Killzone 3 was at PAX Prime. How could I not resist the urge to wait in line and get involved in some full-scale ISA-on-Helghast combat?
With jetpacks and mechs thrown into the mix, Killzone 3's multiplayer is bigger, better, and more metal than ever before, but then, I am a huge Killzone fanboy!
Every class in the multiplayer has been tweaked and enhanced, with new skills and weapons, and nearly all of them for the better. If you want to know how your favorite Killzone character has benefited (or suffered) from the changes, read on as we get classy!
Engineer: The Engineer works in very much the same way you remember, which his primary focus being on spawning turrets and fixing broken ammo dumps/weapons found within each map. His biggest change is his starting weapon. No longer sporting a shotgun, the Engineer now touts a devastating LMG for increased firepower. The LMG fits this class slightly more, since a guy who spends his time hacking and spawning really shouldn't be getting up close as he was wont to do with the shotgun.
Although long-time Engineer players will have to adapt to a new combat style, his special abilities are still crucial and powerful, and the addition of an LMG just makes him all the more brutal.
Infiltrator: Formerly the Saboteur in Killzone 2, the Infiltrator's main job is to dress up like the enemy and then take them out with a cheap shot. Unlike his Saboteur predecessor, the Infiltrator no longer gets shafted with a selection of weak weapons, as he has now inherited the Engineer's shotgun. This has upgraded the Infiltrator from a cool character to a potentially devastating one. The disguise ability buys players just enough time to get in close for the kill, and it seems that if you can get near enough without being spotted, a kill is guaranteed every time.
Tactician: One of the biggest changes is the Tactician, a class that has always been an original and strategically awesome one, but was the subject of many gripes in Killzone 2. The Tactician no longer gets spawn grenades, meaning you can't just run into an enemy base and then open up a wormhole for your team. Instead, there are fixed spawn points around the map that the Tactician has to unlock.
No only that, but the "Spot and Mark" ability has now been granted to this guy instead of the Scout, which is a far more fitting ability for a strategic character. Spot and Mark will show the locations of a number of enemies on the map, which can be a real key to victory. As if that wasn't enough, the Tactician also gets his old sentry bot back, making him quite the flexible and beefy choice.
Marksman: The Scout class returns as the Marksman, only his rifle is considerably different this time around. It no longer has a scope, although it has a better rate of fire now. As before, the Marksman's primary ability is a cloaking device that renders him practically invisible. He feels like a harder class to use this time around, although my time with him was limited.
[Edit: Sony has informed me that there is a traditional sniper rifle with a scope as well]
Field Medic: The Medic of Killzone 2 was already an excellent class, but in Killzone 3 he is an absolute beast. His primary power is once again the ability to recover downed allies, but in addition gets his own personal sentry bot that follows him around the map. However, it's the Medic's ability to manually recover himself once downed that makes him a class to be feared. Yep, Medics now get a chance to stand back up rather than respawn once they've taken a fall, which has turned them into the ultimate revenge killer. With the heal gun and the bot, he's also an XP-reaping monster. Truly the most improved class so far.
And that's your early look at Killzone 3's multiplayer classes. Every class is said to be getting six abilities and six weapons to choose from, so there's still much, much more to be discovered about all these characters. In this early stage though, things are looking incredibly promising.
Killzone 3 rules the body that rocks the party. No doubt about it.
Contest:
2:00 PM on 09.07.2010
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Anyway, thanks for the preview. I'll give the MP a try when I rent this in February, and hopefully I won't be so late to the party (like I was with Killzone 2) that I can actually have some fun!
I hated the Engineers with their shotguns. I always felt like, and maybe this is just me whining, that the shotgun's range was too great and I always got 1 hit killed by it from pretty far away.
Though I have to ask; I actually liked the heavy controls of Killzone 2, and I don't imagine they went all 12 Year Old Halo Spastic on Mountain Dew loose, but... well, I'm concerned about the speed. Did they ratchet it up just a bit? A bit more? A lot more? How does it feel? (It doesn't feel like Halo, right?)
