Killzone as a tabletop game

I've been a fan of Guerilla's 'Killzone' franchise since it's debut on the Playstation 2. It's heady mix of science fiction warfare, tense combat and memorable moments hit all the right notes for me in both gameplay and setting. I wasn't hot on Killzone: Shadowfall, as beautiful as the game was, but it was still a good game and really added another level of depth to the setting.

You can read more about the game and the setting on Wikipedia here.

I think Killzone would make for a great tabletop game, be it a wargame or RPG. It would probably work better as a wargame, of course, and there'd be some amazing miniatures to be made, what with Helghast troops, ISA soldiers and all the drones, vehicles and specialists in between. The grim war the game portrays would look great on a table.

A roleplaying game may be a little harder as the fact that the game is pretty much all-out war may limit varied scenarios or campaigns, but there's plenty of scope for missions, special diplomatic sessions, and even subterfuge adventures both pre- and post-invasion Vekta, as well as on Helghast itself.

The fast action of the game would require a system with a quick action resolution and fluid dynamic so that the game can flow along at a decent rate. The great thing about Killzone was that it didn't mess around between the excellent cutscenes and got you stuck into the action. The wonderful rich backstory - penned by none other than 'Lone Wolf's' Joe Dever - has a truckload of potential and source material to inspire, drive and enrich whole campaigns. The characters are excellent, especially the main villain of the first two games Scolar Visari and the protagnist Jan Templar. It gives a fantastic taste of what can be done with the setting and the kind of character-driven action games you could run in both a wargame and a roleplaying game. Hell, there's no reason why a single system couldn't do both.

What do you say Guerilla Games? Have you got something else planned for the Killzone franchise as a video game? Because I think it'd work bloody well as a tabletop game.

All images (c) Guerilla Games