Guerrilla Cambridge, the developer behind the upcoming PlayStation Vita exclusive FPS, Killzone: Mercenary, has revealed the game’s multiplayer maps, via their official website. Be prepared to take the fight on cliffs, markets, beaches, and more.
Let’s get a rundown on all the maps, curtsey of the developer’s official website.
Shoreline
A run-down fishing village clings to the lowest cliffs of an active smoker stack; the weathered terrain shows evidence of the heavy industry taking place above.
Features include:
- A natural cave system links the interior of the hollow stack to the exterior terrain, creating multiple covered routes to navigate to different areas of the map.
- Helghast structures stand rusty and creaking, offering defensive positions – but be wary of the flimsy cover which will disintegrate around you under heavy fire.
- A slowly revolving fan blade creates a dynamic cover element requiring careful timing to run or shoot through the gaps.
- The precarious cliff paths can claim the lives of the careless with a short fall into a grim ocean grave
Marketplace
Bolted to the vertical cliffs of a Constantine smoker stack, this vertiginous multi-tiered market and entertainment district is at the heart of this industrial area. Beware the seedy back alleys, as danger could lurk around any one of the dimly lit corners.
Features include:
- Multi-tiered map design takes the gameplay vertical, with open vistas and long lines of sight.
- Narrow alleys and interiors offer adrenalin pumping close quarters combat.
- The tiers wrap around a central open space giving players an excellent view of the action, but also leaving unwary players highly exposed to enemy positions.
Zenith
Sitting astride the open top of a dormant smoker stack, this enormous Arc Cannon is constantly scanning the atmosphere for targets, firing bursts of deadly energy at enemy vessels in orbit. Simultaneously, a ground battle rages in and around the superstructure of the cannon, the engagement intensified by the blinding flash and thunderous blast of the cannon bringing down another enemy warship.
Features include:
- Dynamic Arc Cannon fires periodically throughout the match, lighting the gameplay area in electric blue light and shaking the smoker stack to its foundations.
- Lifts can rapidly move the player from the control room directly beneath the cannon to a lower level maintenance gantry.
- Navigate the support structure and power supply cables of the cannon itself, dashing across this precarious shortcut.
- Caters to all playing styles with long lines of sight for snipers, enclosed areas for close quarters engagements and everything in-between
Refinery
The refinery is where raw harvested Petrusite undergoes the process to refine it into usable fuel. The facility interior is divided into a number of different areas for room-to-room close quarters combat, while the exposed exterior courtyard is a hotspot for long-range fire fights.
Features include:
- Balance of exposed exterior and enclosed interior areas to give a good range of engagement distances.
- High speed zip lines allow the player to rapidly traverse from one area to another.
- Elevated sections at either end of the refinery give oversight of much of the open courtyard area, but are vulnerable to counter-sniping and rocket attack
- Careful route selection is essential so as not to expose yourself to a variety of vantage points both obvious and obscure
Skyline
The Vektan Halls of Justice suffered heavy damage during the Helghast invasion; the top floors of the building in particular sustained extensive destruction. Now a desperate fight for control of the building rages within the ruins of the top floor library and the lower floor offices, with collapsed floors and gaping holes creating shortcuts and hazards in equal proportions.
Features include:
- Routes can be dynamically created by smashing the floor to ceiling office windows.
- Highly detailed damage & destruction elements help reinforce the sense of being in the middle of a warzone.
- Collapsed floors create links between the two floors in addition to the damaged stairwells
- Zip lines give a rapid route from one area of the map to the other to escape a confrontation – or to initiate one
Inlet
The Corinth River provides the epicentre for the ISA’s invasion of Helgan – the beach area around the jetties and sluice gates being just the latest area to see action. The terrain is pockmarked with craters, trenches and discarded cargo creating a feeling of being in the middle of “no-man’s land”. A partially destroyed road bridge spans the battle area giving an advantageous but exposed elevated position from which to survey the battle zone.
Features include:
- An open and free form area, there are very few defined routes and considered, tactical movement is required to stay alive.
- Extreme lines of sight open opportunities for snipers and other long range weapons to be highly effective.
- The wide open terrain offers little in the way of cover from aerial VAN-Guard attacks, but a broad selection of hard cover points for on-foot engagements.
- This war torn landscape is perfect for setting traps, ambushes and flanking the enemy team.
Excited about PS Vita’s first possible big FPS? Let us know in the comments below, and look forward to our own review around Killzone: Mercenary’s launch date.