Since the Star Wars prequels I’ve always been a tad skeptical about Trilogies especially when it comes to Gaming Franchises (cough cough Halo 3 cough cough). The God of War series has always been something special, never shying away from breaking the mold of what we know as a Hack N’ Slash game. I’ve played every entry in this franchise including the PSP version and have enjoyed each one. How does God of War 3 hold up to the previous games?
Gameplay
If you haven’t played any of the other games, the God of War series is a Hack N’ Slash. The difference though between most Hack N’ Slash games and God of War is in the scale of things. The levels are usually really complex and just huge. You Fight especially gigantic monsters that you finish off in outstandingly brutal ways.
Though as the Trilogy comes to a close God of War 3 departs a little of what is usually to expect from the franchise. I found myself a little bored with the levels and they didn’t seem to have that vast expansive feel that the previous titles had. You spend most of your time between the Underworld and Olympia, which both level designs are pretty confined. It’s either in a dark cavern or in a dark greek building.
A new addition was the flight levels, essentially Kratos flying from point A to B. You are in a very tight cavern corridor and you have to pretty much dodge everything. The first time I played it I really enjoyed it, but after the 3rd and 4th time doing the same thing I became really bored with it. It’s a fun concept but becomes very tedious.
The Combat system is very familiar with outstanding combo techniques that prove to be challenging but very rewarding. The Magic system however has been overhauled, in previous titles you were able to select from any of the Spells given to you by the Gods. This time around it’s dependent on what Weapon you are wielding, each weapon has it’s own unique Spell. The Yellow Bar is back, it’s used with your special items that you acquire on your quest for revenge. Like in previous titles you have a bow, it used to be tied to your Magic instead it uses the Special Item Bar (Yellow Bar). The Bar recharges over time which gives you an new area of depth in combat. I found I rarely used this, do to just forgetting about it but it does come in handy.
In terms of the weaponry it isn’t that varied this time around, most are clones of the Blades of Chaos except for the Giant Lion (Puppets) Gauntlets. I pretty much stuck with the Blades of Chaos. Like most God of War (or Metroid) games you get a epic start only to lose all your rad abilities. You still get to fight a few Gigantic Creatures but you’ll spend most of your time fighting any number of Olympian Gods.
Your first Olympian God fight is just epic!! Very entertaining and very much what you would expect from God of War. Though most of the other battles are pretty stagnant and none really touch base to the character of Kratos. You do still have some epic killing moves at the end of each fight, though at times they were just a little strange. A couple were a first person perspective by the person you are killing. Seeing essentially what they are seeing. I myself wasn’t to impressed with this style, at times it made things a little to real.
Graphics
It’s strange I really wasn’t to terribly impressed with the Graphics. While they did look nice at times, other times they look kinda meh. The textures look pretty amazing, and the blood effects were really interesting. Kratos actually becomes covered in blood as you rip apart the baddies. The lighting was far superior the previous titles, though it seemed they relied a lot on the cover of darkness. While this does add a certain mood to the game, it actually takes away from the game. In previous titles there was a bit of a contrast going on between the environments and Kratos, while the environments would be gorgeous and beautiful Kratos would be gruff and brutal. This time around it’s a lot darker and there isn’t any contrast. Most things seem just dark and dreary.
Sound
I wasn’t really sure what happened but this was the first title on a PS3 that I was constantly checking my Sound. While in combat it was a the perfect level of sound but the minute the dialogue started I quickly lept for the remote to turn it up. The game had some pretty good voice acting and the SFX were perfectly done.
Overall
By itself God of War 3 is a pretty entertaining game. The combat system is still very solid and I did enjoy playing it. Though when compared to the previous titles within the franchise the game seems rather lackluster. It’s not that the game is bad it’s just doesn’t seem GOW. The story seemed to be a bit of a second thought and the level designs seemed a bit of a departure from GOW and GOW2. It does have a very interesting artsy ending but I’m just not sure how it fits within the franchise.
