Helldivers 2, perhaps the biggest and most successful new live-service of 2024, has recently unleashed some crossover content related to the now-defunct Killzone franchise. Although this Killzone content has drawn the ire of many Helldivers 2 fans, specifically due to how it’s been monetized, it is nevertheless an interesting revival of a once-beloved IP, and could potentially lead to bigger things down the line.
Killzone once sat comfortably among PlayStation’s prestigious first-party IP. Before the days of neo-God of War or even The Last of Us, Killzone was released as something of a response to the likes of Halo: a story-driven, lore-rich single-player FPS with multiplayer options. Taking place centuries in the future, the franchise follows humanity’s conflict with the Helghast, an extraterrestrial civilization. Its final entry, Killzone Shadow Fall, arrived alongside the PS4 in 2013, and is now thought of as a serviceable, but ultimately forgettable, finale. Nevertheless, there is certainly an audience for more single-player FPS games on PlayStation, and Sony should consider reviving Killzone for such a purpose.
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Helldivers 2: Is the Killzone 2 Crossover Content Worth Getting?
The Helldivers 2 x Killzone crossover kicks off with themed armor, rifle, banner, and more, at a ridiculous price! Here’s what you need to know.
Helldivers 2’s Killzone Crossover Should Reignite Interest in the Franchise
Killzone Was a Key Part of Sony’s Portfolio
Looking at franchises like Killzone in 2024, they start to look like relics of the past: once-treasured leaders in the industry that are now little more than reminders of forgotten trends. It might be harsh, but there’s some truth to this sentiment, as Killzone was, at the end of the day, designed to compete with Halo and Call of Duty. Certainly, the creative minds behind the series had a clear passion for it, but it would be hard to deny a major motivation behind its production: to get Sony its own “Halo killer.”
Whether it lived up to that moniker is certainly debatable, but during its time in PlayStation’s first-party lineup, Killzone was something special. Strong gunplay and encounter design was buttressed by stellar art design and atmosphere, and the series’ world-building, while perhaps not reinventing the wheel, was consistently engaging. It, along with Resistance, now serve as reminders of a bygone era, when story-driven first-person shooters were at the forefront of the gaming market, and while it’s nice to reminisce, these types of games don’t need to be just memories forever.
Killzone Deserves a Revival
As highlighted by the enduring legacy of games like Titanfall 2, not to mention even older FPS masterpieces like those of the original Halo trilogy, there’s still interest in mature, sci-fi-flavored shooters with well-written single-player campaigns. Helldivers 2‘s memorializing of Killzone may just be a convenient way to show respect for an older franchise while churning out seasonal live-service content, but it’s also indicative of Killzone‘s lingering impact on the industry, and especially PlayStation.
Maybe, with a new generation of gamers learning about the likes of Killzone and Resistance through such crossovers, there could be an incentive to bring the IP back into the limelight. Like any industry, the world of gaming is defined by trends that come and go, and the blockbuster-style shooter—without the now-omnipresent staples of the live-service model—is a trend that deserves to come back.
Killzone was also memorialized in this year’s Astro Bot, and while that cameo, much like the Hellzone crossover, is likely just a celebration of PlayStation history, such celebration should lead to something greater. Even God of War was dormant for several years before its 2018 revival, and now it’s once again at the center of PlayStation’s first-party strategy. With the right drive and talent, maybe the same can be said about Killzone in a few years.
