The realms between what we want, what we get and what sells are as massive as they are hard to predict. There’s no universal, we’ll as soon cheer a sequel, reboot or new property as much as we’d jeer it. We’re also picky, and it can be one of our ugliest qualities. When Killzone first entered the fray in 2004, the FPS scene was as violent then, with Halo and Battlefield, as it is now, with Call of Duty and, well, Halo. While it certainly is one of the most furiously pushed Sony games in a crowded room, in its history Killzone has never seemed to stick with either picky first person shooters or snooty bloggers. Now onto the third iteration, Killzone 3 hopes to finally stop being another brick in the FPS wall but a cornerstone. Working out some kinks, sharpening up and taking some risks, how does that world war of the worlds pan out?

Starting where the second ended, the ISA have successfully located and accidentally killed the reigning lord of the constantly gloomy Helghast planet. However, this hasn’t really made things totally fireworks for the ISA members, now becoming the number one enemy of the planet they are standing on and their back up/ride home having been demolished, they’ll have one hell of a season ahead. Through all of this close comrades and ISA troops split off, either by accident or ideology, but it’s not nearly as dysfunctional as the enemy Helghan hierarchy, now split between successors to the throne and top economic investors. Their deceptive, intricately bearded and Malcolm McDowell voiced antics end up becoming more interesting than even the heroes’ plight. Throw in some rubbery loose parallels and metaphors to the Second World War, dynamic Hollywood-style action sequences and a legitimately jostling finale and you end up with a story that feels mostly limp with moments of delivery.

If there’s one thing to be said about the story campaign it’s that there is quite a lot of variety, though most of the time, be it a vehicle segment or 25 minute sneaking section, it comes off as more indecisive than anything. The game will send you through the wreckage of hollowed out cities, strange jungles and junkyards, yet it really only hits its stride about a third of the way in, at the start of the well promoted tundra segments. Most of the controls are pretty tight, though I would personally suggest not using the default suggestions as it makes cover pretty sticky, otherwise targeting is tight. And if you are tantalized by dreams of jetpacks, then you’ll be very pleased to know they’re a real highlight. The vehicle parts, sans the mech suits, are in contrast a lowlight, seemingly wedged in because so many other FPS have them at this point. They’re a little bit dull and sloppy, delivering the most deaths where I had no idea what actually killed me. You also start off each segment with a preselected roster of guns, which is a real mood killer when the only thing that separated you from your preferred set was a cinematic where two dudes climb over a wall. When Killzone 3 is great, it delivers a ‘frontline’ sensation, you on the face of war piercing the enemy forces. When it isn’t great, it’s you in a confined space with a 20 odd lootbag of Helsghast showering you with lead. It can be borderline nauseating.  The illusion of stress is a lot more enjoyable than stress itself.

Of course the life of shooters these days are built upwards on the heels of their multiplayer mode, and while it’s easy to feel mixed and indifferent on the singleplayer side of things, there’s a much more confident online assault. There are three modes, Guerrilla Warfare being the most basic, a team deathmatch, with Warzone and Operations far more intricate and interesting, even compared to what’s offered by other shooters. Operations is sort of an online story mode, splitting the sides and establishing a mission plot as to elaborate why these soldiers will bother shooting each other. Warzone is my personal preference, basically a constantly changing mission mix-tape where during the course of the match mission objectives will rotate, like territory capture or assassination/protect the VIP. The multiplayer does a great deal to keep things from getting dull, it will keep players on their toes, making routines and robotic strategies impossible.

The selectable classes can be a little mild, some classes don’t make a great case for themselves, while others, well, let’s just say expect some very overzealous engineers. Points earned in game can be used to better buffer and specilize some of the classes, which means you’ll be a little outgunned in your first outings, but points aren’t hard to find, and are earned easily as a medic. You will soon catch up. What I liked most about the online mode were the maps. Designed to be large, but detailed, the maps encourage experimentation. While some e-jerks have already selected some cheap vantage points, you’ll be pleased to see just how many alternative routes are still available. The Akmir Snowdrift was easily my favourite, with the blaring snow and dozens of angles, it felt like a very uncanny experience in a mostly canny game, overall one of Killzone’s greatest arguments.

