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God of War III Review (PS3)

Chaos Raiden

Avid Gamer & Reviewer
One of the most highly anticipated PS3 exclusive and video game sequel in 2010. Does it live up to it's hype, or not?

Storyline


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Kratos is back to exact his revenge on the gods of Olympus, without mercy.​

The game takes place directly after God of War II's ending. After bringing the Titans from a different time era, Kratos leads the Titans to bring down Mount Olympus. He will fights various gods along the way, with Poseidon as the first god he killed in the game. However, things did not go well with Kratos, as Zeus attacked both Gaia and Kratos. Kratos grabbed onto Gaia's back, but she refused to help him, letting him fall to Realm of Hades. This makes Kratos feels bitter, and decided to kill anyone who will stop his revenge, gods, titans, humans, etc.

Without giving much spoilers of the game, I dare say that this game is an epic and satisfying conclusion to Kratos' story. My only gripe is the slow story progression. Only when the game is about coming to an end that the story starts to flesh out fully. There is not much plot twists in this game. It is simple to understand, as long as you can grasp the new revelations in the game.

Kratos personality is the same as the previous God of War games. Vengeful, angry, etc. I like the Kratos the way he is, and I always like to see whenever Kratos feels weak whenever his family's case brought up. That shows that although he is full of anger, he still has his human side, with guilt filling his heart.

Other characters also fit their roles perfectly in the game. Gods like Aphrodite, Poseidon, Hades, Zeus are my favourite gods in this game, as they are compelling to see. The Titans like Gaia also did their job well in getting in the game's storyline.

There are many emotions can be seen in this game. Anger, hate, sadness, etc are noticeable in this game. Some scenes may be tearjerking to some people, especially someone that Kratos saves late in the game, who reminds of Kratos of his daughter.

In short, the storyline is epic, simple, and great conclusion to Kratos adventure. Although the storyline does not pick up until the end, it is still a worth epic storytelling for everyone.

Gameplay

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Kratos is even deadlier with his new chainblades, Blades of Exile.​

The core gameplay remains the same as the previous God of War games. Kratos primary weapon is the Blades of Exile, which he uses with godly proficiency to kill the gods. He has all the same Light Attack, Heavy Attack, Grab, Block, Dodge, Jump, etc from the previous games. You also need to kill enemies, clear obstacles, and solve puzzles in order to progress in the game.

This time, Kratos can execute different Grab attacks on an enemy, but this only applies to the weak, humanoid enemies. When grabbing your enemies, pressing Square will allows Kratos to use the enemy as a battering ram. Pressing Triangle allows Kratos to rip apart the enemy. Pressing Circle allows Kratos to stab the enemy mercilessly multiple times on the ground.

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The Grapple move is great new feature in God of War III. Useful, and cool to pull off.​

However, by using Blades of Exile with other 3 new weapons, he can now use the Grapple move. The Grapple move allows Kratos to get close to an enemy fast and allows him to unleash hell to the enemies quickly. Grapple move is incredibly useful feature, as it allows you to avoid damage, as well as damaging your enemy.

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Kratos can now control some of the creatures in the game, like Cyclops and Cerberus to his advantage.​

After damaging certain enemies enough, you can control it to clear obstacles, or killing your enemies quicker. That only applies if you have successfully complete the QTE event after Grabbing on it. Once you have completed it, you can use it to kill your enemies faster and clear obstacles for a limited time. They are quite fun to control, as they are quite strong to take down lesser enemies.

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Kratos can use 3 more weapons besides Blades of Exile and Blade of Olympus. Unfortunately, Nemean Cestus (weapon that Kratos use in the above image) is the only weapon that differentiates itself with other 2 new weapons.​

As in previous game, Kratos has access to different new weapons. Nemean Cestus is one of the most damaging weapon in the game, Claws of Hades has a variety of Magic attacks that summons the dead from Hades' realm, and Nemesis Whip is a fast weapon that allows Kratos to get multiple hits with one strike. As there are many types of enemies that Kratos will fight in this game, try using different weapons and see which one works best against them.

Upgrading your weapons is a necessity, especially in higher difficulties. By collecting enough Red Orbs, you can upgrade your weapons, such as getting new moves and increasing attack power. It is advised that you upgrade your Blades of Exile and Nemean Cestus, as both weapons are the most useful weapons in the game.

This game's Magic system is different than the previous games' Magic system. Instead of able to choose Magic anytime in gameplay, each weapons have their own Magic attack. For example, Blades of Exile Magic attack is Arm of Sparta, a multi hit magic attack that covers the whole screen. Each Magic attack has varying damage and usefulness, so experiment the Magic attacks to see the effects.

