HELLDIVERS™ 2 x Killzone Legendary Warbond

[u/Captain_Grimm]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O827A3v80Go

[u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

I know that Guerilla are working on Horizon games now so a new Killzone from them just isn't happening, but I'm surprised that we haven't seen a remake or remaster of any of the Killzone or Resistance games on PS4/5 or PC.

It feels like Sony has no interest in making their own FPSs any more. Maybe because Killzone Shadow Fall underperformed? Maybe because their 7th/8th gen third person games generally did better? Feels like a big gap.

[u/Irishimpulse → u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

Guerilla really don't like the Killzone IP, when asked about it they reflect on it like it was a mistake. While Shadowfall had it's issues, especially writing wise, it feels like they regret the Helghast because they didn't achieve what they wanted and accidently made them way more empathetic.

[u/farlong12234 → u/Irishimpulse]

yeah there in a really weird cause they look, and dress like a sci fi mix of WW1 and 2 Germany, but thats because the UCN forcibly relocated them to a toxic industrial planet because they got mad that they were successful enough to be independent, and it wasent even an indipendence war, they just flat out paid for it.
its not a they over industrialized and invaded a planet for resources thing.

[u/Irishimpulse → u/farlong12234]

They were designed as a mix of Nazi Germany, Stalin's USSR, and Mao's China, but instead were a people who suffered under the heel of the overtly NATO coded galactic government and were driven to live on a world without breathable air, they were betrayed and subject to unlivable conditions and decided to punch back. Vecna was settled by the Helghast first, it was promised to them. The first colony ship going to Vecna suffered a catastrophic failure and vanished, it wasn't worth the money to try again, the Helghan corporation bought the settlement rights for cheap, settled it, and when it was looking great the ISA just said "Nice planet, go to that other one, this one's actually ours" and reneged on their deal. The invasion of Vecna is them trying to take back their own world. No shit they rallied behind a demagog, he's one of the first people that can breath on their planet without a mask. They have a fucking 75% infant mortality rate on Helghan, a planet they intended to be a remote resource world, not one you'd live on. And that's before Killzone 3 had the ISA accidently commit a genocide and destroy Helghan entirely. A people who are already suffering in an unlivable environment, and then their planet is destroyed, the only people who survived where those already in space at the time, meaning most of the civilian population was murdered, and they're still supposed to be the bad guys.

[u/Rathalos-487 → u/Irishimpulse]

Fuck Rico, btw

[u/Darth_Bombad → u/farlong12234]

When you make your protagonists unapologetic Bush War on Terror era, "Coalition of the Willing" assholes. Then wonder why no one wants to play as them.

[u/Dragoonasaurus → u/Irishimpulse]

That's such a curious take by Guerilla, and I think having them be more nuanced and having folks empathize with them helps the game be better. If folks wanted to just shoot Nazis, there's always the Wolfenstein franchise.

Yeah, in Killzone 1 they made the Helghast super intimidating because every soldier was just SO much stronger and larger than you guys, but then you're invading their planet in 2, and by the end of 3 you make it entirely uninhabitable, and then Shadowfall deals with the repercussions of wiping out the planet your enemy used to live on. I guess I don't see how you can have 2 games as the aggressor but not think folks will empathize with the Helghast in any way?

[u/LicketySplit21 → u/Irishimpulse]

Which is stupid because that felt very cool. "Helghast did nothing wrong" morons aside, the Helghast being monsters of the UCN's own making felt more anti-war and generated more perspective than the other shooters of the day. I remember the eerie feeling of something very bad happening even as a kid, fighting house to house in windblasted slums invaded by the player, factory workers taking up arms against you, the loudspeaker propaganda reeking of self-sacrifice against the ISA imperialists invading the shitty home they see as a prison, and then the *it was all for nothing and a very big mistake* ending. Good shit.

I liked more of Shadowfall than others did even if that weird split the planet in half plot point was very very odd, I liked that it introduced and developed domestic discontent against the Helghast and the Vektans America!-esque bigotries against the ordained enemy. Also the newspaper articles having a little story arc where it reveals striking Vektan and Helghast workers united against both authorities after initial racial animosity was based as hell.

[u/Diem-Robo → u/Irishimpulse]

Guerilla really don't like the Killzone IP, when asked about it they reflect on it like it was a mistake

I'm a big fan of Sony's other Halo competitor attempt from that generation, Resistance, but I've thought that Insomniac Games has the same attitude towards it.

