God of War III

Overview

Kratos, now with 4x the polygons!

God of War III is the fourth installment in the God of War franchise. It is a third person action-adventure game based heavily on Greek Mythology. The main character, Kratos, is a fallen spartan general who must solve puzzles, traverse dangerous locales and kill anything that gets in his way.

In this installment we find Kratos riding on the back of the Titan Gaia, the mother of all titans as he climbs Mount Olympus in order to get his revenge against his father, Zeus. This journey takes him through a variety of mythycial places such as the Underworld home of Hades, the City of Olympia and even inside Mount Olympus itself.

God of War III was launched originally on March 16th, 2010 in the US followed closely by Australia on March 18th, 2010 and on March 19th, 2010 for European Countries.

Story

The story picks up directly after the end of God of War II with Kratos riding on top of the Titan Gaia, headed towards Mount Olympus, so that Kratos can get his revenge on Zeus. Standing with Zeus is Poseidon, Hermes, Hades, and Helios. During this scene, Poseidon attacks Gaia impeding the Titans ability to climb Mount Olympus. Kratos is then able to kill Poseidon. Soon after, Gaia along with Kratos are able to reach the top of mount Olympus only to be pushed off by Zeus.

Kratos lands in the river of Styx, where his powers are drained, he than meets Athena's ghost. She gives him the Blades of Exile and helps Kratos on his journey to kill Zeus. Kratos soon learns that Pandora's Box still exists with the power to kill a God even after Ares died. The box is protected by the Flame of Olympus and the only way to put out the flame and reach the box, is to sacrifice Pandora. However, Pandora is being held in a Labyrinth. Once Kratos finds her he takes her up to the flame and makes the sacrifice. Once he opens the box he realizes that it is empty and that he just killed a child for nothing, just as he killed his family in vain. This leaves Kratos with another regret on his mind. After this, Kratos kills Zeus. However, his spirit is still alive and attacks Kratos. Kratos then goes into his own mind and finds hope inside him, forgiving himself for all of the bad things that he had done in his life. Including the killing of Athena, his Wife, his Daughter and Pandora. Once Kratos returns from inside his own mind, he kills Zeus for good.

Athena tells Kratos that when he first opened Pandora's box he let out all of the good and bad things in it, the good power was the power of hope. The bad powers in the box corrupted the God and Athena's power went to Kratos. This is why after the box was opened for the first time Zeus was corrupted by fear, and he became obsessed with killing Kratos. Athena then tells Kratos that she wants her power back, Kratos refuses then impales himself with the sword of Olympus, releasing the power for the whole world to use and angering Athena. Kratos is now then left dead on the ground in a pool of blood.

Once the credits are done rolling, you see the place where Kratos was lying dead, however there is a blood trail leading off the edge of a cliff with no body in sight, potentially leaving room for another sequel.

The David Jaffe Plot Cut

In an interview with GameTrailers David Jaffe explained that he had a completely different plot line for God of War 3. In his version the game would start off with a boss fight between Kratos and Zeus which at the end of it Zeus gets killed by Kratos. The moment Zeus dies we would see all the other god from other mythologies, mainly Norse and Egyptian, appear in Mount. Olympus since the death of Zeus left a sort of power vacuum in Mount. Olympus. The other gods would then start fighting amongst themselves in order to figure out who will take over the world. Kratos would then meet his egyptian and norse counterparts who would explained to him that they too have been seeking vengeance on the gods and would then merge their powers together in order to give them a better chance at winning. Kratos then realizes that in order to kill the gods you need to make mortals stop believing in them. Without realizing Kratos' plan was already in effect. Because the gods were too busy with their infighting they forgot about the mortal world and as such the world started getting plagued with all sorts of natural disasters. In their absence the people's prayers for salvation go unanswered and because of that the people stopped believing in the gods. This gives all three versions of kratos' the edge they needed and they proceeds to kill gods from various mythologies. The game would end after all the gods were dead some killed by the Titans and some were killed by the egyptian and norse version of Kratos and the Titans restoring order to the world. Kratos would then commit suicide by his blades in order to be with his family and to finally be at peace. The final scene in the game would be the player controlling the three wise men following the north star (there a picture which depicts this scene in God of War 2) and thus the birth of a new religion.

In this version would have seen kratos fighting the mighty gorgon Stheno and eventually chopping off her head in accordance with the Rule of Three (In previous games Kratos killed Stheno younger sisters Euryale and Medusa). The game would have also feature the sphinx as a boss fight with Kratos fighting him then using the Head of Stheno in order to to turn the sphinx into stone which would explain his present location. The game would have also feature Kratos fighting Thor and Ra.

