Video Game Review: ‘Killzone 3’ Delivers Multi-Faceted Entertainment Assault

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CHICAGO – If you’re looking for subtlety, don’t go anywhere near the incredibly intense and borderline chaotic “Killzone 3,” a remarkably accomplished game that offers an impressive single-player campaign, deep multi-player action, and the next step in motion control in modern shooters. At first, “Killzone 3” can almost be too intense (especially coming off the very different “Dead Space 2”), but once you get on its wavelength it is impossible to stop playing. It’s addictive and spectacular.

Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

Picking up shortly after the end of “Killzone 2,” the plot of “Killzone 3” features a group of soldiers trying to get home before their enemies beat them there. After the death of the Helghan leader at the end of the last game, a power void has been created as two men, Admiral Orlock (Ray Winstone) and Jorhan Stahl (Malcolm McDowell), fight for control of the planet and the military. While they take up most of the cut-scene action, you play through as a soldier in the ISA, one of the few men who can get your troops off the destroyed planet and stop the remaining forces.

Killzone 3
Photo credit: Sony

With its soldier banter and incredible level of violence, “Killzone 3” plays not unlike an outer space edition of “Call of Duty.” Like those games, most of “Killzone 3” is not about finesse. It’s about complete destruction, finding cover, and blowing up the enemy. The more firepower, the better. You will kill hundreds of Helghast and fire millions of bullets to do so. And you will die over and over and over again, often after being shot by an enemy so far behind cover that you can’t even see them. “Killzone 3” can be frustrating, especially in the early chapters when it feels sometimes like little more than chaos for the sake of chaos, but the game improves significantly after the second hour and the way it delivers in both single-player and multi-player arenas is notable. We have played many a game that got one or the other right but titles that appeal to both single-player and multi-player audiences are rare. “Killzone 3” is such a game.

Killzone 3 Photo credit: Sony

Technically, “Killzone 3” is stunning. It is the best-looking game of this kind ever made. The graphics are breathtaking, even if most of the backgrounds are variations on the same “war-torn industrial” look. The animation in the cut-scenes is stunning, brought to life through voice work by great actors like McDowell and Winstone. Sadly, the game is kind of like a summer blockbuster in that it’s technically marvelous but the script is pretty thin. Most of the dialogue seems cribbed from a war game textbook and the banter can be somewhat laughable. I swear the last three chapters all start with something like “Let’s finish this.” Again?

The game can also get pretty repetitive. Don’t expect a lot of variety in enemy types even if some Helghast are a bit faster and some carry missile launchers. As for your weaponry, the addition of an Arc Cannon late in the game allows for a bit of variety, but this is one of those games where most of the weapons needed for the specific situation will be sitting in a nice holder waiting for you when you get there. If you want to challenge yourself with a pistol, feel free, but your assault rifle will become your primary weapon of choice.

As for AI, it’s not bad even if it’s sometimes a little omniscient. Except for one chapter built around stealth, the enemy always seems to know exactly where you are, even if you sneak into a room and grab cover. I would pop my head up and it would come off. I wished I had the map/radar that they did. But that’s not unusual in a game like this where gunfire is the key, not strategy. As for variety, there are a few flying missions, one where you use a jetpack, and another with a mech, and most are very well-designed (the mech could have used a little more work and was my least favorite chapter).

Killzone 3 Photo credit: Sony

The story of “Killzone 3” is relatively brief but intense enough that you won’t feel ripped off by its brevity. I wish there was a bit more emotional involvement — a reason to care beyond saving Earth from total destruction. And I wished for one more unique environment. After the stealth/nature level, it’s all strikingly similar — climb the stairs, find cover, dispense your entire ammo load.

Many of the key settings of the game have been transferred to the multi-player arena, in which Sony offers numerous game types and an impressive amount of unlocking depth. Whether you want to be a Tactician, Field Medic, or Infiltrator, you can play a typical deathmatch mode or, more interestingly, a series of operations like holding certain locations, planting bombs, or even assassinating a certain player on the other team. The multi-player is great, an addiction that could replace your love for “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

As for the maps, once again, they feel a bit repetitive, but what’s most notable is their size. These things are HUGE, offering an immense variety every time you play them. If two teams hunker down in a certain area, other parts of the map aren’t really going to even be used until, possibly, the next time you play. The spawn points can be a bit frustrating in that a quality squad can lurk near them and really destroy, but this is still a great multi-player title that one hopes will only be enriched by future maps and possibly even game types.

Played purely with a Dualshock 3, which is what I did first because that’s still the way most PS3 players will experience the title, “Killzone 3” is a fantastic game, but one of the more hyped aspects of its release has been the ability to use your Playstation Move to shoot in both the single-player and multi-player portions of the game. I have to admit, I was deeply skeptical. The Move has not fully delivered for this critic and I wondered how a game could keep up the intensity with two controllers (one to navigate and the Move to shoot).

Briefly, it’s not perfect but it’s such an evolutionary step in what we’ve seen before (and what I expected) that this could be the most influential game of the year. Quick movement is still difficult with two controllers but the aiming is seamless. In other words, if you want to play with the Move, adopt a sniper pose because if you’re in the think of it, you’re going to get shot from behind. It’s not yet the way I would choose to play a game like “Killzone 3” but it’s getting there. Motion controls aren’t purely for rail shooters and sports games any more. Will motion controllers be a fad or the future? “Killzone 3” makes the case for the latter. Don’t miss this bandwagon.

Check out this great preview before you join the ISA:

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]