Guerilla's overall approach to their current two projects marks a turn in the philosophy of game development. The emphasis shifts from graphical excellence to gameplay aspects such as realism, immersion and at times, social observations. That is not to say that the visuals of the game will not impress, Guerilla's Development Director, Arjan Brussee sums-up the company's approach, We don’t want to see our products as technology focused, but the genres that we operate in do benefit from strong visuals and leading technology.
It would be hard to dismiss the technology behind Killzone, Guerilla's PS2 exclusive title, and Shellshock, when it has caused so much excitement to PS2 owners, by promising to change the visual experience on Sony's console. Sony's people were so pleased with what they saw of the engine behind the games that they rushed to lock-down Guerilla with a deal which will see the Dutch developers creating games exclusively for SCEE and Sony platforms from now on.
Arjan Brussee, describing the way the technology works commented, Our custom engine has been tailored to achieve high-end effects on PS2, not focusing on pure polygon throughput but on ‘high quality polygons’ with multiple textures and good lighting. The same technology now runs on Xbox and PC.
Considering the noise surrounding Guerilla we have to pay special attention to exactly what is being said about the engine the company has created. Guerilla will be the first to admit that the results are impressive on the PS2. Having had a first look at the game, we can say with certainty that the developers have managed to create the best, visually, jungle that Sony's aging console has seen. Using previous games as a benchmark, Shellshock is by far a slicker more graphically accomplished game. As far as the XBox and PC versions are concerned however, the game will not offer the same groundbreaking advances. Granted, Shellshock is a good-looking game on all platforms but the XBox and to a greater extent, the PC have seen similar or better visuals in many games.
That is why Guerilla have focused on providing a comprehensive, overall package with the game, one which includes exciting AI, intriguing gameplay and controversy.
AI and NPCs
Guerilla are happy to tell you about their efforts to breathe new life into PS2 visuals since that is what most people ask, but there is a lot more to Shellshock than just that. The team behind the game has devoted a lot of its time to creating a convincing enemy, essential in capturing the proper atmosphere of fear and uncertainty which existed in the Vietnamese jungles. VC behavior and movement has been developed in such a way as to offer consistency with reports of how the enemy fought during the actual war. Enemies will set-up ambush if given the time or will choose a more passive approach if outnumbered by finding cover. They will react to sounds and will rush to search for intruders if they hear something.
Your team-mates will also fight in the way the U.S. Army trained them to. So you will get appropriate cover fire and assistance but you will also face problems when your team panics. Accidents can also happen, as in real life situations, so you will have to be aware of your team's location at all times.
The gameplay aspect of Shellshock Nam '67 remains the vital ingredient and potentially its greatest asset, so follow the link below and to the right to find out how the Vietnam War was fought.
The Dirty War