God of War 3

Released: March 16th 2010

Price: $60

Release on PSN: March 16th 2020, for the PSP3

Story

Kratos’s story is coming to an end, and he is once and for all going to avenge the death of blah blah blah, and he will kill EVERYONE! Big surprise? The most interesting parts of this game and the most interesting characters are not Kratos, Kratos is just the freight train plowing through them all and I can stop staring at it. If you’ve played the first two games (which you REALLY should) you’d know how much of a psychopathic murderer Kratos is and really I wouldn’t have it any other way. There are no real surprises in this game on the story front, but it the characters all have their own motivations and I did really enjoy seeing Kratos stab, punch, and decapitate his way through the entire Greek mythos that was left over since the last installments. No disappointment from me on this aspect, but it is by the numbers.

Gameplay

Image via Wikipedia

This once again has barely anything changed from the other games in the series but this is no problem at all. The combat flows seamlessly, it’s brutal and you feel like you’re fully in control of your character. I played this through on Titan (hard) difficulty because I had played all the other games in the series and it did present a good challenge.

The boss fights are really the highlight of the gameplay in this one, they’re all varied and interesting, one moment you’re on a huge titan fighting a massive monster the next boss fight a nimble speed demon that you have to change your strategy for. When you start up the game the first 30 minutes will have you really amazed of what could top the opening. But there are things later on in the title that will have you wondering how they could have blown you away again. In this title if you think you’ve seen it all just wait an hour or so, and the next boss battle will give you something else to admire.

You gain lots of new weapons for Kratos in this one, but they are all mostly derivative of his standard blades. You can power up all your weapons and abilities just like in the other games, and it does still work, you still feel powerful at the end, and I found myself breaking every vase and killing every enemy I could to gain enough points to get everything powered up by the end. You do need to do a little bit of snooping to find all the magic and health upgrades you’ll need to win, but it wasn’t tedious, when you find the first few secrets you’ll realize how they’ve been hidden, and will have no problems getting fully upgraded.

Graphics

By far this is the best looking game I’ve yet seen. It even beats out Uncharted 2 for visuals. During close ups you can see the pores on Kratos’s skin, blood splatters realistically, and drenches your character. The animation is second to none, and this all runs seamlessly. It was really a huge endeavor by the Santa Monica studio team, and I would love to see what other titles come out with this engine. It’s really no surprise that this game is beautiful though, as the other games in the series were probably the best looking on their platforms (the PS2 for GOW 1 & 2 and the PSP for Chains of Olympus) and this game is certainly the best looking title for the PS3 to date. I really can’t even find any pictures to post that makes is look as good as it does in motion. You have to see it to believe it.

The voice acting as well is top notch, they have great trained actors do the voices for this game, such as Malcolm McDowell, Micheal Clarke Duncan, and many others, they really bring the characters to life, and the lip sync is amazing as well. The presentation in this game is a real triumph.

How it holds up

Really, this game is a must buy for fans of the series, it is just as brutal as you would expect, it has a well executed and a well told story that will keep you interested just to see what Kratos will do next. I’ve played all the games in the series and this one does take it to the next level but I will say that I did enjoy the first two a little more. If you have the choice between getting this one or the God of War collection that’s now only $30 in North America, grab the collection first, there’s a better value in it for you as this game took me only about 10 hours to complete, and it’s a lot to pay for a $60 dollar game. Though certainly after you finish the first two you’ll be wanting more Kratos, and this one doesn’t disappoint. If you have a PS3, you owe it to yourself to at least try it.

9/10