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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Storyline
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
