Sony’s own God of War was one of the PS2′s final great titles, God of War II in particular creating something that looked fantastic, delivering to us one of the most enjoyable (and brutal) games to date – taking the fresh concepts of the first title and simply improving upon them. The story expanded by an equally fantastic PSP title, Chains of Olympus, the series tells us the tale of Kratos, a spartan general caught up in a never-ending quest for vengeance and retribution. When God of War II ended on a frustratingly intriguing cliffhanger, we knew there was more to come – it was only a matter of time.
And thank the gods, the time is now.
The series’ first title to hit the current generation of consoles, God of War III was always going to be met with high expectations - after it’s creators really showed what they could do with the Playstation 2, the Playstation 3 opened doors to power well beyond the limits of its predecessor and allow them to take the series to a whole new level. So, that’s enough of the introduction – either I assume you know the tale of which I speak, or else you can catch up with my previous article covering Kratos’ journey.
God of War III literally starts where God of War II ends - Kratos, having defied his fate, marches with the Titans to topple Olympus and finally claim his vengeance. It doesn’t look good for Zeus and co – but of course the fight is far from finished. As always, Kratos finds himself stripped of the majority of his powers and set on a quest – this time to search for the Flame of Olympus, said to contain power stronger than that of Olympus itself.
If you’ve played the previous titles you’ll be able to pick the game up and feel instantly at home, the game taking the already excellent engine of its predecessors and simply improving upon it – many of the moves are the same as always, using the same upgrade system of the older titles – but as I always say, if it isn’t broken – don’t fix it. That’s not to say there aren’t improvements, one of the best abilities in the game is a new attack which allows you to do a long-range ”grab” by throwing the blades into an opponent and using them to slam Kratos into them from a distance. There are also three other weapons in the game to obtain – including the Namean Cestus (a pair of huge gauntlets) which were shown in the demo. To be honest the other two weapons are more variations on Kratos’ regular blades, but this is sort of a blessing and a curse – they’re similar in a sense that they’re equally as good as the blades, therefore just as solid options (unlike some of the weapons in God of War II which felt inferior to the Blades), yet they’re not hugely different so don’t expect anything that will change the game’s gameplay hugely. That said, I’d say the selection is good enough to compete with all of the previous titles so it’s definitely not a step backward.
Obviously the combat incorporates the usual QTE kills which are brutal as ever, and there are a few other new abilities as well. The magic in the game works slightly differently to usual, each spell being tied to the weapon you have equipped – the Blades of Exile (the new form of the Blades of Chaos/Athena) having a wide range attack akin to Poseidon’s Rage, the Gauntlets sporting a ground slam attack as their “special” attack. A new gauge has been added to Kratos’ HUD, called the ‘item gauge’. This gauge can be used to activate different items you acquire during the game, such as the bow, and works like a constantly refilling magic bar - this way the amount of bow shots (or other item abilities) are restricted over a period of time, but never run out entirely. I was glad to see that Medusa’s head is no longer a main item – but this time killing a gorgon has the added bonus of petrifying all enemies on-screen temporarily, so the ability hasn’t been lost altogether. Overall it feels as though Kratos has a good selection of combat skills to keep the game interesting the whole way through.
As usual there are platforming elements such as wall climbing, hanging and gliding with the Icarus wings. A new sort of “mini-game” has been added in a sort of short flight-sim mode where Kratos uses the Icarus wings to fly over vents (somewhat akin to the Pegasus sections in GoWII, only more evasion based than combat). There seem to be less puzzles than in the previous games, leaning heavily on the combat side of things – but this does mean no frustrating move-a-box-uphill-whilst-being-attacked puzzles – rejoice! The few box puzzles there are, however, have been tweaked slightly to make them more accessible, with little touches like Kratos having the ability to twist an object on the spot by flicking the right analogue in the way you wish to rotate it – meaning the puzzles feel a little bit more accessible and less robotic.
The game really does match up to the previous titles, and as always includes a large variety of stunning locations - including Kratos’ annual visit to Hades and the pits of Tartarus which constantly fail to hold him. There are of course plenty of bosses, and plenty of them are gods so expect some epic fights. The Olympians show some true personality in the game, emerging from the background becoming a force to be reckoned with – Poseidon attacking Kratos and Gaia as soon as the game begins. And believe me, Kratos shows no more mercy to the gods than anyone else that’s been on his bad side in the past. There were even a few appearances I didn’t expect, but I won’t spoil the fun.
The game’s graphics are fantastic, Kratos looking more realistic (and angry) than ever with much improved textures and visual design. Obviously being on the PS3, the title is competing with a whole new league of games, but the title doesn’t fail to look good and uses the system well. The music is equally as good, keeping the same theme as the past titles to match the epic and brutal style of the game.
As usual the game includes a variety of unlockables, such as at least one unlockable costume (I’d assume beating the Titan or Chaos difficulties would unlock other alternatives), and there are the traditional Challenge of the Gods type modes as well. Like God of War II there are also special items hidden throughout the game to use on subsequent playthroughs, but also like the older titles you can only use unlocked items on modes you’ve already beaten – so you’re back to basics upon starting the harder difficulties, no additional powers! Different pre-orders for the game included one of three additional DLC costumes which are good, but hopefully we’ll be seeing this as DLC at a later date.
If you loved the previous titles in the series, there should be no reason you won’t love this title as well. The game takes the good parts of the older games and simply tweaks and improves upon them. The game relates to aspects to all of the previous titles, so new players would probably feel lost without knowing the back story – but then I’d recommend that new players go back and at least play God of War I and II (if not Chains of Olympus as well), since the games are still brilliant and worth playing. The title is simply another awesome game in an already brilliant series and expands upon it yet again.
-Leon
