Sony's Playstation Move Rifle Literally Changes the Game
By Jared Newman | Monday, January 10, 2011 at 8:41 am
With 3D glasses around my head and a big, plastic, fake assault rifle in my hand, I did something that seasoned gamers might consider sacrilege: I played Killzone 3.
Understand, Killzone is the Playstation 3’s answer to Halo. It’s a loud, violent shoot-em-up against enemies with gas masks and glow-in-the-dark eyes, and a multiplayer mode with all the classics, like capture the flag and team deathmatch. And with the Playstation Move stuffed inside a $40 gun-shaped accessory, Killzone 3 is also Sony’s attempt to prove that motion control is for serious gamers, too.
But really, it’s not. Playing Killzone 3 with the assault rifle peripheral was a blast, but it was also an entirely different game than the one you play with plain old thumbsticks.
With motion controls enabled, Killzone 3 felt like an arcade game, with quick, twitchy shooting instead of tactical precision. Aiming with the rifle can be cumbersome, because you’re adjusting position relative to crosshairs on the screen, so the game gives you a generous helping of auto-aim when zooming in on the enemy.
I also found that my spatial awareness was off, partly because you have to turn away from the screen to rotate your character, and partly because the familiar first-person shooter tactic of circle-strafing was a lot tougher with a gun in hand (and rightfully so; I don’t think the army teaches sidestepping in boot camp.)
The result is a game that feels a bit messy, but not necessarily in a bad way. Because I didn’t quite trust my own abilities, I spent much of the demo at a CES press event hiding behind cover and pressing forward with extreme caution. The sense of persistent danger for which Killzone is known really shined through with the extra baggage of the assault rifle peripheral. The payoff comes when you fire the thing.
The rifle controller also turned my left arm into a limp noodle. Only after the demo was over did the Sony rep say that I really should’ve been shooting from the hip instead of holding it at shoulder level. Thanks, guy.
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15 Comments For This Post
January 10th, 2011 at 10:41 am
What other games will this gun be useful with for the Move?
January 10th, 2011 at 10:47 am
socom, mag
January 10th, 2011 at 10:58 am
Resident Evil 5 Gold Edition
January 10th, 2011 at 11:50 am
Any game that uses Move for shooting.
January 10th, 2011 at 2:54 pm
RE5? don't think so… not until you can change the way buttons are mapped
January 10th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
you can change the button mapping.
January 10th, 2011 at 3:53 pm
auto aim can be taken off completely
January 12th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
Yeah, I agree with M3kw…anything that involves shooting is my priority for the move.
January 12th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Can this gun be used for other games, specifically Dead Space 2 or Resident Evil?
January 28th, 2011 at 10:03 pm
this review is from a retard. this guy makes killzone seem like its an underdog game trying to sway people from halo and xbox, when in reality, killzone 2 which has been out forever- still surpasses the quality of xbox games being released today. killzone 3 will embarrass the xbox entirely. the addition of 3d and the move peripherals will make the most immersive in home experience to date, which can only be experienced on playstation 3. just because they haven't "fine tuned" the precision doesn't mean they wont by the time of release. so go ahead, whine and gripe that it's not hardcore enough for you, im going to be busy have my mind blown for hours on end. maybe you should invest in the better system and experience it in your own home rather than in some demo booth.
February 18th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
ps3 is awesome but so is my xbox and killzone 2 doesnt beat everything on xbox sorry it just doesnt. Killzone 3 is sick though. I love each of them and play each of them for different reasons. I would like to try the move especially with the gun for killzone 3. Anyone here have 3d my tv doesnt support it. How is it, major headaches or is it suttle that sucks you that much more into the world?
July 8th, 2011 at 6:08 pm
I agree man
May 5th, 2011 at 7:56 am
I love Sharpshooter rifle best. But then, I also like the regular FSP Controllers too, especially if my arms get tired from holding up the rifle for hours on end.
December 31st, 2011 at 12:25 pm
This gun also work with other game
January 6th, 2012 at 10:41 am
Killzone3 + Move riffle + 120inch 3D Projector + Surround audio = SICK!!! I did not realized I was playing for 6h straight leaving my beer getting warm and forgot to go to bed… My XBox is unplugged until they release good 3D game. Yes move gun can be a pain, especially if you want to do a quick 180, it would be nice to be able to control the heading from a thumb stick and use the move gun only to aim, still best option available right now… Also 3D can be hard to get used to, especially when strafing since you can't see the object coming, they sometime just appear right in front of you and it can be confusing… other than that I'm on an other planet now…