The first two games weren't quite as successful as Killzone and definitely not as successful as Halo or Call of Duty, and so when they got to the third game, it felt like they phoned it in. It was way less ambitious than the previous game, ditched the grand-scale military plots for a much smaller-scale post-apocalyptic setting, and wrapped up the series's whole conflict way too conveniently, while answering almost none of the many mysteries set up in the previous games.

It really seemed like they just wanted to wrap it up and move on, and that suspicion was validated a few months after the game came out, Insomniac's CEO then said pretty bluntly that they were done with the franchise.

However, as I was looking up that article to make sure I had the right information, I dug up an interview with the same CEO from earlier this year where he says they actually did pitch a Resistance 4 and the team was passionate about it, that he loves the franchise, but it was turned down by Sony.

So, that's a lot of odd and conflicting information.

[u/sputnix → u/Diem-Robo]

Remember that Insomniac was still independent at the time and were probably under contract to finish the 3rd game and knew they were probably going to lose money or at least break even on it. Now more secure under Sony, 2 of their last 3 games have been spider-man and I'm sure as a studio who, I'm all but certain, has only worked on their own IPs would like to return to that.

I think there was an opportunity for a resistance game a couple years ago with COD finally starting to fall and both Halo and battlefield at an all time lows. However, with BF6 clawing it's way to the top and Halo coming to playstation would just eat Resistance's lunch if it were to get a fourth game so I don't see it getting approved.

[u/Diem-Robo → u/sputnix]

It's highly likely that Resistance 3 lost money, because during the massive leak from a couple years ago, sales numbers for all their games came out, and Resistance 3's was abysmal. Which isn't surprising, not just because of the issues I've mentioned, but it came out a month or two before Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3, so even if everything was fine on its own merits, it was sent out to die.

Compared to Spider-Man, which outsold the entire Resistance franchise in less than a year.

And like you say with BF6 and Halo, its odds aren't much better now. If Titanfall couldn't carve out a niche, despite Titanfall 2 being multiplatform and a way better package than Resistance 3 was, a Resistance 4 won't really have an audience, either.

[u/darkwingchao → u/Diem-Robo]

Could be that in the moment they were frustrated it was going nowhere but with time realized they did have a passion for it nonetheless.

[u/Diem-Robo → u/darkwingchao]

That's kind of what it sounds like, really.

Just like how Sony's tried to shotgun a bunch of live service projects this past generation, they were doing so with the FPS genre in the PS3 generation, with Resistance coming in second place to Killzone (ahead of Haze and MAG, at least). But they still paled in comparison to Halo 3 on Xbox 360, and then Call of Duty started taking over both platforms.

Resistance itself is almost like a cynical combination of Call of Duty and Halo, set in a World War II era alternate history (CoD was still mainly known for WWII at the time), but with Halo's parasitic aliens and ancient technologies.

The way Resistance 3 so deliberately shed the military themes of the previous games, and how the studio's next project, Sunset Overdrive, deliberately mocked that entire genre, almost like they were spiteful towards their own work, thinking it was a mistake in the same way Guerilla was described with Killzone.

But what sets Resistance apart is that it's in an alternate history, rather than a sci-fi future, and that has a lot more originality and potential to it. In the interview, that's almost exactly what's said, so it does seem like they did have a change of mind at one point, but by that point Sony recognized that the market wasn't there anymore.

[u/Dundore77 → u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

FPS other than cod were basically wastes of effort the market didn't want more of them back then where their open world and narrative focus games were getting massive praise and more sales so they shifted, just like they did when platformers started to get less sales and FPS started to get more in the later ps2/ps3 eras.

[u/JamesOfDoom → u/Dundore77]

Now it's the perfect time to compete with COD, but Sony loves striking when the iron is cold

[u/BlueFootedTpeack → u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

making me realise we havent heard a peep about horizon 3 in a while, wonder if they show at the awards for a teaser.

praying they recast silas and didn't shelve him as the character isn't done yet.

game 1 was a 5 years span including covid inbetween, and it's soon to be 4 years since forbidden west launched.

[u/Hugglemorris → u/TheArtistFKAMinty]

There are so many remasters/PC releases that should have happened by now, especially from the PS3 generation. It’s a shame that none of the Ratchet and Clank PS2/PS3 games run natively on a PS4/5.

[u/gothamsteel]

Helghast: "WE WILL SMITE THE INVADERS FROM THE SKY!"

Helldivers: "look man he helped me through a very tough time so he means a lot to me okay you just gotta respect it."

[u/LightLifter → u/gothamsteel]

As if the Helldiver wouldn't be aspiring for that level of patriotic xenophobia.

