Killzone 3 Game Review:

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

Well some of you guys (well nearly all of you) dont have a PS3 and want to know what Killzone is like well here are my views on the game.

Sorry for spelling mistakes etc...

Introduction
I've spent a good amount of time with the game; only had it for what...3days, and am now a Sergeant II (although the symbol is for Staff Sergeant....kind of wierd, they messed that up, not that it matters), so I figured I would make a review based on what I've seen.

Type
Killzone 3 is a 2011 first-person shooter for the PlayStation 3, developed by Guerrilla Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the fourth installment in the Killzone series, the first game in the series to be presented in 3D and the first to include motion controls using the PlayStation Move. It was released worldwide in February 2011.

Personal experiences
The Killzone 3 multiplayer that I've experienced definitely blew me away. It's almost like they took every fault from Killzone 2 multiplayer and fixed it. One thing I didn't like from Killzone 2 was the control scheme, but the "Alternate" control scheme in Killzone 3 is perfect. In Killzone 2, you had to hold down the L2 button to crouch, which got annoying. But in Killzone 3, you tap the button to crouch and tap the button to stand again, which feels more at home with other shooters I've played, and a welcome addition. Conversley, in Killzone 2 you tapped R3 to ADS, then tapped again to exit, which, again, was awkward. But in Killzone 3 you simply press the (in my case, there are more than one option) L1 button to aim, which, again, feels more at home and welcome.

Multiplayer
The multiplayer keeps everything that's great in Killzone 2 multiplayer and turns it up to 11. The map that I played was perfect. There was little to no camping points, and more than one way to get anywhere, meaning it was very difficult for one team to get a 1-up on the other. Sure, you could hail death from above, but a few sneaky Marksmen could sneak up from behind and come to their teams' rescue in the form of stealthy assassin kills. Sure, there are a couple corners to camp it out, but most to all that I found had windows, and large ones at that, to allow for easy grenade tossing, and in some cases, even the ability to jump through the window and kill your attacker one on one, and besides that all potential camp points I found normally had more than one entrance, and in some cases even holes in the floor for some sneak attacks, making it very hard to stay in one place for very long.

Weapons
The weapons are, if anything, improved over Killzone 3, and have some variety. Similarly to Medal of Honor, the weapon system is played out in an ISA has this, Helghast has that, type of system, so the ISA has the LS 57 SMG, while the Helghast has the Stg11 SMG, however there are some faction exclusives, such as the Helghast Stg14 Rifle. In addition, some classes include special versions of the weapons, normally complete with a silencer, in addition to other improvements. Silencers, like in many other games, prevent your dot from showing up on the map when you fire. The aiming is ever so slightly improved, and it helps a little bit. One other thing to note is that it takes a visibly lower amount of bullets to bring enemies down. This is both good and bad. The good thing is it doesn't take half of a clip to bring one person down. The bad thing is this makes some weapons seemingly overpowered, notably the shotgun.

Gameplay
I was able to get a 3-5 kill streak with the Stg11 SMG, with spaced out kills, however with the shotgun I was able to camp at the top of some stairs and win a game with about 26 kills and 3 deaths. Sure, the maps rival those in size of Battlefield maps, but I was still able to effectively play with the shotgun. The one thing that balances the shotgun is, of course, its range. The longest killing shot I was able to pull off with a shotgun was down a hallway about 15-20 yds long, and that might be stretching it a bit. Normally anything longer than that and you can shoot, but good luck ever getting a kill. The crosshair will still turn red, indicating a hit, but from what I can tell it would easily take 5-6 shotgun blasts, maybe even a whole clip, to take down an enemy from range, and the amount of time you're focusing on that enemy, you can easily be taken down by another enemy.

Unlocks
The "power" ability in this game is really a nice addition, and adds some variety. Among others, the Marksmen are able to cloak themselves for a limited time, the Infiltraters can disguise themselves as the enemy, the Engineers can repair turrets and ammo boxes, and the Tactician can capture special Tactical Spawn Points, placed throughout the map for some better spawn points depending on the mission. Besides this, there are a few "skills" that all classes can use, including Armor and Silent Footsteps. All abilities excluding the Skills and Explosives (which are unlocked by rank) need to be unlocked with Unlock Points, obtained by advancing in rank. Each new weapon requires more points. For example, the Engineer has the M224 LMG unlocked at the start. The Stg11 SMG can be unlocked for 2 points and the Stg3 LMG can be unlocked with 3 points, but only after the Stg11 has been unlocked. While you don't have to unlock classes anymore, it's still a feeling of achievement to see that new rank and to unlock that weapon you've been wanting for the longest time.

