 WILL YOU JOIN THE SPARTAN ARMY? | | Review Date: March 16, 2010 | | Reviewer: Travis Deputy, Padukee, Keentukee | If you don't then you will be missing out on, easily, one of GREATEST games of all time! I thought I was blown away by Uncharted 2. I was but I am even more so with God Of War 3. Unbelievably, God Of War 3 floored me from the 30 minute opening sequence to the mind blowing finale. How did Sony Santa Monica pull this off? The SCALE of this game will boggle the mind and make your jaw hit the floor! When I first played the demo some 3 months ago I was in awe. After having played through every luscious drop of GOW 3 I am spellbound beyond belief. If I could only use one word to describe this game: EPIC! Remember the old home arcade system Neo Geo and SNK's motto for it "Bigger, Badder, Better"? This applies to GOW 3 in spades.
Upon first sight of GOW 3 you'll notice that the high def graphics are probably the best, on any system anywhere, computer gaming rigs included. Sony really tapped into the "true" power of the PS3 with this one. Some of the things I saw in this game is making me think it was all a dream because it just isn't possible in games, right? Wrong. Seeing the gigantic titans filling up the whole screen in perfect graphical splendor, on a 50 in. plasma, all the while Kratos is scaling it, and fighting a boss(Poseidon) on it, is completely amazing. Gamers, this is what we live for! The detail of not just the titans, the environments, and the Ghost of Sparta himself, but the minor enemies, such as the skeleton warriors, is astonishing. And seeing 15 or so of these skeleton warriors pile on Kratos and then seeing him violently power them off is unbelievably cool and empowering. It almost makes you feel like a god! The sheer power you feel controlling Kratos and watching him annihilate everything in his path in the name of vengeance will cast a spell over you.
The combat control is much the same as before, if not better. In other words, the control is flawless and if ain't broke don't fix it philosphy applies here. There are timed button presses for the boss battles(quick timed events). And bosses there will be. Some of them are absolutely enormous, such as Hades. Dealing death to the bosses is quite a sight. Impale them. Check! Rip off body parts. Check! Let blood and guts flow like a river. Check! This is one of the goriest and most violently graphic games I've seen. EVER! Kratos can still have sex in GOW 3! Always a welcome addition. Even one scene with a goddess! I think what might impress me most besides the scale of the game, is the number of enemies that can be on screen at one time. At times, there had to be close to 50 or more on screen. That is incredible considering it's running at 60 FPS the entire time with no slowdown. All of that even when there are cyclopses and minotaurs on the same screen, along with a titan in the background. Ridiculously amazing!
The story, sadly, was the most disappointing part of the game. It seemed a bit convoluted; like too much was going on with too many different characters. The story is not bad mind you and it`s easy to follow, it just feels like it's taking a major backseat to everything else. Still, it takes nothing away from the greatness of GOW 3. The puzzles in the game are challenging without being overly so and some of them very clever and ingenious. More than a few I was a bit stumped by. All in all it took me about 10 to 12 hours to roll through this masterpiece. I don't really remember how long it took me to go through each of the first two, so I can't compare length. While a bit short, for my taste, it was still one hell of a magnificent ride! The camera still can't be controlled by the player, but that has never bothered me and I think it was put to even better use this time around. It seems the angles and various shots are Hollywoodesque, if that makes any sense.
Weapons! The Cestus easily steals the show of the several new ones that you'll earn. The Cestus is completely WICKED! The combo moves are spectacular and more so than ever before and you can now swap weapons on the D-pad in the middle of one. When surrounded by a bunch of baddies and knowing you have different button options to pound the pulp out of them is especially gratifying. The use of the bow and arrow is easy and very useful. Very cool shooting the harpies with it and grabbing on to them to further your progress across chasms or to the top of places well out of your reach. I like the fact that now the bow quickly recharges after each use. I love being able to pick up enemies and charge with them, using them as a battering ram on other baddies. Completely awesome! Controlling the cyclops is amazing as well; swinging him around and pulping your enemies is gleefully sadistic. It must be experienced! You level up your health and magic much the same way as the two previous GOW's via feathers, stones, and now, minotaur horns.
