Killzone 3

18 cert, Sony, PS3 ****

Killzone 3kicks off in the heart of the Helghan home world, and you take on the role of Special Forces operative Sev. The Interplanetary Strategic Alliance faces the fury of the Helghast after the death of Visari at the hands of ISA soldier Rico. Surviving without reinforcements is tough as you plunge headlong into the action.

Killzone 3's story is B-movie bad, with one-dimensional characters and a weak plot, despite outside scriptwriters and voice acting from Malcom McDowell and Ray Winstone.

The good thing is that you really don't need to pay a huge amount of attention to the story. The combat in Killzone 3is so well-thought- out and executed that you won't care if Rico is an irritating idiot or the Helghast are a villainous parody.

Like the action, the Helghast are relentless. Your comrades can revive you if you take one too many bullets to the chest, but it takes clever movement and use of cover to clear areas, and simply spraying bullets will only get you killed.

The controls seem improved, as is AI, for the most part, with some great set-piece battles that provide “wow” moments. The graphics are another high point. The environments have an impressive level of detail, blasted and broken from the battle. Cut scenes tend to be overlong and skippable, although they’re worth watching for the graphics.

For the most part, the game ran smoothly. However, the action sometimes stuttered and even paused completely at one point, before kicking back in. There’s a new co-op mode, but only for local play. Online offers three modes: a deathmatch-style guerilla warfare mode; mission-based warzone mode; and a new operations mode where you must try to take over the opposing team’s base.

A four-star game that could have scored higher with a stronger storyline.