System: PS3
Genre: Hack & Slash, Action-Adventure
Release dates: March 16th 2010 (USA/CAN), March 18th 2010 (AUS), March 19th 2010 (EU), March 25th 2010 (JPN)
Players: 1
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Origin: America
Rating: M for Mature with Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content
Save requirement: 5MB, no hard drive install required
God of War Storyline:
Set in the dark world of ancient Greek mythology, players take on the role of Kratos, a Spartan warrior. Plagued by the nightmares of his past, the ash covered warrior would do anything to be free of his debt to the Gods and the memories that haunt him. For ten years he has labored for Olympus, now on the verge of losing all hope, the Gods have given him one last task. Destroy Ares, the God of War. Armed with the deadly chained Blades of Chaos, Kratos will have to overcome armies of mythological monsters, legions of undead soldiers, and amazingly dangerous and brutal landscapes.
God of War 2 Storyline:
God of War saw Kratos, a mortal warrior, set upon an epic quest to dethrone a God. But his journey did not end there. In God of War II, Kratos sits atop his Olympus throne, as the new God of War – far more ruthless than Ares ever was. To end his continued torment, Kratos must journey to the far reaches of the earth and defeat untold horrors and alter that which no mortal, or god has ever changed … his fate. God of War sets an epic stage for a devastating mythological war to end all wars.
God of War 3 Storyline:
Set in the realm of brutal Greek mythology, God of War III picks up where the franchise left off allowing players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he treads through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell once more to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him. Armed with double-chained blades, Kratos must take on mythology’s darkest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest to destroy Olympus and the mighty Zeus himself.
“I think we all know where this is going… Oh Kratos, don’t ever change.”
Utilizing a new game engine built from the ground up and state-of-the-art visual technologies, the development team behind God of War 3 have made significant strides in giving players the realistic feel of actually being on the battlegrounds. God of War 3 will feature fluid, life-like characters, as well as dynamic lighting effects, an expanded weapon system, and world-changing scenarios that will truly bring unmistakable realism to Kratos’ fateful quest. Players will have a chance to join battles on a grand scale with many more enemies on-screen and be able to interact with levels like never before.
Find out what that means by watching the God of War 3 launch trailer.
Key God of War 3 Features:
See the offensive combat and other gameplay features in this quick review video. Avoid if you don’t want the spectacular Titan encounters to be spoiled on your own playthrough.
As a conclusion let’s see how much fun God of War 3 is on a scale from 1 to 10.
FUN FACTOR – 10
God of War 3 is non-stop fun. This is a must-have for any PS3 owner! It’s setup to be bigger in scale and look better than the previous games in the series. Yes, it’s more of the same. But when the same means two previous console games I rated 10 out of 10 for their high marks in entertainment, then that is the biggest compliment I can give. Rated for mature audiences with good reason, it’s a thrilling ride from start to finish that will leave you thinking “I can’t believe that just happened!” many times. Don’t let the gruesome gore and occasional nudity throw you off, you’ll find no cheap thrills here, the high production values shown in almost every section of the game ooze with class. The game will no doubt get nominated for many (PS3) Game of the Year Awards. I understand why it took the developer 3 years to pack the game full with this much action, there’s never a dull moment unless you dislike the occasional puzzle, but I hope we don’t have to wait that long for the next game. Encore please!
Graphics – 10
The graphics are amazing, some of the best the PlayStation 3 has to offer so far. I never noticed any slowdown either. The game’s beautiful cinematography and with texture resolutions being improved it gives a groundbreaking depth of scale that is four times larger than its predecessor God of War 2 on the PlayStation 2. Developed by Sony Computer Entertainment’s Santa Monica Studios — who had large shoes to fill after the previous games’ successes — God of War 3 brings epic battles to life with stunningly detailed graphics straight out of ancient Greek culture. And a straight-forward yet elaborate plot that puts Kratos at the center of the carnage and destruction as he seeks revenge against the Gods who have betrayed him. This time it’s not just the boss battles with Gods, but the larger-than-life Titans you interact with that steal the show visually. Your jaw WILL drop over and over again.
Kratos’ debut on the PS3 system is amazing. You’ll fight battles on a scale four times larger than its predecessor, while experiencing detailed, polished and unique 3D worlds lit by thousands of dynamic lights and textures that allow for astonishing realism and new heightened levels of brutality and gore.
God of War’s story is told primarily through beautiful pre-rendered cutscenes. The art design of ancient mythical Greek environments once again looks fantastic and matches the story perfectly. The game’s fantastic animations make every different combo transition from move to move seamlessly, something you’ll do more often now that there can be 50 enemies on-screen at one time compared to 15 in the previous games. Considering gameplay sometimes reaches photographic realism, this game is quite the technical feat.
Audio – 10
The familiar intro theme from the God of War series is instantly recognizable, but backdrop music on other later levels in the game will stick with you for a long time as well. I love the eerie yet soothing A Capella song heard throughout Hell, that I presume Pandora sings. Orchestral pieces I believe are once again scored by the original game’s composers and performed by a symphony orchestra, string players and choir. It all sounds amazing in surround sound, as do the spot-on sound effects. The voice acting is another strong suit, it’s convincing and always gripping. Kratos (TC Carson), Zeus (Corey Burton), Gaia/the story narrator (Linda Hunt), — and others I have to omit to avoid spoilers — stand out above all.
Ingenuity – 9.0
From the moment you finish your first boss battle at the start of the game with an unexpectedly realistic gory move, you know that Kratos is back with improved quick-time controls that will draw you into the plot. They even mix cinematography up in that regard. To follow Kratos’ quest for vengeance you’ll have to make morally dark choices that you’d rather not act on yourself (at least that’s how I perceived it). But it’s his story that needs to progress and it helps to put you in his place, a very very angry place. This paragraph was left vague on purpose, it’s very hard to write without spoilers.
The gameplay is the same old God of War as fans love it. Little tweaks include that magic is now tied to an individual weapon, and while you can change what certain special moves do in the weapons menu, you don’t have to leave the game anymore to unleash them on your enemies. Weapons switching on the fly through the Directional-Pad is a handy way to switch use of all four of the main weapons you collect throughout the game, and you can switch between them in each fight to mix up your combos mid-combo by pressing the L1 and X buttons that moves you to the next weapon Kratos wields. I did have a problem getting the double-jump to work when jumping over chasms, which resulted in me dying unnecessarily 50 times; I could blame my lack of skills for it but I grew up with Mario games, so I think the jump responsiveness could be better. Puzzles still break up the action to add a little variation. But the star of the game remains how fluid Kratos controls through all the epic action sequences and boss battles. There’s 35GB’s of game data on one Blu-ray disc yet no loading times whatsoever, that’s what I call smooth.
Replay Value – 8.0
Expect to play through the game in anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. After finishing the game, you’ll find the bonus modes add replay value. The Challenge of Olympus adds new challenges. Complete all challenges to unlock another Combat Arena mode. I found myself eager to play the game again on a higher difficulty level, even if I already collected all treasure chest upgrades (for maximum health, magic, item power) on my first go the week before, but there are also collectables that the Gods drop to find throughout the game. I don’t think I can say it an clearer than I already have, but pick this game up sooner rather than later, it’s worth it.
PS: Try our God of War 3 walkthrough for help with the game.