The music is excellent! But hasn't the music always been excellent in the series? The voice acting IMHO is top notch. Seems even better than before. The action and pace of the game are relentless. Something new(and amazing) and unique is always happening to keep you glued to the screen; even if it happens only once. There is so much more I could go on talking about with this stunning, amazing, and breathtaking game known as God Of War 3, but I`d be here for a while and then you`d be bored;)
I don't care what genre of games you like or whether or not you even like GOW 3 type games, this is a game that absolutely MUST be experienced. I won't say this is my favorite game of all time, but it's right there at the top with Uncharted 2, Modern Warfare 2, Metal Gear 4, and Resident Evil 4. I don't care if you have to get an extra job(gulp), rob a convenient store(gasp) or steal if off your friend(yeah!) you have got to get this SOON! I've been playing games for 30+ years(since the days of Colecovision) and I've never been this AMAZED by a game! There is so much diversity, so much to see, so much so tightly packed in such a spectacular game that it will make you wonder how they pulled it oof. Folks, the next generation of gaming has arrived and I am stunned, blown away, mesmerized and spellbound by what Sony Santa Monica created. My hat goes off to them for they are a TRULY talented team! Kudos of accolades go to Stig Asmussen for his brilliant direction of this game and for making it so much more than I thought possible.
This seems to be the end of this GOW saga and I hope we'll see more of Kratos in the future, because this is only a scratch on the video game surface of the great things the future could hold for the Ghost of Sparta. I am truly moved!
It's a 10/10 experience!
ARE YOU GOING TO JOIN THE SPARTAN ARMY NOW?
SIDE NOTE(or bottom note) - I'm not sure why this game was released earlier than it's scheduled March 16th release date. I had originally preordered GOW 3 on Amazon, but after I found I could get it nearly a week earlier on eBay I cancelled my Amazon pre-order. Not that I'm complaining about any of that. The same thing happened with Modern Warfare 2. I'd like to know how people are getting these games so early. The guy I bought my copy from on eBay said he'd had his copies since March 6th,. He wouldn't elaborate as to where he got them. I received mine on March 11th. I had to pay and arm and a leg for it, but it was worth every dime. | Oh my God ..... | | Review Date: March 16, 2010 | | Reviewer: GM, MD, USA | I have seen my share of games throughout my life. I'm almost 30 years old and video games have been one of my life's greatest hobbies. I have enjoyed playing video games more than anything else. But never did I dreamed more than 15 yrs ago when playing in an Game Gear from Sega that I would experience such a thing.
God of War 3 is simply breathtaking. It is as epic as any movie. It has no equal in the video game world.
The graphics, the music, the superb gameplay everything combines into a massive juggernaut that will rock you to the core. GOW3 deserves its place among the all time greats like Tetris, Super Mario, etc.
In the hack-n-slash genre, it reigns supreme. In the all-time great, it can be debated if it takes the top spot, but no one will leave this game feeling the same.
We live in a truly amazing World where a treasure such as this can be purchased for such a paltry sum. | Easily a GOTY contender | | Review Date: March 18, 2010 | | Reviewer: Cloud, Canada | God of War 3 opens with a massive bang; starting right off from God of War 2, we find Kratos scaling Mount Olympus going after Zeus with the 4 Titans climbing up the mountain ready to cause havoc. From there it's basically a whirlwind of a nearly 40 minute setpiece involving characters on a massive scale, an epic boss fight and some light platforming to break up the action. In a way, this sequence sets up for what you're going to be playing for this roughly 10 hour game (the save point before the long final boss/ending sequence has me at 9 hours 31 minutes) which is graphically gorgeous, refined gameplay from previously and an impressive sense of scale. From there, game doesn't quite match the heights but it's still an incredibly solid adventure but in a way that's kind of the problem with a massive opening sequence; the rest of the game just doesn't have it again but does perform really adequately with what it does show. So 3 years in the making, new director, new system...how does the 3rd installment hold up? Pretty damn well, have to say.
Story: As I said before, the game starts you off with Kratos going after Zeus but naturally like God of War 2 or Metroid games, certain things happen that force you to essentially restart from scratch and we go into a tale of Kratos wanting to enact vengeance and near literally kills everyone who stands in his way. From there we will meet familiar gods, battle massive titans and go in and around Mount Olympus as we make our way back to Zeus. Best thing about the story is the pacing which like Uncharted 2, seems to do a really great job at making you feel like you're actually progressing in the game instead of hitting these weird slow areas (remember finding those stupid Sirens in the sandstorm in the first one?) but the opening sequence with Poseidon opens with a bang and it settles into a nice groove and while there isn't anything as jaw-dropping of a scene afterwards, game never lets up and you might find yourself playing longer than you thought you were.
