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52 of 59 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Yeah, its pretty epic, 19 Mar 2010
Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: God of War 3 (PS3) (Video Game)
Im going to keep this review short. Why? Because anyone who is planning on buying
this game will not care what anyone else thinks. You've seen the trailers, played
the demos and now its time to see yourself if it has lived up to everything.
GRAPHICS
This is on par with Uncharted 2, if not better in several places. Hands down
they are 2 of the best looking console games so far. Each has their own strengths,
GOW3 has amazing greek landscapes, temples, ruins, caves and the whole ancient look
going for it which really makes it look special. And the gore is on a new level.
GAMEPLAY
The tried and tested stuff here, if it aint broke dont fix it. More enemies, more
boss battles, more puzzles, a few new types of gameplay which i wont spoil but its
classic God Of War which all fans should be very familar with. There are a few new
weapons for Kratos to use but other than that its all back.
STORY
You continue where you left off. Most of the story is focused on your revenge, everything
you do is somehow contributing to your revenge against Zeus and the Gods. It ends in style,
it didnt feel like they patched it together like a lot of places have been saying.
DISLIKES
Not much to dislike here at all. Only on your second play through might you get a tad annoyed
as the cut scenes are not skippable, and the button pressing events do get tedious after you
have to watch the same type of enemy dying for another time. But that is it to be honest.
OVERALL
As a fan i couldn't ask for much more. Everything in this instalment has improved upon the
previous two in my opinion. This is a great trilogy and it ended with a bang, i feel satisfied
with the end result and im sure most people will do to. For me, this game is worthy of a 5/5.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Im the 100th reviewer + this games pretty good, 27 Jun 2010
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: God of War 3 (PS3) (Video Game)
Amazingly, it's only been three years since God of War II shattered all preconceptions of what was possible on a then current-gen console. As anyone fortunate enough to get their hands on the still-unreleased-in-Europe God of War Collection will attest, it's not only one of the finest games of the PlayStation 2 era, it still holds its own, both technically and creatively, against virtually every game released since.
It's no surprise then that Kratos' PlayStation 3 outing isn't just a good looking game, it's an absolute technical powerhouse, single-handedly redefining what's possible and - more importantly - what we should expect from gaming at this point in the current-gen lifecycle.
Doubtless, you've heard first-hand accounts of God of War III's breathtaking opening assault on Mount Olympus by now - a sequence which is worth the price of admission alone. In terms of impeccably choreographed action and astonishing sense of scale, it's absolutely unparalleled. As the camera pitches recklessly skyward passed behemoth Titans clambering through the clouds, with the relentless cacophony and carnage of the impending apocalypse exploding around them, it's absolutely spectacular.
That all this action unfolds in real-time around Kratos while rarely yanking control away from the player is even stronger testament to the assured skill of Sony's Santa Monica studio. For all the eye-watering pomp and bluster, God of War III is, above all else, a game that wants to be played rather than merely ingested. What follows in the proceeding eight or so hours is the absolute distillation of the God of War team's enviable design prowess in one relentlessly lean package.
For starters, the series' core puzzling and combat components have been meticulously refined and restructured, offering an impeccably-paced experience that pushes onward with unstoppable momentum. Sitting somewhere between the original God of War's action-heavy focus and its sequel's more cerebral adventure-heavy elements, God of War III's emphasis is very firmly on shuttling the player through the game with deliberate intensity.
More than ever, the game plays out like a series of expertly-honed, rapid-fire set-pieces designed to challenge while never bringing the game to a complete, calamitous halt. While puzzling never takes a back seat to the action here, God of War II's elaborate conundrums make way for smaller, self-contained head-scratchers, smart enough to deliver a satisfying denouement but never so overwrought as to outstay their welcome.
It's a similar story for the game's combat too which, at first glance, doesn't seem to have evolved in any meaningful away over the preceding three years. Leap back to God of War II though and the difference is enormous. Sony's Santa Monica studio has tightened its fighting engine in a way that instantly ups the pace of encounters. While early stages in previous games featured deliberately-stunted action that bordered on the anaemic, Kratos feels like a vessel of pure destructive rage right from the start this time.
