makingmusic476 on 24 May 2010
It sounds awesome.
More responsive fighting and more reliable cover system:
Things soon require a little more dexterity and the mini-gun is ditched, revealing some subtly refined gunplay. Guerrilla is coy on the specifics – no doubt down to the fact that the specifics are constantly being fine-tuned and are likely to be in flux until just before the game ships – but it's certainly more responsive than before. It's put to the test by level design that seems to favour more direct shoot-outs than the cowering gunfights of Killzone 2, but when cover is required it now seems more reliable and intuitive, and snapping behind objects is a much swifter experience.
Context sensitive melee combat:
One thing that's definitely improved is the melee system, as the clumsy system of old is superseded by a much more dynamic way to stab someone in the face. It's now context sensitive: creep up on a Helghan and it's possible to kick them up against a wall before plunging the knife with a further press of the melee button. Going toe-to-toe with them enables some gruesome kills, sticking the knife in places it doesn't belong like a Helghan's ribcage or eye socket.
Big and better with far more and much better scripted sequences:
The first three minutes we're allowed to go hands-on with has more set-pieces crammed in to it than the entire first level of Killzone 2, and it's also ten times bigger than what had gone before. It's a change that has obvious ramifications to the gunplay itself. "The biggest thing we're doing for Killzone 3 is trying to not only have variety in the environments but also in the actual gameplay experience - the stuff that you do from minute to minute," Ter Heide tells us, and that's certainly borne out in our hands-on with the game.
And jetpacks!
When Helghans with jetpacks die, they die spectacularly! At one point we send one careering headfirst into a rockface; another time one's malfunctioning pack sends it soaring into the sky before it comes crashing back several seconds later.
