Watch a preview of the Killzone 3: Behind The Scenes featurette

Sony has posted a sneak peek at the Killzone 3: Behind The Scenes featurette, which is part of the Killzone 3 Helghast Edition.

In it, Guerrilla "reveals how real-life actors were transformed into virtual characters."

Using state-of-the-art motion capture techniques, the actors’ performances were captured using reflective tracking markers worn on the face and body. Many of the props and characters they were acting off only existed inside the computer, however.

Actor Ray Winstone (Admiral Orlock), who cut his teeth on full-body performance capture in the 2007 movie adaptation of Beowulf, was undaunted by that prospect. ”It’s like going back to school in a way,” he said. “You play the scene, and you start to get your imagination back, you know?”

Co-star Malcolm McDowell (Chairman Stahl), whose video game appearances stretch back to the early nineties, was quite satisfied with the technology. “When I’m 85, I can be doing video games, because they can put a young man’s face over mine,” he joked. “And as long as I don’t do a gravelly voice, I’ll be alright!”

Watch a preview of this below, the latest game trailer here.

A single-player demo of Killzone 3 lands February 9 for PlayStation Plus subs, and the rest of us will get it on February 16.

Killzone 3 is out February 22 in the US, February 23 in Europe, and February 25 in the UK. Both Europe and the US are getting an open multiplayer beta next week.