Killzone 3 review

The Killzone franchise is an odd one because I never really look forward to playing them, but when I do I find them an enjoyable if brief FPS experience. Set just after the events of Killzone 2, the game mostly revolves around Sevchenko and his pals trying to escape the city after killing Emperor Visari. Whilst Killzone 2 was set completely in the capital city of Pyrrhus, this time there is more variety as you not only fight amongst the rubble and ruins of the city but also sneak around what’s best described as the ‘countryside’ of Helghan, jet-pack about high in the snowy mountains and fight through the enemy HQ.

Once again the majority of gameplay is very much about finding cover and popping up to shoot the clever Helghast AI as and when they show themselves but now there are far more on-rails shooting moments whether you’re flying about in space or driving in vehicles. Thankfully they’re a lot of fun and deliver some really memorable set-pieces. There are also some great ‘bosses’ to fight in the game including a massive mech that’s reminiscent of something Solid Snake would come up against.

Presentation is mostly very good with Malcolm McDowell and Ray Winstone providing voices of the main Helghast or Space Nazi protagonists as I like to call them but it’s still not explained why all the soldiers have to sound like they’ve come straight off the set of Eastenders. Most of the cut-scenes are also marred by the voices being out of sync with the lips by half a second or so which is really distracting. Technically there is also some slowdown when lots is going on at once and the game sometimes even pauses for a split second when I assume it’s loading new segments – something not really acceptable in this day and age.

Weapons are fun to fire, especially some of the new experimental weapons including one that makes people explode in a big green gooey mess and a heavy artillery weapon called the Wasp. You can also choose how you control the game whether it’s the standard way or using the joypad and the Move controller. The latter gives a more satisfying aiming experience but sacrifices some freedom when it comes to melee attack gestures or some tricky button presses in the heat of battle.

There’s no real reason to replay the short single player campaign once you’ve completed it but thankfully there’s also local co-op to try out, online multiplayer is better this time around and you can also play these modes with bots. Killzone 3 is certainly one of the most intense FPSs around even though it doesn’t do anything particularly original. It gets an excellent 8 out of 10.

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Killzone 3 review pics

Killzone 3 review screenshots

Related: Killzone 2, Best 5 games of 2011, Killzone 3 review on Youtube

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