Killzone 2

The multibillion dollar video game industry has been looking over its shoulder to its much older Hollywood brother for content and inspiration, and vice versa. As video games become increasingly cinematic, game producers start to incorporate ever more classic movie conventions, such as the title sequence. The main function of the credit sequence for a game isn’t that much different from a movie title sequence, in that it prepares the audience for the experience they’re about to have, reflects the game’s content and, most importantly, entertains.

In 2005, renowned title designer Kyle Cooper teamed up with the renowned game designer Hideo Kojima for the main title sequence of the popular stealth game series Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. That same year, Cooper also directed the opening cinematic for Darkwatch, a First Person Shooter (FPS).

The credit sequence of the higly anticipated FPS game Killzone 2 for the Playstation 3 were made by the Dutch 3D designer Joost Korngold of Renascent. ”They first hired me to redesign the main game interface,” recalls Korngold calling from his studio in Amsterdam,  “but creatively speaking, I was most interested in designing the credit sequence.” Korngold  created a number of main titles (Odysseys in Rome, Devil’s Drug) and worked on several components of the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater title sequence.

Guerilla Games gave Korngold carte blanche in creating the main credits and provided him with a few dozen in-game 3D models such as the game levels, vehicels, weapons and characters. “Those were the building blocks that I used to create the compostions,” says Korngold. “I spent one month freaking with the game models and based on that I developed the graphic style.” Korngold replaced the original textures for the 3D models to create a unique stripped-down, somewhat Tron-ish look that combines some of the formal elements of constructivist graphic design with contemporary 3D motion design techniques.

Software used: 3DS Max, After Effects

Article: Remco Vlaanderen, © Submarine Channel, 15 July 2009.