Also, the Tactician's air support drone: Still fucking sucks? Confirm/Deny?
Are shotguns less cheap than they were in KZ2? I mean, let's face it, there were plenty of twats who would spawn rush with shotties and they were simply too effective at a range. Has that been balanced?
I need to know, Jim!
Honestly? It felt like Killzone 2 to me. If they did speed it up, I didn't feel it. And I like that, because I loved Killzone 2.
"Also, the Tactician's air support drone: Still fucking sucks? Confirm/Deny?"
I don't recall getting any kills with it. I think it's about what it was post-patch in KZ2.
"Are shotguns less cheap than they were in KZ2? I mean, let's face it, there were plenty of twats who would spawn rush with shotties and they were simply too effective at a range. Has that been balanced? "
Like I said, you pretty much are guaranteed a kill with a shotty as the Infiltrator. I do wonder if they might need to tone it down.
Sure, the Tactician could toss a spawn grenade into the enemy's base. But if you were careful, you could also create a spawn point where no one suspected it; you could hide them in low-traffic areas, providing completely alternate routes to objectives. So canned spawn points kind of stink in comparison to the utility of the spawn grenade. Still, it'll really depend on map design whether this is a bad change or a great one.
Snap.
Which means the marksman has to work their way towards unlocking that ever more powerful and long-range sniper rifle with their 2x and 4x scope.
MoH does a similar thing where you start off with a normal rifle scope (i.e. no zoom at all) and you have to unlock the sniper rifle by leveling up the class.
What's interesting to me is the no listing of the assault class. Was that taken out? Not that that's a bad thing. With mechs and jetpacks in the multiplayer it sounds like they're be more useful than just being suicidal bastards. Which brings me to another thing, are they actually going to penalize players for committing suicide or not?
Also, I really hope the shotgun isn't overpowered as fuck this time. I'm also not so sure about the LMG, I just think that they're kind of overkill.
All in all, I'm really excited about this game. It is defiantly going to be on some GOTY lists for next year.
Well done. Good for you. I wont be getting mvc 3 as i hate the previous games. But i will be getting this. And Dead space 2. And GT5. And DNF if it graces us in 2011. And many more but im getting bored.
"getting up close as he was wont to do with the shotgun."
This game is sounding like a beast I want in my house.
Also, I actually dug the weapon the infiltrator came with, it didn't start with enough ammo but was good for unloading into someone's back :)
Medic needed a boost. Sniper using the old sab rifle is a cool touch...should make the class much more useful. Ofcourse you can still unlock the old sniper rifle.
I like the old spawn system better for competitive play, but I understand that this way is better for casuals.
Its really weird how people who played the game for a short time have such a lopsided view of what is unbalanced. Its like completely opposite. In competitive play, the shotgun is the weakest weapon... the sab weapons are strong... the LMG is the strongest weapon, which is why the Eng will be the most powerful class in the game (and he already was in KZ2.) Even with the boost, Medic will still be underpowered...but hopefully it will be strong enough to warrant using against good players.
All classes are getting access to more weapons... So the sab can still get his original sab weapons. The scout can still get its original sniper rifle, but also has access to the awesome sab rifle, which increases his usefulness 10 fold. I'm sure that what Jim thought was the scopeless sniper rifle.
In terms of class balance, the tactician got significantly weaker, the engineer got MUCH stronger, the medic got stronger, the sab seems the same, the sniper got MUCH stronger. Unfortunately in Clan 4v4, it will probably still be 1 tactician 3 engineers..... unless they make it where invisible snipers and disguised sabs don't get shot at by bots...in which case, the 1 tact 3 eng build could be beat by a 1 tact 3 sab/sniper build. I really hope they do this, so that we can have more variety. Killzone 2 was well balanced for 16v16, but it wasn't well balanced for 4v4 and that is what everyone played.