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The Killzone Universe: Complete Timeline & Backstory

noah111

Still Alive
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As it turns out, Killzone's fictional history is really deep. This timeline was written before KZ2 came out, but was tucked away on their site where not many people ever saw it. The timeline has been wiped from GG's site for a few years now, but luckily there are screen caps of the flash-based timeline floating around, and with them I was able to gather all the bits to make this compacted vertical timeline view of the KZ history.

I recommend everyone read it (wall of text, I know, but it's worth it). It's actually a really intriguing, complicated, and multifaceted (not to mention having a million shades of gray) story. A grounded sci-fi epic, basically.

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Hopefully future Killzones, be it Shadow Fall or others, dive more into this rich history. It's a crime not to!

(for a written version with no art, click here)

[assuming you've read it all] Who do you side with? Which of them was in the wrong and which was in the right, and at what points? Also, who do you assume was responsible for the several 'unexplained' events? It seems like they all did terrible things at certain points, while at the same time also acting justifiably in other instances. Really mixed bag, which makes it all the more interesting. Discuss!
 

RoKKeR

Member
Will save this thread, looks like there's a lot of really great backstory. Thanks for putting this together.
 

Vire

Member
Subscribed. Great work, I need to catch up/refresh for ShadowFall.

Shame that the actual characters in the game were so poor compared to the back story.
 

AgentP

Thinks mods influence posters politics. Promoted to QAnon Editor.
Must read later. Sony should do an animated movie like the Dead Space one.
 
Really, really hope they are taking some inspiration (from themselves) from this kinda stuff when writing the story for Shadowfall. I think the fact that we have Helghans and Vektans living right next door to eachother lends itself better to a more personal story that goes into the histories and cultures of these two factions.

The player character in Shadowfall appears to be a lot higher up than Rico and Sev, so hopefully the story does get more involved than just the exploits of a bunch of military grunts.
 
You know, I'm thinking that such an amazing lore just can't be told in an action FPS game. Maybe if Killzone was more open world, but at best we will see intel scattered around. They can only really tell this story through more unique ways, like objects in the environment, unless they make the cutscenes more story-heavy.

I would have loved a Killzone RPG of sorts that took us through all this, maybe like Destiny if anything
 

khaaan

Member
I feel kind of bad now for skipping all the cut scenes. The only thing I can remember from Killzone 3 was a bunch of dudebro moments and an ending that decided "you know what? Maybe I'll be thoughtful for a sec and bring up all the lives we've laid to waste". Might give it a read through later.
 

Vlodril

Member
Its nice people saved it. I read all of it before killzone 2 and was sad to see that they didn't use it at all in either 2 or 3.. Why even make a good backstory if you are not going to use it at all i have no idea.

Also ISA are scum..
 

moolhy

Banned
I've seen this before. Boggles my mind that GG managed to get some competent writer(s) to put this together and yet their games' stories consist of B-level action bro-romps.
 
I remember reading this, it's just too bad Guerrilla doesn't utilize all this lore that much in their games. Hopefully that'll change with Shadow Fall and more KZ titles in the future.
 
I'll give it a read when I have a chance. This could actually help me get into the franchise as I have no idea what the fuck is going on in most of these games.
 

noah111

Still Alive
Really, really hope they are taking some inspiration (from themselves) from this kinda stuff when writing the story for Shadowfall. I think the fact that we have Helghans and Vektans living right next door to eachother lends itself better to a more personal story that goes into the histories and cultures of these two factions.

The player character in Shadowfall appears to be a lot higher up than Rico and Sev, so hopefully the story does get more involved than just the exploits of a bunch of military grunts.
I think Shadow Fall is the first big shakeup as far as story goes. It's not just a war (Helghast invading Vekta, ISA invading Helghan, etc), it's an entirely new dynamic.

Read the 'Early Helghan Era' section for example; "Helghast" (which is a term that wasn't coined till waaaay later by Vasari) are indeed Vektans. Vekta, which is now more of a UCN/ISA home world than anything, was actually populated by the the population of the Helghan Corporation. They named the planet "Vekta" after their CEO ffs.

So just as they slowly left Vekta to Helghan due to the crack downs, after KZ3's ending they more or less had to come back to Vekta (and ofc there were probably Helghast on Vekta all along as well, in small numbers). I think SF will HAVE to dive into the story more, if we are to realize that Vekta actually belongs to the Helghast. Now that they have no where to really go due to the ISA pretty much destroying Helghan (with that radiation release), the Helghast have nothing left to do BUT take over Vekta.

Can't wait to see how they tackle the story, really hope despite the action focus we've seen thus far, that the story is deeper and the world more open.

so when are getting the Killzone: Space Combat game?
I wish.
 
I've seen this before. Boggles my mind that GG managed to get some competent writer(s) to put this together and yet their games' stories consist of B-level action bro-romps.
This, exactly. The lore is well done, but it doesn't matter for shit when the plots of the actual games are so brainless.
 

