One man's final search for solace... & a suntan.I don’t know why I’ve never played the God of War games. For some reason they’ve simply failed to tickle my fancy; maybe the extreme violence that pretty much comes across as pointless never appealed to me. Or maybe I don’t just like red body paint. But after I saw videos of some of the simply awe-inspiring boss fights included, I just HAD to least rent the third & final main game in the series & have a go… I’m glad I did. I ended up buying it too.
God of War III sees perma-scowly-man’s-man Kratos still as angry as ever. His goal this time round is to kill dear old daddy Zeus again (when you read the stories, just how many kids did this bloke HAVE??? Randy sod.) simply because he’s still pissed off with him over his slavery etc, & the only way he can do this is to take out the remaining gods in his way & open Pandora’s Box to release the massive power locked within… again.
I'm sure he has a lovely smile.
Apart from the above paragraph, I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of plot here at all. It’s simply just a sequence of meeting characters from Greek mythology, then twatting them into next week that is trying to be passed off as a storyline The best way to describe it is that it’s one of those games that you can just go along with, not giving a badger’s ballsack about any of the characters whose heads you happen to rip off, quite literally in the case of sun god Helios. Yes, that’s right. Kratos decapitates the god of the SUN. Well done pal, plunging the world into darkness like that. Round of applause to you.
First off, it looks absolutely magnificent. The PS3’s graphics capabilities are pushed to the limit here & it pays dividends, delivering the gorgeous settings, detailed characters & fast-paced attacks all in lovely HD. I’d say in terms of visuals, it is very close to the mind-blowing quality of Final Fantasy XIII. The soundtrack is also very well done & definitely appropriate. In other words, it’s epic, loud & gives the feeling that during the cutscenes, you’re actually watching a sophisticated animated movie. The main theme in particular (the one that can be played on Guitar Hero) is brilliant.
The game starts with an almighty bang in the form of a humungous boss fight against Poseidon, who looks strangely like that Ardeth Bay bloke off the Mummy films. The fight itself is incredible, albeit a tutorial, both in scale & enjoyment. Travelling across the Titan Gaia’s body whilst slicing up numerous parts of Poseidon’s summoned body really got the heart racing. I found it a little unusual to start a game with such a wonderful, huge fight that sets a standard, but ho hum. Fingers crossed the rest of the game delivers.
And that it does. God of War III is practically non-stop action. I’d say this is a good way of summing the game up: fight after fight after fight, take a break with a quick puzzle, then another fight and then a boss fight. Repeat pattern. I’ve heard people complain that the combat in GoW is too simple, crammed with quick-time events. I can understand where they come from but I personally like the QTEs. They certainly keep the player on their toes & they don’t feel like they’ve just been thrown in at random a la Uncharted. Those are the kind that gives the QTEs the bad reputation they have.
The gameplay is fantastically simple & easy to learn; to kill enemies, basically press the square button as many times as possible with a few triangles thrown in. I like this type of combat within a game as it keeps looking at the controls to a minimum; no ridiculous button combos like the sort you find in beat-em-ups for example. I suppose you could argue it gets quite monotonous at times but this is tackled with new weapons and simple combos constantly being at your disposal.
GET OVER HERRRRRRE!!
Time for a negative now. There’s no proper character development that flows throughout the game, which means there isn’t really anybody you root for, even protagonist Kratos. In fact, he’s one of the most hateable main characters in a game I’ve come across (yes, even more than misery-guts Squall from Final Fantasy VIII). I know loads of people who love the muscle-bound nutter, but that’s my personal opinion. He is incredibly callous & doesn’t care who he kills, even innocent bystanders. There’s a little bit of empathy when he encounters Pandora but it isn’t enough for me to warm to him. I like the tormented smith god Hephaestus more (voiced by Rip “If you can dodge a wrench…” Torn). Sure, he has every reason to be a little peeved after having his family’s remains burned into his skin, but come on, it’s been five games now pal! Show even a little mercy!
In summary though, God of War III isn’t perfect, but is a tremendously enjoyable game with plenty of fun battles, amazing graphics & a thumping soundtrack. It also makes you feel a little better about yourself, weirdly. As you play through the game & hear backstory, you worry a little less about student finances & whatnot, as you start to think “At least I’m not Kratos!”
I give Kratos’ gorefest a whopping 9/10.