Graphics: I'll get one negative out of the way as far as graphically: this game didn't constantly stun me like Uncharted 2 which front to back looks phenomenal. In this game, you'll find parts that'll want to make you go "holy ****" but then other parts look pretty with nice detail until something pops up that makes you say wow again. There, can I talk about how awesome this game looks? And you'll see it right there in the main menu screen which now has the almost iconic Kratos staring at you only this time the detail on his model is really impressive. And there's my favorite thing which is the lighting, especially in low-light situations and having your weapons briefly illuminate the room looks amazing. One cutscene did stutter and lip sync on one line was off though it might've been because a trophy was unlocked at that point but it's easy to see why this game was highly anticipated on the graphics front.
Sound/Music: Naturally the word "epic" will be tossed around here and for good measure in that while I won't exactly be humming these tunes anytime, the grandiose music perfectly sets the tone with its big choir parts, percussion and intense orchestra. Old familiar sounds are back, weapons and that loud bang you get when doing a big strong attack's still there though the Helios head still makes that bizarre scream everytime you take it out which can potentially get grating. With regards to voice acting, some familiar faces pop up making you go "wait...did they hire...?" so we have Rip Torn providing voice for Hephaestus, Hercules' Kevin Sorbo as who else but Hercules and Malcolm McDowell as Daedalus, father to Icarus. Would've been nice to see who did other voices as well such as Zeus, Hera, Gaia or something since only a select few are chosen in the special features.
Gameplay: One thing I never liked about previous God of War games is that there's always these weird parts in the game that get put in to not necessarily ruin it but kind of make you wish other things were put in instead. None of the puzzles are that taxing to the brain which is good since I always felt God of War puzzles were too vague in their how-to-solve solutions. Combat feels more tactician based here where it doesn't require a real sense of precision but just mashing square and the occasional triangle will only get you so far and in fact certain enemies are way more vulnerable to certain weapons than others. That being said I still find the controls to not be as super responsive as I saw in Bayonetta. If I wanted her to jump, she jumped; dodge, she dodged but here you'll be tapping that right analog stick to get out of the way and for some reason, Kratos just doesn't move while other times he dodges out of the way. But the powerups and skills are actually useful and the battles, except for one duel involving a new unbelievably annoying enemy type and a dog that spits out other dogs grated on my nerves. The game also has some backtracking which is odd because I remember in previous God of Wars I did that very little and if I did it's because I went somewhere to give me something that'll turn on something but in this game you'll literally re-see areas more than once because that's what the story needs. Minor gripe but in God of War 1, I always felt like I was moving forward and seeing what else the game had in store for me; here it feels like a slight hub world.
One improvement over previous games is how the QTE events work. Whereas before a big Triangle or Circle would show up in the center of the screen, the prompts now show up on their respective corners in relation to where they are on the controller (Circle is Right, Triangle's up etc) so thanks to your eye's weird peripheral vision, you can actually tell which side of the screen a prompt showed up in which keeps your eyes focused on the fantastically gory kills Kratos can do. Also the "mash Circle" prompts feel a lot more forgiving now and as an example, take the Minotaur. Remember how in God of War 1, you climbed on his chest and tried to run a blade down his mouth? Well I remember my hand hurting because regardless of how fast I was pressing, it still felt like Kratos took way too long to jab that knife in there but now it feels quicker and doesn't require insane amounts of speed to get done. My one issue is in regards to the R1 prompts in the levels themselves in that they either took me a bit of time to actually access them (I'll end up running around a save point until the prompt came up sometimes) or in one case, I had to open a door to rescue someone from being smooshed yet for some reason the game didn't actually let me grab that thing despite my pressing R1. Some might not notice it but that's what I saw anyway.
Upon completing the game, you'll be rewarded with the super hard Titan mode, Challenge of the Gods where you got to perform certain tasks in an arena like killing everyone with no weapons used or making sure enemies don't respawn past a certain limit. They're kind of fun but there's only 7 or so and they can be potentially frustrating. There's also a combat arena which I assume is meant as a kind of testing area to hone your fighting skills though it would've been cool if it acted as a quasi-Horde mode where you had to see how long you can survive. Also unlocked are the traditional God of War making-of videos which I think seriously needs to become a staple in games since we never really get to see the talent or even hardships a team can face so for example in these videos, we see the sudden departure of Cory Balrog, director of God of War 2 and the "promotion" of new director Stig Asmussen, their jitters about unveiling an E3 demo which still needs to be reworked 2 weeks before the event and all in all, they're great looks into a game company known for talent but we don't quite see enough of it in other developers and if we do, it's usually those talking head interviews about all the cool stuff we're doing. Plus they're usually in Collector's Editions.