GraveRobberX

Platinum Trophy: Learned to Shit While Upright Again.

The Killzone 2 Intro still sends shivers though my body

So Good!

Yes Bring Him Back!

When he say "The Enemy may shatter our bodies, but they cannot break our spirit.... To seize by force what they can't claim by right, We will smite the invaders from the sky..."

That shit makes me so hard, almost a fucking battle cry of give me a M82 and point me towards the ISA Scum!
 
Fuck Rico.

Worst character of this generation.

Seriously, it's like if Luigi gets Toad killed, then flips out and pops a cap in Bowser's head at the end of a Super Mario game. Then nukes his entire kingdom. Why would you ruin such an awesome antagonist and continue to play-up such a shitheel character that no one likes. I'll never understand if GG seriously expected anyone to sympathize with Rico.
 

spectros4

Neo Member
Thanks for posting this! I remember looking at this a few years back.
This is a must read for fans of the Killzone universe
 

~Devil Trigger~

In favor of setting Muslim women on fire
KZ1 had an interesting set up. They tossed all that away with the sequels.

it had good storytelling

I always was a fan of following different characters in one story. It brought great gameplay variety but it also brought better focus to specific characters and their perspective.

I think the KZ universe fit this storytelling technique great, cuz KZ is not a "One Hero" game. Its not about a Master Chief/Drake/Gordon...etc. Its about 2 nations/peoples, i think its cool to move around character to character.

The dynamic of going from Hakka, to Rico to Lugger...etc, story wise its high point of the franchise imo.
 

Grisby

Member
Read a lot of this before KZ2 was out.

Too bad they don't give a shit about it in the actual games.
KZ1 had an interesting set up. They tossed all that away with the sequels.
This. Was pretty neat playing with all the characters and stuff.
 

firen

Member
This, exactly. The lore is well done, but it doesn't matter for shit when the plots of the actual games are so brainless.

Agreed. I hope they can find a way to bring this level of depth to the game. I think Guerilla wanted the game to appeal to the masses but by doing so sacrificed their world. Basically it boiled down to Helghan bad, ISA good. I hope we can see some of the nuances of the opposing factions in SF. Don't need oscar level acting but the gratuitous use of bad words left something to be desired. I don't mind swearing if it serves a purpose but it just made an already thin story even worse.

Regardless, I am looking forward to SF as I have beaten all 3 of the console releases.
 

Dibbz

Member
This stuff has been around for ages and GG never take advantage of it. It's a fucking disservice that they throw this whole backstory under the rug in all the games.

It's a good job the games play so well but they really need to step up on the story front and not just give us, shoot the big bad higs every game.
 

Dibbz

Member
I somehow feel like I've been playing as the bad guy all this time.

You have been. Though if you just play the games you'd think Killzone was all about ISA killing the terrorist Helghast.

Actually there is no real good or bad guys. Both shit in the same shade of grey with the shit they pull on each other.
 
it had good storytelling

I always was a fan of following different characters in one story. It brought great gameplay variety but it also brought better focus to specific characters and their perspective.

I think the KZ universe fit this storytelling technique great, cuz KZ is not a "One Hero" game. Its not about a Master Chief/Drake/Gordon...etc. Its about 2 nations/peoples, i think its cool to move around character to character.

The dynamic of going from Hakka, to Rico to Lugger...etc, story wise its high point of the franchise imo.

Agreed, Killzone 2 wasted a lot of potential and was a missed opportunity for GG to really innovate in terms of storytelling for the FPS genre. It was also really fun to have 4 different playable characters with their own unique play styles.

The squadmade dynamic of KZ could have blended really well with a 4-player co-op campaign in KZ2. Shame they went backwards with both sequels. Despite KZ2 having superior visuals and gunplay, the first game is still my favourite due to the storytelling. Jan, Luger, Hakha, and even Rico were much stronger characters than anyone in the sequels. Having Hakha in the group was a great way to add a bit of grey area to the conflict. There's none of that in KZ2 and KZ3.
 

Strike

Member
I remember from the press release when KZ2 was revealed at E3 2007 they talked about how the ISA would have to adjust to the harsh alien environment. After all, the Helghast were no different from normal humans before they settled on the planet and it took several generations for them to adapt. I was looking forward to that and in the end it just amounted to thunderstorms and weird flora/fauna. It could led to some more interesting things with the narrative and the gameplay, but it was never really brought up. I remember the talking about the Helghan alphabet too. In the final game the lore was only ever brought up in loading screens.
 

reson8or

Member
Thanks for resurrecting this, I read it a long time ago, and after playing KZ2, I went to look for it and could not find it. Its a shame that they chose not to convey any of this in the games aside from the very basic concept of attack the "bad" guys. Ultimately they are shooters, but a little exposition goes a long way.
 
I remember when Killzone was first announced they put up this teaser website and I thought it looked so cool. Was really disappointed to later discover it was a spectacle shooter.
 
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