Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

God of War III

1. Official Site
2. Platform: ps3
3. Publisher: Sony America
4. Developer: Sony America
5. Release Date: 03/16/10
6. Genre: Action/Adventure

by Ron Burke

God of War III picks up exactly where God of War II left off.  Kratos, defiant, has challenged his father Zeus and threatens the very foundations of Mount Olympus in his bid for vengeance.  Riding astride the Earth Mother Titan Gaia, Kratos ascends the cliff face of Olympus as Zeus dispatches his fellow Gods against the other Titans that threaten his seat of power. 

As much strife as Kratos faces, this release has faced more.  With game director David Jaffe leaving Sony of America and creating his own shop, would the God of War series crumble or could it stand up with its predecessors, raising the bar for action titles once again?  I’m very pleased to report that it not only meets the level of the PS2 games, it exceeds it in every conceivable way.  I try to be very objective in my reviews, but brace yourself as I have very little negative to say about God of War III.  Yea…it’s that good.

As I said earlier, the game picks up where God of War II left off.  That is about all I’m willing to say about the storyline other than it is absolutely epic.  There are moments where I found myself grinning like a fool, there were parts that tested my coordination, and there were parts that tested my will.  It is an incredible run with twists and turns, and thankfully one of the best endings to a trilogy I’ve seen in the last decade. 

By the gods, what have I become? – Kratos (God of War)

When Sony showed us the first trailer for God of War III everyone assumed that it was fluffy concept graphics.  Jaded press like myself dismissed it as a pretty advertisement with promises of ‘true gameplay’ much later.  As time pushed on, we saw the series burrow underground for almost a year without a screenshot or video to be had.  When it re-emerged, my fellow jaded press members again scoffed at the possibility that the graphics could be this good.  It has to be pre-rendered, right?  Wrong.  Everything we’ve seen has been generated with the game engine.  The folks at Sony’s Santa Monica studios have taken the graphical bar and raised it so far that it’ll be hard for anyone to reach it. 

Building a new engine from the ground up, Sony Santa Monica has integrated features only seen in the highest quality PC titles, running the best technology, including HDRL.  HDRL, or High Dynamic Range Lighting, emulates the way the human eye perceives light.  This means that when you walk from a dark area into a light one, it’ll take your eyes a bit to adjust.  We’ve seen this done in other games, but it always felt forced – not so here.  Similarly, motion blur, textures, dynamic lighting, and depth of field are incredibly implemented in ways you’d never expect.

One area of gameplay that is heavily linked to the graphic department is combat.  Many games, God of War and God of War II included, had issues where the game became very difficult because your character would simply have to execute the full animation of their attack, often as you watched helplessly as an incoming attack shredded you to ribbons.  There is nothing of that sort here.  While the combat system has been rebuilt, the fluidity of the animation system in this game is beyond compare, making for one of the most smooth combat systems I’ve ever seen.  In fact, when I first engaged the enemy it felt somewhat strange – gone were the little hitches in combat I had seen as I played through the two previous titles recently, replaced by silk-smooth transitions.  Using other weapons in the game didn’t break this fluidity.  This doesn’t mean the game is less difficult, just less frustrating.  Again, God of War III raises the bar.

While I mentioned that the game uses in-game assets for all of the cutscenes, they are used in several different ways.  I won’t spoil any of the surprises, but I will say that some of the scenes are told in a sepia-toned mock 2D style similar to what you’d see on the side of an ancient Greek vase or mural.  It’s well done and immediately evokes memories of the intro to fellow Greek epic, Frank Miller’s 300.  Speaking of 300, the PS3 has significantly more power than the PS2, so you can expect to see a great many more enemies on screen at one time.

While the team had made incredible changes to the game, one thing that has not changed is the dynamic camera system.  While vastly improved over previous incarnations, the game still utilizes a locked camera system that keeps the player focused on the action while freeing up the second thumbstick for combat dodging techniques.  There is an exception – the game now has a “Free Look Camera” that is used when Kratos encounters some of the special objects and areas that make up the rich history of the various areas of the game.  For instance, one of the first objects you get to see is The Chain of Balance – it secures the bond between Olympus and the world below. 

Saving the best for last, God of War III requires NO install and the load times are fairly short, few, and far between.  That’s pretty amazing for a game that takes up over 35 Gigs of space on the BluRay disc. 

I am what the gods have made me! – Kratos (God of War II)

Quicktime events are a huge part of the God of War series.  It has defined it, and in some ways damned it.  The quicktime events required players to constantly watch a section of the screen for button prompts to, as fellow jaded journalist Yahtzee would say, “Press X to not die”.  With a game as beautiful as God of War III, it’d be a shame to miss out on the action simply because you are burning a hole in your TV watching a single spot, right?  Sony agrees.  In a move that I hope is emulated in other games, the quicktime events pop up on the side of the screen, mapped in the same layout as the face buttons on the controller.  This means that you can watch the action in the center of the screen while catching those crucial button presses on the edges with your periphery vision.

Another very recognizable part of the God of War series are the signature weapons of Kratos – the Blades of Athena and the Blades of Chaos.  The issue I had with the previous games is that these two blades felt like pallet swaps – they were functionally the same and the other weapons such as the Barbarian Hammer just felt unwieldy and found little use in my run through the games.  Much has changed since then.

