Introducing the cast of Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag

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Killzone: Shadow Fall – Introducing The Black Hand

Following our recent killzone.com Guerrilla Dossier on the Black Hand, we’ve asked Art Director Roy Postma and Assistant Art Director Dan Calvert to tell us more about the creation and design of the radical Helghast subfaction from Killzone Shadow Fall.

Why do the Black Hand look so different from any of the foes seen before in the Killzone universe?

Dan Calvert: We’re dealing with the universe-changing consequences of the demise of planet Helghan, plus the jump in time between Killzone 3 and Killzone Shadow Fall. We’d already started to see the Helghast fragment in Killzone 3 after Scolar Visari’s death, and the loss of their home and a vast part of their population only furthered this. The Helghast maintain their identity and their ideals, but their goals are now splintered. The Black Hand are the most divergent Helghast subfaction we see in Shadow Fall; they’re not a regular army, and they don’t use conventional warfare tactics. They’re infiltrators, not invaders.

Roy Postma: From a design standpoint, increasing the diversity between the characters was a clear choice we made from the start. Instead of constraining ourselves to the Helghast military, we expanded the range of enemies to different groups, from security to the military to special ops and the Black Hand. This allowed us to create a unique and distinct basis for each group, which we finished off with the typical Helghast details to ensure no-one would mistake them for friendly forces.