It’s been about a week since Killzone 3 has been out and in that time I have played through one of the Playstation 3’s finest Exclusives and First Person Shooters this year.
STORY
The game kicks off right where Killzone 2 ended with Scolar Visari murdered at the hands of Sergeant Rico and a whole fleet of Helghast ships coming in to take back their planet of Helghan and wipe out the ISA forcer Soldiers.
For those not familiar with Killzone 3 the story is pretty simple to follow. The Helghast a military superpower formed under the rule of the it’s nations father Scolar Visari attacked Vekta, a planet originally belonging to the Helghast. They were defeated by the ISA forces who proceeded to invade the planet of Helghan in return and capture its leader Emperor Visari. However things didn’t go as planned and a lot of ISA were killed and murdered during the few days of the invasion and once the ISA had Visari in their hands, Rico, one of the main characters of the Killzone series angrily peppers Visari with bullets and Visari dies after that.
The story continues after this with the ISA forces led by Killzone 2s Captain Jason Narville, Sergeant Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko (The Playable Character and Hero of Killzone 2 and 3) and Rico to evacuate Planet Helghan as soon as before they are caught in the middle of a new uprising. As escape is underway things again don’t go as smoothly and our heroes become stranded on Helghan once more.
Jump Six Months forward in time and our heroes have been hiding from the cruel Helghan forces who are hunting them down.
Meanwhile the story takes a new direction by focusing on the Helghast side of the story and introduces us to the Helghast Leaders along with the main two Admiral Orlock and Jorhan Stahl (who are performed and voiced by none other than Hollywood Actors Ray Winstone and Michael McDonald) who are leading their forces to find and kill the ISA survivors while at the same time battling it out for who should have the right to Visari’s Throne and become the new Heir to Helghan and its people.
THOUGHTS
A lot of reviews have been saying the Storyline isn’t any good but to be fair it is decent enough then most storylines in First Person Shooters and to me personally I enjoyed the storyline just like the other entries in the series. The whole plot with the Helghast Leaders was something I greatly enjoyed watching and I found the character of Jorhan Stahl to be quiet the villain. Add the fact that Michael McDonald performed the role and I have to say I enjoyed it a lot.
I do however have gripes with the story and is mostly to do with the ISA side of it. The whole Beginning sections are done well but once the game cuts to Six Months Later it feels rushed and pointless. We don’t see what really occurred during those Six Months and it doesn’t really explain how the characters managed to stay hidden for so long before finally been found out.
And then of cause there are the new characters of Jammer and Hooper who are introduced. To be fair they don’t have a lot of scenes or are developed at all but they still play parts in key moments of the story so I like to think of them as mostly Side Characters who are there just to add new faces to the already established cast of characters introduced in the previous game.
As for the main characters themselves, Sev, Rico and Narville, they do develop as the story progresses. Sev going from a grunt who takes orders to doing what needs to be done and the job finished. Rico is more likeable in this game in my opinion and redeems himself by what he goes through as the story progresses and Narville goes from a commanding Jackass to someone whose faith is broken before finally accepting truths and having to do what needs to be done.
So much for the reviews saying there wasn’t any character development because I saw plenty of it while I was playing. The only disappointing factor I can say about the story really is the Ending. It just ends without a proper conclusion or resolution at the end of what has happened or occurred and the End Credit Scene halfway through only hints at the next Killzone Game. That is one downside I can mention otherwise I enjoyed the storyline a lot and will happily play through it several more times.
GAMEPLAY
Killzone 3s Gameplay is the same as that of Killzone 2 but more evolved. The game has two options of control layouts. The Original Killzone 2 controls or the Alternative or in better terms, COD (Call Of Duty) Control Scheme. I played with the Standard as I feel they improved the sensitivity of it all including using R3 to Zoom In which has been heavily improved upon and isn’t all over the place as Killzone 2’s control scheme function was.
Not only that, the game plays faster and smoother then its predecessor. Where in Killzone 2 you felt too heavy and slow when moving, here in 3 your character that you control (Sev) is much faster.
A lot of people again argue that COD is the reason the developers took away the realistic feel of Killzone 2 but to be fair, it makes the game more playable as opposed to having to wait long seconds before your character finally turns around. Been faster and the controls smoother has added more replay value to when if one would play Killzone 2 they’d get bored of it eventually and not go back to it because of slow and heaviness.
Besides the smoother controls and faster movement other Gameplay features have been added. Now your character can run and SLIDE to take cover behind objects. Taking cover is the same as Killzone 2 but yet again, it feels better and smoother than it did before. And then there is also the Added MELEE Attack.
Now when you approach an enemy you can press the Melee attack to knock/kick him to stun and then press it again to trigger a BRUTAL MELEE kill where Sev will proceed to Snap the enemy’s neck, smash his face in or stab them (No Knife to swing around this time around I’m afraid). My favourite would be the Thumbs in the eyes. The Animations for this are brilliant and deadly.
