Difficulty:

Easy

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Just plain fun"

Killzone 2 was simply a fantastic game despite it having virtually no story. The stunning visuals, extremely advanced A.I., and outstanding game play mechanics made it a step forward in FPS games. Killzone 3 continues this progress with a few added "improvements" which some may/may not appreciate.

In this follow up things pick up right where they left off after Killzone 2. From the start, it is clear that the developers decided to flesh out the story a bit which was a nice addition. However, as the single player campaign continues, one might say that things got off to a good start but faltered along the way. Though the opening address by the new leader was moving, things dropped off a short way in leaving things feeling a bit flat and too cliche. It was still nice to get a better understanding of the Helghast, their politics, and overall situation but it would have been nice if character development was better and the overall story was more substantial. On top of this, the final battle was laughably easy and just not up to what one might expect from this series.

Like its predecessor, Killzone 3 is masterfully done when it comes to graphics. Despite being extremely linear in the single player campaign, they did a top notch job of providing some of the best environments and graphics on the PS3. In fact, at times the level of detail was actually a bit disruptive. Ultimately, this game showcases a visceral and gritty landscape worthy of the game's setting. This is certainly one of the highlights.

One of the other outstanding facets of this game is the A.I. The enemies are wonderfully intelligent and you feel like you are actually fighting someone rather than some scripted bot on a leash. The enemies appropriately hide, attempt counter methods of attack, etc all as one might presume would happen in a real fight. Couple this with what many might describe as more "weighty" weapon handling, and the game just has a more realistic feel than many other FPS games out there. This is a second strong piece about this series that I simply love and wish other games would do better at.

One can only look forward with excitement to what the next installment in thsi series will hold. If they can really create a solid story to go along with the outstanding game play, this series could actually wind up seeing even better days ahead in a series that is already quite good.