Killzone is a well made game with unusual intentions. For all its steam, the story mode is riddled with signs of low self esteem, ripping so many traits and tropes from other titles, be it familiar scenery or an actual Big Daddy lookalike, it ends up being little more than a hybrid between Halo and Call of Duty. I always wanted Killzone to just have something all its own. Even when I first saw the red glare of a Helghan shocktrooper, I couldn’t help but wonder why they looked so much like the same from Jin-Roh. The multiplayer shows a great deal of talent in level design and strategic thinking, but the core to which they are designed around just feels too familiar to games already out there. The latest COD and Halo iterations have already been out for months, so if you have already juiced all you need from them, then migrating to Killzone isn’t a bad call. If you are picky and looking for something that can’t be found anywhere else then you’re only killing yourself.

Come on, Chief, quit playing Halo and go get a retiree job.

10. Master Chef: Besides the obvious benefits of being able to merely scratch out the i in his identification, after years of singeing and scorching aliens, I’m sure MC has a nose for quality when it comes to cooked meat.  And who wouldn’t watch the Iron Chef featuring Iron Chef: Eridanus II?  Plus Kitchen Coliseum’s a sweet DM map.

9. Exterminator: If you’ve got swarms of things parading through your house like they own the place, Master Chief Exterminators will panic and fire randomly when they first appear but then settle into a sweeping execution of the annoyance.  This job will also prompt great one liners. For example, the patron might say, “Boy that was the biggest swarm I’ve ever seen” and Master Chief, having fought The Swarm in the far reaches of the galaxy, can reply, “Yo mama’s got an afro with a chin-strap!” which is a total diss.

8. Master’s Swimmer: Anyone can waltz across the galaxy providing onslaught against alien zealots and mutant swarms, but to truly call yourself “Master” you better be able to bring it to the pool for 200, 400, and 800 IM.  Since MC essentially weighs a ton, some sort of switch should be hit to drain the water first, if you kill enough aliens that rush you at the alarm, you can “swim” through their guts to victory.

7. Old Bottle Collector: Okay, this is more of a blanket job for ANY retiree, but collecting old bottles as a “career” has to be the coolest hobo job there is.  Especially if those old bottles are bottles of Night Train, Thunderbird, or the Cisco flavour ‘Red’ as seen on www.bumwine.com.  I bet Master Chief loves old bottles.

6. Online Dating Administrator: You might think Master Chief knows little about the art of dating or building a strong foundation for a relationship, and you’d be right.  His love life would likely spiral into a 10-minute bit on COPS where he tries to explain where all the needles in the wall came from.  That said, interacting with dames like Cortana 24-7 would make him an adept electronic administrator/video pornographer.  Oops, I’ve said too much.

5. NASA Demolitions Team: Saturn is going down.

4. Actor: Other than being able to play bikers, basketball players, and that-one-huge-guy-in-so-and-so’s-gang due to his 6’7” 287 lbs stature, Master Chief has not necessarily shown the range to justify this choice of profession.  Master Chief could likely land a role in Red vs. Blue as ‘the green guy,’ but otherwise he may have to wrestle a few roles away from Richard Kiel.  Halo movie?  Yeah, uh, no.

3. School Bus Driver: If playing Halo taught me one thing, it’s that Master Chief is a fully-certified G, B, or M class driver who is excellent at taking turns slowly and carefully, exhibiting full caution when danger appears on the road ahead, and making sure his passengers are all wearing their seat belts.  He would get kids to school safe and sound, making all the stops, and obeying traffic rules.  This is an obvious fit, really, if you’ve even seen him drive a Warthog.  Peaceful.  Serene.  Safe.

