God of War 3 Review

GAMEPLAY:
GoW3 starts off with Kratos on a mountain-side path. The Sun God Helios seems to buzz around on his Sun Chariot, but we can rip his head later. More pressing matters are at hand (or blade). You are immediately drawn in the action as the soldiers from the Army of Olympus surround you. Tapping SQUARE to hack and slash is typical of God of War. However, Kratos can now Grab in different styles using various buttons. Grab enemies using CIRCLE and then you can use different buttons to throw them, use as battering ram, rip it away, etc.

Kratos' sub-weapons are now available on the D-pad and can be switched mid-move. The SQUARE-SQUARE-TRIANGLE move is available both for the Blades as well as for the Cestus. So also, we do have Special Moves with the Cestus i.e. L1 + any of the buttons when using the Cestus.

The Amulet of Fates from God of War 2 has been replaced by (Apollo's?) Fire Bow. Unlike Typhon's Bane, the magic meter for the Fire Bow regenerates automatically.

A thoughtful innovation has been done with the Quick Time Event buttons. Previous God of War games had the QTE button prompts appear in the middle of the screen. In GoW3, SQUARE comes on the left side, TRIANGLE button prompt comes on top, CIRCLE comes on the right side and X comes at the bottom of the screen. L1 and R1 come on the top-left and top-right corners respectively. CIRCLE button mashing comes at the bottom-right corner. This is a commendable plus to this epic series as we don't have to stare at the screen during the ending moves of a boss-battle to see the button prompt. Just observing towards which side of the screen the prompt comes up, determines which buttons to mash making it just that little bit easier.


GOD OF WAR III GRAPHICS:
God of War 1 & 2 had a varying framerate; the same has been continued in God of War 3. The framerate will vary between 30 to 60 frames per second, and never drop below 30 frames. David Jaffe had a philosophy, which said that if a puzzle, fight or a scene needs to be in a game; then he made sure it was in the game, irrespective of the framerate. This philosophy had been adopted by Cory Barlog and now Stig.

The art direction is vividly implanted in your mind, as you see Kratos traversing mountainsides, fighting the Army of Olympus soldiers like the undead, Harpies, Centaurs and Cyclops with brutal realism. A lot of thought has gone in each move. The attention to detail can be judged by the fact that each teeth of Kratos were separately modelled.

The number of enemies at a time have been ramped up to 50 from a maximum of 15 in GoW2. Kratos is now made up of 20,000 polygons of moving flesh and muscle; and we haven't even started talking about the big daddy of them all: the Titans. In the Demo, the Fire Titan Perseus is shown in the background; a monstrous living being made of volcanic rocks and molten lava that flows down his body. The fight between Helios vs Fire Titan Perses makes up for an interesting backdrop as Kratos goes around the area smashing up Zeus' servants.

The Demo has a resolution of 720p. The final in-game resolution will be 1080p & 1080i.

GOD OF WAR 3 SCORE:
After Gerard Marino's amazing score in GoW2, GoW3 music seems like another hit-to-be. The background score varies based on what is happening in the game and meshes perfectly with the overall feel of the game. When you are alone, the score simmers quietly, and drums up forebodingly, when you are about to face baddies.

STORY:
The story is set 3 hours in the actual game. We are left to fill in some blanks as to: the whereabouts of the Blade of Olympus, lack of a magic meter, how the sole sub-weapon Cestus was obtained, why does the Fire Titan Perseus attack Kratos, etc. However some things have been verified by Stig: Kratos will battle 5-10 Gods including the Gods seen on the balcony during the culminating scene of GoW2. The Titan Gaia and the Blade of Olympus left out in the videos & demo will make a comeback in God of War 3.


GoW3 CRITIQUE BOTTOMLINE:
Considering that Stig Asmussen has gone on to say that "We want this game to show what the PS3 is capable of.", the SCEA Santa Monica team still has a long way to go. It is a good thing that the release date is in March 2010. The background score is awe-inspiring. The Fire Bow is a good add-on for the gameplay. The environmental realism is excellent. The beautiful graphics use the full power of the PS3.
The bottomline is that the potential & possibilities in GoW3 are unlimited. It is like a Chest filled with Magics Orbs waiting to be opened.

For more God of War 3 Video Interviews and trailers, you can visit the God of War 4 Community and Download God of War 3 Screensaver .

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