But as awe-inspiring as this battle is, it’s only a small taste of what’s to come. If you finished God of War II, you’ll probably already know that Kratos planned to team up with Titans to launch a new assault on Mount Olympus with the sole goal of finally taking his revenge of Zeus. Zeus is protected by the remaining Gods, Poseidon, Hades, Helios, Hermes and Apollo, so you can just imagine what kind of titanic battles. Will Kratos finally manage to kill Zeus, who has thwarted him so many times in the past? What kind of obstacles will he have to overcome this time? Well, to say anything at all about that would be rank among the more unforgiveable kinds of spoilers, so you’ll just have to play it to find out.
Seeing how God of War III is being touted as the God of action games, it’s only fitting that the visuals and sound are in a class of their own. Not only has every enemy, character, blood spray, rock and tree been carefully designed, but the PS3 has also been pushed to the limit to display these incredible visuals in a way we’ve never seen before. The result is one of the PS3’s most technically impressive and artistically accomplished games to date. It blazes along smoothly too, which is unusual for a game with graphics as detailed and polished as these. If you’ve got a decent sound system, you’ll be in for a treat too. The booming orchestral music will give you goosebumps and the sound of the wind whipping around and thunder booming overhead really helps the atmosphere along.
This time round, the gameplay seems a bit harder than previous versions. I arrogantly selected the hardest available difficulty for my first play-through, and wished I hadn’t — and I’m hardly an action-game amateur. Anyway, Kratos still has his familiar chain blades this time, but can also acquire other weapons like the claws of Hades, Apollo’s gauntlets, and some useful tools like the bow of Apollo and the head of Helios, which is primarily a puzzle solving tool, but can double as a tactical weapon in the hands of clever players. As Kratos kills enemies, opens chests and destroys innocent background items, he’ll earn experience orbs he can use to power up his weapons and items to unlock new attacks and abilities. The Phoenix feathers, Gorgon eyes and Minotaur horns are still present, which allow Kratos to increase his health, magic energy and item power when he’s collected enough of them.
The action is even more brutal and bloody than before, really immersing the player in the role of a brutal and bloodthirsty Spartan. In addition to performing combos with Kratos’s various weapons, players will often have to hammer buttons to make Krato’s overpower enemies and perform special kills, or perform movements on the analogue stick to make him wrench enemies’ heads off or snap their necks. Don’t be alarmed if you find yourself laughing maniacally or screaming in triumph – it’s gory, bloody, violent fun of the best kind.
Taking the amazing visuals, excellent design, superb cinematography and the slick, satisfying gameplay into account, I’d have to say that, yes, God of War III does meet our expectations. We expected another milestone by which future actions games will be judged, and that’s just what we got. Unless you’re completely opposed to action games, this is a mandatory purchase for every PS3 owner.
