Well, it has finally come. After months of waiting and waiting, it has finally come. My copy of GOD OF WAR 3 came a couple of months back and it is freaking amazing! Of course, I got the Ultimate Edition (it’s very awesome), and I wanted to play the game a couple of times before having to do a review of it, unlike my other games. I wanted to make this review special since this is the killer game to have a PS3 for. After months though, I think it was well worth the wait since this game does deliver very very well.
Let’s start with a short history lesson shall we? The first game, God of War came out on March 22nd, 2005 for the PS2 and was developed by Sony Santa Monica Studios, which, to be honest, only made two other games for the PS consoles, Kinetica and Warhawk God of War was met with critical acclaim, winning multiple awards like best game of E3, best PS2 game, best action game, and multiple other awards. It sold a total of 8 million copies and is still considered one of the best PS2 games of all time. I reviewed it last year as one of my last games of 2009. It is a really good game, but it had sluggish pacing with too many puzzles and a hard difficulty level on the easiest setting. Even with these flaws, it is still a really good game. Two years later, God of War 2 was released on March 13th, 2007 and dealt with the events after Kratos killed Ares and became the new God of War. It was also met with critical acclaim just like the first game, winning multiple awards and being called the swan song of the PS2. It was one of the first games I ever reviewed. It still stands as one of my favorite games of all time and is a great game for the PS2. A year later, a new God of War game called God of War: Chains of Olympus came out on the PSP and was developed by Ready at Dawn Studios. This company is known for Daxter on the PSP. This game dealt with Kratos before the events of the two PS2 games. Chains of Olympus was also met with well-received reviews and is considered to be the best PSP game, standing as a gaming monument of what you could do with the PSP’s potential. There is also a Mobile Phone game called God of War: Betrayal. I have only played a little bit of this and it has also gotten good reviews, but I don’t know if I would get it personally since I don’t do phone games. For a while, gamers had to wait to see what would the third God of War game would be like. On July 15th, 2008 a teaser trailer was shown to the world, showing that God of War 3 was on its way. We wouldn’t see another trailer until Spike’s Game Awards on 2008, and it just got us all even more excited. On February 13th, 2009, an “official” trailer was released and was amazing. Over the months of 2009, we would get little glimpse of the game, like a walk-through at E3 and more trailers. God of War 3 was finally released on March 16th, 2010 and has met with critical acclaim and is in talk of being game of the year. I would not be surprised in my own opinion, but let’s get started with the game’s story, shall we?
God of War 3 takes place right after the events of God of War 2, where Kratos has teamed up with the Titans to take down Mount Olympus and kill Zeus with his bare hands. What comes from all this is betrayal, anger, love, and a lot of dead bodies. It’s a simple story, but I don’t think they could have done anything better, in my opinion, since this is how Kratos should end his story, and not procrastinate and drag it out. A good thing is that it doesn’t rely on any twists and turns that people would expect. It’s just Kratos is mad as heck and wants to kill Zeus. What else do you need to know?
The game play is basically more of the same stuff you have been doing in the God of War games. What I mean by that is that it’s a linear action adventure game where you hack and slash your way through multiple enemies, and fight a boss every now and then. Of course, with any God of War game, there is puzzle solving, but it’s mostly stuff like “push that box” or “pull that lever”, which is done really well. The puzzles are just well-executed in this game, and I will talk more about that later in my review. Your main weapons at the beginning of God of War 3 are your Blades of Athena and one magic attack, just like how you started in God of War 2. However, after the first boss fight and a run-in with Zeus, you lose your weapons and magic, and begin with a small health bar and a small magic bar. Luckily, the ghost of Athena helps you out and gives you the new blades known as the Blades of Exile. It’s weird since throughout the games, the blades have only changed look-wise, and I was glad they kept with this weapon, since it happens to be one of my favorite weapons of all time. During the course of the game, you will gain new weapons, which are pretty cool. The first one you get is the Claws of Hades. You can use them just like the Blades of Exile, but you can also use them to summon the spirits of dead enemies. This comes in handy since enemies have gotten smarter in this game and won’t be afraid to gang up on you. The next weapon is the Nemean Cestus, which are your giant metal gauntlets that you see in the trailers a lot. These act as your main close-range weapons, and happens to be a personal favorite of mine while going through God of War 3. You can use them just like the other two weapons, but I say use them for close-range, since they are freaking monsters when you smack people around with them. You can also use them to break certain rocks, which you will need to do during the game. The last weapon you attain is the Nemesis Whip, which is basically like a lightning-whip thing that can somewhat be used like the Blades of Exile or the Claws of Hades, but it’s better to use them from a distance and against groups of enemies, since you can shock multiple enemies using the weapon. The plat-forming elements is your basic stuff, since you run around, destroy some barrier, jump from here to there, and swing from place to place using your blades. The boss fights are SO FREAKING AMAZING! I just love all the boss fights in the game and each is memorable. Some of my favorites are the fight against Hades, Hercules, Cronos, and a giant scorpion that is near the end of the game. Of course, one of the best parts of the game is the ability to ride certain monsters and use their abilities to get through puzzles or smack around your fellow enemy. They do have a limited amount of time before Kratos decides to pull the plug on them, so use them carefully. Another big deal is the Titans themselves. Some levels actually have you walking and plat-forming all across them, which is just an amazing thing to see. Even a boss fight takes place on Cronos himself when you get to him. It’s amazing how they could pull this off. The only thing I really need to explain is the sub weapons you will get. You get Apollo’s Bow that can shoot arrows and set people on fire. The second sub weapon is the Head of Helios, literally his head, and you rip it off his body. It can be used as a lantern to light up dark areas and blind people with the power of the sun. The third sub weapon is the Boots of Hermes where you can run up certain walls and ram your opponents. The final one is this Ice-thing that is used to solve the labyrinth and isn’t that necessary as a whole. It’s also worth noting that the move list in the game is more of the same, but there are a few new moves, like using an enemy as a battering ram or lunging yourself at the enemy.
