Killzone 3
For: PlayStation 3
From: Guerrilla Games/Sony
Rating: Mature (blood and gore, intense violence, strong language)
But that isn't to imply Killzone 3 underwhelms at all.
It tops Killzone 2 in almost every respect, and while the story continues to fall short of its potential, the game's handling of moment-to-moment action - seeking cover without changing perspective, a noticeable weight and impact to every action taken, a vicious depiction of warfare - still sets it apart from any other first-person shooter.
Additionally, while Killzone 3's story doesn't explore themes a truckload of other war games haven't already mined, it provides the necessary means to visit more environments and give players access to more toys than Killzone 2 did.
As happened in the last game, you'll get to witness and eventually harness some devastating, not-of-this-world weaponry designed by the opposing Helghan army.
The battlegrounds are more diverse - planetary ruins here, a fascinatingly detailed Helghan laboratory there, a wildly colourful planet with predatory plant life in between.
And in a nod to Call of Duty's zest for variety, the game mixes up the objectives, complementing standard shootouts with a terrific stealth mission, some sniper duty and tours aboard gunships, ice saws and a vehicle that's best left unspoiled.
But it bears repeating that a me-too storyline and me-too mission objectives don't make Killzone 3 a me-too shooter.
The cover mechanic - a real mechanic for seeking cover, not a plain duck button - adds a tactical layer most first-person shooters lack.
The minute dip in speed caused by the aforementioned weightiness provides a perfect complement: It's subtle enough to never impede movement, but noticeable enough to engender deliberate actions instead of impulsive reactions.
The speed dip doesn't come at the expense of intensity, either.
To the contrary, Killzone 3's shootouts are spectacularly lively - a combination of great level design, continuous foreground and background activity, and artificially intelligent enemies democratically and relentlessly flanking and descending on your allies as well as you.
The only other notable downer about the campaign? It supports two-player co-op, but only locally.
Killzone 2 inventively broke convention from other multiplayer shooters with a shuffle-style mode that changed the match type - deathmatch, assassination, territory and so on - on the fly without ever pausing the action.
Because no other shooter has successfully cribbed the formula, it remains fresh in Killzone 3 (24 players, down from 32), which also includes a standard team deathmatch mode and a new Operations mode that further emphases the value of teamwork in these skirmishes.
The prioritisation of teamwork is no trivial point.
The core reward for multiplayer success remains in the form of individual perk and gear unlocks for each class, but you'll garner more experience points from completing objectives than by simply killing enemies.
The eight maps are intelligently designed to force teams to fight in hot zones while also completing objectives in hostile corners, and teams that diversify their classes and work together will rule these battlefields.
Though the controller suffices as usual, Killzone 3 marks the first instance of a big-ticket game flashing full PlayStation Move compatibility out of the box.
The big news here is that there is no big news: The Move controller is as precise as advertised, and with a Navigation or regular controller in the other hand, no part of Killzone 3's integral gameplay is sacrificed in exchange for playing this way.
The tech was mostly validated already, but this seals it.
