America
Bundled with God of War Collection - November 17th , 2009
Bundled with District 9 Blu-Ray movie - December 29th , 2009
Downloadable Demo - Q1 2010
Europe
Downloadable Demo - Q1 2010
Bundled with God of War Collection - Q1 2010
Japan
Bundled with inFamous - November 5th , 2009
Downloadable Demo - Q1 2010
All Regions - SPECIAL CODES BEING SENT OUT TO MEMBERS WHO SIGNED UP FOR THE SPARTAN ARMY ON godofwar.com before the 30th of October 2009 ! Codes will be sent out on Haloween day and 1st of November !
The character Kratos went through many stages of development, with his final design being chosen due to his "Greek" and "brutal" characteristics. Kratos uses a distinctive main weapon in all of the God of War games. The "chain blades", a pair of swords attached by chains to Kratos' arms, were chosen to show an "animalistic" nature while allowing a fluid combat animation. The character has received a mostly positive critical reception, being described by reviewers as a "sympathetic antihero", while his gameplay was perceived as "a nightmare to his enemies, but a dream to control".His role in the first game's plot received a similar reaction, particularly his "tragic fall and brutal ascension to the peaks of Mount Olympus".
Throughout the series, Kratos acts as an anti-hero,often making immoral decisions to further his goal; sacrificing unprotected humans for example. Prior to the start of the series, he served as the captain of Sparta's army and was only interested in increasing his power by conquering his opponents.His personality changes when he becomes a servant to Ares, after which he faithfully followed the god's orders.After he stopped serving Ares, Kratos continues to serve the gods in order to receive forgiveness, but shows a defiant stance against them. Once contacted by the gods of Olympus, Kratos shows disregard for their plight, only following their orders for personal benefit.In the first game, Kratos' main motive is revenge. He is ordered to assassinate Ares and agrees to do so to achieve absolution from his past crimes as well as to seek revenge from the very God who aided him in his hour of need, as he made him kill his own family.
Kratos becomes the God of War at the end of the first game. In the second, Kratos is angry at the Gods for breaking their "promise" of making his nightmares go away, and with his new found power, re-initiates his dream of spreading "the glory of Sparta". In the process, he angers the Gods and Zeus decides to kill him. He does so, and takes away all his powers. With the help of the Titans, Kratos goes back in time after finding the Sisters of Fate and prevents Zeus from killing him and earns the Blade of Olympus in the process.
At the end of God of War II, Kratos is seen on the back of Gaia, ascending Mount Olympus with hopes of revenge.
The King of Olympus who created the Blade of Olympus. He is the father of Ares, Athena, and Kratos, which is revealed in God of War II. In the first game, Zeus aids Kratos by giving him the power to wield lightning bolts and throw them at his opponents, which aids him in his quest to kill Ares.
He betrays Kratos in the beginning of the second game by taking away his powers and killing him, to end "the cycle" in which the son overthrows the father to capture power. However, Kratos escapes Hades with the help of the Titans, and goes in search of the Sisters of Fate to change his fate. Later, Zeus attacks, and destroys the city of Sparta.
Angered by his actions, Kratos goes back in time to prevent Zeus from killing him, and after a heated battle, defeats Zeus. Zeus was saved from death by Athena, and he flees the scene as Kratos accidently kills her.
At the end of the second game, Zeus is seen at the top of Mount Olympus along with a few other Gods, watching Kratos ascend the Mount Olympus on the back of Gaia.
Zeus is the main antagonist in God of War III.
Brother of Zeus, God of the Underworld.
Gaia watched Kratos rise as a Spartan general and fall as a servant of Ares. She observed his ability and the strength to destroy his enemies from the time he was born.
After Kratos was betrayed and killed by Zeus, Gaia appeared in a vision before him while he was being dragged down to the Underworld by the Arms of Hades. Asking if he was a coward who accepts death, Gaia caused Kratos’ fighting spirit to be renewed and filled his mind with vengeance and hatred towards Zeus. She prophesized that Kratos was destined to change the fates of all Olympus, and guided him to the Island of Creation, where he would have to defeat the Sisters of Fate and change his fate by going back in time to when he was betrayed by Zeus.
