Designed with blockbuster production values, the third installment of the successful FPS franchise was the first to be designed in stereoscopic 3D to showcase PlayStation 3’s capabilities.
With a brief to create in-game graphics for the Helghast forces, we worked closely with Guerilla Amsterdam’s Art Director to define a visual language that would be incorporated into in-game environments and cutscenes to embellish story points, support narrative development and enrich gameplay.
As Killzone is set in an off-world future, we spent a lot of time researching how to reflect this in the UI. The challenge was to create an experience that feels
futuristic but is believable. For this project we looked at the latest ideas in interaction and military HUD technology. We were fascinated by the aberrations that actually occur in the displays.
Drawing on concept art that referenced the laser burn look of vector based arcade games, we developed a visual language with a red, yellow, orange and purple colour palette that really stands out as UI in the game environment, and a bespoke graphic monospaced typeface for their language system. Glitches and imperfections were intrinsic to the 3D data elements, lending the Helghast world a uniquely ‘analogue meets digital’ texture, where rich digital imagery bled through the interfaces.