Gameplay

Kratos wearing the Cestus

The gameplay is reminiscent of previous games in the series, consisting of battling a variety of gruesome enemies with a range of weapons and magical attacks.

Kratos is able to mount giant Cyclopes and use them in a vehicular fashion to take out enemies, or he can jump and grab flying enemies, kill them, and dive bomb back to the ground sending enemies flying into the air. A small portion of the game takes place while Kratos is riding the enormous Titans, and therefore the levels dynamically change and move around based on how the Titans are climbing or moving. If they stand up, the level suddenly becomes a vertical playing field and so on. Another interesting not is that the enemy is already much better then previous games, however if there is a field commander present at the location that Kratos is currently in, the enemies will fight even harder and attempt to flank Kratos. An example of the field commanders that have already been shown is the Centaur.

You will die!

Similar to the head of the Medusa from the original game, Kratos acquires the head of the God Helios which has a couple of uses that Kratos will exploit. The first one is that the head reveals hidden doors that were cloaked from view, thanks to the wide sunbeams that are projected from his mouth. The second use for the head is as a lantern. Another item that you will obtain in God of War III is the Boots of Hermes. These are described in the game as, "Shoes taken from the messenger of the gods. They grant the gift of agility." With these Boots you are able to run along side of walls and up walls that would be impossible to jump up. Kratos will also have the Bow of Apollo, a fiery bow that once belonged to the God Apollo. With this bow you can set fire to some objects that block your path. You can also use this against enemies, you can set them on fire by charging up the bow or you can quickly tap the button to fire rapidly.

All of the weapons in God of War III have a grapple attack. With this all new attack you can throw yourself towards an enemy. Every weapon in the game is able to use this attack. It is performed by holding the L1 button and pressing .

Weapons

Blades of Exile

These blades will be your most powerful ally against Olympus. They are Kratos' signature weapons, similar to his weapons in the first and second games: Blades of Chaos and Blades of Athena. They are given to you by Athena.

Magic attack:

Summons a dome of shields that fall from the sky, damaging all nearby enemies. Spears then thrust from the shields in all directions, damaging all enemies at a further range. Upon further upgrading, a prompt will appear telling the player to repeatedly press the button, causing a flurry of arrows to fall from the sky, again damaging all enemies at an even further range.

Claws of Hades

Taken from Lord Hades, these cruel hooks grant you power over souls. This purple weapon is very similar to the Blades of Exile, as they have chains that allow for a longer range and wider area. They also differ in speed, as the Claws are a bit faster and less powerful than the Blades of Exile.

Magic attack:

Summons souls from fallen enemies to attack for you, you start with three basic souls and gain three with each upgrade.

Nemean Cestus

Flamed Gauntlets given to Hercules when he slew the Nemean Lion. Short Range, slow and very powerful. Taken from Hercules's corpse.

Magic attack:

This weapon slams the Gauntlets down to the ground sending a shockwave out in front of Kratos.

Nemesis Whip

Crafted from the Omphalos stone by the smith God Hephaestus. This weapon carries electricity and is able to charge certain objects with electricity in the environment and is used in one small puzzle.

Magic attack:

This weapon zaps your enemies with a bolt of electricity.

Extras

Like every God of War game, there are a handful of extra's that you can watch or complete after you beat the main game the first time through. A list of challenges, called "The Challenges of Olympus" is unlocked after your first play through, and a Combat Arena is unlocked after you complete all of the challenges. There is also a documentary video that shows the development of God of War 3 in the extras menu. Also, there are many additional costumes Kratos can gain, unfortunately the only one unlocked from playing the actual game is the fear costume. The other costumes are Apollo, Phantom of Chaos, Forgotten Warrior, Dominus, and Morpheus Armor, these are gained through preorders/promotions with Amazon, Gamestop, Gamecrazy, The Ultimate God of War 3 box, and slurpee.com respectively. An additional game difficulty, Chaos Difficulty, is unlocked after the first play through on any other difficulty.

Information

Cory Barlog wrote the overarching story of how the trilogy ends as well as the base of the game layout and design. Barlog also mentioned at a God of War II launch event that this game would run at full 1080p resolution, though it turned out that the final version will run natively in 720p with the ability to upscale to 1080p. The game also supports rumble functions. Barlog also expressed an interest in adding a cooperative mode, but this and the SIXAXIS controls were not put into the final product.

