Reviews// Killzone 3

So, back to the game. It kicks off in the aftermath of Killzone 2 where our heroes, having dispatched Helghast bossman Scolar Visari, are trying to leg it from the capital city of Phyruss. Why?

The Helghast are proper sore losers, and dealt with the bad news by nuking the city. Hunted by the Higs, many of them familiar but some of them new, your ISA transport off the planet becomes somewhat incapacitated - time to get familiar with your new home.

This may make some players shudder, as part of Killzone 2's visual appeal was also a bit of a let down. The attention given to detail the cruddy, storm battered streets of the Helghast citadel and mines was intense, but ultimately everything was a bit... well, brown.

Maybe with smattering of grey. Thankfully, in this forcible extended stay on planet H the game takes us to areas that show the Guerilla guys have more than one hue in their palette. The almost psychedelically colourful jungle flora is an example where the visuals are taken to the other end of the spectrum, literally and figuratively.

It’s here that the gameplay also takes a turn for something a bit different; the stealthy approach. Massively outnumbered and under-armed, you’re forced to loiter in shadows and crouch in the grass, avoiding confrontation or picking the perfect moment to quietly suggest a Hig and his trachea are best kept apart.

It plays well, unlike the stealth elements of Uncharted 2, but on the whole feels a little too prescribed. The placement and patrol patterns of the Helghast means you’re either forced to avoid at all costs, or silently kill every last one.

You didn’t come here, and by “here” I meant “to play Killzone 3”, for a hide-and-seek-'em-up though, did you? No, you want to shoot some Hig bastard’s face off. Fear not. Of that there is plenty.

The staple combat actions are on hand: sprint, crouch, jump, take cover, peer down iron sights and peek over or around cover - typically down iron sights - to shoot said face from said Hig. Grenade lobbing is available, naturally.

To spice things up a bit, there are a few healthy additions to the armoury. The WASP is a rocket launching device that has two firing modes; the first being a cluster mode that locks on to and seeks out many individual targets, the second being a focused bombardment of a single target.

Rubbish Jetpack
Then there’s a Helghast energy device that, when charged up, will cause multiple targets to explode on the spot. Then there’s the rabidly anticipated jetpack.

To put is bluntly, it’s rubbish. Naturally you can’t offer the player a device that gives them complete freedom to soar unchecked around the level, but the jetpack is so heavily hobbled that the result is little more than a jump boost with a controlled fall, and a high power weapon with loads of ammo.

The latter is the reason I bothered to pick it up again later in the game, which is just wrong. This is a jetpack, for crying out load. Happily, it’s not a major feature. Beyond the first encounter, you can pretty much take it or leave it. And there are plenty of other bits of hardware to play around with, be it manning the turret on an APC or Raptor (those flying brick things) for a bit of on-rails Operation Wolf nostalgia, or clambering into the exoskeleton walker, armed with heavy artillery and rockets. There’s also a curious level where you race down ice canyons, steering around rockfalls and crevasses , armed with a cannon you can’t aim and a truckload of rockets.

Back on your feet, combat feels much the same as it has done throughout the Killzone series. For my tastes, it’s a touch on the “heavy”. I'd prefer a slightly nimble movement, and I find that the weapons obscure too much of the field of view.

The levels are also very much the linear corridors found it most FPSes - get from A to B via this detritus-lined route, and don’t even think about checking out that apparent vantage point over there, just off to the right.

After the sandbox joy of Liberty City or New Austin, it’s hard to keep the explorer within from screaming “let me jump over this tiny fucking pile of rubble”. Having had the explorer within knocked out of you, it can on occasion it can hinder your game.

Several times I never even bothered to look for a more suitable location from which to attack because I assumed I was already in the appropriate spot. After I’d eventually taken all the enemy out, I found that there were several better spots to carry out the fight.

Still, the “playfeel” is good and the difficultly balancing (I played in normal) is spot on, with just the right amount of ammo rationing to ensure you feel as though every last bullet should count, but never that you’re forever desperately low on ammo.