Interviews// Killzone 3 Senior Producer, Steven Ter Heide

SPOnG: You guys have already announced your first DLC pack, which is a re-introduction to two Killzone 2 maps. Looking forward, what sort of things you looking at for DLC? Just maps, or maybe characters and weapons too?

Steven Ter Heide: Mostly maps. The single-player and the way we’ve constructed the single-player doesn’t really lend itself to doing additional story-telling, besides the fact that it takes a long time to create it. It wouldn’t be very interesting for people to stick around and wait for that. It’ll mostly be multiplayer content that we’re looking at.

I think the retro map pack is something we definitely wanted to do, because there’s a lot of Killzone 2 fans out there who have their favourite maps and are very vocal about that. The community said to us ‘Oh, please let us have this map from Killzone 1 or Killzone 2,’ and we let them vote which ones they wanted the most.

What we got back was this huge list of levels - pretty much every one we’ve made - because they each have something special. A couple of ones in particular really shone through and the ones we’re introducing in this DLC pack were two of the most popular choices.


SPOnG: To use a phrase from another popular shooter, you really do ‘finish the fight’ in Killzone 3. Do you think the Killzone franchise could continue after this? There was a PSP spinoff in Liberation - could that be an area where you could keep the series alive?

Steven Ter Heide: I think there is enough to the Killzone universe to branch out. We’ve created quite a nice universe with the Helghast, a very iconic enemy that could be leveraged in a number of different ways. There is literally a universe - different planets, different stories to tell - there’s a whole backstory that you can read up on at the Killzone website.

We’ve created so much already that it’s easy to see it branch off. I’m not sure if there’s a Killzone football game in there (laughs), but certainly enough room for additional stories.


SPOnG: Maybe a baseball game instead.

Steven Ter Heide: Who knows (smiles)?


SPOnG: There was a Killzone game announced for Sony’s Next Generation Portable last week. A lot of PS3 franchises are coming for the platform, but they’re all being developed by PSP-specific developers. Are you guys going to be behind the Killzone game for NGP?

Steven Ter Heide: Well, for anything related to Killzone, we will always be involved. But our sister studio in Cambridge (SCEE Cambridge) is running development of this title. Cambridge is a studio we have worked with in the past, they’ve helped us out on Killzone 2 in creating multiplayer maps, so they know the Killzone universe and that’s why we’re okay with them handling it.

These guys have an established track record - they also developed LittleBigPlanet for the PSP for instance - so they are able to take an existing IP and translate that to a portable device. We’ve worked very closely with them for a long time, and it just seemed like a natural fit for them to take this on and help us expand the Killzone brand.


SPOnG: It’s in good hands then! What’s your impression of NGP? Have you had a go on it yet yourself?

Steven Ter Heide: To be honest, I haven’t - I’ve not seen the finished product. I’ve seen prototypes, but not the finished article. The fact that it has got two thumbsticks? Hooray (laughs)! It allows us to do a first-person shooter on it, that’s quite cool.

I think it’s a fantastic piece of kit, there’s some real tactile feel there, the touch sensitive back panel seems cool, Little Deviants looks like fun. So there’s bound to be a couple of good ideas coming up that will help really establish the platform as its own thing. I’m looking forward to seeing that.


SPOnG: Do you think Guerrilla may develop something for the NGP in the future?

Steven Ter Heide: Well, of course we always look at all of the hardware. But to be honest, where we are right now is very much on PlayStation 3 since the transition from Liberation to Killzone 2. We develop all of our tools for that platform and our expertise is within the boundaries of that hardware. That’s what enables us to put so much variety and so many new features into Killzone 3, and deliver it in two years.

So our skills really lie in the PS3 field now, so… I wouldn’t say we’ll never go back to another platform. We’ll certainly look at different platforms, but I think our focus is currently first and foremost on home console.


SPOnG: Thank you very much for your time!

Steven Ter Heide: You’re welcome!


Killzone 3 is heading for a release on 25th February.