Gamemodes
Like Killzone 2, the battles are frentic, but perfectly spaced. They have a simple Team Deathmatch mode, however that awards the lowest number of XP and is the most bland, in my opinion. My favorite mode returns, in which a series of randomly picked missions are handed out, for each team to complete, and the game ends after 7 of these have been completed, and the team with the highest number awarded. After that is a mode where tactical locations must be secured, and the other team has to defend. Honestly, the only thing I can really compare this to is BC2's mode where the M-COM stations are captured, and one team is on the offensive, the other defensive. It's very similar to that, but of course in the Killzone 3 style of play.

Graphics
The graphics are, if anything, even more amazing than Killzone 2. They are very similar, but the visual effects and the visual movement of the characters are just so astounding, you can tell Geurrilla Games really took their time. Instead of having little to no visual movement, your camera sways back and forth when you walk, and your weapon moves as your arms sway ever so slightly. It's the small details like that that really complete the experience. The on-screen blood effect has changed, and is, in my opinion, unwanted. It isn't like Killzone 2, where it was subtle, and even slightly realistic. In Killzone 3, the blood can fill the sides of the screen, and it spalshes across in a vibrant, even slightly orange-ish red color. It can sometimes block the view of oncoming enemies, and is even distracting sometimes, however the grey effect mostly remains the same, basically telling you to get the hell out of there when your health gets low.

HUD
In terms of HUD, it is virtually the same as Killzone 2's. The health bar is the same, the sprint bar is the same, the ammo count is the same. Except for a couple slight visual differences in the style, and the very slight changes in the map, it's basically Killzone 2's HUD. Not much more to say there. Not like it needed any changes.

Controls
The controls are a little stupid, as its stuff like square to knife which I think is silly I like the call of duty style layout of controls but it does let the game down a little, as i play alot more call of duty thank killzone its hard for me to remember the controls.

Summary
In my opinion, from what I've seen, the multiplayer is definitely a reason to at least give it a rent. Of course, if you want your own opinion, you can download the Multiplayer Beta for free on the PSN, (dont know if its still on the stoore)

Overall Score: 9/10 (at least for multiplayer)

I'm doing my 3rd review now and this one is on:

Call of Duty: Black Ops

[ Register or Signin to view external links. ]

---

Information (Wikipedia)


Developer(s) Treyarch
Publisher(s) Activision
Designer(s) Corky Lehmukuhl (creative director)
David Vonderhaar (multiplayer design director)
Series Call of Duty
Release date(s)
WW November 9, 2010
JP November 18, 2010 (Sub)
December 16, 2010 (Dub)
Genre(s) First-person shooter

---

Synopsis (Wikipedia)

Call of Duty: Black Ops takes place during the Cold War, in the 1960s. The story focuses on the CIA-backed clandestine black operations carried out behind enemy lines. These missions take place in various locations around the globe such as the Ural Mountains in central Russia, Cuba, Kazakhstan, Hong Kong, Laos, Vietnam and the Arctic circle. The single-player campaign revolves around an experimental chemical weapon codenamed "Nova-6".

The player mainly controls SAD/SOG special forces operative Alex Mason and occasionally CIA agent Jason Hudson, as well as other characters. Mason often works with Frank Woods and Joseph Bowman, while Hudson teams up with Grigori Weaver, a Russian-born field operative. Viktor Reznov, a key character from the Soviet campaign in World at War returns. Its Russian protagonist Dimitri Petrenko also makes an appearance. Black Ops features several historical figures: Mason meets John F. Kennedy, Robert McNamara, and Fidel Castro.

Plot

On February 25, 1968, SAD/SOG operative Alex Mason is strapped to a chair in an interrogation room. Unaware of his whereabouts, he is bombarded with questions by his unseen captors about the location of a numbers station. Most of the missions in the game are presented as the flashbacks of Mason between 1961 and 1968.

In 1961, Mason, Woods, and Bowman attempt to assassinate Fidel Castro during the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba as a part of Operation 40. Mason apparently succeeds in the assassination, but their exfiltration goes awry, with Mason staying behind to protect the extraction plane. He is captured by the real Castro, having shot a double. Because of an alliance with the Soviet Union, Castro hands Mason over to General Nikita Dragovich. Mason is then held captive at Vorkuta Gulag for two years. During his imprisonment, Mason befriends Viktor Reznov, a former Red Army soldier. Reznov recounts to Mason the identities of those involved in Masons torture: Dragovich, Lev Kravchenko (his right-hand man) and Friedrich Steiner, an ex-Nazi scientist who defected to the Soviet Union. All three share a connection to Reznov: in October 1945, Reznov, Dragovich, Kravchenko, and Dimitri Petrenko were a part of a unit sent to locate Steiner, hiding with a unit of the SS in the Arctic Circle. During the operation, Reznov was betrayed by Dragovich, who used Steiner's creation, a nerve agent known as "Nova-6" on Petrenko. Reznov was spared the same fate when British commandos attacked the Russians. During the confusion, he destroys Nova-6. However, it was later recreated by Steiner and a British scientist named Daniel Clarke for the Soviets. Shortly afterward, Reznov is imprisoned in Vorkuta. Mason and Reznov spark a prisoner uprising to escape the gulag, but only Mason escapes.

