Killzone 3

Review from Matt - Thursday, 24 March 2011 @ 12:58am

When I started playing Killzone 3 I had a pile of peripherals to play it with. Let me set the scene a little bit. Killzone 3 is one of the most technically advanced and futuristic titles you’re going to see. It uses everything that is “now” and everything that is “coming” and combines it into a big blood-drenched orgy. By that I mean things like 3D – Killzone 3 is one of the few games out that fully supports 3D gaming. Killzone 3 also supports the Move controller for the Playstation 3, as well as the Move Navigator (totally not a nunchuck). And seeing as the title was a shooter it seemed highly reasonable for me to throw the Move controller into the official gun peripheral as well.

So I started with the Move controller, the Move Navigator, Gun Controller Add-on and 3D glasses. And the motherfucking future in my hands.

The future is angry and full of guns

The first thing to go was the 3D glasses.

I got a brand new 3D TV last month, and was very excited to get Killzone 3 happening on it, and really see what the technology is capable of. It didn’t take long to note something unfortunate. For a start the implementation of the 3D here is not particularly profound. Much of Killzone’s art and menus is cluttered and blurry by design. That makes it a bit hard to see what’s supposed to be crisp and clear and what’s maybe been a bit munged by the 3D. I also wear glasses, and the glasses + 3D glasses combo is awkward and may contribute to some lack of effectiveness.

Mostly, though, there’s a serious problem with 3D images in a game like Killzone 3.

In order to accurately render the dual images of 3D the game has to reduce the quality of the two alternating images. This reduction in quality is noticeable. It doesn’t make it Wii level, but it’s certainly not what it is without using the 3D.

When starting the game you actually use Helgast gear, and their HUD is cluttered and irritating, making the 3D effect similarly cluttered and irritating. As a result I ditched the glasses quick smart.

Not pictured: a cluttered interface. Damned promo screens that look nothing like the game...

The Move controller works pretty well, though. It takes a bit to get it right. The system is to have the navigator controller act as your “wasd” while the Move acts like a mouse. It’s intuitive as a result. I used the Gun peripheral, so my Move controller was gun-like, adding to a sense of actually shooting dudes, rather than merely waving a cursor at them. It took a while to get used to it, to be honest, just like any other new control system. I customised it to make the “dead zone” (the area that you put the Move cursor onto to make it move the camera) a bit narrower, and found that made it a lot more effective.

The problems found were frustrating, however. Picking up new weapons required holding the square button. That isn’t found on the navigator, which only has X and O. So you have to use the navigator hand to press the square on the top of the gun. Worse still, the same issue occurs when you need to use the Move button, and that button is used for cover, which is pretty useful in a cover shooter.

Despite my commitment to my gun being a gun, my lovely girlfriend bullied me into trying it without the gun add-on. Without that I could now reach the Move button and square without difficulty, and the game got significantly more efficient.

After playing about half of the way through with the Move controller, a strange thing happened. The PlayStation Eye would no longer operate successfully. I couldn’t get it to use the Move controllers at all! They were connected, but the system kept saying the Playstation Eye was not connected, even though it clearly was.

Seriously, though, it really doesn't look this good when you're playing.

I should clarify right now that the game was not at fault here. Later checks showed that the USB cable was a bit loose, and it’s been fine since being re-connected.

But as a result of me being too lazy to get up and check the cable I ended up playing with the dual shock.

And that was the end of the Move controller.

You see, the Move does adequately well, but surprisingly it’s just not as effective as the tried and true pad. I don’t like controllers for FPS personally, I think they’re at best adequate, but what I thought would be a step forward (the Move) is actually a step backwards.

So in the end, my pile of peripherals, my 3D glasses, move controllers and add-ons were all abandoned and replaced – with a single Dual Shock controller.

Readers will probably have noticed something. I’ve barely mentioned the game. This is all about technology and peripherals.

In my defence that’s kind of what interested me about Killzone 3 in the first place. You see, I reviewed Killzone 2, and my opinion of it was not particularly positive. It was a stunning looking game, let down by being terribly linear and full of macho bullshit that put me off.

Die British Nazi scum!

This is not really any different. The game is still linear, and still has the format of following a series of barked orders one after another. Set up a comms link. Take out this tank. That sort of thing. The macho bullshit quotient has been upgraded significantly, with reckless endangerment of your comrades counting as some sort of asset. They die a lot, and apparently that counts as a strategy.

Then there’s the looks. Killzone 3 is not a stunning looking game anymore. It’s still pretty good, don’t get me wrong. But the standards on the PS3 are higher now than when Killzone 2 was new, and there was very little in this that really impressed. The cutscenes are mostly your “friend” Rico doing things that mean he really should be punched in the dick. Unfortunately he lives.

Many aspects of Killzone 3 that are good were hugely underused. A brief period of very enjoyable stealth gameplay was unique in being… well… unique. They only did it once and then it never returns, replaced ever after with mindless shooter. Similarly (and identically to Killzone 2) there’s a great gun available, a futuristic techy weapon, but it’s only available during a single level, and then is arbitrarily stripped off you, never to return. Also just like Killzone 2 the vast majority of the weapons are simply rifles and a few shotguns. There’s remarkably little variety to the weaponry, and that to me is something that is needed and desired of a sci-fi shooter.

There is some variety to the combat, I'll admit. While the core of the gameplay is fairly average shooting, where enemies spawn at obvious points through the levels, there are a few sections that are different. One sees you piloting a big mech, while a few are straight rail shooter sections. These provide a little variety, but for the most part tend towards a strange experience where you just die repeatedly, and then respawn and hope to die after a checkpoint instead of just before next time.

In fact, this affects much of the game. Repeatedly sections appear that see you trying five or ten or twenty times to plow your way through them, punishingly difficult areas that stop you in your tracks and become frustratingly painful, leading to many a swear word.

Shooting guns down a long corridor. A staple of Killzone 3.

Another new addition is the presence of Jetpack troopers, and at a few points you can get hold of their jetpacks and fly around. But not especially well, unfortunately, and certainly not with all the hovering and zooming they go on with. Still, the Jetpack troopers offer a bit of variety, as do Capture Troopers, who are fast moving attackers, who run in to instant-kill melee you. They're kind of scary and take a bit to drop, but as with all of Killzone 3's better ideas they're woefully underused.

One thing I did want to point out was that I recognised the voice of Captain Narville, and could even put a face to him, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out who he was, until it suddenly clicked - Dexter's Dad. Just mentioning that in case anyone else wasn't sure.

I’ve just re-read my Killzone 2 review, and I would recommend you read that if you really want to know my opinion of Killzone 3, because my opinion is basically the same, but the jokes there are much funnier.

Killzone 3 is a game that is everything the previous title was, and regrettably nothing more.

Pros

• Good way to show off your new 3D TV
• Something to do with the Move that doesn't feel like a Wii title
• Still does look pretty good.
• Would almost certainly be an awesome multiplayer title

Cons

• Generic and "dumb" shooter with cardboard characters
• Quite lame selection of guns
• Tech doesn't really end up as good as you might expect
• Frustrating trial and error sections