Australia, September 18, 2008 -
If there's ever been a series that Sony can proudly call their very own, one that sits far above all over platform-exclusive series on their consoles, it's surely been God of War. Following Kratos through ancient ruins as he redecorates stone pillars with innards and flesh has been a consistent pleasure since 2005.
Three short years later, we've sliced, scaled and leapt through two more adventures with Kratos -- and while the third chapter in the saga is assuredly deep into development right now, things are all too painfully quiet for fans yearning for droplets of hard information. That's why IGN has taken up the challenge of compiling a list of facts and demands for God of War III, sprinkled generously with some rampant speculation to keep fans sated that little bit longer.
The Story
"God of War explains, or ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths." -- David Jaffe
With that single quote, David Jaffe, the big-fella behind the series (who has since moved on), has set the pace for God of War 3. This will the penultimate entry in the series; the game that holds nothing back and sets Kratos against the greatest foes under the direst of circumstances.
The third chapter of one of the most epic adventures ever to grace the PlayStation brand? It'll have to be bigger, darker and with more watercooler moments than both games combined. We're talking epic struggles with more towering gods (Titans, perhaps?), full-scale battles waged on a destroyed and burning surface world, an environment described as 'hell-on-Earth' by Jaffe.
So why will there be no more Greek myths? Because Kratos will ultimately bring down mighty destruction upon the remaining gods, wiping them out one-by-one. Eventually, he must confront and defeat Zeus, the ruler of the gods. Kratos himself sets the scene in the a pivotal scene in God of War II, while this is reinforced in the teaser trailer. Kratos mimicks Zeus's threats and turns them against the godly ruler. "In the end... there will be only chaos!"
This is the big set-up for the second Titan War -- a Titans versus Gods encounter, where Kratos leads the towering beings into battle against the forces of Zeus -- a battle that will ultimately lead to the destruction of Olympus. It'll be epic in scale and implication and we can't wait.
The Length
It was recently revealed that the voice-acting script runs to some 120 pages -- roughly the length of your typical Hollywood production. The game is also said to have three distinct acts, which structurally fits with a story that sets up an early conundrum that leads through a process to the eventual solution and conclusion. At a guess, we'd predict between five and ten pages of dialogue for every hour of gameplay, assuming cutscenes bridge each area's transition and climactic battle, so a game length of 15 hours or so isn't unreasonable to predict.
Gameplay Tweaks
One thing you can bank money on is some Sixaxis integration, foremost. Sony has been pushing its first-party developers to incorporate this feature in some respect into all of their core titles; motion-controls are clearly becoming more and more of a priority in the industry, and integrating it into God of War might be a great way of backing the technology. It certainly seems like this was a priority back in 2006.
We're leaning towards a move away from ATB-style button pressing and more towards tilt-left, tilt-right, shake-it-around incidental action moments, where Kratos's actions are far more in the hands of the players -- perhaps using the Sixaxis to keep Kratos balanced or to direct the left or right side of his body in a general way. Or in some sort of kinky sex-minigame. Hmmm. Tilty.
Amusingly, even before the DualShock 3 was officially announced, word slipped from then-SCE Studios employee Cory Barlog that God of War III would support rumble in addition to motion control. This caused a lot of confusion and speculation in the industry, given other notable rumble-gaffes from other game development corners.
Apart from direct interface changes, what else is coming? That's harder to say. To be certain, there's a formula or flavour to God of War's flowing combat and we don't expect radical departures from this.
Co-Op Multiplayer
A recent job ad for the development team behind God of War III sought an 'online gameplay programmer', which heavily points towards some kind of multiplayer online component in the game. The position has incidentally been filled, while others at the studio still remain vacant, indicating the priority this position has been given by the studio.
Of course, shoehorning a multiplayer mode into a focussed single-player campaign might be suicidal for designers and writers to deal with, even if it's a lot of fun for players. So how might a mode like this work? We have a couple of theories:
- The 'Twin or Brother' Scenario: That's right; Kratos might very well have a sibling -- another godly progeny of Zeus and his mortal mother. Simply have Kratos discover his roots during the course of the game and voila: new playable character. Hey -- it could happen...
- The 'Female Accomplice' Scenario: Like Ubisoft's Prince of Persia, Kratos will be accompanied throughout the adventure (or in parts) by a leggy, busty female accomplice -- clearly Athena is out of the question, as is Persephone, so finding a remaining femme fatale is tricky and doesn't lend a lot of credibility to this one.
- The 'Fine -- It's Hercules, Alright?' Scenario: The third and final theory we're putting forward is perhaps the most likely of the three -- a character of similar traits and backstory to Kratos himself, Hercules may well crop up along the war torn path towards Zeus. This would make a lot of sense from a gameplay stance, since both characters feature similar physical characteristics and tragic family lives, making gameplay balance easier and story connections a far easier task to plot out.
Of course, shoehorning a multiplayer mode into a focussed single-player campaign might be suicidal for designers and writers to deal with, even if it's a lot of fun for players. So how might a mode like this work? We have a couple of theories:
- The 'Twin or Brother' Scenario: That's right; Kratos might very well have a sibling -- another godly progeny of Zeus and his mortal mother. Simply have Kratos discover his roots during the course of the game and voila: new playable character. Hey -- it could happen...
- The 'Female Accomplice' Scenario: Like Ubisoft's Prince of Persia, Kratos will be accompanied throughout the adventure (or in parts) by a leggy, busty female accomplice -- clearly Athena is out of the question, as is Persephone, so finding a remaining femme fatale is tricky and doesn't lend a lot of credibility to this one.
- The 'Fine -- It's Hercules, Alright?' Scenario: The third and final theory we're putting forward is perhaps the most likely of the three -- a character of similar traits and backstory to Kratos himself, Hercules may well crop up along the war torn path towards Zeus. This would make a lot of sense from a gameplay stance, since both characters feature similar physical characteristics and tragic family lives, making gameplay balance easier and story connections a far easier task to plot out.
Other Online Elements
We know that Trophies are really taking off right now; every gamer who's been denied their Achievement Points by steadfastly sticking with PS3 has a reason to cheer. We're assuming that God of War III will include these. It's a no-brainer.
The other big online component? We think that PlayStation Home will finally be available by the time the game is out -- as unbelievably as that might seem. Therefore, some unlockable custom content for your room should be available. Given Kratos's cameo in the upcoming LittleBigPlanet, perhaps some new God of War-themed items might be on the agenda too.
Release Date
Perhaps the most important question -- when can we lay our hands on this game that's surely predestined for greatness? According to the back of the God of War: Chains of Olympus manual, the next game is 'coming soon'. Of course, depending on your definition of 'soon', we could be talking 2009 or 'Duke Nukem Forever'.
When you take into consideration the level of anticipation and expectation of quality already gathering, we think that SCE Studios Santa Monica won't be in any hurry to push their baby out of the nest. Those expecting to have this game in their hands in the first half of 2009 should probably take a deep breath; this is going to be a strong holiday season for Sony, with LittleBigPlanet all but destined to be a massive seller, plus Killzone 2 and Resistance 2 both around the corner. This financial quarter will be plenty-strong.
We're predicting a release date of October-November 2009 at the earliest, giving Sony a strong title to drive sales through the typically cluttered retail season.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/911/911324p2.html
God of war 3 will be EPIC.
