Things Killzone 3 needs to succeed

When Killzone 2 released last year, it kicked off 2009 with early Game of the Year buzz and provided PS3 enthusiasts with a tremendous first-person experience that they could call their own. So it was just a little bit shocking when SCEA CEO Jack Tretton promised that Killzone 3 was on the way in rather unceremonious fashion. Killzone 2’s cliffhanger ending didn’t have us thinking any other way, but still.

Whether the third game is barely entering planning stages or development is well underway at Guerilla Games is anyone’s guess. The leap in quality between the original game and KZ2 was staggering, not to mention that several great shooters have come out since to really raise the bar. Make no mistake — Killzone 3 won’t be able to coast on the success of its predecessor. Here are just a few features that could really take the franchise to the next level.

Co-op

This is a feature that gamers were clamoring for when Killzone 2 released, and who can blame them? Playing through it, the campaign practically begged for co-op as you almost always had a member of Alpha team by your side as you fought through one epic battle after another. Quite frankly, I’m baffled that more games don’t feature this; who doesn’t enjoy blasting through a great military FPS with their buddies? I understand leaving it out of a game like BioShock where it would ruin the player’s immersion, but a war game where you’re constantly followed by at least one squadmate? Make it happen, GG.

Offline Split-Screen

This is along the lines of co-op, in that it’s another reason to play with your friends. However, the foundation for this already exists in Killzone 2- it’s right there in Skirmish mode, which is essentially a friend-less way to play the multiplayer maps. You can fill the battlefield with bots a la Perfect Dark, but without the ability to play with friends on your couch it becomes pointless. Unfortunately, with the way that developers move further and further away from split-screen in almost any game, this one seems less and less likely.

Better AI

I had a fantastic time playing through Killzone 2 and thought it was adequately challenging… up until you died a few times. No, I’m not saying that it got too hard at points; it would get too easy. Eventually it would merely become a matter of memorization, because the enemy would always do the exact same thing every time you restarted. If you were blown away by a rocket, you’d simply account for that your next time up and chip away until you got to your next checkpoint.

There was also this, where some people were able to beat certain parts by simply slashing their way through. Probably shouldn’t be that way.

More Varied Environments

Guerilla has come up with a pretty unique aesthetic for the Killzone series, and the Helghast homeworld was appropriately imposing. Now that the fight on Helghan seems to be over, it wouldn’t hurt for Killzone 3 to have fewer shades of gray and brown while throwing in some color. With Battlefield: Bad Company 2 making destruction all the rage it would almost seem backwards if the locales weren’t a bit more… interactive. Of course, it would be inappropriate for the series to suddenly take place on a Rainbow Road minefield, but who knows what the next chapter could bring? Speaking of which…

Story Closure

This is probably the most divisive thing on this list, but just hear me out. As much fun as the series has been, games can definitely overstay their welcome. Franchises like Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, and all of Nintendo can do it because entries in those series are usually separate from one another (and are outstanding, to boot). With Killzone, however, the story seems to be reaching the end anyway- the Helghast invaded Vekta, the ISA returned the favor… what else would make sense besides an epic final confrontation? As God of War III just recently taught us, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with going out on top.

Of course, Sony will keep any and all details about Killzone 3 under its cap until E3, so there’s plenty of time to be proven right or wrong. In the meantime, what do you think? As always, let us know in the comments below.

Readers Comments (42)

  1. Dude you forgot the opart where they need to tune the controls a little so the masses can enjoy there game….. dont get me wrong i enjoyed KZ2 but the controls were hard to get used to for the average jow and the average joe matters !!! you cant only focus on the hardcore like myself……….. other than that they need to tune the multiplayer …. get rid of the movable spawn points!!!!!!

  2. Wonderful suggestions! Especially off-line split-screen, as it would be the ONLY current-gen game to offer this, it would do wonders for its position in the marketplace and help its popularity spread from one “friend’s house” to another better than even Call of Duty has been able to do.

    Where most of these “What FPS needs” include mentions of a 7 billionth gun and online level-ups, your suggestions are far more meaningful. I sincerely hope GG takes your advice!

  3. PLUS :
    -fix the hideous looking characters
    -better story and mocap acting
    -Varied enemies and weapons !!
    -RICO IS DEAD !!!

  4. Rif is right. Spot on son.

  5. Screw that, the controls are fine, no need for any tuning just get used to it. They need to tune down the player count online or build the maps around whatever size they go with. 32 players felt way too much on any level for KZ2. They also need to fix the easy headshots”, delayed kills (everyone gets em), balance the classes a little bit more and tune down or take out the flying sentries and ground sentries.

  6. 1. How about carrying two rifles, instead of 1 primary weapon and that shitty magnum(which never runs out of ammo).
    2. Reassign the knife to one button like cod or bfbc2.
    3. destrucable enviroments!
    4. more boss fights
    5. more and better weapons

  7. I still need to finish KZ2 13 months later 😀

  8. don’t please the n00bs with dumb patches

    done and done

  9. Tone down the controls a little bit, (sorry guys lol), add more guns and customizations, customizable armor and gears, maps that fit to the player count, destructiable enviroments,and keep the continous gameplay, without going back to tthe lobby.

  10. I have to say that the only people that still think KZ2 controls are “weird” are those that play more noob friendly shooters like Call of Duty 4. . . .

    I’m a huge KZ player and I think that pretty much everything killzone 2 does is great, but there are thing it can improve. The coop and splitscreen are the most obvious ones but I think that keeping the splitscreen online should be a top priority as well.

    It gets really old to play against bots in my opinion. Everything else should get the “sequel” treatment and get bigger, better and more badass.

