Killzone 3 a beautiful, flawed shooter

Score: 86/100, Sony PlayStation 3

Killzone 3, a visually impressive first-person shooter with a brief, cliche single-player campaign, is a worthwhile buy for PlayStation 3 owners because of it excellent co-op and multi-player modes.

The campaign, which may last six hours, kicks off where Killzone 2 ended: the ISA (a group of space soldiers) has just killed the maniacal leader of the Helghast, the evil folks running a planet at war with Earth.

The remaining maniacal Helghast leadership determines the ISA assassins must be exterminated at all costs. The Helghast are the poster boys for cliche -- basically you’re at war with space Nazis -- who, like the real Nazis, are adept at creating futuristic weapons they never really use.

The Helghast, in their zeal to kill the ISA assassins, go so far as to nuke their own planet, which doesn’t make much sense, but does provides nice smoking and sometimes glowing ruins for the action.

The protagonist, “Sev,” and his sidekick, “Rico,” are soldiers that don’t like taking orders. They know how to do everything better than their poor leader, Captain Narville.

But, if you look past the nonsensical plot and artificial tension between characters, Killzone 3 is a good game, though it seems to copy the Halo, Gears of War and Call of Duty franchises instead of creating its own legend.

The good:

• Few first-person shooters look this good. From unusual alien jungles to icy, frozen seas, the graphics are top-notch.
• The controls are much more responsive than Killzone 2.
• Co-op campaign mode is great for those who have a buddy to play with.
• Multi-player, with multiple modes,  maps and balanced classes, is great.
• Jetpacks provide "rocket-assisted" hopping more than flying, but the vertically-interesting level where the player gets to don them is fun. Also well-done, the player gets to take control of a giant robot-like contraption.
• Some battles are memorable, e.g. taking down a giant, walking war machine reminiscent of something from Star Wars.
• A few of the weapons are cool, but overpowered, such as the Bolt Gun, which can staple enemies to walls and make them explode.

The bad:

• The plot confuses even the writers.
• The screen often freezes momentarily while the next bit of terrain loads.
• There's nothing to stop a player from running through too-linear levels. In some instances, the player can simply run past more fearsome enemies and they won't follow.
• At times, Rico or another squadmate can revive the fallen player, but at other times, they can't.
• There's no "map" or "radar" to quickly show the location of enemies.
• You mysteriously lose weapons between levels, which makes no sense. If I ever lay my hands of an over-powered weapon I won't be leaving it behind.
• Boxes of unlimited ammo are everywhere. Post up near one of those and a competent player can take down an entire planet. And the knife, strangely enough, feels overpowered.

Also new: Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 -- Fate of Two Worlds (Score: 83: Xbox 360, PS3)