Guerrilla art director says the studio was ‘done with’ Killzone, prefers working on Horizon

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
381369-1440x810.jpg

​
Guerrilla Games' decision to start working on Horizon: Zero Dawn series was a deliberate choice to move away from the Killzone series, its art director says. In an interview with the Washington Post, art director Roy Postma, who has worked at Guerrilla for 24 years, says that following the release of Killzone: Shadow Fall on PS4, the studio decided it no longer wanted to work on the Killzone series.

Instead, they opted to start work on a new series with more colourful environments, as opposed to the grittier, greyer worlds of Killzone.

"We were done with it as a team," Postma explained. "As a studio, we needed to refresh the palette. It was, by choice, the opposite of Killzone."
Click to expand...

Postma also suggested that the more diverse nature of the Horizon games means it appeals to a wider audience.
 
I mean... this has been known for ages? They go over it in the HZD NoClip documentary if you're interested. Basically, everyone at the studio could pitch something. It wouldn't necessarily need to be a game concept, it could be a game mechanic, piece of art, whatnot. The only restriction was that the genre shouldn't be sports or puzzle. But beyond that, anything goes. In the end, they chose two pitches to present to Sony, one of which was Horizon. The other one was a further developed concept at the time, but Horizon won.
 
Only the first one and the PSP one were good. I couldn't care less about Horizon but a reboot with PS5 graphics would be day one. If they abandon the gameplay of the newer ones.
 
"we needed to refresh the palette."

time to refresh palette again then. we have enough horizon for now.
 
Good.
midnightAI said:
I'd say 4 games is enough (6 if you include PSP and Vita)

That being said, this is one remaster/remake I would like to see
Click to expand...
People just don't remember when there was "too much" Killzone, lmao.
First game in 2004, spin-off in 2006, sequel in 2009, another sequel in 2011, remaster in 2012, and both another spin-off and sequel in 2013.
If i will give them something, it's the fact that I was personally annoyed at Sony pushing this series back in the day, but I guess I just learned it's not a big deal. :confused:
 
That's fair but I'd still wish to see Sony do something with the IP. If Guerilla is done with it then hand it over or license it out to someone else
 
Last edited:
Judge Magister said:
Killzone 2 and Mercenary were bad??
Click to expand...
KZ2 is horribly bad. It was a feast for the eyes, tho. Still holds today as a benchmark of what the Trey could do. Better visuals than most of what is published today. Art direction is top. No other shooter has captured the gritty imaginary of the future.
killzone-2-20071203082034172-2217306.jpg

But as a game: a trend chaser shooter that looking for the MW money threw away the fantastic weapons with unique personality of the first one. Good AI, tho.

The Vita came out when I was already burn out from the saga because of the 3's ending. I'm still mad. Would love a reboot, tho, if done properly. I think the IP has a lot of potential (grimdark, not today's military, oppressed bad guys vs aggressors good guys lore).
 
Last edited:
That's a shame. Killzone 2 is one of the best FPS ever made. Though it feels it was kinda accidental. I liked most of the KZ games but none of them came close to KZ2.
 
As a big fan of Killzone, I was very skeptical of Horizon.

But Horizon is now one of my favorite franchises ever.
They certainly made the right call.
 
Makes sense.......there where 6 Killzone games.
Currently we have 4 Horizon games counting Lego Horizon.

We got those Killzone games from 2004 - 2013 (9 Years)
Horizon series has been from 2017 -2024 (7 years)

I figure will get another 4-5 years of Horizon with Horizon 3 and the MMO. That will 100% be enough.
 
What doesn't help Killzone is that the franchise was essentially one hit wonder: KZ1 was hyped up to be Halo's competitor and instead it ended up being at the bottom of the console shooters, KZL was a surprisingly a good top down shooter, KZ2 was the GOAT'ed one that lived all expectations put in the first game, but then all the following sequels never lived up the same reception it had.
 
Yes Horizon sells way more but at the same time the market wasnt as big as it is now plus all the social media promotion. Id say Killzone still has juice left, if theres one thing that would make it a way better game than in the past is to get a really good writer. Game can totally do with a reboot even if its just a one-off. KZ2 and 3 actually had great MP, KZ4 looked gorgeous but for me all KZ stories were a bit meh, like an untapped potential because the material and world they created was good but it never made me really care for any character.

If they gonna skip on it, they better come up with something new fast because even though we only have 2 Horizon games, the remasters, lego game, DLC...its already getting a bit boring. Mainly because HZ2 was a slight upgrade to first game. Uncharted 1 and 2 are two worlds apart for example but playing Horizon 2 felt like more of the same. Also unlike Killzone, they shoehorned themselves in this apocaliptic world where the humankind restarted...how many new robo dinosaurs are we gonna get in part 3, its going to be a abandoned planet again, it all feels samey. Killzone had the benefit of futuristic setting where not everything has to revolve around planet Earth, they can always travel to other planets etc, new threat, new galaxy, Helghast planet...
 
Last edited:
And despite seeing this people will still refuse to believe Killzone is dead. Seems likely Horizon has at least a few more project in it before moving on to something else. It'll be interesting to see what direction they want to move in for a new franchise or if they even want something like that with multiple releases.
 
Radical_3d said:
KZ2 is horribly bad. It was a feast for the eyes, tho. Still holds today as a benchmark of what the Trey could do. Better visuals than most of what is published today. Art direction is top. No other shooter has captured the gritty imaginary of the future.
killzone-2-20071203082034172-2217306.jpg

But as a game: a trend chaser shooter that looking for the MW money threw away the fantastic weapons with unique personality of the first one. Good AI, tho.

