Kill Zone 3 Game Review

PlayStation 3

1-Player Shooter (32-Players online)

Sony Computer Entertainment

By Guerrilla Games

Release: February 22, 2011

 

Most of the talk about Killzone 3 has centered on the single-player campaign, Move functionality and 3D capabilities. Guerrilla Games eventually cracked the door open on multiplayer for fans who have waited patiently for details since Sony declared the game early last year.

For the third release, Guerrilla Games is revamping the level advancement to afford it much more flexibility. Rather than just 15 ranks like in the last game, Killzone 3 has 45. Instead of merely tossing in a bunch of arbitrary ranks, Guerrilla altered matters so that players can be rewarded more often. This time players gain points that they can decide how to spend, and players will no longer be stuck with a gun or power that they don't desire.

Guerrilla also rewrote the matchmaking logic in order that players are better coupled with adversaries of the same skill levels. The team also added up a party lobby so that bands of friends can easily stick together from match to match. Each match gives your friends headset priority so they are constantly louder than random strangers. Clan support comes back as well, having regional leaderboards and unranked matches so your crew can rehearse without marring its reputation.

Prior to every match, players choose from five different classes - engineer, medic, infiltrator, marksman and tactician. Each class contains six unique abilities players can gain overtime, and the weapon unlocks for every tract are suited to work best using that specific play style. For instance, the medic should always watch his or her back while healing others, so should you level up that class acquires the ability to equip a mini drone that accompanies you and blasts foes for a fixed amount of time. The drone can also try to patch you up when you get shot down.

Some maps now involve vehicles. The exoskeleton in Killzone 2's single-player campaign is usable in multiplayer for the first time. This walking tank possesses the firepower to decimate the whole opposing force, but the thin glass windscreens offer a glary weakness for snipers to take advantage of. The jetpack is also available for particular multiplayer maps also. These environments are planned having more vertical action in mind to exploit the extra axis that players can cover. These devices will not keep you in the air for more than a couple of seconds at a time, so don't expect any dogfighting high above a blown up city-scape.

With Guerrilla's dynamic respawning system, in a team deathmatch, players will respawn in locations roughly close to the action but not too close that they will get blown up immediately by a random grenade. The Operations mode is an assault and defend match having a series of objectives. In the map played, one side must defend a crucial dam while the other connives to demolish it. The first part involves blowing up the outer doors. When the assailants succeed, they will be treated to a brief cut scene starring every player included in the conquest, complete with customized outfits and gamer tags drifting above their heads. The better you execute, the more striking a role you will have in the replay. A less integral player might be running across in the background, while the best player is the hero putting the charges. On the other side, high-ranking defenders would appear as the ones giving commands for further measures like discharging nerve gas or detonating an EMR. When the dam is finally blown, the victors fly away heroically on transports while the others appear like chumps getting dragged away by the flood.

By: Tip Writer