A spectacular mythological genocide
For ten hours I was in awe, slack jawed at the utter brutality on parade, wowed by the scale and unimaginably carnage. God of War III stands as a true spectacle, one incredible set-up after another, visually stunning, near perfect gameplay, God of War III is overwhelming.
Beginning at the very moment that the previous game ended; with Kratos riding the Titan Gaia as she leads her kind against the Gods of Olympus, the narrative really never attains the level of adventure of previous entries, there is no sense of grand quest, no exploration of antiquity and myth. It is much more self-contained, a more straight forward continuation of Kratos’s revenge drama. Nothing will stand in his way; he seeks Zeus with a rage of unheard of proportions, nothing but bloodlust toward his estranged father.
Kratos’s adventure is on a much more personal level than the first 2 games, he is not on a quest for some ancient powerful artifact, but is simply out for blood, his loathing for everything godly is unshakable. Systematically murdering the Greek godhood on at a time, there deaths have far reaching effect. The world of antiquity begins to succumb to the each god’s demise, Kratos has no compassion, no mercy, he will leave an entire world in ruin to complete he goal.
Even Kratos himself seems to forget why he harbors so much animosity for the gods, at this point his motivations have been clouded, the deaths of his family still weight on his soul, but this loss is seemingly fading from his memory, he lives now with nothing but hate. A hate so powerful that he seems to despise the very thought of existence, in a way he is tearing down the very mythology itself, at the end of his journey their is nothing left to slaughter, every god and mythological creature that’s stood in his way destroyed, the very nature of the world shattered by his need for vengeance.
I have always loved the fighting in the series, and the incredible speed and visceral nature of combat return in all their glory. Very fast and always challenging, combat has been polishes to perfection, their is not much new, a few addition moves and weapons, but most remains the same great blend of speedy evasion and effortless combos as always.
In addition to his signature chained blades, Kratos gains access to three new armaments: The Nemean Cestus, a pair of lion encrusted fist weapons, The Claws of Hades; a viscous looking set of scythes attached by chain, and finally the Nemesis Whip; a whip ending in three deadly daggers. To be perfectly honest I found myself using the Cestus and the chained blades almost elusively, the other weapons are nice to look at but control extremely similarly to the standard blades. The Cestus on the other hand, has a great powerful feeling; a heavy, weighty up close and personal, bludgeoning device.
What made the combat so exhilarating for me is its intuitiveness. A breeze to unleash impressive combos, and string actions together, dodging and countering work remarkable smoothly; the battle is in a constant state of motion. A great variety of moves for every tactical situation be it crowd control or quick dashing strikes, it all controls perfectly, every action is incredibly fast responsive and always at the ready, each have their place and are easy to remember and combined that with swift dodges and magic attacks make for a remarkably gratifying battle.
The enemies present a real challenge, especially after the opening hours, button mashing is all but impossible as they begin to dodge and counter with real efficiency, strategy must be used to survive the grander skirmishes, a good challenge without becoming frustrating. Cyclopes, Centaurs, and the always demanding Satyr’s appeared to test my skill, along with a cavalcade of exotic fabled monstrosities, striking in great numbers and wide variety, a great many exciting pitch battles to endure.
These very impressive set-piece battles and a great run of boss fights awaited Kratos on his quest. Epic is an understatement as each new area brought bigger and meaner foes. The spectacle of these encounters and bosses is on a scale of unheard of proportion. Enormous Titan’s rampage through a level leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, as Kratos fights an endless stream of skirmishes on arenas of grand scope.
A series of levels take place on the backs of the monstrous Titans themselves, with combat and puzzles on an ever changing plane, a shifting surface, one moment I was running across the forest laden arm of Gaia, the next she twists and moves causing the ground to fall out from under me leaving me hanging off her arm. It is incredible stunning to witness, and very exhilarating.
The bosses, where to begin, from Gods to Titans to Hercules himself the bosses are a triumph. Each one is a great fight, a visually impressive battle and a test of skill. Although all were notable, two stand out as particularly dramatic in a game filled with startling encounters.
The close quarters scrap with the legendary warrior Hercules; an unforgiving brawl of two brutal warriors and brothers, and the magnificently epic battle against the Titan Cronos; a long bloody war fought on top of the beast, moving across his enormous scale, slowly bringing down the giant one chunk of flesh at a time.
A superb graphical feat, another crown in Sony’s polygonal crown, like Heavy Rain and Uncharted 2 before it, God of War III proves that developers have finally grasped the PS3s considerable power. The character model for Kratos may be the single most impressive figure I have ever seen, his scared visage and chiseled muscular structure is rendered in jaw dropping detail, his face is miraculously constructed, his constant emotional hatred, and endless grimacing is expressed on a scary level, his screams of rage are truly terrifying, a true achievement in facial technology.
Environments look superb; a very cinematic camera shows off the grand statues and massive vistas of a tortured mythological world, from the former majesty of , to the tormented hellscapes of the underworld with its rain of screaming corpses. A wonderfully dark atmosphere throughout, a gloomy twisted take on classic mythology; it taints the legendary realm of ancient , transforming its majesty into horror.
Upon finishing the game a very large series of making of videos is unlocked, from a general documentary to a great many smaller videos detailing each element of the games design and construction. They are very interesting and thorough, with great insight into the complex nature of the games design. It is very nice to see such a deep look into the workings of the game, and I am glad to see developers including these videos without the need to sell a collector’s edition or as a per order bonus.
Violence has always followed Kratos, and the brutality in God of War III has been super-sized, given a next gen HD polish. Blood showers during combat; Kratos is coated in red as he dices and skewers his foes. More threatening opponents required a quick time killing blow; the buttons now appear onscreen in the same location as on the ps3 controller, this lets the action and violence take center stage, rather than being obscured by indicators.
It’s a good thing too, because you don’t want to miss one second of the vicious gore and bloodletting. Kratos displays a new level of carnage, the bashing of skulls, the ripping of every imaginable body part, disemboweling of each mythological creature he comes across. The slaughter comes with such strength and speed it is almost beautiful in its passion for raw butchery.
The narrative is simple and when compared with the previous games, does not have the great adventure spirit. It is a much more focused bloodletting, the genocide of Greek mythos. It wraps up the sad ferocious tale of Kratos and leads to an unknown future, a world destroyed by one man’s quest for vengeance. In its conclusion it reveals much of the mysteries of the saga, Kratos is forced to face the heartbreaking events of his life, to accept his own hand in the destruction, not only of his family but of the land itself, to see the great suffering that he has caused, and a great weight is placed on his back. As a whole the chronicle of Kratos is a tragedy, a fascinating vision of a fable being reimagined and then violently butchered.
The future of the series lies in question, the story is concluded. I doubt that this is the last we will see of Kratos, I am not ready to see his particular brand of ultra-violence retired, Sony has a great chance to take the series into unknown territory, to explore a brand new mythology.
God of War III is a rush of adrenalin, a spectacle of great visuals and exhilarating, intuitive combat, A never ending string of extraordinary clashes each more mind-blowing and visceral than the last.
