God of War III Review
Does Santa-Monica’s latest installment satisfy the blood hungry PlayStation 3 gamers?
God of War is a franchise started on the PlayStation 2 with Kratos, a Spartan army general in ancient Greek mythology as its protagonist. Kratos is a life like war animal that gives up his freedom to the God of War in order to kill his enemies. This leads to the killing of his own family and the nickname “Ghost of Sparta”. Now, I am not going to get into all the details about the first two installments on the PlayStation 2, but just know, those games were some of the games that would be mentioned in the top 10 best games of the PlayStation 2. An achievement not easily won when the PlayStation 2 literally had thousands of titles.
The games were praised for their scale, graphics, gameplay, gore, the Greek Gods, etc…I can go on forever about why those two installments were some of the best the PlayStation 2 can offer. With all this success however, comes a pair of vast boots to fill. Before I popped the game onto my PlayStation 3 system, I expected scale, an epic ending, and a gameplay that was so refined; it made God of War III the King of Action-Adventure games. Let me tell you, my expectations were met.
can you spot kratos? Either way, you know what type of scale i am talking about.
The game will pick up exactly where God of War II left off, Kratos climbing Mount Olympus ready to take his Vengeance by slaughtering Zeus. This was a great way to start off the game as it showed off the scale of the game and what exactly you are going to be dealing with for the next 10 or so hours. Now you are probably asking, what are we dealing with? Well, we are dealing with a truly Larger-than-life mountain and Kratos climbing it with the Titans (which are the size of normal mountains), ready to take on the no less than bad ass Greek Gods. That’s right, I am talking about Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and a few more I do not want to spoil.
The story is to be told in-game as the camera pans out to view the outrageous scale, and in an instant, pan in to get a view of the life like Spartan general himself. The voice acting is top notch, and the character models for the most part look astounding. Now I say most because some important characters actually look not so nice when compared to Kratos. It is not a major complain, but one would think that important characters would look around the same level as Kratos. It should be noted that fans of the series will be real pleased with the subtle, yet not so subtle backdrops of past God of War games. It ties a lot of loose ends together, and even tells the future endeavors of past God of War characters.
Yes, the graphics of the game must also be talked about, and they do not disappoint. God of War III is a stunning game that shows off amazing lighting and near perfect textures on your brand new 1080p HDTV. I will not go as far to say that they are the absolute best graphics on the block, but the scale makes up for it. The titans are enormous, and you will even lose Kratos in all the glorious scale, but zoom right in when you need to see him. God of War III perfects camera placement and truly shows off that visuals are not everything without scale and environment. The game allows you to breathe in the life like nature and view of Olympus, and it is some of the best air you will breathe to date.
Yes, the game is this gory
Enough about the presentation, what about the gameplay? Now Santa-Monica seemed to have not wanted to alter the gameplay in the God of War series. Yes, the Gameplay is very similar to the gameplay found in the first two installments. However, the gameplay has truly been refined to a point where I cannot imagine it any better. On easy mode, one can get through the game by switching the various weapons and smashing the old square, square, triangle. However, the same cannot be said for the harder difficulties. The game took the difficulties of the first two games and threw it out the window.
For Example, I played the game on Titan Mode (hard), and I racked up two-hundred deaths. It showed that the game can be easy for beginners, yet advanced for the more familiar hack-n-slash gamers. The new weapons are all meant to be used, and each has its own magic tied to it. A new meter (action meter) is introduced to use your bow and arrows (and a couple of other abilities), it is all well organized, and always kept me going in the level up process the weapons have. The puzzles also make a return. In the beginning till at least a good 6 hours into the game, you will wonder where all the marvelous puzzles are that were showed in God of War II. Well, in the later hours of the game, those expectations are all met with a labyrinth that will keep remind of you that the God of War franchise does not joke around when it comes to Puzzles. I wouldn’t go as far to say that they will make you look at a guide like a Zelda game would, but they will keep you scratching your head.
On a sad side, the game is short. My first playthrough took 12 hours and I can imagine some beating it close to 7 on the easier difficulties. Although, that is not to say the game is not worth the sixty US dollars. The game will leave any fan of the series proud to own a PlayStation 3 and it will always be remembered as an epic. Renting it is definitely an intelligent choice, but just knows that the game really delivers all the way till the end.
God of War was once thought as the face of the hack-n-slash genre. To this date, this still holds true and God of War III further grips on that title. The game may not be perfect, but it delivers on all fronts of what a remarkable game should be. Whether you will be buying or renting, it is a must for any PlayStation 3 owner, and anyone who even thinks they love the genre.
PRESENTATION: 10/10
GAMEPLAY: 9/10
VALUE: 9/10
REVIEW SCORE: 9.4/10 (NOT AN AVERAGE)
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