There are few games that I get excited about before launch; Killzone 3 was one of them. Normally I don’t get excited for games because most of the time the build up in one’s mind never lives up to the hype, but I felt that this game was going to have something special about it. To say I am disappointed in the game is an understatement, but it’s not what most people will think. It’s the wasted potential of the game’s story that has me completely blindsided with disappointment.  

    The gameplay itself is great. The controls have been tightened a bit from the second game, making aiming much smoother and less frustrating. This was a major complaint from the second game, and it is good to see it altered. While there is still a feeling of sluggishness in the aiming, it is meant to be there, as it shows the guns have a weight to them, making it feel like the soldiers are actually holding real guns.

    The level design almost tricks the player. The game plays as a corridor shooter, but it has the backdrop of huge environmental battles. It’s a good choice for design, as it keeps the player on track for the needed goal but constantly tries to remind the player that there are bigger things going on in the grand scheme of things.

    The gunplay gets a rest time to time with vehicle sections. Most of the vehicle sections don’t have the player control the vehicle itself, but just the guns. It can be a fun distraction, but it’s not necessarily as great as it could be, but it breaks up the gunplay enough.

    It’s rather unfortunate that the player doesn’t get to drive the vehicle itself. For some sections it makes sense, as they want to make a cinematic experience around the player, which would be more difficult if the player was paying attention to where they need to be going. 

    Unfortunately, the story and gameplay start to conflict with each other. The story constantly reminds the player that they are outgunned and on the run from the Helghast. Yet the gameplay constantly has the player on the offensive. For instance, when a surviving section of the ISA army meets up with Narvilles men, they strike an offshore rig, as it is lightly defended, but still a strategic point.

    Other times the ISA mount large offensive attacks on Helghast strongholds, with the little armor and men they have. These parts of the game, while fun, make no sense, as the ISA would be decimated by the Helghast’s superior numbers and technology.

    From the start of the game has the feeling of dread and desperation; it’s something games try to gather all the time but it almost never achieve. Killzone captures the feeling at the start, but it fails to hold it for long.

    The story goes from good, to bad, to “what?” The game starts off where Killzone 2 left off. Rico just killed Vasari, the leader of the Helghast. Sev (You) walks outside waiting for new orders, as the whole invasion plan completely failed with the death of Vasari. On top of that, the Helghast had hidden navy that comes out of no where, and crushes nearly all of the remaining ISA capital ships, leaving only a couple for evacuation.

    After Narvile and his company are stranded, they hold up on the planet waiting for some type of way off the planet. The early middle of the game is one of the last parts of the game that make sense. The ISA lay low in the forested area of the Helghast, keeping in touch with the Earth government for any possible evacuation plan. This area actually has the player forced to lay low for combat, as direct combat would end up with not only the death of Sev, but the loss of the remaining men under Narvile’s command.

    The level ends up with the Helghast finding the base, and the ISA attempting to hold off for just a small amount of time for some people to escape. The end was full of tension and desperation, as the Helghast slowly inch their way to the end of the base. Even though it only lasted a couple of minutes, it was the best level out of the entire game, as it gave the player the feeling of being overpowered, something few games do.

    After that, things go downhill. Narvile is captured (not a spoiler) Sev escapes with another offshoot of the ISA, as they try to take back Narvile and other captured ISA forces. The problem is the game never makes the player feel outnumbered and outgunned. From that point on, the game has the player on the attack, attacking large compounds that should be heavily defended.

    The worst part is the ending because there isn’t one. It’s hard for me to explain, because the ending was handled so poorly that I can’t comprehend how anyone saw that and thought, “Well we’re done, let’s ship this bad boy!”

     The characters are something that like, nearly everything else in this game, were completely mishandled and makes me hate everyone in this game.

    The first character on my list is Sev, the main protagonist. From the second game to the third, he made a bit of a character shift. He was a somewhat thoughtful person, who could see the wrongdoings of war, and what they were doing. Now he just wants to kill everybody and everything he sees, almost completely turning into a mini Rico.

    Stahl is the Helghast’s version of Hitler, even going so far to be modeled after him. Stahl makes almost no sense for his motivations. He goes so far as to betray the Helghast, and destroy their fleet. He’s not even subtle about planning on stabbing everyone in the back, he openly threatens the counsel. After all of his planning, there is almost no motive for his actions, other than the thirst for power. Stahl acts like a villain on a Power Rangers episode, which makes it all the more funny considering how he looks like a pale Hitler.   

    Orlock is just as, flat and uninteresting as Stahl. He too is modeled after a real life dictator, only its Stalin. Needless to say Orlock and Stahl bash heads during the internal power struggle, and things go bad, giving the ISA time to not be completely demolished.

Finally we have Rico, oh boy. I don’t think it is possible to get a more hated character in a game then Rico. Everyone absolutely hates him, and with good reason. In the first game he was nothing more than a racist meathead. In the second game we hated him because he was an annoying little boy that was only interested in killing everything in his site. Thanks to his complete lack of patience he got Garza killed. Hell, he loved killing so much that he even committed murder in the point blank shot to Vasari, effectively destroying all hope at peace for the future.

    The worst part is when the ending does happen; they all act like it was nothing that big. To put it in a way that won’t spoil it, the U.N might consider it just a bit of a war crime.

I didn’t play the multiplayer because I have always felt that a game should stand alone on a single player experience, with multiplayer being a nice bonus.

Closing Comments

Killzone 3 is a great game that is horribly written and directed. The gunplay is unique, not falling into the endless pit of Call of Duty clones. It’s fun while it lasted, but the story is so convoluted that it kills any interest in the characters and events that happen to them.