The original Killzone was release on the PlayStation 2 on November 26th, 2004. It wasn't all that great, but it did lay the foundation for Killzone 2 on the PlayStation 3, which was pretty great, so we'll let Guerrilla have its little celebration. It works out well for us anyway, what with a double XP weekend in Killzone 2 running the 27th through the 30th, and reduced prices on Killzone 2 DLC until December 10th. There's even a Killzone 2 retro tournament this weekend, using only the Beach Head and Southern Hills map from the second map pack.

Those of you who earnestly want to celebrate the original game can head over to Killzone.com, where this week there'll be a complete play through of the original game later this week, followed by a detailed comparison of the two titles next week.

Happy birthday, Killzone! We will celebrate this Thursday by eating until we pass out.

Killzone is (almost) Five! – Celebrate with a Double XP Weekend and More [PlayStation Blog]

The game's rousing soundtrack was recorded by a session orchestra (at Abbey Road, no less), not some guy with a synthesiser, and if you've ever wanted to make your office feel less like a rat race and more like a military junta, you can grab it on iTunes right now for $10.

Killzone 2 Soundtrack Released On iTunes [PlayStation]

It'll introduce two new maps, "Suljeva Cliffside" and "Arctower Landing", along with two new weapons (well, new for multiplayer), the flamethrower and boltgun.

The DLC will also be accompanied by a new patch for the game, the features of which we've listed below. The update will be out on July 14, while pricing and release info on the DLC will be released next week.

* Feature - Higher values for Bodycount mode. Players can now create games with 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 100 and 200 points to increase the time of the mode for 32 player games.
* Feature - Moderators can now create double-points events.
* Fix for persistent squads now working correctly when users using separate Japanese accounts join Friends.
* New loading screens.
* Moderation – Additional powers and functionality for online moderators.
* Fix for Clan Leader leaving his clan before an active Tournament of Clan Challenge.
* Fix for score replication on different clients.
* Fix for a Clan Challenge results displaying a won/lost games as a ‘Draw'.
* Fix for incorrect Tournament timings being displayed for (semi)-final.
* Fix for an empty message pop-up being displayed.
* ‘High Precision Mode' now defaulting when requested.
* Fix for stuttering audio on the Asian version.
* Fix for network error displayed when trying to log in with another users account.
* Fix to reduce network traffic and improve performance.
* Fix for occasionally being displayed an empty background when ‘Join Friend' via Communications tab.
* Exploit – Pyrrhus Rise map boundary fix.
* Exploit – Radec Academy collision fix to prevent players being revived inside a pillar and using it to their advantage.
* Cosmetic fix for Medic Gun visual effects.
* Cosmetic fix for Search & Retrieve object being cloaked by the Scout.
* Cosmetic fix for Scouts body remaining cloaked after being mortally wounded (i.e. headshot).
* Gameplay – Damage from Sentry bots tweaked back on request of the community.
* Collection of minor code fixes.

Never mind the fact these were mostly fixed by adjusting the controller sensitivity in the game's options menu. That was too hard for some people. So developers Guerilla Games are about to release a new patch for the game that, among some tweaks to matchmaking and skirmish mode, includes a new "High Precision" control scheme.

Guerilla's Eric Boltjes explains:

When this option is switched on, it makes the analog sticks more responsive to small movements. Turned off, the controls behave exactly as they did before the patch. It's not a radical overhaul of the control system, so the layout and the ‘weight' of the controls remain the same.

Still, a lot of us here at Guerrilla really enjoy the new High Precision option, so we've decided to switch it on by default for new players. Existing Killzone 2 players will have the option turned off by default after patching – we wouldn't want to force a sudden change to the controls on you!

So if you like the existing controls, you keep them, if not, you can change 'em. Wonderful.

Killzone 2 Patch 1.27 Details [PlayStation]

The "Future Soldier 2030" being planned at the Army's Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Mass., is the subject of much oohing-and-ahhhing in today's New York Post. The basis of tomorrow's fighter is a "soldier as a system," philosophy that more or less regards soldiers as battlefield assets like tanks or planes.

Some of this "system's" features include a HUD inside the helmet; voice commands that unlock a weapon or set it to less-than-lethal force, a powered exoskeleton to increase a soldier's movement endurance and even "neural prosthetics" and "drugs that aid cognitive ability." The Army allows that those enhancements might be "controversial now, but perhaps ubiquitous in 2030."

I suppose it's only a natural evolution, the Army's designs somewhat trailing the epochal history of combat games; from flight sims to drone aircraft, FPSes to cyborg soldier.

Soldier of the Future [NY Post, and graphic; thanks randlsa]

The Flash and Thunder Pack contains two classic Killzone maps remade from the ground up for Killzone 2. The Beach Head map sees the ISA defending a coastal stronghold against a Helghast landing force, while the Southern Hills map reverses fortunes, with the ISA storming a Helghast compound on top of a hill, assumedly somewhere in the south. Limited in size, the Beach Head map should be good for small skirmishes, while the expansive Southern Hills map is more suited for a large-scale game.

Check out the first screens from the new pack below, and look for the Flash and Thunder Pack to arrive on June 11th, with a price to be determined at a later date.

Like other Sony online stats - which record individual accounts rather than unique users - this doesn't mean that there have been one million individual players (it's not like every single owner has played the game online), but hey, it's probably pretty close.

