Get to know how it was like working on one of the most successful games for the PlayStation Portable, Killzone: Liberation, as well as a few tidbits of info about Killzone for the PS3 in this interface designer interview. We get you the facts and only the facts that a Guerrilla Games employee can only be privy to.

Martijn Venrooy began the interview by elaborating on his role as interface designer - that is, making sure that all interactive things such as menus and the HUD are all easy to use, visible and user-friendly. He then details out the interface design process in four easy steps - creation of a functional design, then a visual design to tie things up nicely, coding so that each part of the interface does what it's supposed do, and then animations are finally applied.

When asked about his current projects, Martijn said that he's a bit tied up with Killzone for the PS3: "There’s always an icon which needs be enhanced or some screens that need a design update. There’s enough work to do!" He didn't share anything about the game itself, though, so no joy on extra details.

What he did reveal was the fact that the Guerrilla team was quite overwhelmed by the videogame community's reaction to Killzone: Liberation. His statement, verbatim:

The moment the reviews came in, both from the offline and online media, was one big rush! It doesn’t get much better than big gaming sites like IGN and Gamespot rewarding you with good scores. That gave us a lot of energy. Every day plenty of new reviews came in, most of them enjoyed it. To be honest I’m pretty proud of that. In the end you’re trying to create a game which will be played instead of shelved.

Well, not much info gleaned in this review, but at least we know that Killzone for the PS3 is in very good hands. We also appreciate the fact that today's videogame developers are getting the love they deserve for their masterpieces, no matter what format they come in.

 

Well, we found a gamer over at Video Gamers of America who managed to pick up the new update for Killzone: Liberation. As you can see below, he's taken quite a number of screenshots of the action.

What you'll be seeing below are screens from some of the multiplayer objectives out for Guerrilla Games' shooter, such as Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch. There's also some regular deathmatch screens in there, though we're not entirely sure which action shots are for which game. Regardless, there are a lot of them, which means more gaming enjoyment for all of us as we patiently wait for our Killzone downloads to finish.

  

More killer screenshots after the jump!

Great news for the Killzone fans out there. The Killzone download pack has finally arrived, and with it, the promise of an additional chapter, as well as the long-awaited Infrastructure Mode.

Chapter 5 is a free downloadable episode for Killzone:Liberation that covers the disappearance of squad sergeant Rico. Comprised of four missions spanning an additional two hours, the game has you running and gunning in an attempt to find out what happened to him. In addition, you'll also get two additional maps for multiplayer, called the Prison and Construction Site maps, as well as one-on-one action in Infrastructure mode.

In any case, here's the official word from Guerrilla Games on their download pack:

• Infrastructure Mode includes 'Duel Mode 1vs1': take another player on in a head-to-head battle which will really raise the stakes. This new mode has been adapted for two players from the multiplayer format by using strategically-placed barbed wire to reduce the surface area of the combat zone.
• New unlockable content: the Killzone: Liberation disc will link via the PSP browser directly to killzone.com. Successful completion of an in-game level will allow the user to access the site and access extra content. Players without immediate access to wireless internet can record progress direct to memory stick allowing you to download the content when you're in a wireless hotspot.

To download it, just use the in-game menu to pick it up. Make sure you've got a working wireless hotspot to download it from though. Enjoy!

While Killzone 2 might not reach the shelves any time soon, we've got an interview for you guys to pass time. From Killzoneunit.com, Killzone: Liberation's producer Steven Ter Heide talks about his life with Guerrilla Games and the first game he ever produced.

What exactly is his role at Guerrilla Games? Apparently, he's the guy who does the scheduling and balancing work - currently his doing this for Killzone 2. It's his job to make sure they're on the right track, that they're moving close to the game they're creating step by step. He worked on Killzone: Liberation for the PSP as his first game and he obviously enjoyed it. "It’s great to see early concepts come to life" he says.