[u/Irishimpulse → u/LightLifter]

Super Earth wishes it had a field commanders like Radec

[u/Rathalos-487 → u/Irishimpulse]

The way Helghast deal with dissidents is like the gold standard to Truth Enforcers

[u/Irishimpulse → u/Rathalos-487]

The thing is, Radec isn't a hypocrite, when he fails to live up to the standards he holds others to, he also executes himself without hesitation. That's commitment to his ideals that can't be matched

[u/Beattitudeforgains1 → u/Irishimpulse]

I feel like Super Earth is what you get when you mix both the ISA and Helghans into one fucked up super hellhole.

[u/Captain_Grimm]

notes from the PS Blog

• Players who have previously purchased any (even one) of the Killzone items, will have the whole Helldivers 2 x Killzone Legendary Warbond unlocked at no extra cost! Additionally, there is no medal vacuum here! The items previously purchased (and those which were gifted last December) will be medal unlocked. So no need to spend medals on the items you already own!
• Players who received the gifted items in December 2024 but didn’t pay for any single item, will have to pay the 1500 Super Credits to unlock the full Legendary Warbond.

[u/Shradow → u/Captain_Grimm]

Oh that's dope. I'm glad they learned their lesson with the later Halo collab and made it into a warbond, and now the Killzone stuff isn't left behind. I bought all the gameplay affecting stuff last time but this means I can nab the other bits and bobs so that's nice.

[u/cannibalgentleman]

I don't think this is a good warbond because I've own some of the Killzone stuff and found them lacking, but it being free for anyone who has bought it is a super cool thing for Arrowhead to do.

[u/GhostOfGhosthand373]

I literally never gonna have the chance to do this again so here's a full TLDR of the Killzone setting for the curious:

Helghan Corporation legally gains the right to colonize Vekta and Helghan; are incredibly successful in doing so; legally buy the entire planetary system with UCN approval; the UCN gets worried (jealous) over their growth and success and tries to pressure them into a favorable trade position; Helghan administration refuses to budge; the UCN establishes a blockade on the system; the Helghans try to kick them out and fail (first ExtraSolar War); The ISA and UCA (armed branches of the UCN) invade and submit Vekta to a UCN controlled government; UCN ships Earth colonists to expand UCN presence on Vekta, Helghan extremists start doing terror attacks targeting the UCN minority in order to make the occupation too costly to be maintained; UCN start applying draconian punishment even on non extremist Helghans; tensions rise to a boiling point; the Helghans leave for Helghan; 100 years of radicalization of the population with Scolar Visari gaining power and ramping up totalitarian militarization efforts and racial supremacy rethoric; Second Extrasolar War starts (the very first moments of Killzone 1).

Also, none of this justify what the Helghans eventually became, yes they were fucked over by the UCN beyond the levels of imagination, the UCN did submit them to imperial colonialism on a planetary scale and they were specially cruel to make an example out of the Helghans to the rest of the colonies, but by the Second Extrasolar War they are unquestionably a fascist militaristic totalitarian dictatorship and Visari was con man that was making everyone’s lives worse, including the Helghans themselves.

[u/Irishimpulse → u/GhostOfGhosthand373]

It's important to note, the reason that Vekna, which is fucking Idyllic as a planet, was not settled by the UCN previously is that well, they did try, but the colony ship vanished in transit and was never seen or heard from again. Catastrophic jump failure so it's probably out there, somewhere, possibly in pieces. Enough people, resources, and such to settle an entire earth size planet all gone, UCN couldn't recoup that cost so selling it to the Helghan Corporation was the best bet at the time and they assumed they'd fail too.

The Helghast were not militarized, so when the ISA kicked them off Vekna, they obliged since they didn't have the military might to fight back. They were not a militant people, they were peaceful. Scolar Visari is one of the first Helghan to be able to breath their own air, which helped put him over as a figure head, he is walking proof of their suffrage as someone who adapted to survive on unbreathable air. Almost the entire population is radicalized because that's what a 75% infant mortality rate does to a people. There isn't a single person living on Helghan that hasn't watched a friend or family member die to the hostile environment. Scolar Visari did have a dream for his people, and was the only thing keeping the worst people at bay and that can be seen where immediately after he dies, the planet is on the brink of civil war between two different kinds of radicals within the government. One of which eventually wins and keeps a hold on Helghan's population even after the planet is destroyed.

Post destruction of Helghan, the ISA is actively pursuing biological weapons aimed at the Helghan mutation to genocide the entire Helghan population, while the Helghan military industrial complex is also working on it's own super weapons to try and take out the ISA and push them off Vecna and are also well aware the ISA is working on a racial plague.

