Video Game Review: 'Killzone 3' packed with intense action, but lacks strong storyline

Sometimes the view is better from up close. "Killzone 3" offers a grunts-eye perspective of your average alternative-universe global conflict, the continuing story of a war between the Nazi-like Helghast and the Allied Forces of the ISA.

It has about as much action as you can pack into a game, along with a thin storyline and a too-soon finale, but if you're a fan of first-person shooters you can do a lot worse.

What they're selling: From SCEA - "As new Helghast battalions appear, armed with more powerful weapons, ISA forces find themselves outmanned, outgunned and surrounded."

What we're telling: I feel that way when I take the kids grocery shopping.

The nut graph: The game opens with a short level that serves as a tutorial, but mostly it wows you with some of the most impressive graphics yet on the PlayStation 3. Every object is sharp and realistic, almost to the point of distraction. At least until the moment when someone starts shooting ... then the game gets really impressive.

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Battles are intense and furious, controlled chaos from every angle. Most of the fighting is based on contemporary weapons with a few oddball, sci-fi touches including jetpacks and electric thingies. Mix in a few vehicle levels and a massive boss fight; there is plenty of variety to the fighting and it is all fun.

The story is mostly ham-handed although the characters are likable (or easy to dislike in the case of the cookie-cutter bad guys) and adequately heroic. But it's not a very long game with a single-player story that can be bum-rushed in just a few hours.

You can try again on a greater difficulty, and there are some solid multi-player options to help you squeeze out some more hours of gameplay for your $60.

It might not be the type of franchise title to carry the PS3 (like, say, "Halo" on the Xbox 360) but "Killzone 3" is fine for what it is: an excellent first-person shooter that looks fantastic and plays like a champ.

Reason to smile: When the game is hitting on all cylinders, you really feel like you are a part of the action. It's thrilling and fierce.

Reason to growl:Single-player campaign could certainly have been beefier.

robert.mcginty@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4250