2. Evangelical Scientologist: In the real world, outer space and religion rarely go together, but that’s why upon retiring the Scientologists would likely recruit Master Chief using a well-formatted video of Tom Cruise.  His shell shock ramblings like “The Covenant is coming!” and “Death to the forerunners: Moses, Jesus, Pikachu!” would intrigue/terrify locals into taking personality tests and exterminating humans under the genocide mandate of L. Ron Hubbard.

1. Drill Instructor: Master Chief would truly be in his element teaching armies the ancient tactic of hiding in the corner until all the pain goes away and you’re good to go again.

Neill Blomkamp has gone from visual effects artist to feature film director in just a few years, and he’s not even 30 years old yet — Say Will, what are you doing with your life, eh? There is no doubt that the man has a very promising career ahead of him; anyone who has seen District 9 will not debate that point, but I wanted to take a few minutes to look back at some of the extraordinary work Blomkamp has already done.  A retrospective if you will, of most of his amazing short films and commercials.

Alive in Joburg

Click here to view the embedded video.

Blomkamp drew on his youth in apartheid South Africa as the basis for Alive in Joburg; the film that would go on to inspire his feature film District 9.  The story of Joburg is essentially the same: aliens arrive on Earth and can’t leave, the government segregates them from society due to all the problems they cause and naturally the shit ends up hitting the fan.  Joburg is shot documentary style, painting a frighteningly convincing picture of a country actually having to deal with refugee aliens.  This ain’t no Alien Nation, this is real. The short film also features Sharlto Copely, who produced it, and who also stars as the lead in Blomkamp’s District 9.

Halo – Combat

Click here to view the embedded video.

Microsoft and Bungie got together with Peter Jackson and Blomkamp to make these three (edited together as one for your viewing convenience) short films set in the Halo universe. The films were as much viral advertising for Halo 3 as they were a test bed and pitch for a full blown Halo feature film, but that doesn’t make them any less impressive. We all know that movie deal fell through, and neither Jackson or Blomkamp are tied to the project any longer. But hey, at least we’ve got these shorts. I’m not a huge Halo fan, but judging from Blomkamp’s work here, it could have been a pretty cool movie.

Adidas – Yellow

Click here to view the embedded video.

Adidas commissioned various commercial directors to create a series of short films based on the colours of their shoes. Blomkamp was given the colour yellow. Although Yellow has very little to do with shoes, it is still very awesome. A dangerous AI escapes into society and must be hunted down. With obvious nods to Ghost in the Shell and Isaac Asimov, Yellow is one of my favourite Blomkamp films.

Tetra Vaal

Click here to view the embedded video.

Think third world Robocop and you get the gist of this short.

Tempbot

The charming story of an office temp… who happens to be a robot… and falls in love with Lynda Carter of Wonder Woman fame. We’ve all been there.

Citroën – Alive with Technology

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s a dancing, transforming robot! This Citroën ad from 2005 pretty much proved in concept that a live-action Transformers film was possible. We all know how that turned out, though I’d love to see what Blomkamp could do with a Transformers movie. Step aside Bay!

Nike – Evolution

Click here to view the embedded video.

Everyone has seen this amazing Nike commercial, it’s arguably Blomkamp’s best known work to date. Enough said.

Nike – Crab

Click here to view the embedded video.

Robotic crabs armed (legged?) with Nike shoes and a ball. This is going to haunt my nightmares forever, thanks Neill!

If Blomkamp’s CV doesn’t get you excited about District 9, then we can’t be friends any more. You have to see that movie.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The unorthodox alien invasion film was produced by Peter Jackson, who hired the director to helm the live-action Halo movie which fell through.  District 9 is based on Blomkamp’s short film Alive in Joburg.  District 9 will be released in North America on August 14th.

Alive in Joburg is an amazing short film, that Blomkamp got to make a feature length version is beyond awesome.  Neill Blomkamp is a director to watch, I highly recommend you check out Alive in Joburg and his other short films/commericals on YouTube.  District 9 will have a limited international release in August.

District 9 Official Site