Kratos also has Items that he need to use to complete puzzles, such as Bow of Apollo, Golden Fleece and Hermes Boots. Each also allows Kratos to use it in battle, and most of it are useful in fighting enemies, such as Golden Fleece, which allows Kratos deflects enemy's attacks and counters with a powerful attack.

The Rage mode in this game is called the Rage of Sparta, which he uses the Blade of Olympus as his sole and primary weapon in this form. In this form, Kratos can moves faster, heavily damages enemies, etc. In order to use it, you need to hit enemies to fill out the gauge, where you can activate it anytime. It is best to be used when fighting bosses or difficult enemies.

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Bosses are fought in epic scale, like Poseidon.​

Boss fights in this game are challenging. Each boss fights are different, varied, tough, and epic. I personally love the boss fight against Poseidon, as it is wickedly awesome to fight. All other bosses fights are well done as well, and like the previous games, you need to complete QTEs (Quick Time Events) to completely finish the boss fights. Most QTEs are well done, and the effects are great after completing it.


I have no qualms in the gameplay, except some areas. First, Kratos has lack of variety in his weapons. Nemesis Whip and Claws of Hades are very similar to Blades of Exile, and I classify them in the class of chainblades weapons, as they have similar designs. The things that only differentiates the 3 weapons are attack power, moves, and Magic attack.

Second, God of War games relies heavily on QTEs in order to make it a great game. Although generally I don't mind QTEs in games, but the QTEs in this game is generally easy to pull off. I wish they could put slightly more difficulty in pulling the QTEs off, so the game is more challenging and more satisfying to play.

Regardless, the game boasts great, bloody, and addicting gameplay for everyone. God of War fans should definitely play this game as it has some cool new features.
 

Chaos Raiden

Avid Gamer & Reviewer
Graphics

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Extremely awesome graphics. One of the best looking games.

Needless to say, this game has awesome graphics. Superb looking and detailed characters, beautiful environments, etc are a testament to Santa Monica Studio's effort and developing skills in making of this game. One of the best looking PS3 games, and one of the best looking games ever.

Generally, there are no major graphical issues I have encountered in this game, so this is a good factor for every players. There are very minor bugs, but not gamebreaking and does not stop you from enjoying this game.

Sound

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Epic music, well voiced characters, and great sound effects.​

God of War games always have epic music that fits the series perfectly. No complaints there.

Every characters are voiced perfectly by their voice actors counterpart. T.C. Carson's role as Kratos is perfect, as always. I could not imagine if someone else voices Kratos, as his voice grows on me. Other voice actors did great job as well in voicing the gods, Titans, etc.

Replay Value

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Collect Godly Possessions, play harder difficulties, or play the Challenge of Olympus.​

The replay value is moderate. You can collect Godly Possessions, items that allows Kratos to have certain benefits, such as infinite Magic. Please take note that using Godly Possessions will disable you from unlocking Trophies, so be warned.

In my opinion, this game is slightly more harder than God of War and God of War II, which is good. I prefer it to be more challenging, as God of War games have moderate difficulties that suits casual players rather than hardcore players. You can play higher difficulties to test your gaming skills, as they are hard and challenging enough.

Challenge of Olympus is a set of challenges that you can play. Most of the challenges are tough, but manageable. It is advised that you refer to guides in order to complete the challenges.

Conclusion

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Definitely worth playing. God of War fans will like this game, and new players should give this game a try.​

In conclusion, this game is a great sequel that provides entertaining gameplay with great music, boss fights, great graphics, etc. If you ignore minor flaws in this game, you will like playing this great action game that provides great and epic action experience.

Score


Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10

Final Score: 38/40 or 9.5/10.0.

Pros and Cons

Pros

- Epic storyline.
- Great gameplay with several great additions.
- Boasts amazing and superb graphics.
- Epic and satisfying conclusion to Kratos's story.
- Epic and fitting soundtrack for the game.
- Grapple move is a great new move that Kratos can use.
- Boss fights are awesome and challenging, especially when the boss fights involve Titans.
- Great voice acting.

Cons

- Lack of variety of weapons.
- Small and minor glitches.
- Story only develops near the end of the game.
- Heavily reliant to QTEs, which reduces the game's difficulty.
 

Esura

Your breasts are illegal!!
I like how you score things. You are lenient in your scoring system and I like that. Too many other reviewers has this strict scaling where...hell if a game ain't a 8 or higher it blows.

Having play GoW III myself, I'd have to agree with you fully except for the replay value...which I found none compelling enough to keep me involved anymore. Where is the New Game Plus Sony!?

+rep
 
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