[via PS3Center]

Developers Guerilla Games have issued a curt, ominous statement on the matter, which reads:

Glitchers risk losing their PSN ID altogether. We've been quite lenient so far but that's going to change.

OK, so it's not that ominous. Because there's no money involved, a PSN ID isn't as valuable as, say, an Xbox Live one (though, as some have pointed out in comments, they'd probably lose any and all downloaded content as well). Then again, if you're keen enough to cheat, you're probably self-centred enough to care about your trophies, so hopefully the threat carries weight with some of the no-do-gooders.

[Killzone @ Twitter, via Destructoid]

Just unveiled by Sony, who only say these are "things to come", we can see the previously-seen Helghast Sackboy accompanied by a sack version of Sev, Killzone's "hero". There's also a sackgirl Kai - aka the crazy lady from Heavenly Sword - and a sackboy done up to look like the unimaginably annoying host of Sony's Buzz! trivia series (who from his low-poly appearance may well be from the freshly-announced PSP version).

Also teased by Sony was the Nariko sackgirl we've already seen, meaning that she'll probably be made available to the cash-paying public, and not just pre-ordering customers at Best Buy.

Sack it to Me - The PSP Announcement Edition [PlayStation]

Consider this a backtrack. Of sorts. Sony announced today that if you're set up with a Home account, and pop into the service for a visit, you'll be able to pick up one of a limited number of download codes for the demo. All you need to do is find someone in Home dressed as a Helghast soldier and ask them for one.

These Helghast missionaries will be in Home from 6pm Pacific onwards. You should do your best to get one, if only to reduce by one the number of people attacking/defending the game with their very lives despite never having played a second's worth of it.

If you miss out, or conversely can't be bothered logging into Home, remember: users with a PAL account (ie a British, European or Australian PSN account) can download the demo no strings attached.

Warning: Helghast Invasion of Home imminent [PlayStation]

Multiplayer reports that Killzone2 is actually owned by Vegard Aure of GameDiscovery.com, which also owns DevilMayCry 2 and DevilMayCry3 websites.

And apparently neither Sony nor Capcom have contacted Aure to ask about the sites... well, not yet. A call to Sony reps netted a "we're going to look into it" comment.

It raises an interesting question about official sites for video games. How often do you search out a game, by name, on the web in hopes of netting new details? Would you be annoyed if the site wasn't owned by the publisher or developer?

Sony Owns Websites For ‘Killzone’ And ‘Killzone 3′ …But Not For ‘Killzone 2′ (Or 4 Or 5!) [MTV Multiplayer]

Speaking with CVG, de Jonge says:

The first images that we released were just from one level that was still in early production, and I can assure you that the final game has a very rich and varied colour palette - and still manages to maintain that gritty and realistic look and feel.

Rich and varied? So, like...hot pink Helghast helmets? And deathmatch levels based on Rainbow Road? Love it!

Killzone dev responds to 'grey' critics [CVG]

I just received a very swank looking black envelope (it even had my name and Kotaku written in silver foil) in the mail. Inside was this very stark invitation. On the back? A time, date and a location during E3 and the Playstation logo. Obviously, this has got to be for Killzone PS3, but what is it? It's got to be a hands-on for Killzone PS3? Right? I mean SCEA did already say at Gamer's Day that Killzone for the PS3 would be shown at this year's E3. Oh, and it's two and a half hours long. Brian Crecente

So, knowing that you'll be picked apart by every Sony anti-fanboy and studied with microscopic precision by the media, how you feelin'?

Excitement with an underlying: "OH MY GOD WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!" I am sure there are a hundred developers around the globe feeling the same way right now though. Everyone wants their game to play look and sound perfectly when the public first get to see it. If you are working on an AAA Next Gen beast of a game or something for mobile phones you want to make a good impression on people. And if you have the baggage that we have we have to give it that extra little bit. Hopefully it will all go brilliantly and we'll shut up even some of the most ardent critics.

Yes, baggage. Shame about that. Don't worry, Guerrilla, I'm going to do my best to give it a fair shake. In fact, maybe I'll whack my skull with a hammer right beforehand, try and knock a bit of that CG trailer memory out before we see it. Michael McWhertor

Q&A Session With Guerrilla Games [Killzone Unit]

However, before he rolled film, he extended one caveat to the press. "I need to kind of couch this first. This is to show you the technology, not to show you the game. So please don't be thinking about the game too much, I just want you to be looking at the imagery and how we've constructed some of the scenes and how complex some of the scenes are."

What played was a dark, quietly operatic look at the destructable environments of Killzone, the rag-doll physics of dying Hellghast soldiers, the lighting and environmental effects that the Guerilla crew have been slaving away on since the game's genesis. Windows shattered and troops fell as gunfire ripped through indoor environments. Outdoors a tank battle and multiple firefights showed the game will feature plenty of action.

So how did it look? I tried hard to heed Harrison's warning about the clip, but I couldn't help but focus on the game itself.

Visually it was certainly less impressive than the infamous E3 2005 pre-rendered target trailer, that's for sure. Animation quality varied, looking awkward at times. Moments smacked uncomfortably of Vivendi's F.E.A.R. and will probably cause a bit of fanboy ruckus when it's finally shown to the public this July at E3. There's obviously a long way to go, but, in my opinion, Sony was very wise to have kept the game under wraps and not tarnish today's Home and LittleBigPlanet announcements. Michael McWhertor