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Tawkn.com Review: God of War III

Written by Dana Olson Published at 2010-03-14 06:11:00 4 43 200 939     13

1-player Third-Person Action, Adventure for the PlayStation 3. Developed by SCE Studios Santa Monica. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Released 2010-03-16. Rated M (Mature).

It has been a long time coming, but over three years after the launch of the PlayStation 3, a new installment in the God of War series has landed. It has a lot to live up to; the other games in the series are at the top of their class on the PlayStation 2 and PSP. The team working on the game had a rocky start, as the original director, Cory Barlog, left his position with the company early on in production. No two God of War games have had the same director, yet the second managed to meet or exceed expectations and proved a worthy follow-up to David Jaffe's original vision. Stig Asmussen was chosen to fill the void; did his team pull it off again in the end, or is there only chaos?

God of War III begins immediately where God of War II ends, with the Titans climbing Mount Olympus, and Kratos hitching a ride on Gaia. Where God of War II's ending was pre-rendered, the group at Sony Santa Monica saw fit to make this completely in-game here. The opening sequence, boss battle and all, take place on and around Gaia. Kratos and most canonfodder enemies are the size of fleas in comparison to the gigantic Earth deity. It is simply stunning, and that the scope and scale was achieved in real-time, with a solid framerate and near CG-quality visuals is a real testament to the power of the system (especially considering the fact that the developers claim the game uses about 50 to 60% of the PS3's power). I had to re-play this section several times to take it all in. The first time, my jaw fell open and didn't shut until after the first boss battle was complete. Simply put, this sequence is the best the game - or any game, for that matter - has to offer.

Expectations are set extremely high in the opening sequence, and, save for a few moments (and one boss battle in particular), nothing quite comes close to surpassing it. Where Uncharted 2 seemed to consist solely of set pieces, God of War III has a little more filler in between some of the most epic gaming experiences to date. This filler is very enjoyable filler, mind you, consisting of swarms of varied enemies, puzzle sequences, breathtaking vistas, and the obligatory yet unnecessary sex mini-game. I prefer that the experience fluctuates this way, as any minor lull gives the senses a rest, paving the way for system overload the next time a Titan shows up on-screen, or a rush of adrenaline during the next flight tunnel sequence. The graphics throughout are some of, if not the best I have seen to date, especially at certain spots in the game where David Jaffe's "painting come to life" comment completely justifies itself. It is a sight to behold, with the best water I've ever seen, and a more cinematic use of cameras than the first two games. If you find yourself rushing through the game, stop and take a minute to look at the image on your screen - not only is there a staggering amount of detail on the Kratos model, but there are some massive improvements over the demo from last year's E3, some pretty spectacular use of gore, as well as some first-person camera action in a couple key moments.

If you've played a God of War game before, you will be completely comfortable behind the DualShock 3 in this one. The gameplay feels familiar, yet expanded - a textbook case of "if it ain't broke, just tweak it to be even better." The face buttons handle your jumping, attacking, and grappling, with the L1 shoulder button acting as a modifier. R2 is used for activating magic, L2 allows item use, and the left thumbstick moves Kratos, while the right thumbstick handles evasive rolls. You can select between your four main weapons using the d-pad, and you can activate the Blade of Olympus special attack mode by clicking in both thumbsticks. The only control issue I had was the seemingly hit-or-miss use of the Icarus wings. I was probably just doing it wrong, but I missed many a jump due to the wings not opening when I was sure I double-tapped and held the X button. Aside from that, everything worked well, and the on-screen prompts periodically remind you what to press in case you forget. The dreaded quick-time events return here as well, but their execution improves on the previous games. The button you need to press will show up at the edge of the screen in relation to the button position on the face of the controller, so for example, if you need to hit X, you will see it appear at the mid-bottom of the screen, whereas a triangle button prompt will appear at the mid-top. It works quite well, and finally allows you to focus on the visceral action happening on your screen, rather than quickly scanning around and trying to identify the next push you need to make.

As Kratos, you'll have a nice selection of items and weapons as you acquire them through the game. Early on, you'll receive the Blades of Exile, which replace the Blades of Athena (which, in turn, replaced the Blades of Chaos). Rounding out the weapon slots are the Claws of Hades, the Nemean Cestus, and the Nemesis Whip. Each of the four weapons have their own magic spell, which simplifies things. Secondary items can be used as weapons as well, such as Helios' Head which can illuminate enemies and dark areas, as well as hidden chests, and a ranged weapon - Apollo's Bow. The arsenal is probably the best in the series, but I quickly found my personal favorites to be the Cestus, which are basically big metal gauntlets that you use to punch the crap out of things, and my old standby, the Blades. I did switch it up often enough in combat, though, especially with the magic and item use, moreso than I did in the previous games. One of the more enjoyable new additions was the ability to grapple an enemy and then use him as a battering ram. Overall, the combat feels the same as the previous game, but there are some subtle refinements and small changes that make it the best of the series yet, and probably about as polished as it could be.

The sound and music match up perfectly with the visuals. I turned up my sound system near the max to experience most of the game, and I could almost feel the crunches and cracks, and voices of the Titans were appropriately boomy. Every musical piece, sound effect, and voice is mixed and equalized to fit well with each other, and even the low end is well-represented without distorting my subwoofer. The voice acting was extremely well done for booth work, with some big name actors playing roles in the story. Rip Torn and Malcolm McDowell are amongst the cast, but I got a real kick out of Kevin Sorbo's casting as Hercules. Voices are always audible, and the music is the equivalent of fully-orchestrated thunder, yet it sits perfectly in the mix, never overpowering the action, but always there to testify to the magnitude of the on-screen action. If you have the choice, play this game with surround speakers cranked up loud and immerse yourself in the sea of aural splendor.

The story of this game is rather simple: after the events of the first two, Kratos is out for blood - his father, Zeus's, blood. You spend the entire game beating down a roster of enemies and bosses, from weakling skeleton drones, to giant scorpions, to the gods themselves, all on your journey to the final showdown with the King of the Gods. Although there is a short clip after the credits that casts a bit of doubt in my mind, this is supposed to be the end of the story that began with the first God of War game, and in that regard, it is a complete success, and fans of the series seeking closure will find it here. Once you do complete the game, which lasts between nine and ten hours, you will unlock a whack of extras. New costumes, a new difficulty level, and a quite difficult challenge mode are a few of the extras, but none stood out more for me than the behind the scenes content. You have access to one of the videos before playing the game, but I'd advise you wait until you finish it as it does spoil a section of the game with Chronos, as well as other parts. This video, combined with all the others that unlock, total out to about the equivalent of a feature-length movie. As a developer and musician myself, with pipe dreams of working on video games, seeing the team working on the game, showing it to the press for the first time, making deadlines, and talking about their individual roles on the team was ninety minutes of pure pleasure - a desert after the main course, if you will. I wish all triple-A games did this type of thing. I appreciate the hard work and money put into a game like this, and naturally want to learn about the journey and the faces behind the experience.

This year is off to an amazing start, as God of War III puts the cap on both the story of Kratos, and the first quarter of 2010. If this first effort is any indication of the caliber of games we can expect out of Sony Santa Monica, gamers have a lot to be excited about for whatever it is that they are working on next. God of War III is a very memorable experience, and despite peaking at the start, I couldn't stop playing except to eat and sleep, and it is a phenomenal game worth revisiting later on. If you have a PlayStation 3, it should be in your collection. If you don't have a PS3, now is the perfect time to pick one up, and the entire God of War trilogy with it.

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