Killzone the franchise has been somewhat star-crossed since the beginning. Hyped up by the press as a "Halo killer," the original Killzone fell a bit short of initial expectations. Some ambitious design was marred by bugs and glitches in the gameplay, which dragged down review scores into the decidedly "average" range.

After a well received PSP spinoff, Killzone 2 has finally hit store shelves. The game has had to shoulder enormous expectations from its first unveiling, with many questioning the veracity of the first teaser trailer shown of the game. It was up to Sony to prove the doubters wrong and win converts with the promotional campaign before and after the game's launch.

We chatted with the very busy Scott Steinberg, VP of Product Marketing at SCEA, about drawing fans into the Killzone.

The life of a bullet.
If nothing else, Killzone 2 has set itself up from the beginning as a marvelous display of the PS3's graphical technology. While some were skeptical that the final product could live up to the level of detail in the first trailer for the game released in E3 2005, the results are plain to see now and it is gorgeous. It makes sense then that the main TV ad for the game, called "Bullet," should display in close detail the graphical splendor that is Killzone 2.

"It's always been anointed as one of our pillar titles," remarked Steinberg. "We know that it's been attached to the PlayStation name since the first unveiling. Since the fate of Killzone 2 has been inexplicably linked to PS3, we wanted to show that it raised the bar for next-gen gaming."

"The developer, Guerilla, is out in the Netherlands, so a team of us flew out to do the proposal on the 'Bullet' ad," he continued. "It's always a challenge to talk to them during crunch time, but we presented this idea of leveraging the game's tech and engine for the TV campaign. It was savvy in our opinion, because there was a lot of discussion over whether the video a few years ago was real or not, and we feel like we're delivering on that promise in spades. Guerilla Games really embraced the idea. They had to help us build it; it took the team working cycles to execute the idea and they embraced it whole heartedly to make it as perfect as possible."

"We have others shooters, but we differentiate [Killzone 2] from Resistance and SOCOM," he added. "The glorious amount of fidelity is superior to any other platform; it's a true showcase of the PS3's graphical superiority."

No competition for Killzone 2... or is there?
Of course, one of the reasons we're talking about the game now (and not in 2008) is Sony's famous move to delay the title until February 2009. Gamers may have desired the title sooner, but it was actually a smart move, because it not only distanced it from the crowded holiday period of the gaming industry, but it also removed it from the general proximity of PS3 shooters SOCOM: Confrontation and Resistance 2. Sony certainly didn't want to see high-profile games cannibalizing sales of other games in the portfolio at a time of year when competition is already fierce. The rescheduling also allowed Sony to start off 2009 with a key title... momentum they think they can keep up for the rest of the year.

"It's layered in two different ways," detailed Steinberg. "When we moved the game from the holiday release to a Q4 release, we knew we'd give more time to the reviewers because of code deadlines. It also allowed a better gaming experience and allowed us to get build copies out before gaming companies normally do, because we were confident in what we had done."