Killzone Mercenary

The challenge

At Sony Computer Entertainment's Cambridge Studio, I was responsible for the design and production of the UI for Killzone Mercenary on PlayStation Vita, covering both the front-end menus and the in-game Heads Up Display.

Alongside a complex set of wireframes and UI flow diagrams, the project required extensive concept work and prototyping to create an interface that felt like part of the Killzone world rather than a conventional menu system layered on top of it.

Designing the interface

I developed the front-end menu architecture, documented flows and interactions, and explored visual concepts with the wider team. The interface had to communicate a significant amount of information while remaining fast to navigate on a handheld device.

The mercenary conceit gave us a strong thematic foundation. Weapons, loadouts, shops, mission summaries and progression could all reinforce the idea that the player was operating as a professional soldier for hire.

In-game UX

The work extended beyond menus into the moment-to-moment game experience: HUD information, weapon selection, hacking interactions and mission feedback all needed to remain legible without competing with the action.

This required constant judgement about what the player needed to know, when they needed to know it, and how strongly that information should compete for attention.

Result

The final interface spanned the complete player experience, from loadout and multiplayer shop through to the in-game HUD and mission summary. It demonstrated how detailed systems thinking, interaction design and strong thematic execution can combine to make a complex game feel coherent.