Killzone 3 Review

Only a short time has passed since we played Killzone 2, and now the ISA and the Helghast are back again. Having taken a different approach will Killzone 3, has Guerilla Games finally hit the sweet spot and given us a shooter that stands above all others?

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Killzone 2 raised the bar on PS3 shooters but it had various issues and for some reason I did not feel compelled to play the entire game. Early on in Killzone 3 it became very apparent that the gameplay changed and it felt lightly like Call of Duty for its campaign. Guerilla Games turned the intensity dial as far up as it would go and the campaign in Killzone 3 was over-the-top action from beginning to end.  The campaign  on normal took me approximately 7 hours with a few moments of rest,  and unlike Killzone 2 I didn’t want to put the controller down. It’s worth mentioning that the campaign features local co-op, but online co-op really should have been implemented as well.

While the intense action is great for keeping your attention, it was detrimental in other ways. The storyline in the game felt very jumbled and there was essentially no character development so you never really feel any emotional tie to anyone in the game, and you never really have time to focus on what’s actually happening and why you’re fighting the war. Plus you’re on this adrenalin high for hours on end, and once you the end of the game it feels very abrupt. There’s a 10-20 second cutscene and the game is basically over without explanation of what happens immediately after your battle. Granted many will say it’s an FPS and it doesn’t need a story, but the Killzone universe simply has a lot of potential to do something great, and it’s unfortunate that it seems to go to waste.

Movement and gunplay are tuned to absolute perfection in the game, and rather than the loose ‘floating’ controls in its predecessor, Killzone 3 has extremely tight controls and you shouldn’t have any complaints. There’s even an alternate control scheme you can use which lays your controller mapping out like typical shooters including Bad Company and Call of Duty – a fantastic option if you have become accustomed to the controls in those games like myself.

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In terms of controls you have two primary options – Dualshock 3 controller, or the Sharp Shooter rifle that uses a single PlayStation Move wand and the navigation controller.  In anticipation of this review, I actually went and bought a Sharp Shooter attachment this week and I’ve finally had a reason to use my navigation controller. It took a little bit of sensitivity tuning in-game but I managed to find where I was most comfortable to start out. Although awkward for the first hour, I became familiarized with the controls, and I feel it really enhanced the experience of the campaign while playing with the MP5-like accessory. Whether you’re using a DS3 or the Sharp Shooter though, the controls are well laid-out and responsive so if you’re not playing too well – get some skills!

Another point I want to mention, Guerilla Games did a fantastic job of putting you in control of the player during the campaign. Brutal melee attacks including the classic combat knife in the skull have a place in our hearts, but Killzone 3 really opened my eyes to how brutal a game can be! One of the randomized melee attacks will have you pressing your thumbs into your enemy’ eyes and gouging them to kill them. Extremely brutal, extremely awesome. This is but one of the ways that you’re really put into the shoots of an ISA/Hellghast soldiers’ shoes, and it’s definitely a bonus point for the dev team.

Like most popular shooters this generation, the primary focus leans towards the multiplayer. The game features a mode called ‘Botzone’ that allows you to play alongside and against up to 15 bots in either the much-loved Warzone mode and also in Operations and Guerilla Warfare. It’s a great mode if for some reason you can’t jump online, or if you just want to practice.  All three modes of play are of course available for online play as well. New to Killzone 3 is the Operations mode which plays similar to Combat Mission in the recent Medal of Honor reboot. ISA vs Helghast  battle to meet specific objectives such as breaching particular areas and overrunning the opposing team. Once a team completes the given objective you’ll see those players featured in a short cinematic and the game continues with more objectives. Games can last a rather lengthy amount of time in this mode and it’s a really great addition to the game. Warzone was extremely popular in Killzone 2 as it features various mission types that dynamically change and eliminate the need for some useless load times to play something different.  The standardized deathmatch mode, Guerilla Warfare is included if you’re just looking for something simple. Each team has a set number of kills to reach and first to the target number wins.

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The game disc ships with eight playable maps though some mode restrictions apply for certain maps. If you pre-ordered the game, you may have gotten a code for the Retro Pack which features two updated maps from Killzone 2 – Salamun Market (24 player, Warzone) and Blood Gracht (16 player, Guerilla Warfare). Players who purchased the very limited Hellghast  Edition also received these maps free of charge. If you didn’t pre-order, or get the Uber collector’s edition – don’t worry, the two maps are available on the PlayStation Store for $5. With the variety of modes and the new Operations game mode, there’s a lot of content to keep the game interesting for some time although I’m sure we can expect at least one new map pack around April or May.

All right, so just how great does Killzone 3 look and sound? It’s absolutely fantastic and features some stunning HDR-lighting throughout the entire game. You’ll traverse an alien jungle that really plays upon the use of light and shadow, and you’ll fight through the darkness is other levels and regardless of the location you’re in it looks beautiful. Devastation has rained down upon cities in the game and regardless of the intense visuals and various activities occurring on screen you’ll never see any frame rate drops during your time with the game.

Voice acting is solid for the light attempt of creating a story, but it lacks the emotion felt in other games like Uncharted.  This can be blamed on the story being more of a ‘tack-on’ rather than being a main focus during the development period. During a few cinematic scenes the synchronization was completely off and lips were not matching the words being heard. I’m not sure how this made it through the QA process, but we hope to see a patch roll out soon. Aside from that, the game audio was great and it sounds like you’re in a war-zone if you’re playing on a proper sound system or a high quality gaming headset.

Taking everything into consideration, Killzone 3 is a much better game that than Killzone 2, and it’s basically exceeded the last game in every aspect. The campaign felt like a perfect length, and despite some scattered connection and lock-up issues online the multiplayer will keep you interested for many hours.

For the inevitable Killzone 4, we’d really like to see Guerilla develop the characters and give us a solid plot, but keep the high calibre gameplay intact too. In the meantime, Killzone 3 is a superb shooter, and it’s definitely one you should have in your PS3 library.

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