Leveling Down

Kratos goes on a gruesome God-killing spree in God of War III.

After clearing through the first two God of War games earlier, I decided to make my way through God of War III to complete the trilogy. Keep in mind that I’m someone that has not ever really loved the gameplay of the God of War games, but surprisingly, God of War III has enough going for it that even I was generally impressed with it. Hit the jump for my review.

The End of Kratos?
God of War III is supposedly the final arch in the trilogy of God of War games. For those that have not played the first two, it’s probably worth playing through them first before jumping into the third one due to the storyline. After all, God of War III opens up where God of War II left off: Kratos and the Titans are climbing Mt. Olympus to take on the Gods – with Kratos still longing for vengeance with Zeus’s death after what Zeus did to him in the second game. Of course, complications happen along the way up that prevent Kratos from immediately killing Zeus at the beginning of the game, so God of War III thrusts us into how Kratos makes his way back up Mt. Olympus.

Whether this is really the last God of War game remains to be seen – after all, another PSP God of War game is being released later this year, and even series with trilogies these days still come out with prequels and all that (see Halo). I don’t think either Sony or Microsoft will stop their beloved God of War and Halo franchises…so we shall see what happens next.

Notable Improvements
For those completely new to the God of War games, please check out my review of the first two here. I will assume that you’ve played the first two games already if you are interested in this third one. Having played through the first two games before the third, I was completely blown away by the new graphics engine for God of War III. It’s phenomenal. The graphics are so good that I actually found Kratos to be a little scary since he had this “not quite realistic”/”not quite video-game” look that just scared me. A lot of his gruesome kills are also perhaps a bit too much – especially now in full HD. Do I really want to watch him rip the head off a God? I would decline, but I guess some people do enjoy it.

Graphics aside, the gameplay in this game remains similar to the series but with improvements. Kratos has more weapons, items, and abilities to use – and to avoid spoilers, I’ll avoid talking about the specifics of the new “toys” Kratos gets to play with. In short, if you enjoyed the previous God of War games and the way you earned new weapons, items, and abilities, God of War III will continue to deliver. I’ve always found the combat engine to be a bit shallow, and while God of War III brings minor improvements to the combat engine, it still remains too shallow for my taste. I have not suddenly fallen in love with the series’ combat engine after playing the third game.

What I do really appreciate is how much the PS3 allowed the developers of the game to really “go to town” with everything else about the game. First of all, God of War III has huge enemies that you have to take on – larger than any of the previous God of War games. In previous God of War games, you would be climbing  walls and ceilings in mundane hallways – but in God of War III, the team behind God of War III has removed those boring climbing areas and instead emphasized most of the climbing in this game on actual huge enemies. You’ll be climbing on a Titan’s arm and then he’ll lift it up and then you have to be hanging on as you move. It’s hard to explain, but it not only works, it’s thrilling.

God of War III also follows in its predecessors’ footsteps by breaking up the action sequences with puzzles. The puzzles in this game are among the best I’ve seen – not frustrating enough to force you to go to your computer to look for a solution, and not boring enough that you think they’re merely a waste of time. There is a puzzle room in the game that has puzzles related to portals, reminding me of Valve’s beloved Portal game. What I loved the most though was the puzzles related to the Labyrinth towards the end of the game. The Labyrinth is basically a huge cube, and once inside, you have to flip various switches and levers to rotate the Labyrinth, which in turn completely rotates the field of play you’re on. The floor you were just standing turns and is a wall now – the wall you’re holding onto is now the ceiling, etc. Very innovative and watching the various transitions of this Labyrinth was something I never grew tired of.

Final Thoughts
This is probably one of the shortest reviews I’ve written for a game. Having just played through the first two games prior to this one, the entire trilogy sort of whirls through my head at this point. To be honest, God of War III does everything right for the series, and is an epic conclusion to the trilogy. If you’ve had problems with the God of War combat being a bit shallow, God of War III isn’t going to quite change how you feel about the series. But what did make me enjoy this game is everything else that was nearly over the top: presentation (amazing graphics and sound), gore (perhaps a bit too gory for me, but maybe for the Mortal Kombat fans, this is what they wanted) sex (a mini-game involving doing the Goddess of Love?), scope (fighting against huge Titans and murdering Gods), etc. If you’re a God of War fan, you’ve already played through and most likely loved this game. For everyone else, I recommend checking this out along with the first two games if you’re a new PS3 owner.

It’s interesting to see how different Eastern and Western game design is when I compare the pinnacle of the Western action/adventure game, God of War III, with the pinnacle of the Eastern action/adventure game, Bayonetta. Bayonetta’s gameplay was perfection, yet its storyline was completely nonsensical, and what ultimately held it back from attaining the highest score. Then there’s God of War III – a game with arguably shallow gameplay, but flawless production value and an epic storyline. Both deliver excellent gaming experiences, but both fall a bit short of what I would consider gaming perfection. As the action/adventure genre continues to evolve, I would love to see a game with Eastern gameplay design and Western production value. God of War III comes close, and for that, it comes highly recommended.

Final Score: A-

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