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The long wait for Killzone 3 is finally over as the much anticipated shooter lands on shelves today. As you can see I got my hands on the sweet Helghast Editions. What makes it so sweet you ask? Well let me show you just in case you were wondering what you get for the extra cash.

As you can see from the picture above, it comes with quite a few things. Inside the Helghast Edition you will find the following:

• A 100 page Artbook.
• 6.5″ tall Cloaked Helghast Marksman Action Figure made by DC Unlimited.
• A “Super Voucher” Which gives you the Killzone 3 Soundtrack and a Dynamic Ps3 theme, 2 remastered Retro maps from Killzone 2 for multiplayer, For the first 24 hours you will get double XP and have access to every weapon and upgrade in multiplayer and a bonus video of The Behind the Scenes making of Killzone 3.
• A SOCOM 4 Beta invitation.
• An Authentic Helghast Helmet Replica that doubles as storage for your Kilzone 3 game and artbook.

Now lets start off with artbook.

I took a couple pics of some random pages to give you an idea of what you will find inside. It is pretty much your standard hardcover artbook. It includes everything you might imagine such as concept art for characters, weaponry, vehicles and locations. The artwork itself is pretty nice and gives you more of an inside view into the design portion of videogame making.

Lets go on to Mr. Helghast Marksman.

As you can see the figure looks great as it stands 6.5″ tall. It feels well made and it should be since DC Unlimited handled the creation of said figure. The figure is meant to be simulating the effects when a Helghast Marskman uses his cloaking ability. That’s why half of him is pretty much see through. He comes with his sniper rifle that easily fits in his hands. The figure itself includes quite a bit of articulation points so you can pose him in various positions. What I really like about the figure is that its feels like an actual figure and not some cheap toy they bundled into the Limited Edition.

Now lets move onto the real reason to purchase the Helghast Edition, the Replica Helghast Helmet.

The helmet looks pretty amazing. Its made out of a light plastic but it feels very sturdy. I have to mention that the color of the helmet is a tad darker than what it looks like in the pictures. The hoses on the front and side are removable by twisting and pulling. Why would you want to do this? Well I’ll show you in a bit, but right now lets take a look at the sides:

Overall the helmet has great detail and it feels well made. Now if you remember I mentioned that the helmet doubles as a storage space for your game and book. Let me show you what that looks like:

As you can see, you pull the helmet upwards and it easily slides off to reveal the storage space. I’ll probably only keep my artbook in there since I prefer to have the game case with my other games.

The Helghast Edition also comes with the voucher which includes the Original Soundtrack for Killzone 3 and other goodies. My favorite part besides the OST is the fact that for the first 24 hours of your multiplayer career you will earn Double XP AND have access to all the guns and upgrades for all the classes. I love this for 2 reasons, you can level up fast as hell and you can preview the best upgrades and weaponry for each class so you can get an idea of what class you want to focus on. Awesome stuff.

You also get exclusive access to the SOCOM 4 beta whenever it is that it launches.

I think the Helghast Edition of Killzone 3 is well worth the $129.99 (USD) considering all of the goodies that come with it. The Replica Helghast Helmet will definitely spark up some conversations and look great on your collectible shelf along with the detailed figure. The artbook is nice but its pretty much standard as well as the OST. The real draw here has always been the Helmet and it should be since it looks great. Throw in the multiplayer perks and you got yourself one helluva Collectors Edition.

-M