In God of War III you’ll get access to three new weapons.  I won’t spoil what they are, but after a particularly epic battle I sat back and realized something interesting – I had just organically used all of these weapons, as well as several of the items, not because I was forced to, but because it was prudent to do so.  Very few games, especially action games, get this balance right.  The close range weapon is just as useful as the long range weapons, and each item has a specific use that comes up frequently enough to not feel ‘tacked on’.  In fact, directly under your health and magic bar, there is now an Item bar.  This bar refills quickly after use, but powers items like the bow and other items I won’t spoil.  This makes the bow useful as it no longer draws on your precious magic to use. 

It isn’t just new items that change up the combat in the game – God of War III brings a few new attacks to the table, and they are shockingly useful.  By pressing L1 and O, you can, with all four of the weapons in the game, pull yourself towards your enemy, putting your shoulder armor squarely in their chest.  Similarly, you can grab enemies and use them as a battering ram, running roughshod through hordes of enemies.

The sweeping changes aren’t just in the combat arena, either. God of War III also gives attention to the puzzle aspects of the game. Objects can be rotated in the environment with the right thumbstick, so there were a few puzzles that required a bit more thought – it’s not just block rearrangement this time. While I wouldn’t call any of the puzzles difficult, they were challenging enough to slow the pace a little bit without halting the rage-fueled charge towards your goal. 

There are also subtle changes in the game.  There are quite a few objects laying about in the game, both powerful and benign.  Sometimes it’s a powerful artifact that will give you incredible power in your second run through of the game or sometimes it’s a simple note between two lovers torn apart, ballads of hope and regret, or the sorrowful lamentations of soldiers and prisoners.

You will never find peace for what you have become. – Lakhesis (God of War II)

There is no doubt that the game has had an incredible soundtrack for the last two games.  What you probably don’t know is that it took 5 composers to make that happen for God of War III.  With Tim Davies as conductor, Mike Regan, Jeff Rona, Gerard Marino, and Ron Fish built the epic score for God of War III.  With a lot of help from the Prague choir, the San Francisco Opera, the San Francisco Symphony, and the folks at Skywalker Sound, I’d say that God of War III brings a soundtrack worth owning to the table.  The music is visceral, dirty, vicious, and unmistakable.  Music can make or break a game, and by the Gods, it damned sure makes this one.  I purchased the Pandora’s Box edition of the game which comes with the soundtrack – I suggest you do the same. 

The epic sound work doesn’t end with the soundtrack.  Such names as Michael Clarke Duncan, Linda Hunt, Corey Burton, and T.C. Carson reprise their roles, joined by the likes of Rip Torn and Natalie Lander to round out the all-star cast.  The weapon sounds, enemy grunts, and various other periphery sounds are also perfectly executed. 

Complete this final task, and the past that consumes you will be forgiven. – Athena (God of War II)

Just like the first two titles, the game ships with three difficulty levels.  Completing the game on any of them unlocks a fourth difficulty level.  Finding the aforementioned artifacts allows you to replay the game with some incredible powers including granting the player unlimited magic or item use as an example.  This is reserved for after the game is complete to ensure the game is played the way the designers intended it, because some of these objects downright make the game a walk in the park. 

If there is one thing about a game like this that always hurts, it is that it has to end.  The game took me just over 10 hours to complete on normal difficulty.  I found all of the Gorgon eyes, Minotaur Horns, and Phoenix feathers on my first run, only missing 3 artifacts and being roughly 4000 souls shy of upgrading every single weapon and item in the game.  This limits replay value to a degree, but not as much as I initially thought – let me explain.

While all of the shocking moments in the game are revealed and known, the second run you’ll have the chance (if you choose) to play through with an obscene amount of power.  You’ll also unlock new costumes, videos, Chaos Mode (Very Hard Difficulty) and Challenges.  There are 7 challenges unlocked when you complete the game.  These can be as simple as breaking all of the urns on the map before time runs out, to the very difficult Bare Hands challenge which asks you to kill all of the enemies without using any weapons before time runs out.  These challenges, when completed, unlock the Combat Arena.  You get an additional costume for completing the game, but picking up the Pandora’s Box edition nets you a few more, as does pre-ordering it from various retail outlets.  You begin the game with a “Making of” feature, but completing the game unlocks a staggering 24 additional videos including Level Design, Music, Motion Capture, and the cinematic (albeit done with the in-game engine) moments throughout the game. 

For Kratos, victory was worth everything. Even his soul. – Narrator (God of War II)

So here I am, having finished the game last night, still buzzing about it.  As a jaded game reviewer it’s my job to find flaws in games and bring that information to my readers.  Every once in a while I get the envious job of telling those readers that there is almost no flaw in a game.  God of War III raises the bar in every way.  The combat is made less frustrating by the rebuilt combat engine.  The graphics are the caliber you’d use to show off what the PS3 is capable of producing – it’d sell a system on visuals alone.  The sound is peerless.  While the replay value might not be as high as one would like, the storyline is fast paced and epic without feeling rushed or contrived.  If you don’t own a PS3, buy one to play this game.  If you already own a PS3, you can feel secure that this game would be worth it at twice the price.  Yea…it’s that good.

Gaming Trend Score

97

1. Graphics: 100
2. Audio: 100
3. Controls: 97
4. Gameplay: 98
5. Value/Replay: 90
6. OVERALL:97