Killzone, Killzone 2 and Killzone 3 – A brief history of Killzone franchise – Feature – Part 3
After seeing how the Killzone series evolved from a solid, if slightly unrefined shooter, to a major player in the first person shooter market with the release of Killzone 2, its now time to see how the latest installment in the franchise has fared.
To say the expectations surrounding Killzone 3 were high would be a massive understatement; the online multiplayer in the second game had gone on to rival those of the heavyweights in the market at the time. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield:
Bad Company may not have been over taken by the game, developed by Guerrilla Games, but they had taken notice.
Many wondered which direction the developers would take the Killzone series, as many agreed it had hit the nail on the head in terms of what one should expect in a first person shooter.
The environments add character, though a little more variety in levels would have helped; an issue which was duly addressed in Killzone 3. The Helghan forest was a nice change from the usual industrial scenery of the second game, and the devastated city
felt just like a nuclear explosion had gone off.
The action was just as intense, with hordes of Helghast taking on a small band of ISA soldiers and this left players feeling as if their back was always against the wall. The entire game felt like a fight for survival, which complimented the storyline really
well.
There was an improvement in the story as well, with Malcolm McDowell taking on the role of Helghast privateer, Jorhan Stahl and Ray Winstone taking the place of his Helghan army counterpart, Admiral Orlock. The tension and drama the two created could have
held the game on its own, though once again, despite a decent effort on the part of Guerrilla Games, the main characters of the plot left everyone wanting more and Rico was just as annoying as he was in Killzone 2.
The multiplayer saw a number of changes as Guerrilla Games looked to add more flexibility to the class options available. No longer were players restricted to a specific weapon for each class, but they could unlock a number of weapons and abilities. This
flexibility made the game more accessible to a number of gamers, who previously found the game too restrictive.
A new multiplayer mode was added as well in the form of ‘Operations’. The mode gave the teams a specific role; either to defend or attack, a series of objectives. The brief in-game clip which showed the top three players after each objective had been taken,
or in certain cases not taken, really helped the player feel more involved and added another enjoyable layer to an already superb multiplayer experience.
That is not to say that Killzone 3 is a perfect game, it still has its flaws but most of them, apart from the story, were new ones as Guerrilla Games had addressed a majority of the issues that were prevalent in Killzone 2.
Add in PlayStation Move compatibility and 3D and gamers were getting plenty for their money’s worth. However, the one thing which Bettor.com enjoyed the most in Killzone 3, were the ‘brutal melees’, another great feature.
In the end the Killzone franchise has gone from strength to strength, learning from its previous mistakes and with a brief history of the series now in the gamers’ mind, one can only look on in eager expectation to see where Guerrilla Games plan on taking
Killzone in the next instalment.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the official editorial policy of Bettor.com
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