Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

I have to start with a small caveat when analyzing the graphics. Perhaps it's because three years have passed since KZ2, or maybe it's because Guerrilla implemented some sort of shading or coloring style that doesn't quite agree with me. The detail is amazing, to be sure, but facial animations during cut-scenes aren't overly impressive, and there seems to be an overabundance of black and silver. However, some of that is subjective and the bottom line is that, overall, KZ3 is indeed a graphical tour de force: the environments are meticulously designed, there's actually a fair amount of variety, special effects are top-notch, and the animations are some of the best you'll ever see. It's the whole package that stands head-and-shoulders above the competition, just because of the attention paid to every tiny visual element. With every step, you see another example of gargantuan effort on the part of the developers.




The core of the gameplay remains the same. There are three modes, a straight team deathmatch known as Guerrilla Warfare, a random mixture of game types known as Warzone, and Operations, a game in which one team attacks and another defends, attempting to secure objectives with cutscenes detailing the player's exploits.