After Kratos was told by the Last Spartan that his beloved city had fallen at the hands of Zeus, Kratos lost all hope. Gaia appeared once again in a vision while Kratos fought the Kraken, this time as his wife. She told Kratos that there would be no eternal rest for him even in the afterlife. Zeus would see to it that his soul be tortured by Hades for the all of time. Once again his fighting spirit was renewed, and Kratos destroyed the Kraken using the fires of the burned Sparta itself.
Using the Threads of Fate, Kratos traveled back in time to the final minutes of the Great War. He was greeted by Gaia, who revealed that she had been expecting him (it's unknown how she knew who he was and that he was coming). Gaia informs Kratos that even with his help, they still can't defeat the Gods, but he tells that they can win in his time. Using the power of time, Kratos saved the Titans from being banished to Tartarus and took them back to his time. With the full power of the Titans on his side and the Blade of Olympus, Kratos climbed Mount Olympus on the back of Gaia, beginning the second Great War.
America - Ultimate Edition
The Ultimate Edition will feature exclusive collectibles; a High-End Sculpted Replica of Pandora’s Box, and a Limited-Edition God of War Art Book featuring exclusive art, content and interviews.
In addition to this you will also get exclusive Digital Content (Available via PlayStation Network voucher codes on day of launch):
• God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges
• Premium Kratos Skin – Dominus
• God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise
• God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game (mp3 digital download).
• God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War (mp3 digital download).
Those that pre-order God of War III at select retailers will receive a voucher code for first access to download the God of War III E3 2009 Demo starting today, plus you will receive an exclusive downloadable skin from the following retailers:
Amazon (Apollo) , GameCrazy (Forgotten Warrior) and GameStop (Phantom of Chaos).
Europe - Ultimate Triology Edition
Includes,
- God of War III
- God of War Collection (gentle reminder, this is God of War and God of War II, remastered in HD, running at 60 fps, with Trophy support, all on one Blu-ray Disc)
- Extra game content downloadable via PlayStation Network:
- God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges to complete
- Dominus character skin
- Apollo character skin
- Phantom of Chaos character skin
- Forgotten Warrior character skin
- Exclusive video content downloadable via PlayStation Network:
- God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary. This is a full-length documentary detailing the history of the God of War franchise. A must have for fans!
- Special audio bonus content:
- God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game
- God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War
- Additional content:
- Artbook
- Postcards
God of War's challenge rooms will likely make a return in the third instalment, and further rooms could be available as downloadable content after the game's release.
That's according to God of War III's director Stig Asmussen, who spoke to Game Pro in the most non-committal way imaginable. "It would make a lot of sense to be able to download them," Asmussen loosely elucidated on the challenge rooms that have long been a feature of the God of War series, "That's something we might see in the future. So, maybe you'll see the game ship with a certain amount of challenges on it, then later on, we might put a download pack out with new challenges. It's a good way to keep the series going."
NEW TRAILER ! BETTER GRAPHICS !
A select few(including yours truly) got to go hands on with God of War III over the weekend, as Sony released the highly publicized E3 demo in limited quantities. Fresh off the hype of the demo, God of War III's lead gameplay animator Bruno Velazquez answered some fan questions, and we've picked out some of the more interesting tidbits.
See the above screenshot? It's from the December issue of GamePro, which should be hitting shelves soon, and is a shot from a build newer than the E3 demo that was just released. However, the game in it's current form already looks better than that, according to Velazquez.
It sounds like we may even get to see the current build sooner than anticipated. Velazquez mentions that they have a new trailer ready, but can't say when we'll see it. I wouldn't be surprised to see it during Spike's Game of the Year awards, as that's where the first gameplay trailer debuted last year.
Finally, Velazquez also reveals the approximate play time of the game. He estimates it's roughly 10 hours for veteran gamers, but closer to 20 for more casual ones.
God of War III will end the Triology, but not the Franchise.
Director of God of War III Product Development John Hight has said that future games in the series (not the trilogy) will be dealt with very carefully. In a video interview with GamerVision, Hight said;
"This is not the end of God of War. This is definitely the end of the trilogy, but we're going to continue making God of War games, we're going to be very careful about what we do. We're the keepers of the franchise and we don't want to see it ruined"
So although this instalment concludes the trilogy, we're sure the Santa Monica team will come out with a couple more beauties.
Lengthy Preview By Nowgamer ----> Click here