The Vita came out when I was already burn out from the saga because of the 3's ending. I'm still mad. Would love a reboot, tho, if done properly. I think the IP has a lot of potential (grimdark, not today military, oppressed bad guys vs aggressors good guys lore).
Click to expand...
I disagree. I played all Killzone games and although i like the level variety of 1, 2 is just a masterpiece. The games that were disappointing were 3 and Shadow Fall, Mercenary is top Vita.
 
Last edited:
Radical_3d said:
KZ2 is horribly bad. It was a feast for the eyes, tho. Still holds today as a benchmark of what the Trey could do. Better visuals than most of what is published today. Art direction is top. No other shooter has captured the gritty imaginary of the future.
killzone-2-20071203082034172-2217306.jpg

But as a game: a trend chaser shooter that looking for the MW money threw away the fantastic weapons with unique personality of the first one. Good AI, tho.

The Vita came out when I was already burn out from the saga because of the 3's ending. I'm still mad. Would love a reboot, tho, if done properly. I think the IP has a lot of potential (grimdark, not today military, oppressed bad guys vs aggressors good guys lore).
Click to expand...
Not sure how any of that makes KZ2 horrible...
 
Killzone was super over rated as an IP. It only got the attention it got because it was graphically impressive, and there was the kerfuffle with them lying about that trailer not being canned CG. There aren't enough fans of that series to support bringing it back.

I find Horizon to be completely boring. I couldn't force myself to finish the first game. Obviously it's a big commercial success so they'll keep making them for a while, but I'd rather see them take a shot at a new and different IP than make more Horizon or try to reboot Killzone.
 
I certainly want them to keep doing Horizon games. So keep them coming.

But if the grittiness was the main issue with Killzone, couldn't they try to evolve the series to make it more colorful, somehow? I think KZ4 was more colorful than the previous games.

If the theory I read a while ago is true, in which Horizon happens in the same world as KZ, just way into the future, perhaps they could do something with that? A concept of KZ games set in the times of Horizon's ancients, with a very futuristic Sci fi world, where they use tech similar to the bad guys of HFW's DLC. A group of heroes fighting against Faro's supported militia or something like that. Until eventually they fight against the machines in the end of the world that led to the story of Horizon. In HFW a group of ancient heroes that did their best in that final battle was mentioned. I think that could be cool and different from previous KZ games if explored.
 
Fake said:
Because Horizon franchise is enough already lmao.
Click to expand...
I'm certainly in the minority, but I actually think Horizon GAAS could work. The story and characters are pretty shit in the horizon universe, but the setting is awesome. If they actually make the combat "fun" to play with a good gameplay loop, Horizon GAAS could be huge. Definitely more excited for that compared to Horizon 3
 
Last edited:
Judge Magister said:
I disagree. I played all Killzone games and although i like the level variety of 1, 2 is just a masterpiece. The games that were disapointing were 3 and Shadow Fall, Mercenary is top Vita imo.
Click to expand...

Spiral1407 said:
Not sure how any of that makes KZ2 horrible...
Click to expand...
The personality of the guns and therefore the factions is lost. Helghast weaponery are mass produced, and therefore weak, small caliber and little precise. Based on strategies of saturation their secondary weapon attached to the gun (something missing in the sequels) is a shotgun for the same reason. Their philosophy of war is reflected in their weapons: life is cheap, throw as many bodies to an objective until it's cleared. The imperial guard of the KZ universe. The ISA rifle was a very slow cadence big caliber heavy weapon where you could feel every shot (you could even see it slowly trespassing the battlefield). It was an elite weapon for a small elite force better equipped than the mass produced Helghast. With their attached grenade launcher for crowd control. You could play tactical with ISA weapons or assault positions with invader's own weapons. Everything in KZ2 feels like a XX century rifle of some flavour. Distinguishable as an M16 and an AK are, but not unique and coherent with centuries of human evolution. Meh/10. Won't buy a remaster.
 
Playing Horizon Forbidden West currently again after dropping it multiple times already. Still trying to power through this boring ass game thus far. They need to make another franchise if this is going to be the standard for Horizon going forward. They should definitely at least cut down on a lot of the side and unnecessary shit because it's not good. This game legitimately makes me feel like it's sapping my energy, spirit and sanity.
 
single player 1st person shooting campaigns is a pretty dead genre besides Doom. I don't think Killzone would work as a GAAS either
 
Last edited:
rm082e said:
Killzone was super over rated as an IP. It only got the attention it got because it was graphically impressive, and there was the kerfuffle with them lying about that trailer not being canned CG. There aren't enough fans of that series to support bringing it back.

I find Horizon to be completely boring. I couldn't force myself to finish the first game. Obviously it's a big commercial success so they'll keep making them for a while, but I'd rather see them take a shot at a new and different IP than make more Horizon or try to reboot Killzone.
Click to expand...
Well they have to finish the Horizon trilogy yet, so, yes, one more Horizon please then something new (don't really care about the MMO personally)
 
Still to this day I love the movement and gameplay in KZ2 more than any other shooter. Everyone complained about the controls and momentum but I was on that really enjoyed it. MP was fun too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

About 30% of Black Myth: Wukong sales are from overseas, says the art director
Sales-Age 
13
1K
Sentenza replied
The co-director of Visions of Mana says his new studio will protect its creators, following NetEase’s decision to close his previous studio
Game Dev 
3
427
Loomy replied
Carrie Patel (game director of Avowed) moves to Netflix Game Studio
2
74
234
Evil Calvin replied
Guerrilla Games Has Huge Ambitions for Horizon Multiplayer Game
Rumor  2 3
123
6K
mckmas8808 replied
Baldur's Gate 3 boss says studio didn't do DLC because it was the "boring" option
Opinion Game Dev 
4
124
ShaiKhulud1989 replied
Top Bottom