David Jaffe has said of the story that, "God of War explains, or ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths." He has also stated that it will be "hell on earth" as the Gods and the Titans battle each other for domination, and that the series will explore the question of whether "man needs god". David Jaffe has expressed interest to be involved in some way with the development of God of War III, but since he left SCEA his influence would be minimal. Barlog has since left SCEA and has stated that the development changes that go on in God of War are, "outta my control now ". Stig Asmussen has taken over the role of director. Asmussen revealed to Gamepro that the endings to the series, under both Jaffe and Barlog, would have been drastically different than what he implemented in God of War III. In Jaffe's ending Kratos would kill Zeus and right around the corner would be Norse Mythology. In Barlog's ending Kratos would become Death himself and his blades would turn into sickles resembling Death's scythe.

• Unlike the first two iterations in the series where there were only 15 enemies on screen, there will now be up to 50 this time.
• Enemies can also jump on Kratos, eventually weighing him down and smothering him. This can be broken by wiggling the analogue stick.

Example of Kratos breaking out of a pile-up.

• You can ride monsters like the Cyclops and “control” them.

• Kratos on the PlayStation 2 used 5,000 polygons, where as now he uses 20,000.

• Weapons have been added and enhanced to improve variety. Like with a different weapon, you don’t get just a couple different attacks, but a whole different play style. Weapons can also be switched mid-combo.

• "This time, all the game’s weapons would have the same level of depth, complexity and familiarity as Kratos' blades, with button combos for one weapon usable for all the others."
• There are field commanders such as Centaurs that will make the enemies fight more aggressively and attempt to flank Kratos.

• The lion gauntlets are called Cestus, these spout spiked balls on chains from their decorative animal mouths, causing shock waves that throw enemies back on each hit. Kratos uses them like giant steel boxing gloves, although they can extend on chains during combos for medium-distance clubbing.
• So far, both Hades and Helios have been confirmed as boss fights.

• Enemy AI is a lot smarter. Some of the enemies will be “commanders” and control the other grunts and create formations.

• Enemies will look different, even if they’re the same type.
• Enemies will have shields that they use against Kratos via formations, once a leader unit is dead, the enemies become dumber and are easier to kill.

• More boss fights than God of War I, but fewer than God of War II.

• No multiplayer, but downloadable content was hinted as a possibility.

• The Golden Fleece and the Icarus Wings, a holdover from God of War II that now enable him to ascend rapidly through vents of hot air, and his fire arrows, which now feature realistic flame effects that will spread from enemy to enemy, make a return in God of War III.

• Initial loading will occur during the cinematics.

• The first three minute trailer that was released was rendered all within the game engine, however the trailer itself was censored for the ESRB. For example, the scene where Kratos stabs the commanding centaur after pouncing off the wall was censored so that he only expelled blood, whereas in the final game, he will excrete his innards such as his intestines and the like.
• The cinematic trailer also censored the Harpies' breasts. They are visible in the final game.
• The scale of the game is so large that the entire Medusa level from the first God of War game can easily fit in the palm of the Titans hands. They said they wanted to “take D-Day, combine it with the movie Cloverfield and put Kratos right in the middle.”

• A brand new supernatural magic-type has been introduced, as relying on god-powers of the past would be thematically daft; the Gods are no longer friends of Kratos and are unlikely to grant him any more power, so his magic will come from somewhere intrinsic, somewhere else.
• Now touting their new zipper system, which realistically depicts the slicing of animated skin, the deaths of Kratos' enemies are definitely getting a graphical overhaul.
• A new creature introduced is the Chimera, a mythical creatures that is part goat and part lion and has a snake for a tail. You will fight it in three different stages, once on four legs, where it attacks you with his snake tail, once that is severed it transforms into it's lion like form and when that is done it charges at you with it's goat form where you will have to cut off it's horns and stab it with them.

A new enemy: The Chimera, part lion, goat and snake!

• As far as story is concerned, God of War III brings the trilogy to a close, but the franchise will live on, although it's been stated that they won't be "run into the ground". The game begins with a bang with the invasion of Mount Olympus and the story also ends with a bang that will be a huge revelation for Kratos. Also, events that were significant in the first two games will be "profound" in God of War III.

• The idea of the sex mini game, which has become a staple in the God of War series, is explored and was added
• Some developers from Insomniac and Naughty Dog, creators of the Resistance and Uncharted franchises respectively, helped with the development of God of War III. They taught the others tips that they learned while developing for the PlayStation 3 hardware.

Soundtracks

The original score for God of War III was composed by Gerard K. Marino, Mike Reagan, Ron Fish, Jeff Rona & Cris Velasco.

Blood and Metal EP Cover

In addition to the orchestral score, an EP of six licensed tracks was also released.

Its title is " God of War: Blood and Metal" and it features six different metal bands, including cult bands such as Dream Theater and Opeth.