Killzone 3 once again takes a step up from its predecessors, as slight as it may be. However, it makes for a far more enjoyable gameplay experience than either the first or second game with more variety and a more cinematic approach.
Gone are the clunky controls of the previous game. Guerrilla really refined these controls to the point of perfection in my opinion. Now with a more standard layout with options to put aiming and firing on L2 and R2 respectively as they are on most FPS games (although the PS3 era was known for L1, R1 set ups Killzone 3 does offer an option to swap onto L2, R2 which feels nicer if you aren't using the SixAxis or Dual Shock 3). The cover system has received its share of quality-of-life improvements that make it a far more appealing system to use. Crouch has been moved to L1 and rather than being held down to maintain a crouching position or to remain in cover, it's a simple press of the button. I could have lived with this as the crouch button throughout the campaign but to better utilise my muscle memory, I used my controller adapter to swap crouch onto R3, so L1 was melee during my playthrough. Killzone 2 required you to push forward as if moving your character while in cover to mount your gun and fire it, this has been removed in the third game and instead if you are in a type of cover that you fully hide behind, simply pressing down L2 will allow you to pop up and aim down sight. This provides a much less cumbersome way of interacting with cover, movement is only required if you want to pop out the side of cover to fire from a different angle now. The time to kill also feels like it has been cutdown which gives a more satisfying response from the gunplay.
Graphically, it has been pulled down a notch from the second game, more than likely to allow for better performance. The game still looks great but has less dynamic lighting and overall lower quality textures, this means that there is more aliasing going on as well now. However, artistically, the environment and set pieces are more diverse than in the second game. Which offers a more engaging time throughout the campaign. Maintaining a more consistent framerate, it really feels like Guerrilla finally nailed the Killzone formula here.
However, that's not to say it's all roses. Cutscenes suffer from odd moments of hitching here and there and there's a 50/50 chance that the audio will be out of sync, or some lines will be skipped over due to the sync problem. Sometimes, it felt like this was due to the console having to spin the disc drive up, but it may also be present in the digital version of the game.
Narratively, we pick up 6 months after the end of the second game, where we play a brief tutorial and then jump back to the events that happened directly after the conclusion of last game. This section sees the ISA forces struggling to retreat from Helghan before jumping back to the six months after this time before the tutorial section takes place, with this section taking up to the events of the tutorial which sees you trying to rescue Captain Narville from Helghast capture. The rest of the story then sees you once again trying to escape Helghan before culminating in a space battle that... well... I don't want to spoil it. But, overall, I found the story as uninteresting as the last game. The pacing is actually worse with the time skip interesting the first time it happens but then the rest of the events happen either at a breakneck pace or a painful crawl. Characters are once again extremely bland and there's not a single one from the ISA, the protagonist forces, that I actually like or care about. The best part of this game's story is showing more of the internal power struggles of Helghan beyond the small snippets of Scolar Visari we see in the previous two games. Even if this in its own way leads to the game's disappointing ending section. The game's final push through a space station culminates in an on-rails shooting section in a space fighter that is, at best, finicky and at worst frustratingly difficult solely due to Rico's piloting always putting the enemies just out of your targeting area. Then there's a very short cinematic that plays out before the worst credits music kicks in. The credits this time are unskippable, due to there being a mid-credit cutscene that teases the next game and more unskippable credits roll.
However, the campaign offers more variety of gameplay sections than either of the preceding titles. Vehicle sections where you gun down enemies in pursuit. A mech section, that has terrible screen shake but is nonetheless fun. A sweeping aerial section. A boss fight with a four-legged, behemoth that has turret defences, rockets, and a powerful canon. And more. This makes the game an absolute joy to playthrough even if the story is uninteresting outside of the Helghast cutscenes.
The music continued to be a highlight of the experience too, again refining what was present in Killzone 2 and really leaning into its Star Wars influence this time round. It really elevated the cutscenes which also had a more cinematic feel to them, with grander action moments occurring. The action was always more interesting to watch than the actual conversation or interactions of the ISA too.
