry.

Another great thing about this title is its multi-player, which will keep you playing for hours on end. The game gives you a long list of unlockables to pick from. It gives you the ability to pick your own map after each round is done. The level design in the maps are up to pair with any title currently available, but one thing we didn’t find so good with the multi-player is the unacceptably bad lag. It has to be one of the biggest problems in the games multi-player, but people at Guerilla Games say that they are working hard to resolve this problem. Also, they removed the cover system, which, lets face it, wouldn’t work in the multi-player areas of the game..

Anyway, the game’s Warzone feature for the multi-player mode really is something unique. It keeps you on your feet and things are always interesting in this mode. You start out as a normal soldier, then slowly advance throughout the rankings to things such as a Saboteur, Scout, etc.There are about six classes in total, but online you should expect the most popular class to dominate the field because not everyone wants to be the Scout. The game also deals out eight maps, but you will find yourself playing some more than others, because people are quick to click the first pick.

Closing Statements:

I feel that the game really has lived up to its hype, besides its minor jumps and skips. This game is time well-played. But, as I said, this game is far from perfect and with that I feel that this is one of the “must-play games of the year.” But, not because it’s so great; it’s because it does so many things right that it’s hard to go wrong. Also, the multi-player is a time eater. That is, if you have a high speed internet connection. Be advised that there’s no local multi-player! Keep that in mind, and you’ll find yourself playing for hours on end.

Score: A+

Killzone 2 has accumulated to a great start  last week and there is nothing like coming in first place. Despite not being a top dog, Guerrilla’s First Person Shooter (FPS) became fourth fastest selling Sony title ever released in the U.K. falling right behind Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Halo Wars then came in at second place, which makes it the best selling Xbox 360 game this week. While the sales for Street Fighter IV where down by 49% from the previous week. Wii Fit felled to fourth place then came Professor Layton and the Curious Village at number 5.

Yes, Killzone 2 really is landmark for Sony in this ‘nex-gen war’, but, as you know, the war isn’t over until the fat lady sings and it looks Microsoft has a truly long list of songs for her to go through before she’s finished.

When being asked about Killzone 2 and the future of Microsoft, a Microsoft spokesmen told GameGuru that ‘unannounced Xbox 360 exclusives far surpasses what gamers have seen in any game so far’ in the technology aspect of things, which can mean anything – not only graphically.

“We congratulate Sony and Guerilla Games for their efforts with Killzone 2, however this is only the beginning of a new wave. The current technology employed for certain unannounced Xbox 360 exclusives far surpasses what gamers have seen in any game so far. Gears of War was the beginning of this technological benchmark when released on the 360 and this lineage will be carried forward in the following months with exclusives that shall stand for a new definition of gaming experience and provide stiff competition for the opposition.”

We all know that Killzone 2 hasn’t released yet, but for those of us that were lucky enough to get the game early it wasn’t fun playing online mainly because the online wasn’t working well.

Anyway, Seb Downie, a producer at Guerrilla Games, announced that later on today a patch will go live fixing the ’931′ error, which displayed while going online in Killzone 2. And well it’s later on and, well, the patch has released.

“We’re on this one and have a good idea why it is occuring,” he says. “There will also be a new patch released in the next two hours to hopefully fix this. In the mean time, stay cool and normal service will resume shortly. This is the only fix included in the patch. You may experience a little bit of down-time both here and on the game servers. It may then take a while for the site and game to repopulate the stats.”

Well, that didn’t take long. According to a GameTrailers Forum user TheRandomGamer, when reading a dutch gaming magazine, Power Unlimited, they found an interview with one of the developers at Guerrilla Games. And in the interview they said that Guerrilla Games were already working on Killzone 3, which the mag quoted for a newspaper called ‘De Volkrant’.

They also said that they were are also working on another Killzone: Liberation title, which they called simply Killzone: Liberation 2, and they say that the title will be headed our way in 2010.

“There has always been some uncertainty about the numbering of the Killzone games. Back when the first trailer of Killzone 2 was shown, some people were calling it Killzone 3 because the project name for Killzone: Liberation for the PSP was Killzone 2. But we think it’s quite clear that Killzone: Liberation on the PSP is a stand alone game,” said the mag.

“There are still some Killzone games coming. The devs told the newspaper “de volkskrant” that they are already working on Killzone 3. It’s not a big surprise, but it’s nice to know. We’ve also heard that Killzone: Liberation 2 is being worked on and will come out in 2010. Then there’s the question what the third GG, Guerrilla Games, team is working on…”

Last week, it was reported that PS3Focus was told by Guerrilla Games that the first Killzone 2 downloadable content will be headed sometime after the games release. But, at the time the developer was camera shy about releasing any details on the games DLC, but an anonymous source has confirmed to PS3Hype the details about the upcoming DLC – the DLC itself.

According to their source. Not all the DLC for Killzone 2 will be aviable for free; The DLC is in the form of: Maps, Extra Game Modes, etc.; Guerrilla is currently working on an ingame store, much like the one in MSG4, were you can buy charcter upgrades; Retro Maps to come via DLC (maps from Killzone 1).

For all those fans out their that aren’t sure what they meant by ‘God of War 3 [being] the best looking game on the PS3 to date’, here’s a little insight for you. We all know that the game isn’t as graphically detailed, I mean this in the lightest way, as Killzone 2, but what God of War 3 does right, apparently, is large scale parts.

If you take note of the ending to the recently released God of War 3 trailer, you tasted just a little part of the ‘large scale’ environments in the game, which was basically the Titans attacking Mount. Olympus. As you can see, they are moving and in the recent interviews for the game it was stated that Kratos would be able to interact with these environments – the moving Titans.

Anyway, to interact with these environments you are going to need something powerful, something that can handle the ‘large scale’ needed for this. So… that is why God of War 3 is a visual ‘masterpiece’ it’s because it can handle these ‘large scale’ interactions.

Just something you should know: We’re holding a contest in were you can win a Nintendo Wii just click here to enter.

The game has yet been released in stores, but still the developer has confirmed that it does have plans for downloadable content in the near future.

When visiting the Headquarters of Guerrilla Games in Herengracht, Amsterdam, PSFocus asked about their plans surrounding Killzone 2′s downloadable content. Answering the question, they had called them to confirm that there is downloadable content and that it will be coming very soon.

Anyway, PSFocus were told that you should expect to release on February 27 and you should also expect there to be DLC sometime in the near future after the release, that’s it in a nut shell. Concrete details on this content weren’t released.

During Sony’s presentation at CES, Guerrilla Game’s Hermen Hulst started talking about AAA titles on the PlayStation 3 that will release this year. In his presentation, on AAA titles, he gave out details that we already knew about the game, like destructible environments, etc., aspect for this one piece of information.

Now, he didn’t official give out this piece of information, but Killzone two will offer most gamers about ten hours of single-player gameplay.

Depending on some other factors like difficulty, your skill level, and weather or not you want to collect all the trophies, this game has some great single-player story detail. Because 10 hours is an average for a game of this nature, which isn’t bad at all.

Activision has done World War 2 and Modern Warfare now it’s time for a new type of Warfare, Futuristic Warfare. It is rumored that Call of Duty 5 will take place in the future, if this rumor ends up being true Call of Duty 5 will be joining games like Gears of War, Resistance, Killzone and Halo.

Could this mean that Activision is trying to continue to dominate the other shooting genres? Only time can tell.

Update:06/10/08 WOW..we are getting alot of searches for call of duty 5 you may want to click here for GamerCenterOnline suprise

[Call of Duty 5: Futuristic warfare? via Pwnamon]