God of War III Review
His name is Kratos: The almighty, anti-heroic, powerful, God of War. Through all of Kratos’ journeys and campaigns of war and fierce encounters of battle, he has never taken up a challenge like the one he will face in God of War III, the final piece to an epic saga that ends with an unforgettable battle, of Olympic proportions.
Kratos and the Icarus Wings
Now for the Review, I hope that first paragraph got you excited, because the excitement does not end there. The amazing, opening scene of this game starts off right where the second game left off with a crazy opening cut-scene that will look familiar to a lot of the god of war veterans out there. You start right on the back of Gaia, the earth Titan, who is essentially “Mother Earth,” an ally in your assault on Mount Olympus.
Your first big moment, in this game, is killing the God, Poseidon, as he ventures down into the ocean, summoning the leviathan. He sends his loyal monstrosity to kill you and Gaia. Your epic battle will last for about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on your difficulty. And in some cases, it may be even up to an hour before you are betrayed, yet again, by Gaia and back into Hades you go. I am not going to go any further into the story of the game however you can trust me that it is great! This Game is very well presented. Those familiar with God of War will be able to pick this game up and instantly start doing good. But not everything is the same in this game; it is quite innovative with the way they set up their combat system. It’s something we’ve never seen before or at least I haven’t. Each weapon has its own Magic skill or ability and you can combo these into attacks for instance Someone who is really good at this game can be fighting with the blades of Exile (the new blades for Kratos) and in the middle of a move you can switch to the claws of Hades and other weapons, on the fly, to finish an enemy off all in one combo! Another part of the combat in this game is the item powers, besides your health and magic you have a yellow bar that gauges your item usage. Items are things like the Bow of Apollo and the Hermes Boots. Using those drains your item power but it regenerates itself on its own. This makes items much more prominent in battle and increases the speed of certain battles and makes the combat even more in depth. The three status bars (health, magic, Item power.) all can be maxed out further by getting things like gorgon eyes, phoenix feathers, and Minotaur horns respectively. This game is very fun and addictive. Another great game that is easy to learn hard to master. While the combat is fun the puzzles are also great. While not as tied into the combat as previous games they are still fun and diverse, some might even have you scratching your head.
Great Fighting System
The graphics in this game are off the top. If you thought Uncharted 2 was cool. You haven’t seen anything yet. The scale of this game is amazing but what’s even more amazing is the attention to detail as well, such as from the texture of Kratos’ skin, to the solid stone of Mt. Olympus. This is one of the PlayStation 3’s best looking games yet. The only thing more impressive than the graphics is how well the camera follows Kratos. Props to the camera work in this game because while it follows the titans massive scale it also keeps Kratos visible making the action easier for us to follow while making it look ULTRA BADASS!
His Vengeance Ends Now
Sold yet? No? Well how about this? The sound in this game is the best of the trilogy. The chains clashing together to the breaking of urns just show off how expertly recorded the sound in this game is. Surround Sound you wouldn’t expect to be good in a game like this but it actually feels really good as well. The Voice acting in this game is great everywhere except for one spot. Yep, the voice acting is amazing except for one single spot that kind of makes you laugh. In the opening scene when Kratos is on Gaia’s shoulder he screams “I bring the destruction of Olympus!” well, you’ll have to hear it for yourself but it is god awful…no pun intended. This game redeems itself though with great voice acting by actors like Rip Torn and Linda Hunt. The dialogue is spot on just adding to the fluidness of the story. Now for the Replay Value. The only thing that will make you stop playing this game is probably a rage quit because the challenges in this game are extremely difficult than past games. You have the Challenge of Olympus, the Challenge of Exile, and even Chaos mode which is what they call the hardest difficulty and is unlocked upon beating the game. But with trophies, alternate costumes, special godly possessions throughout the game, makes God of War 3 even more complete. To beat the game on normal will take about 8 hours but completing everything will take around 30 to 40 hours depending on how you play. The incentive to replay the game with the alternate values isn’t prominent as much as you would want it but the fact that they’re there is good enough for me.
Amazing Detail
Overall this game is amazing. The characters, the reveals, the ending, it’s all great. This is Kratos’ final game and last struggle. The feeling of ending in this game surrounds you through the entire journey and by the end of your struggle you will know this epic trilogy has made its mark not only on gaming but on you as well. This game is definitely a game of the year contender. Greek mythology will never be the same again. As Kratos says, “My vengeance ends now.”
PSN@Home Editors Choice Award!
Tags: God of War III, God of War III Ultimate Edition, PlayStation 3, Santa Monica Studios, SCEA