God of War III

(4.5 out of 5 stars)

The God of War trilogy is coming to an end, and as we all hoped, Kratos is going out with a bang. A destructive, rage filled, blood covered, bang of epic proportions. There's no doubt that God of War III has been one of the most anticipated games for the PlayStation 3, before it was even officially announced, and Sony Santa Monica has easily lived up to expectations in this third and final instalment. It's bigger, better, and deeper than previous games in the series and serves as a great conclusion to a very satisfying franchise. The entire series is very loosely based on Greek mythology.

I'm not sure if there's another videogame character out there that is nearly as amazing and powerful as Kratos. His rage-filled persona directly influences the gameplay, and as you would expect, it's even more brutal and rewarding than ever. God of War III once again nails the perfect mixture of effective, easy to grasp controls for average players, with a level of depth and challenge that will keep hardcore players coming back for more. The game is accessible and fun to play, yet full of technique and strategy, especially on the higher difficulty levels.

The most obvious change in the mechanics of the game is that Kratos can now switch weapons and items in real-time while in battle. Meaning that you can literally combo in attacks for 4 different weapons, the associated magics and the items by holding L1 or L2 and tapping the correct face button in mid-fight. Not only that, the enemies that you face may be more susceptible to a certain weapon, item or technique, and often being mixed in packs, you have to frequently switch between actions to effectively defend yourself. You can try to simply rely on the blades... but chances are you'll fail miserably, especially at more difficult moments. The gameplay has gained a lot of variety and even more strategy than before.

The God of War series has always excelled in the visual department, and III is another ridiculous example of how talented Sony Santa Monica is. Image quality is pristine, and even if you've played the demo, you haven't seen anything until you've played the real game. The frame rate is slightly variable, but is always smooth during action sequences. There's a subtle motion blur to Kratos' movements that gives it a really polished look. God of War III does things on a really large scale, larger than probably any game I've seen, and fighting a mountain-sized titan is an undeniably awesome sight. It is well paced, with more arena like encounters between puzzle solving, the incredible set pieces and dramatic fights. Kratos is well modeled, from the individual movement of his muscles, to the ash on his skin and scar on his stomach, he looks very good. Enemies are also well animated and quite detailed. For those with a weak stomach, as there are some really graphic scenes in the game.

God of War III is a good length, taking around 8 - 10 hours to complete on Normal or Easy difficulties. The Titan (Hard) level difficulty tacks on a couple more hours in length. The puzzles are on the easy side and usually have fairly obvious solutions, and there are not many difficult platforming scenes either. The boss battles can be inventive and chaotic and very challenging. The same could be said for a handful of the more intense multi-enemy battles that pop up at the most in opportune times. Some of the basic moves and such are the same, and the theme of course has not changed much, however the gameplay has evolved quite a lot when you really dig into it. The techniques and strategies often do not work, and using the same powerful move over and over will usually lead to death, unless you are playing on the easier difficulties in which you can pretty much do anything to get by. It still feels like a God of War game, and that's really the most important part.

As for negative comments, there really isn’t much to say. The camera angles are impressive and dramatic, however now and then, they do get in the way and screw you up. Most of the more popular creatures of Greek mythology have found their way into the game, and in certain areas, it still felt like the game was lacking in terms of enemy variety. I'm still not convinced that God of War III will be the last instalment of the series though only time, and sales figures, will tell.