The guns/weapons of the game also feel more powerful and it won’t require having to enter Zoom mode all the time to get a perfect kill. The Hip fire of it has been changed to allow for quicker and faster killing depending on where one is aiming and new weapons have also been added which includes a Gatling Gun and WASP which a form of Heat Seeker that launches multiple rockets.
The Gameplay also includes ON RAIL and VEHICLE Segments like the previous entry, only this time they’re done much better in terms of how its played and visually and all of them are played through a first person view, never breaking the atmosphere and keeping the player in the experience as if they’re really in a warzone.
The Vehicle sections include firing away at enemies while in the safety of a Tank or piloting a EXO suit or even flying around in a Helghast Jet Pack which I admit was fun but somewhat short. Flying up into the sky and coming for a mid air kill does getting tiring but for a first time its always fun.
There is also the Infiltrator parts which are fun since you use the Gatling gun and never run out of ammo and just visually, it looks amazing as you travel from one location to another while shooting away at anything trying to shoot you down.
PRESENTATION
Without a doubt, the game is one of the best visual stunning games around so far. From the war torn cities to the Jungles and Snowy locations of Helghast, the visuals for each area set the mood for the current level and the amount of detail and colour in it is beautiful to look at.
Unlike Killzone 2 which consisted mostly of Grey and dark areas, the locations here offer more variety in colour and different level styles. And like said, each level in the campaign plays somewhat differently and the way this is shown along with the mix of action to horrific music cue absorbs the player head first into what the game throws and presents at the them.
From the Stealthily Jungle Level to the Epic Space Battle above Planet Helghan, everything looks stunning and alive. All the detail and thought put into such as the rise of dust and smoke forming from the amounts of bullets and gunfire peppering the battlefield to the backdrops of ships flying by and past in the sky and giant robots blasting away from the distance at you, the game makes you feel and hear all you need to feel as if you are in there right now and been overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemies that surround your thirst for victory.
MULTI-PLAYER
Having played the BETA beforehand I was familiar with everything there was to know about what Killzone 3s Multiplayer offered. Needless to say, the Campaign of Killzone 3 is but one of the main attractions to the game with the Multiplayer been the next best thing.
First thing first, the Multiplayer does not compare to COD in anyway whatsoever and sadly it doesn’t compare to Killzone 2s either. Killzone 3s Multiplayer has been re-mastered for better or worse. Where in Killzone 2 you started of with One Primary Weapon and a Side Arm and only gained new weapons and bonus as you levelled up higher in the game, Killzone 3 offers more of a choice in what you want and how you want it.
You get a range of different classes ranging from Marksman to Field-Medic with each class starting with a Primary weapon. And each class has another two set of Primary weapons, three sets of Secondary Side Arm Weapons and two different set of Bonus, which can be upgraded to higher levels. All of these can be unlocked with the set of two to three points which are gained through experience by playing the Multiplayer and levelling up through the forty-five set of ranks.
Once one has chosen their favourite field of class they will be able to play through three different set of Multiplayer. These are GUERRILLA WARZONE which is your basic kill that that team and win match, WARZONE which is more of a team based objective game that contains objectives such as capturing something before the other team does or defending or destroy something from the team.
Last is OPERATIONS which is more of a narrative based missions structure game with the ISA racing to complete their objections and the Helghast trying to stop them and during the cutscenes that play out, the top players get to be seen acting out in them.
The MAPS in the games are massive enough to occupy an entire army of online players along with various different layouts and areas located in them. It gives it the perfect feeling for a game of cat and mouse as players will be hunting each other down and racing against the clock to full fill their mission quests.
As someone who considers themselves a very good sniper, the large open worlds are a big plus as I can take the best position to overlook the various different entrances and possible areas players will pop out of and once again one of the reasons I prefer Killzone’s Multiplayer overall to COD.
It is pure and simple and there aren’t all the different complications and features found in COD. You pick a class and you start playing and use your gained points to unlock the things you want to unlock in that class or another. End of.
CONCLUSION
Killzone 3 is a good game, a very good game. Not great but much of it can be improved in terms of story and perhaps more variety in Multiplayer but otherwise in my opinion, the Gameplay and improvements surpass the lower qualities of those found in Killzone 2.
The Multiplayer could’ve perhaps been more in line with what Killzone 2 presented but to me its fun and simple to get into and its challenging all at the same time and for someone who wasn’t as hyped up to get their hands on Killzone 3 I am now most anticipating Killzone 4 and what improvements of qualities that will offer to this growing franchise.
FINAL SCORE: 8.5/10
PROS:
Great Campaign and Large Battle Set Pieces.
Terrific performance by McDonald as Stahl.
The Awesome Laser/Plasma Cannon that can blow enemies apart.
Vehicle/On Rail Shooter Missions.
Graphics.
Amazing Soundtrack.
CONS:
Short Campaign. (Finished it on Normal in a day)
Weak Ending.
Some slight bad voice acting from the ISA characters.
Elite Mode is a piss take.
