The war against the Helghast heats up in the tundra in the next installment of the PlayStation exclusive shooter series, Killzone 3. 

The trials of the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance against the Helghast continue with increased brutality, having players assume the role of Killzone 2 protagonist Sergeant Tomas “Sev” Sevchenko armed with new tools, weapons and moves to take down the fascist-like oppressors.

Prominently displayed at the Sony PlayStation booth, E3 attendees were given the chance to demo the game in either 2D or 3D, a first for the series and following Sony’s push for 3D gaming. The demo was split in three parts: infiltration, jet-pack and WASP, showcasing the new features of the game. The first section focused on the on-foot combat of the game, where Sev infiltrated a Helghast base with Master Sergeant Rico Velasquez as his trusty brothers in arms. This section introduced the new melee system that features up close and personal knife kills and neck snaps, adding to the brutality of the war and desperation in the new arctic environment.

The second section featured the Helghast jet-pack. Able to jump to new areas and different flanking tactics, the jet-pack provide the biggest change to the series so far. Enemies and players can fight in new high flying ways.

The third section feature the new weapon the WASP, a multi-firing rocket launcher. Players are faced against a Helghan tank with which players only means of victory is the WASP. Many players at the demo had difficulty figuring out where the WASP was on the map and were trying to defeat the tank in different ways with no success until a rep told them where to go. The game is still the pre-alpha development stages so the developers have time to provide a better way to guide players to the right objectives.

For being very early in development, Killzone 3 is shaping up to be a worthy and prettier successor to an already visually and mechanically solid title. Other than supporting 3D gaming, Killzone 3 will also support Sony’s motion controller, the PlayStation Move, increasing immersion in the war against the Helghan. Killzone 3 is aimed to release in February 2011.