The graphics are just oh my god amazing! In 2009, people thought Uncharted 2: among Thieves had the best graphics, but God of War 3 just blew that game out of the water. There is so much detail in everything that you can’t help but just look at the screen for a couple minutes to take in all the detail. It’s even more amazing when you’re climbing on the Titans. When you are on them, it’s amazingly well animated, just seeing how large they are and how small you are. It’s so hard to describe in words how great the graphics are. It has definitely set a new standard for PS3 Exclusives titles that need to be made. I’m not saying that games like Batman Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2, or 3D Dot Game Heroes look like crap next to God of War 3, but it’s amazing since some of the cut scenes border on the CG you see in movies. This helps the cause with no screen tearing, no slowdown, and perfect transition between areas. Like I said, it’s hard to describe all the amazing graphics in God of War 3. The music is simply epic! I think this is the best soundtrack out of all the God of War games and it just sounds amazing. The voice work is phenomenal to say the least. I’m going to list them, and say my thoughts on them. T.C. Carson returns as the voice actor for Kratos and does a great job as usual. Corey Burton does his role as Zeus very well and it’s weird since he does the voice of Zeus in the Hercules: The Animated Series. I think it’s weird, since if you put those two differently designed Zeus’s together, it’s just odd to think about the same guy doing both of their voices. Next on our list is Susanne Blakeslee, who is the narrator and the voice of Gaia throughout the God of War games. I think she does a great job portraying her and does a great performance overall. One of the more surprising voice works is the person who does Hades, Clancy Brown, who for some reason is always in my mind of people I want to do voices in my games. Now, you all may not recognize him, but he does the voice of Lex Luthor in the Superman cartoon series and in the Justice League cartoon series. This is just a chunk of the voice work they have in this game. They also have George Ball as Cronos, Kevin Sorbo as Hercules, Malcolm McDowell as Daedalus, Greg Ellis as Hermes, Crispin Freeman as Helios, Rip Torn as Hephaestus, Natalie Lander as Pandora, and April Stewart as Aphrodite. I know there are a few more, but you can find out for yourself. I also like the subtle relationship between Kratos and Pandora in the game. It’s like father and daughter getting along in the story, and it isn’t pushed in your face, but you can tell that Kratos does care and love Pandora as if she was his own daughter. It’s really touching when he wants to protect her, but wants to kill Zeus, and has to choose between the two. The whole story as a whole is really well done.
I really don’t want to do this next part. I really don’t want to say anything bad about this game. I just love it so much! Sadly, there are a few things that bug me about the game, but most of it is nit picking. The main complaint I have for the game is its length. I think it’s a little short since you can beat the game in less than 10 hours. I mean, they could have added other characters like the dream god from the Chains of Olympus game. Other than that, the rest is just going to be nit picking and won’t affect my score of the game. Why do you have to fight Hades so early? I would have thought he would have been second to last boss you fight. Why is Helios more of a puzzle boss than an actual boss fight? It’s kind of weird since he is one of the major gods, but you don’t fight him directly like the others gods. I mean, the fight with Hermes is just a game of ‘follow the leader’, but at least you fight him for a bit. Other than that, there isn’t much more to talk about.
All and all, this is a very good game and it is as near perfection or as close to perfection as you can get with a game like this. If you haven’t gotten this game yet for some reason, go out and get the Ultimate Edition like I have, since you get a bonus skin and a few cool things. Sadly, people can’t get the exclusive skins that come from where you pre-order the game. Overall, this was a great way to end Krato’s story. The developers did talk about that God of War 3 wasn’t going to be the last game in the series, but they said when they do make a new one, they will have to think carefully on what they do. Either way, I just love this game and any Sony fan will love this game too.
This game gets a 10 out of 10.
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