One month later, President John F. Kennedy authorizes the assassination of Dragovich.

In November 1963, Mason, Woods, Bowman and Weaver are dispatched to Baikonur Cosmodrome in the Kazakh SSR to disrupt the Soviet space program and eliminate members of the Soviet Ascension program, Nazis who had been given sanctuary in Russia in exchange for their knowledge. At the start of the operation, Weaver is captured and Mason sees Kravchenko torture him, stabbing his left eye, but Mason and his team later rescue him, while still destroying the Soyuz spacecraft as well. Dragovich eludes assassination, prompting Mason to search for him over the next five years. By 1968, the MACV-SOG was established in Vietnam to investigate the Soviets' presence. After defending Khe Sanh, the SOG is deployed to Hue during the Tet Offensive to recover a dossier with information on Dragovich from a Russian defector. The team recovers the dossier, while Mason encounters Reznov, who is revealed to be the defector. The SOG then penetrates Laos to recover a Nova-6 shipment from a downed Soviet plane. At the crash site, they are overwhelmed by waves of Viet Cong and Spetznaz soldiers, eventually getting captured. Mason and Reznov escape, but Bowman is executed and Woods dies while killing Kravchenko.

Meanwhile, Hudson and Weaver interrogate Dr. Daniel Clarke, the engineer who stabilized Nova-6, in Kowloon. Clarke identifies Steiner as part of the conspiracy, and reveals the location of a hidden facility in Mount Yamantau before being killed by Dragovich's men. Hudson and Weaver head to Mount Yamantau to destroy the facility and apprehend Steiner. During the mission, Hudson receives a transmission from Steiner requesting to meet him at Rebirth Island in the Aral Sea to learn how to halt a numbers broadcast that would send instructions to sleeper agents to release Nova-6 gas in American cities. Mason and Reznov head to Rebirth Island to assassinate Steiner. In the present, Mason is adamant that Reznov executed Steiner, but Hudson had witnessed Mason carrying out the deed. At this point, Hudson and Weaver are revealed as Mason's interrogators. Hudson realizes that Dragovich brainwashed Mason to understand the numbers broadcasts, effectively becoming a Soviet sleeper agent. Out of options, Hudson deliberately sets Mason free in order to follow him. It is revealed that the real Reznov died during the Vorkuta break out, and Masons visions of Reznov are a result of a dissociative disorder caused by the traumatic brainwashing program. Reznov had, in fact, reprogrammed Mason to assassinate Dragovich, Kravchenko and Steiner instead of President Kennedy prior to the Vorkuta breakout. Hudson plays the numbers recording for Mason a final time, prompting him to remember the location of the Russian cargo ship Rusalka off the coast of Cuba.

By dawn, the team launches an assault on the Rusalka, with Mason and Hudson infiltrating an underwater broadcast station protected by the ship, a Soviet submarine station intended to be used as a staging point for US invasion after the planned Nova-6 attack. Confirming that the Rusalka is the numbers station, Hudson calls in the US Navy to destroy the ship and its underwater base. Mason and Hudson finally find Dragovich in the lower levels of the facility and manage to kill him before the destruction of the base, swimming for the surface during the destruction of the targets. Weaver declares victory, but Mason is unsure, haunted by his last conversation with Dragovich.

Archive footage of President Kennedy prior to his assassination are shown, with the broadcaster and Mason narrating random numbers. After a second play-through of the archive footage, Mason's appearance in the crowd, as well as Dragovich's final words, suggest that Mason followed his original programming.

Customization of violence and profanity

The game allows players to turn down the blood and turn off the profanity.

---

Campaign

I feel the campaign was great.

I really enjoyed all of the levels and the excitement in them.

The fun part of the campaign was all of the action on every level.

I felt that the campaign was good at keeping you entertained and in a way it was very exciting.

The campaign was filled with a lot of fun missions and interesting twists.

Overall I loved the campaign and I rate it:

Rate: 9.5/10

---

Multiplayer

The multiplayer was a big success in my opinion.

It is very fun and entertaining.

The playlists are very fun and well balanced depending on what you like.

The maps were very well made and balanced.

But on the downside, I feel a few of the guns gave you an advantage.

Another thing is the server quality, I feel that it is unfair and it depends on the connection.

Despite those disadvantages I enjoy the multiplayer.

Rate: 7/10

---

Graphics

The graphics are good but they have their mishaps.

The guns in my opinion look like toys.

There is good majority of items aren't detailed enough.

Another thing is there are of blurry items with no detail.

The good thing about the graphics is that they are still very realistic.

Overall I think the graphics could of been better than they are.

Rate: 6/10

---

Overall I love the game and would recommend anyone to playing it, especially the campaign.

Rate: 7.5