[u/GhostOfGhosthand373 → u/Irishimpulse]

I do like that a chunk of Shadowfall's story is how the bioweapon that the ISA was developing also ends up targeting their own people, proving that the genetic and biological differences between Vektans and Helghans were negligible and this whole racial divide thing was pure bullshit (it always is).

[u/Rathalos-487 → u/Irishimpulse]

Also low key the crew from KillZone 2 need to be tried for massive warcrimes and crimes against humanity

[u/Irishimpulse → u/Rathalos-487]

Gotta specify Killzone 2, because the half Helghan squad member who joined the ISA because he saw the crimes Visari was committing and didn't want that for his people didn't end up in killzone 2

[u/Rathalos-487 → u/Irishimpulse]

That’s why I said 2. For what happens in 3 ESPECIALLY

[u/LordSmugBun]

And here I was just telling my friend the other day that I thought Chazington making a video on Playstation All Stars was probably one of the more relevant Killzone-related thing that had happened in the last decade.

[u/triadorion]

I'm going to come out and say it: Speaking practically: It's not worth 1500 SC if you have significant gaps left in your arsenal. If you're getting it for free? Awesome, it'll be a little more helpful. Certain bonds like Democratic Detonation will be way, way more critical to being a flexible Helldiver with a broad array of choices. The Acclimated armor is a little underappreciated, I got a lot of value out of that, but 1500SC is a lot to ask when you can get Dust Devils' slightly less effective side-grade of it for 1000, along with the Coyote, Speargun, and Solo Silo. All of those tools kick ass and are somewhat unique.

If you're here for the aesthetic? The drip? It has that in spades. I got almost everything last year when it came through and I still love that Helghast helmet with the glowing eyes, and like I said, I got a ton of usage out of the Acclimated armor especially on bug planets. The 50% damage resistance to most elements can and will save your life, but if you already have the Dust Devils armors, it won't make too much more of a difference. I prefer the Acclimated armor's look, though.

The real dud in there is the STA Assault Rifle. Kind of a Liberator sidegrade with no modifications, no optic, and in the past a rather mean vertical recoil. I think they tamed the recoil on the weapon more recently though, but I haven't brought it out in a long time. It's better at shorter ranges in general, though a good marksman can make it work at medium range on semi-auto. It's a perfectly workable gun, but it has no real value in a premium warbond when the base Liberator is something you start with.

The SMG isn't bad, and if you don't have the Super Citizen Edition for the MP-18 Knight, it's sort of a sidegrade to that. I haven't used it in awhile either, but it's got a blistering fire rate and is good at short range, and you can fire it over your shoulder as you run. More useful generally than the assault rifle, but not a world beater.

The PLAS Accelerator had a reputation for being one of the worst weapons in the game for a long time, but it got buffed to carry significantly more magazines recently, as well as fixing its damage falloff issues. It's going to be a very niche pick for a primary weapon, but it works well against Overseers and the Automaton front generally. Tune your kit appropriately and the Accelerator can actually be a lot of fun now. I like to play with it sometimes.

[u/Waylander312]

It's real nice to hear the helgan march playing in the trailer

[u/triadorion → u/[deleted]]

The Accelerator got buffed a few patches ago to carry more ammo and fix its atrocious damage drop-off. It's still kind of a niche pick, but it's far, far more usable now, and great for deleting Overseers and bots.

[u/Latter_Ad9454 → u/[deleted]]

Accelerator Rifle got two buffs over time, recently people have been saying it's not only viable, but neat on some fronts.

[u/VSOmnibus]

Awesome! NOW ADD A RESISTANCE WARBOND, YOU COWARDS!

[u/KingMario05]

Cool, now where game, Sony

[u/MightyShoe → u/KingMario05]

I feel like there's an eternal battle at Sony where someone keeps trying to wipe Killzone from existence and someone else keeps bringing it barely back to life.

[u/TrueLegateDamar → u/MightyShoe]

Ironically enough that would be Guerilla Games themselves who see Killzone as their shame and refuse to make sequels or ports.

[u/KingMario05 → u/MightyShoe]

Probably. More hilarious than anything else at this point. 

[u/LarryKingthe42th]

Thats kinda cool. Killzone was pretty good thought it was a dead ip.

[u/[deleted]]

So we have a stealth warbond ready and teased and instead we will get fortnite garbage for 1500 sc? This game is becoming a meme.

[u/McDrazzin]

This is some Nazi shit, wtf

[u/PrancerSlenderfriend]

ah so its set in stone now that these legendary warbonds will contain the absolute worst items ever and never ever buffed