During the interview, Heide also expressed his joy and satisfaction when people at E3 went straight to multiplayer after touching their handheld demos. With the focus being on making Killzone: Liberation enjoyable in multiplayer, he commented "we knew we were definitely on the right track", after getting positive comments during the big conference. "After the first 2 minutes... people want to get their hands on it themselves, because it just looks like fun!" he adds.

The rest of the interview went on with him talking about his favorites from Liberation, level 2.1 being his favorite stage and Cobar's revolver his favorite weapon. When asked about making a sequel, he said he just wants more of the same since the original already has a lot of features.

Lastly, he was asked to finish the following sentence: “Working at Guerrilla Games is similar to slaving in the Helghan Mines because…” His response? "…I’m not answering this question as I am the slave-driver. Now get back to work!"

 

Intriguing. Someone on the Official PlayStation forums asked Guerrilla Games if there were any news concerning the Killzone website, and lead tester Seb Downie replied: "We are fixing the last couple of legal issues and then it will go live."

But live with what? The thread replies then started to speculate on details on the PS3 Killzone until Seb came back a couple of pages later with: "Oops.  At this stage there will not be any PS3 stuff.  Yet.  But there is going to be a lot of cool stuff on there."

Yet?

Okay, so if it's not PS3 stuff, then it might be related to Killzone: Liberation. Any indicator that the long-awaited infrastructure and Chapter Five are about to see the light of release day?

You know speculation. People hate it, but people can't help it either. The betting pool here's on PSP infrastructure and Chapter Five-related details, if you're asking. Still, since Seb said "Yet..." we should be watching this space for PS3 details, too.

The Killzone: Liberation Guerrilla Games dev team has a message relayed through the PlayStation.com forums. "Good news and not-so-good news", they say.

If you've read the title, then you know. The eagerly awaited infrastructure online multiplayer patch still needs more time for tweaking before it can be released. "We still have too many bugs that need fixing before we can be 100% happy with the patch.  We want it to be as good as possible and releasing it right now would not be fair on you guys, so we have decided to postpoine is (sic) a couple of weeks."

Hey, as much as the phrase "When it's ready" sends shivers down our spines, having everything running smoothly from Day One's also a biggie too, especially with something like infrastructure.

To soften the blow, the devs are announcing that Chapter 5 is FREE. "We have been expecting this and have been 99.9% sure it would be, but we could not announce it without the blessing of the higher ups.  Also I want to confirm that it will allow Voice comms for those with headsets, but that is all I want to tell you about it right now."

Chapter 5's certainly a nice addition. The post says it will have four missions, six challenge games, and two new multiplayer maps. Only thing is that there's no confirmed release date for both the patch and Chapter 5. Patience, children. All things come... And if you still don't have Liberation? Hey, there's always Amazon.

 

Amazon's listing Guerrilla Games' Killzone: Liberation for only US$ 26.48, about 34% off the listed MSRP for the shooter. And by the way, that's US$ 26.48 "this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping."

Now the question is, is that a steal? Well, if the Killzone multiplayer beta turns out quite well, and Guerrilla is just about ready to push the final build of that feature onto downloadable, and you still don't have Killzone: Liberation yet and find yourself wanting... you do the math, and see if the numbers add up in your favor.

Yeah, so that leaves "So when's the multiplayer patch for Killzone going to finally be ready?"

Guerrilla Games has just put up a placeholder page for Killzone: Liberation, and what do you know? They've got something special for all the nice little warmongers out there.

The new Killzone site has the demo up for download. For folks who weren't able to get a UMD of the demo in the mail, this will come as a welcome surprise. For people who've already tried the demo, you're getting the chance to try out multiplayer with your friends.

As Seb Downie, lead tester for Guerrilla Games, notes on their forums:

The demo is nothing new to the people who have the UMD version, but it will allow you to play some Adhoc multiplayer without the need of 2 UMDs and give people who have not played the game a chance to sample a level.

The demo requires at least FW version 3.02.

Of course, since 3.02's been liberated from the clutches of firmware protection (*snicker*), some testing should give you guys an indication of whether you can have your demo and your homebrew too. Enjoy!