A fitting end
The "God of War" series has been the tour de force for the PlayStation since 2005 and now, the story of Kratos and his anger filled quest for vengeance is coming to an end. The end result is a fitting and satisfying conclusion to the series, though the actual gameplay feels, at times, like it's stuck in the age of the PlayStation 2's original God of War.
Kratos' angry journey has finally brought him to the gods of Olympus and Zeus himself. But in order to get to his godly father, he must first kill the rest of the gods in the most brutal ways possible. The story plays out in fairly standard God of War terms until some strange and seemingly half-assed twists and turns prop up at the end. From a storyline perspective, the ending feels a bit abrupt and unfitting, which makes it less surprising that Santa Monica has been on record to say that some of the ending had to be cut due to time restraints.
The real meat of God of War III, however, is the eye candy. As always, God of War is all about ridiculous scale and making Kratos seem like an insignificant speck. The most apparent use of this sense of scale are the Titans, the mammoth original inhabiants of Mount Olympus that are now batting the gods for supremacy. During boss fights against these Titans, they act as the enemy and the environment. Watching Kratos crawl on the back of these gigantic Titans is an incredible sight that truly is a marvel of the power of the PlayStation 3. The rest of the game ain't too shabby either. Kratos' character model is amazingly detailed and the environments are sprawling and" beautiful", even though it might be a little difficult to call Hell or the demolished Greek cities beautiful. Point is shit looks good.
However, despite how remarkable the game may look, the biggest problem with God of War III dwells in the gameplay department. The same things that made the original God of War great in 2005 has come back to hurt the final installment here in the future world of 2010. Anyone who has played a God of War game in the past will immediately feel familiar with pretty much every gameplay mechanic God of War III throws at you. At the end of the day, God of War III is made of the same enemy filled rooms, box pushing puzzles and violent quick time events that have become series staples. This would be fine if the game through enough new stuff at the player to mesh with this tried and true formula. But, unfortunately, it doesn't do much of that at all. Kratos has some different weapons at his disposal but three out of the four weapons are pretty much the same thing as Kratos' default chains. Hardcore God of War fans will probably be perfectly ready and willing to play through another God of War game with the same mechanics but to the average person, this failure to evolve is extremely glaring and painfully apparent from the very beginning.
In the end, all anyone really needs to know about God of War III is that it's more God of War. Simple as that. If you have enjoyed Kratos' exploits up until now then you will enjoy God of War III just the same. However, it will not change anyone's mind about the series so if you weren't down with Kratos by now, this game won't change anything. Even though God of War III feels much too similar to its predecessors at times, it is still a tightly compacted action adventure game that is an incredible graphical showcase for the PlayStation 3 that will fans of the series more than satisfied.