    The other thing that would make the game a lot better is the addition of a tricky yet simple game mode: Free for all bodycount. As much as I love playing in teams, sometimes I just want to get a “quickie” and deathmatchs are always a welcome solution.

  11. I agree with that list, but I think aiming should also be tweaked. I don’t mind the realism and the heavy feeling movements, but the aiming was clunky IMO and it didn’t feel as good as COD.

  12. dudes, im sorry but i hate the cod francise! but i can appreciate their controls.. i love kz2.. love it.. lovvvve it…. but the controls are abit silly…. they went all out with the relisim in the weight of the guns, people, basically everything.. which to me is kool but at times is just ott…
    i find two problems with this game… the controls obviously are the first.. and the second being the hit responce….
    in multiplayer i find me and my opponent face to face jumping around shooting bullets all over the place other than each other waiting to see who got the fatal shot..
    and at other times .. i find that if i have got a super awesome shot on someone it takes forever for them to die..
    the aiming on the controls are next to horrible.. and yes i have “got use to them”

  13. the controls are a main feature i would like improved with co-op as well. I never understood why they didnt have splitscreen in skirmish as it had a lot of potential for fun but on your own it was plain boring. new locations would be nice and more fun weapons as well. apart from that just build on everything in general.

  14. how about allowing the Mech in online mode

  15. THE AI IN KILLZONE 2 IS THE BEST .

  16. Just make another fps. Killzone is way too lame and boring.

  17. better framerate please… more weapons..

  18. I’d also like them to kill the cover system. Hated it in Killzone 2.

  19. no, u idiot they have to keep the moveable spawn points, thats why it was so good, to allow your team to spawn where they like, not in some random ass area the game picks where i u spend have th ematch running to a target. this is where MW2 messed up on,
    but i liked the regular game aside from the fact that ur partner just bitches and im left to do all the work, the main buddy of Sev does nothing!!!!!! plus allow the best guns to be used online “coughs” Electric gun “coughs” .
    anyway and make a somewhat more compelling sotryline and ease up on the pain-in the ass difficulty of the final boss, like that guy who turned invisible

  20. 1. Controls that don’t suck

  21. Kz2 is still one of the best shooters in this generation, the controls were fine.

    the only thing i ask is that they have more weapons this time around

  22. yeah, my biggest quarrels was the lack of co-op and split screen offline

  23. the controls and gameplay !!!!
    fast and precise aiming with more “USEFUL ” weapons !!!

  24. Moocows111111 March 24, 2010 @ 16:10

    Im fine with Killzone 2, its not noob-friendly like Mw2 and its for people with real skill to play the multiplayer, they just need to kill Rico and make the movements not as Heavy.

  25. OMG I forgot about Rico, worst game character EVER.

  26. Again, the controls are fine. People that got accostumed to shooters like COD find the recoil of the guns in KZ2 as “imprecise” (When tha’t not the case, you are just not aiming that well).

    The spawn points are fine too. If you are getting camped it’s because you are either not looking at the pre spawn camera or your tactician sucks at placing respawns.

    Winning on Killzone is all about team play.

  27. Again, they really aren’t.

  28. Co-Op and offline split screen multiplayer would be great. Most multiplayer games should have it.

  29. coop, offline splitscreen, and destructable enviroments. And i think a horde type mode would be fun too 😀 but I doubt it will happen

  30. @27:
    Then how should the controls be?, noob friendly like COD or arcade like Resistance?. This game has it’s own sense of identity and it should remain that way.

  31. one more thing they can do is go 3d with sparks flying off on your face

  32. absolutely agree with the list. they MUST make it co-op! and also remove the silly bot slaughter! and put in offline splitscreen as well… controls are fine!

  33. How are responsive controls noob friendly?

    KZ’s were trash, the whole “realistic weight” defense doesn’t fly when the damn knife and pistol weigh 100lbs.

    And if the controls really were fine, Guerilla wouldn’t have patched them 2x. They suck, get over it.

  34. @mark: well if it sucks then why did it get such a high score?

    stop whining….i dont even like KZ2 (well….it wasnt worth my 60 lol) and perfer even R2 over it

  35. Plz, don’t act like it wasn’t a major complaint in most reviews, its not whining to want something fixed thats broke.

    Go play defense force somewhere else.

  36. HighDefGaming March 27, 2010 @ 14:43

    Noobs/fanboys complain about the controls but yet call themselves gamers. The key to being a gamer is adapting change. If you can’t do that quit gaming and complaining or play your little kid shooter MW2.

    Mark is just jealous he doesn’t have the game nor can he show much he sucks at the game online.

  37. ^ Typical Sony kid, can’t take the slightest criticism…

  38. some new modes would be kwl with the online co-op like a enemy wave thing or objective co-op missions. the multiplayer should also have kept the cover system as it made the game a bit more tactical than cod style shooting.

  39. hacker13sacker April 4, 2010 @ 13:08

    i cant wait for this game the graphics are gonna be amazing and the story will be as well, i just really hope for the co op and like the article said a lil more color wont hurt

  40. I for one think the lack of color adds to the gritty feel of the game. actually i only played KZ2 for about 4 hours (about 45 min on campaign and the rest online) and i just didnt like it…..perhaps if KZ3 fixed all those problems, i may just get it lol

  41. C.J. Mc Girr May 23, 2010 @ 14:52

    Has no one realized that the controls can be changed to a more traditional set? I did this as soon as I started the game and it played just like every other shooter. Also, apparently KZ3 will have destructible environments, which is just awesome.

  42. FIX TEH CONTROLS, FIX MY SKILL cuase im a noob, -_-, they patched the controls twice cause shooter casuals just wouldn’t stfu about how much harder it was to be good at KZ2 -_-, really this is wat i have to deal with here

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