First one from Joystiq:
Hands-on: This is God of War III
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jan 18th 2010 at 1:45PM } 
You should probably click this image.
I summed up the E3 demo of God of War III with this opener: "God of War, in HD." That's not a "bad" thing per se, but for a franchise that's been known for pushing the graphical envelope, it simply wasn't enough. Thankfully, my concerns were obliterated last month when I got to play the latest build of the game. It only took a minute or so before I was able to say "this is God of War III -- and what it was always meant to be."
The demo was incredibly short, perhaps two or three minutes long. But that's all Santa Monica Studios needed to effectively demonstrate the scope of their vision. The graphical improvements were immediately noticeable: motion blur, depth of field, better lighting and special effects. However, it was the cinematic camera work and the incredibly inspired level design that really left an impression.
Once again, this demo takes place on the Titan, making his way to the top of Mount Olympus. What the VGA trailer failed to capture effectively, though, is how dynamic battles will feel atop a moving giant. Remember how impressive Uncharted 2's dynamic set pieces were? Imagine scenes like Uncharted's collapsing building and train, and remove the sense of "reality" that Nathan Drake has to adhere to.
Gallery: God of War III (1/18)
For some reason, Sony has refused to provide new footage from the game, so I can only describe the experience in words. Taking control of Kratos, I run up the Titan's arm, easily dispatching some skeleton minions. The camera zooms out, and shows a spider-like creature clawing into the Titan, causing it to flail about. As I try to fight this creature, the Titan continues to move, and the world shakes around me violently. The spider spews out a water attack, and after a few dodges and a few clean strikes, the Titan gets stung, I'm thrown off the giant. Hanging on with one arm, I try to climb back up, other arm swinging at the spider, still clinging to the Titan. As I make my way back up, the camera zooms out to show the Titan, and then zooms rapidly back to Kratos, as I continue to fight the "mini boss."
Unfortunately, this would be far more exciting if you could simply see how this scene plays out.
There were some unexpected consequences from my short time with the demo. Dante's Inferno, which was demoed at the same event, didn't look uninteresting -- it looked downright "last gen," resembling God of War Collection more than Kratos' upcoming adventure. PS3 owners would be wise to wait a month, exclusive collector's edition be damned. Kratos is back.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/01/18/this-is-god-of-war-iii/
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Second one from Kotaku
God Of War III’s Wildest Moment (So Far) Explained
Squint or you’ll miss God of War protagonist Kratos in new screenshots released by Sony today. Click through them here and I’ll explain what in the world is happening via captions next to each shot.
The shots were captured from the briefest playable sequence of a major game that I’ve ever been asked to try. Last month, Sony was showing its early 2010 line-up a couple of blocks from Kotaku’s New York City office and I charged over with expectations to cover God of War III. I could play it, but I couldn’t cover it – for a month. Still, people around the demo station showing the game seemed giddy about the 90 or so seconds that were available to play.
The first shot sets things up just about where the playable sequence started. Kratos is on some terrain that, if you’d been paying attention to teasers for the game during the past year, you’d recognise as the back of a Titan – essentially a massive Greek super-God. See that Titan face over to the left? Over to the right, that Alien-looking thing was a water-and-crustacean enemy. Not necessarily a boss. As Kratos I fought the enemy, using some wrist-blade attacks with reckless abandon. (Click next)
The “surprise” was that this was all happening on the Titan’s arm, and all happening in-game, in-engine, in real-time on the PS3. See how small Kratos looks? That’s how it looked to me even as I retained control of him. This is what the team’s really proud of, this step up of the Shadow of the Colossus idea of making a big level exist as and upon the body of a giant. (Click next)
The Titan, Gaea, can turn her arm over, which turns the whole level over. The developers made Kratos’ ceiling-cling automatic, so players need not worry about plummeting to Kratos’ death. No, they can focus on continuing to whack at the enemy on Gaea’s wrist. You do see Kratos here, right? He’s the guy whose wrist blades are causing that red and white flash.
The demo had Gaea moving her arm all over the place, which can allow the level to be inverted or turn into a wall climb or whatever. Use your imagination, because Sony was only showing this brief bit I’ve described. I was told by a Sony developer that the extent to which Gaea moves her arm and flips the level is more a matter of what the player’s stomach can handle rather than any strain on the PS3. (Click next)
All that said, next time you see a screenshot like this, which appears to show Kratos strolling across another landscape of violence, just wonder in the back of your mind if he’s on the back of a giant. And, well, that’s about it. God of War III is set for a March release exclusively on the PlayStation 3.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/01/god-of-war-iiis-wildest-moment-so-far-explained/