Although God of War's basic light/heavy/grab attack set-up remains the same, heavy attacks no longer feel like nominal power upgrades with tedious speed pay-offs. They're faster and more obviously effective - from the off you're able to string attack sequences together in much more natural ways, helped no end by an overhauled combo and animation system which delivers exponentially more visceral, fluid action.
It's a combat system that's further enhanced by slightly subtler tweaks, such as enhanced grapple moves and new battering ram ability. Initially, these feel like superficial inclusions. However, as the game shifts focus from small-scale confrontations to near-overwhelming numbers of on-screen opponents, it's clear how integral these additions are in contributing to the game's all-pervasive sense of chaos. Magic too has had a radical overhaul, with each magic attack now directly tied to a piece of Kratos' rapidly expanding arsenal. As weapons are augmented using orbs, so too is the power of a magical attack.
That means weapon use and magic now take on a much more strategic role in combat, with an overhauled interface meaning mid-battle switching is simply a matter of tapping the d-pad. In turn, that's enabled Sony's Santa Monica studio to serve up a more diverse array of enemies than ever before - opponents that demand more than persistent belting with your default weapon if you're going to bring them down.
In previous God of War titles, it was all too easy to pick a weapon and stick with it till final credits. For this third outing however, Sony's Santa Monica studio has made strides to remedy this. Most obviously, weapon-augmenting orbs are more plentiful and upgrades quotas are more lenient, meaning it's much easier to beef up your arsenal to a point where you actually want to experiment with other weapons.
What's more, many weapons (and indeed secondary items) are integral to advancement. While each offers unique advantages in combat, they're also prominently incorporated into level design, whether as means of circumventing otherwise impassable objects - from brambles to crystal walls - or even locating hidden items. The result is a far more cohesive experience, managing to overcome the stop-start pacing of previous series' entries that resulted from only loosely integrated combat and puzzle mechanics.
While all of that undoubtedly makes for an iteration that plays far better than its predecessors, there's still the sense that the game is slave to its own heritage. Despite its myriad refinements and grander scale, it's a game that doggedly sticks to a tried and tested formula, imbued with a familiar old-school sensibility that's both reassuring and, in some ways, a little underwhelming.
From that epic opening assault on Olympus to Kratos' final, inevitable confrontation with Zeus, God of War III travels a singularly unwavering path to ultimate revenge and redemption, revisiting major characters and plot points with barely the faintest concession to series' newcomers. It's a climax that will delight series aficionados but might leave anyone not totally versed in God of War's labyrinthine mythology feeling more than a little alienated.
That said, even die-hard God of War fans are unlikely to welcome the return of some of the series' more outdated traits, with ill-judged camera angles causing occasional headaches during platform segments and an increasingly predictable sense of pacing as the game wears on. For all its gloss, there are moments that betray a curious lack of polish too, with interactive objects still demanding that familiar awkward dance of precision before button prompts finally materialise, not to mention some bizarre collision issues, with Kratos becoming either permanently wedged or simply tumbling straight through the scenery. It's rare, yes, but jarring in an otherwise exemplary technical package.
Closing Comments
Ultimately, what God of War III delivers isn't a radical overhaul of a successful franchise. Entirely reasonably, it offers a mesmerisingly beautiful closing instalment that refines an established formula in precisely the way it needed to be. What's more, that pretty face goes a long way in papering over the occasional cracks in an aging series. With a virtually unmatched fidelity in the game's presentation, every single moment delivers a jolt of breathless wonder. It's a relentless full-on forward charge of a game that masks its more familiar elements with awesome spectacle and a slavish dedication to ADD pacing. It's dizzying in scale, exhausting in its momentum and repellent in its unparalleled brutality, yet there's genuine emotion at its heart and a surprising poignancy to proceedings that lingers far longer than its bombastic action exterior might suggest. For all God of War III's familiarity, it's a game refined with such grace and skill, there's no question that this is the absolute pinnacle of an already exhilarating series. Sure, it's a smaller, leaner beast than its predecessors but, as it happens, one that packs an absolutely unforgettable punch.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just as good as you expect, 28 July 2010
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: God of War 3 (PS3) (Video Game)
this is really great...i mean REALLY great!!! i was hooked as soon as i started it and did not move for about 7 hours. The game brings the legendary creatures to the HD screen. All the way through it is clear that this is a epic game and a even better story...... i was happy to later find out that the story is based upon true events also, which just intensified the game even more for me!!!!!
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