Killzone 3
(Sony; PS3; rated mature)

Killzone 3 is a graphically impressive game that will satisfy most fans of first-person shooters, but fails to distinguish itself from so many others.

Taking place on Helghan, a planet prone to dangerous lighting storms, you are a soldier in the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance, Sgt. Tomas Sevchenko. After the events of Killzone 2, in which you were part of an assault against the Helghast, you and a number of ISA troops end up stranded on the hostile planet and hunted by the enemy.

You’ll do more than just fight on foot. At times you man the turret on tanks, take out snipers with a scoped rifle, and even control a massive battle-bot. Despite that variety, though, the levels end up feeling a bit generic, with opposing soldiers popping up at predictable intervals.

The game supports 3-D if you have an enabled television, and it was created to work with the PlayStation Move motion-sensing controller, but I found the traditional controller much better. Your character’s aim is determined by where you point the glowing orb, which means always pointing it at the screen, even when you’re just walking around. When I tried an assault rifle-like accessory to hold the Move controllers it was even worse because I had to point the gun at the screen the entire time. Even super soldier arms can’t do that for very long.

Leaving that aside, Killzone 3 is a fast and fluid shooter that is nicely balanced, even if it does feel a bit bland.

Cross-posted at the Georgia Straight