Is God of War 3 the absolute best game of 2010? It's certainly one of the top ones but considering the almost wallet-busting array of games coming out this year, there's no doubt many will remember this game but whether it wins, it can be likely but keep in mind Mass Effect 2 came out this year, Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid and possibly Zelda are out, Halo Reach might even be more than just a shinier Halo 3 and if the Last Guardian comes out this year than that's my automatic GOTY but whereas God of War 3 is pretty short, it's a pretty balls-to-the-wall experience that everyone needs to play at least once. | "The End Begins..." | | Review Date: March 18, 2010 | | Reviewer: B. C., | Thanks for reading my first review here on Amazon. I normally don't review stuff like this online but I can't get this game out of my head. I've had my jaw hit the floor more times in the first couple hours than I've ever had in an entire game before. When people describe this game as epic, they are not just using some cliche word everyone on the internet throws around. The cover of God of War 3 should be in the dictionary next to the word.
First, I highly suggest anyone new to the series to go ahead and pick up the God of War Collection. It is some of the best the PS2 has to offer for only $30. It will bring you up to date on the story and help you get aquainted with the combat system so you can jump right into part 3 no problem. This brings me to my next point, difficulty. I'm hearing the term "button-masher" thrown around quite a lot in regards to this game and while this might be true for the easy and normal difficulties, it couldn't be further from the truth on Titan (hard) mode. Having beaten the two previous games recently, I started GoW3 on Titan difficutly. There is no way you can spam the same combos and expect to make it anywhere. For those familiar with the previous instances of God of War, or for you hack-n-slash pros out there, I highly suggest starting off on Titan mode. This will provide a much greater challenge and get you ready to play on Chaos mode after you've unlocked it.
For the most part, the gameplay remains unchanged from the previous titles. If it ain't broke don't fix it right? However, there are a few differences that greatly enhance the experiece. For starters, the QTEs now put the button prompts in relation to their location on the controller (triangle appears at the top of the screen, X on the bottom ect.). This allows the player to view whatever violent act Kratos is performing at the time without having the button prompt cover it all. Another great change is the ability to switch weapons on the fly, mid combo. This allows for a lot of creativiy to be used in how you dispatch each enemy. Lastly, one of my favorite additions to the combat system is the combat grapple. Kratos will fling both blades into an enemy and pull himself towards them. This greatly increases combo variety and makes it easier to string together lots and lots of hits.
When it comes to presentation in video games, God of War 3 takes the cake. You can tell a lot of work was put into making the game look amazing. I must have spent the first 10 minutes just staring at how detailed Kratos looks. The boss battles and level design redefine what scale is in games today. Some people might be put off by the fixed camera, but this allows the directors of the game to give you breathtaking views and truly show off all the hard work they put into making this one of the most visually pleasing experiences you will ever have. All the trailers and screens you could watch won't hold a candle to how this game looks live on a nice 1080p TV set.
In closing, God of War 3 is one of most amazing experiences you can find in gaming today. Other games might have a little more depth to their combat systems, but none of them put together the entire package of gameplay, graphics, sound, story, and overall fun. If you've been on the edge about picking up a PS3, let Kratos make that decision for you. Do yourself a favor and BUY this game!!! | 5 Star Sex Mini Game! | | Review Date: March 16, 2010 | | Reviewer: Adventure Fan, | + 5 Bonus Stars For The Blood-Spalttered RAGE Simulator!
BEST GOD OF WAR GAME / BEST PS3 GAME
SONY, we who are about to play, Salute You. For taking a legendary amount of badassedness, and cramming it all in one game. No one else in the market is giving us naked 1080p nipples, just because it's sexy funny. Another game maker would have taken the Greek Mythology idea and given us a PG-13 experience with casual puzzles and no blood. But GOD OF WAR became HARDCORE. You could have dumbed it down like Halo to get super mass market sales... But you stayed true to your Ambition. Because you made this game with your balls, I'm buying it NEW, at LAUNCH, with MONEY. Please accept my cold hard cash, and my thanks. GOD3 is another reason why I'm a Playstation fan-for-life.
HARDCORE FANTASTIC ONE-OF-A-KIND EXPERIENCE! | |
