I apologize for missing your blogs . But i'm far too busy and short on DL . Will be active again as soon as first march . And i'll continue my list . Now with a Killzone 3 mini-review !
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In 2009 , Killzone 2 , a sequel to the only-decent Killzone 1 , came by surprise and awed any FPS fan . The jaw-dropping graphics , larger-than-life set pieces , and solid tactical gameplay earned it a spot as one of the best of its genre . Killzone 3 has immediately the same feeling . The graphics are striking from the first moments , the immersion is un-paralleled . And from that moment on ... Killzone 3 a breath-taking , breatless experience that takes two steps forward for each step back it does from its predecessor .
What is all about the story being bad ? I'm halfway through the game , and it's great at worse . But on par , i didn't find Killzone 2's story as terrible as others did . But KZ3 absolutely improves over the go from A to B plot . The story starts off with a *spoiler*flashback*endspoiler* if you like to know . It's more of a tutorial , but it's absolutely immersive and plain striking visually . After that , it starts where killzone 2 left off . Visari is dead , ISA are abandonned on a hostile planet , and Pyrhus is nuked . The plan is to fight , evac , and go back home . However , after the devestating defeat of the ISA , and Visari's death , the higs are adrenaline-rushed , proudly victorious , and ready to finish what Visari started . The characters are far more likeable now . They scream much less than they did in KZ2 . They feel like persons you can relate-to . And not just meat-headed people who like to curse everything that walks . The pacing is far better than KZ2 , the action is excellently mixed up , and everything is more polished . However , the only set back is the hefty amount of cutscenes . I like a good story no doubt . In fact i love one . But i don't neet to see Sevchenko melee a Hig , I can do it myself ! Anyway , it's solid , and very-well done .
It would be an understatement to say KZ2 sounded well . The bullets sounded impactful , the death-screams were disturbing , the sound of blood felt real and the musical score was fantastic . However , the voice human voice acting was absolutely terrible . Guerilla had not much to do in terms of sound design . The set pieces are now the most-realistic sounding , the bullets feel even more impactful , everything has been upped a little . Thee excellent background musical is now far more noticeable thanks to the less-screaming protocol ISA have followed . Plus , the six months later stealth mission sounds absolutely incredible , and is definetly one of the most immersive segments i'ver ever played in a game . Now for the real downfall of Killzone 2's sound design . The voice acting . The Helghast leaders sound as good as Scolar Visari sounded , and there's much more of them . And their actors sure deliver their lines credibly . The ISA have seen a major re-boot . The "S*** kill that b*** d***-headed hig" , is a sentence that is less frequent in Killzone 3 , replaced by far better dialogue . The good writing is hampered by the personality of the characters , which prefer to scream 30% of the time (was more than 70% in KZ2) . However , when they aren't screaming they're very good . Sev and Rico sound much much better now . Excellent sound overall .
Do i need to talk about the graphics ? Killzone 2 was one of the top 3 console games graphically . Falling behind uncharted 2 and beating God Of War 3 . Killzone 3 claims its throne back from Uncharted 2 which stole its predecessor's crown . It looks absolutely breath-taking ! The back-drops are gorgeous . Much more enviromental variety . Better physics . Better facial animations . Guerilla could have done nothing graphically and still delivered a game ahead of its time . However everyhting is upped-up a notch . The physics , which were absolutely perfect , are even better . I can go all day here . But it's something you have to see to know what i'm talking about . The snow , The jungle , The desert ... The Beauty !
KZ2 did very well in the gameplay departement . The tactical , cover-based gameplay did really-well , the set-pieces were awesome . And the sense of scale was overwhelming . Again , it improves pretty much . The single-player campaign is breatlessly action packed and breath-takingly beautiful . The set pieces are much more hefty . You get to pliot a walker and a tank all in the first mission of the game . You get a grip on a plane's machine-gun . You can detatch an artillery and blow crap up . The good ole amazing weapons are back at your disposal . And a few new guns are always welcomed . While the reliable ISA machine gun is always great . The game makes sure you mix up your choices and try all weapons . The vehicular sections are much better . The walker makes it's golirous return . And has a much lenghtier section . The action is upped . And the cover system -while still imperfected- is much more fluid . And do i even need to talk about the jetpack ? Absolutely brilliant section . The gameplay in Killzone 3 , is one where you make your moment . A skilled player will have a blast mowing higs down with a breeze . While new-comers will enjoy the tactical approach to battles . The only set back here . Even on the toughest difficulty (from your first walkthrough) the game feels much easier than KZ3 . This can change in the later levels , but so far i'm not having any problemes on hard . Now for the neweset addition . The melee kills . They work perfectly for stealth . And are devistatingly brutal while in close-quarters . PS : Don't pull a hig's eyes out with your mom in the same room ! Eye-popping , kneck-tiwsted , head-crashing ! Brilliant . One section where you're detatching snipers is absolutely great if you melee kill them . Overall , a major improvement over KZ2 in practically all departements , but veterans might find it less-challenging than KZ2 .
KZ3 delivers on its promises , but the few steps it does wrong hold it from perfection . Nonetheless , it deserves to be in any PS3-owners collection . A game that beautifully blends all pillars of a succesful FPS and gives it a spicy flavor of scale and destruction . It's larger-than-life , and one of the best sci-fi epics this generation !
Score : 9.5/10
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Call that a MINI-review :P
Walid has left the building 8)
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