Killzone 2 was a great game on the PS3; in fact it pretty much secured me getting one. I have quite a few consoles and I'm not a fanboy of any of them. I'm a gamer, that's the best way to be now. Because fanboys are annoying retards who can't look at any system they don't own as anything more than a challenge to their e-peen console credentials. Now Killzone is back with the third instalment and the fanboys are already railing against Gears of War 3 and Halo: Reach.

The long and short of it, the bit that you really care about? Killzone 3 is a good game and that's a fact. It doesn't really push the boundary of gaming in any one direction, it takes cues from the previous game and expands on the controls a little, smoothes things out and basically improves from Killzone 2. The multiplayer is better and the's a BotZone mode that lets you sharpen your skills against the AI.

Pack in split-screen co-op and you've got a winner of a package here.

Story

ISA versus Helghast in no-holds barred conflict to secure the fate of the planet Helghan. We've seen it before in Killzone 2 and now it continues in Killzone 3. I really don't have much to say about the story because if I say anything at all, you'll get a spoiler and some people will bitch and moan. So...yeah, there's a story here and it doesn't rock, but it doesn't suck either. Your mileage might vary depending how anal you are on such details.

Gameplay

Similar to Killzone 2 and with a cover system where you can peek around and over, blind fire and shoot the bad guys in the face. I like it, I like it a lot and it works really well when you're in the thick of it. Expect an AI team-mate to be around a lot of the time to bail you out if you take too much damage and go down in one of the many brutal run-and-gun battles in the game. There's a good mix of guns, you can carry the usual arsenal, one sidearm, one rifle and one heavy weapon. It's the standard, why change it?

The controls are basically the same as they were in KZ 2 and fans of that game can jump right in. Sure it also has Move Support, but since I don't give a rat's ass about Move, we'll be moving on! AHA! See what I did there? I'm here all week, and if you don't appreciate that terrible humour, its ok, you're just soul-dead. You play as a dude from the ISA and you shoot a bunch of Helghast bad-guys until you finish the particular level, ducking in and out of cover, using the various weapons and delivering some bad-ass close kill moves.

Graphics

To describe Killzone 3 as a good looking game is wrong, it's a very good looking game and it really does show off the power of a console like the PS3. I think only Uncharted 3 will have a chance at beating this kind of game for graphical eyecandy. There's a lot of it, a lot of fancy industry words that I don't give a fuss about - so basically - it looks utterly awesome and you should stop and survey the hard work in the graphics when you get a chance.

Animations

Yeah, you know those things that make or break the realism of a game, they are here in abundance and they work really well. Character animations are great, the death moves are great when you get up close and personal - there's some really brutal stuff, like pushing out the eyes of a Helghast soldier before you snap his neck like wood. Sweet brutalities that will make Fox News cry and turn you into an overnight neck-snapping psycho-rapist, if you live in the world of 'LA LA' Fox News make-believe. Seriously, mommy...daddy...there's nothing to worry about here unless you come home and find out that your kid's just snapped the neck of his babysitter.

I'm reminded to mention the normal run, gun, typical animations and character animations, facial expressions, lip synch and the tiniest detailed bit of an ISA or Helghast tank. Seriously, it is good stuff and there's a lot of it.

Physics

Things go boom, bodies fly, things break and not every bit of cover is safe. So yeah, it has physics!

AI

Team AI sucks the big one usually in games, it doesn't suck overly in KZ 3 but it still could do with a bit more tweaking. You go down and your buddy will try and revive you, not all the time though, because like Dom in Gears of War and 2...he likes to RUN into GUNFIRE and become a BULLET magnet. So unless he's actually programmed to be a dick, he should act like a soldier and not a brick wall. Enemy AI fares better, they use cover, keep you pinned and do all the things that challenge you. They don't often run from behind cover and soak up gunfire to take them down.

Sound

The game has sound, moving on? Ok, it has good sound, it sounds nice. There's a lot of work gone into the sound design, especially regarding the weapon sounds. They have a meaty effect to them and the bullet impacts give you an idea you're not actually waving a pop-gun around. The sound in general is pretty damn faultless and that's saying something.

Music

Oh yeah, it has a badass soundtrack. This music is spot on and stirs your blood when you're snapping the neck of some bad guy, or popping your fingers through his eyes whilst screaming gibberish and looking for the 'teabag' function on the controller. I love it, I want this OST as a stand-alone...hear that Sony? Pretty please with a frag grenade on top?

Voice and Dialogue

People talk, the script is typical of the kind of game but done well enough. The voice actors like Brian Cox, Malcolm McDowell and the rest of the cast are good. I love Brian Cox's dark overtones and his ability to give stirring in-your-face speeches. Oh and I think Ray Winstone's in it, at least it sounded like him.

Multiplayer

What's there is basically like Killzone 2 only better, a few more modes and a rank-unlock system with some perks. It is relatively lag free and I have enjoyed sending people to their virtual deaths time and time again because I'm awesome. There's also split-screen co-op and that's good fun too, nothing like rocking out some pain with a buddy over a couple of beers until you both are so drunk you can't even hit the side of a tank at point blank range. Or for tea-total fine-upstanding members of society like me: having a jolly good old time with my best chum blowing holes in the bad guys. I could go into the mp modes at great length but that would bore you to Hell and back, so I won't.

Bottom line, it's fun and frenetic with some good tactics and teamwork.

Kill that Zone

Is it worth it, I say yes. I presume many of you will also say yes if your only console is a PS3 and you're stalwartly refusing to believe anything that comes out for it could be bad. The good news is that Killzone 3 isn't bad, it's good, it's so good that it might just turn you into a Sir Psycho Sexy Killing Machine that can snap the neck of a full grown gorilla whilst yodelling at the top of a mountain, wearing Old Spice and surrounded by legions of adoring female gamers demanding you partake in Snoo Snoo right now.

Or it could just be a good game that it only needs this to sell it.

Buy Killzone 3, your wallet won't regret it.