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It's not hard to argue that Sony would love for the Killzone franchise to be its answer to Microsoft's Halo franchise. Moving in that direction, Killzone 2 was an impressive and stylistic game that made a strong case for being a premier shooting title on the PlayStation 3. Killzone 3 takes that a step further, as Guerrilla Games has put together a beautiful and captivating world amidst the hell of war. The story picks up right after the ending of Killzone 2. The Helghast dictator, Visari, lies dead, but the war continues after the Helghast launch a new offensive that cripples the ISA fleet, stranding scattered units on the ground. The chaos that ensues leads to battles across a wide variety of locales and environments, all of which look gorgeous. The visual presentation is likely what you'll notice first, what with the lush saturated colours, visible textures and smooth animations. Whether it's the weirdness of the Helghan jungle, the snowy scapes of its arctic or the mess of its junkyard, the game simply looks stunning. Having also played Killzone 3 in 3D, there are certain missions, particularly the flying or driving ones, that are awesome to go through. You lose a little bit of the lustre when you switch to 3D, but the overall result is hard not to like. The story itself already has its critics, and to an extent, I count myself among them. Visari's death leads to a power vacuum between Admiral Orlock and Jorhan Stahl, but this is only explored through intermittent cutscenes. No information on their history or why the animosity exists is mentioned. Nor is there any real insight into Helghast culture, beliefs and history. Instead, the story revolves around Sev and Rico and their consistent bickering with Narville, the commanding officer who seems to always be annoyingly cautious. One mission has Sev and Rico going undercover in a Helghast base, and there are a couple of unexplained moments in those sequences that the story never reveals. Still, that mission is one of the few times that you see inside the world of the Helghast. All the other moments, including Orlock's speech at the beginning of the game, borrow images of real-life militaristic regimes like Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. The Helghast High Command totally looks the part, what with leather coats, armbands, medals and hardened faces. Stahl looks like he could be a relative of Joseph Goebbels, with attire to match. When it comes to actual gameplay, enemy AI is smart and crafty, and even desperate sometimes. For example, when two Helghast troopers are hiding behind cover, they won't pop up together to shoot at you - they go one at a time to keep up suppressing fire. They throw grenades more often, forcing you to scramble. They try to flank and call in more men if you don't gain ground fast enough. I think it's time that Guerrilla Games allowed us to throw back grenades, just like in Call of Duty. Your friendly AI, on the other hand, is still a mess. Rico is prone to expose himself like an idiot and get shot to bits, forcing you to rescue him. Other ISA soldiers who join the fray aren't any better, usually ending up as cannon fodder. But the good thing is that the enemy AI is just as focused on them, as they are on you. This makes flanking tactics easier to pull off. Weapons also see an upgrade, with a cool rocket launcher that doubles as an artillery piece. The jetpack is also a fun ride once you get the hang of it. And there is a new cannon with technology behind it that is central to the storyline. There are several set pieces that include using mounted weapons or vehicles, so you get a nice variety as you go along in the campaign. Some of the best moments come in melee attacks where you inflict some serious death on Helghast troops. There are several different types, and each is viciously satisfying. As far as multiplayer goes, you can play the campaign in co-op offline, but not online, which is a bummer. Online, you get your standard fare of deathmatch battles, but the standout for me was Assassination mode. The idea is a target has to be killed by one team, while the other has to fight them off and protect him. It's been done before in other games, but it's a lot of fun here. Then there's the Infiltrator role, whereby you go undercover in disguise and disrupt the enemy any number of ways. So far, the experience online has been great, with no real lag or problems interrupting gameplay. Killzone 3 would've been a more memorable title if the story was done a little better, but as is, the game is a beauty in every way. It looks fabulous, its design is notable and it never ceases to be fun to play. For shooter games, those are all prerequisites to being successful, but for a flagship title like this, they need to be at an elite level. For the most part, they are, which bodes well for whatever Killzone 4 will offer us.   Killzone 3 Format: PS3 Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer: Guerrilla Games ESRB Rating: Mature Official Site: http://killzone.com Rating: 9 / 10

 

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G4 Canada (formerly TechTV Canada) launched in September 2001. G4 is the one and only television station that is plugged into every dimension of games, gear, gadgets and gigabytes. Owned Rogers Media Inc., the channel airs more than 24 original series. G4 is available on digital cable and satellite. For more information, see www.g4tv.ca.