Truly a mixed experience that refines the game to near perfection. It's a fun ride but don't worry if you start to hear the dial up sound whenever the cutscenes start and it's the ISA forces arguing again.
Gone are the clunky controls of the previous game. Guerrilla really refined these controls to the point of perfection in my opinion. Now with a more standard layout with options to put aiming and firing on L2 and R2 respectively as they are on most FPS games (although the PS3 era was known for L1, R1 set ups Killzone 3 does offer an option to swap onto L2, R2 which feels nicer if you aren't using the SixAxis or Dual Shock 3). The cover system has received its share of quality-of-life improvements that make it a far more appealing system to use. Crouch has been moved to L1 and rather than being held down to maintain a crouching position or to remain in cover, it's a simple press of the button. I could have lived with this as the crouch button throughout the campaign but to better utilise my muscle memory, I used my controller adapter to swap crouch onto R3, so L1 was melee during my playthrough. Killzone 2 required you to push forward as if moving your character while in cover to mount your gun and fire it, this has been removed in the third game and instead if you are in a type of cover that you fully hide behind, simply pressing down L2 will allow you to pop up and aim down sight. This provides a much less cumbersome way of interacting with cover, movement is only required if you want to pop out the side of cover to fire from a different angle now. The time to kill also feels like it has been cutdown which gives a more satisfying response from the gunplay.
Graphically, it has been pulled down a notch from the second game, more than likely to allow for better performance. The game still looks great but has less dynamic lighting and overall lower quality textures, this means that there is more aliasing going on as well now. However, artistically, the environment and set pieces are more diverse than in the second game. Which offers a more engaging time throughout the campaign. Maintaining a more consistent framerate, it really feels like Guerrilla finally nailed the Killzone formula here.
However, that's not to say it's all roses. Cutscenes suffer from odd moments of hitching here and there and there's a 50/50 chance that the audio will be out of sync, or some lines will be skipped over due to the sync problem. Sometimes, it felt like this was due to the console having to spin the disc drive up, but it may also be present in the digital version of the game.
Narratively, we pick up 6 months after the end of the second game, where we play a brief tutorial and then jump back to the events that happened directly after the conclusion of last game. This section sees the ISA forces struggling to retreat from Helghan before jumping back to the six months after this time before the tutorial section takes place, with this section taking up to the events of the tutorial which sees you trying to rescue Captain Narville from Helghast capture. The rest of the story then sees you once again trying to escape Helghan before culminating in a space battle that... well... I don't want to spoil it. But, overall, I found the story as uninteresting as the last game. The pacing is actually worse with the time skip interesting the first time it happens but then the rest of the events happen either at a breakneck pace or a painful crawl. Characters are once again extremely bland and there's not a single one from the ISA, the protagonist forces, that I actually like or care about. The best part of this game's story is showing more of the internal power struggles of Helghan beyond the small snippets of Scolar Visari we see in the previous two games. Even if this in its own way leads to the game's disappointing ending section. The game's final push through a space station culminates in an on-rails shooting section in a space fighter that is, at best, finicky and at worst frustratingly difficult solely due to Rico's piloting always putting the enemies just out of your targeting area. Then there's a very short cinematic that plays out before the worst credits music kicks in. The credits this time are unskippable, due to there being a mid-credit cutscene that teases the next game and more unskippable credits roll.
However, the campaign offers more variety of gameplay sections than either of the preceding titles. Vehicle sections where you gun down enemies in pursuit. A mech section, that has terrible screen shake but is nonetheless fun. A sweeping aerial section. A boss fight with a four-legged, behemoth that has turret defences, rockets, and a powerful canon. And more. This makes the game an absolute joy to playthrough even if the story is uninteresting outside of the Helghast cutscenes.
The music continued to be a highlight of the experience too, again refining what was present in Killzone 2 and really leaning into its Star Wars influence this time round. It really elevated the cutscenes which also had a more cinematic feel to them, with grander action moments occurring. The action was always more interesting to watch than the actual conversation or interactions of the ISA too.
Truly a mixed experience that refines the game to near perfection. It's a fun ride but don't worry if you start to hear the dial up sound whenever the cutscenes start and it's the ISA forces arguing again.