Intro
" The measure of a man is what he does with the power "--- Plato
Yep scantily clad ladies shaking their thing would not have disturbed me whilst playing this incredible game, but is this the game for you ?
Story
Heavily based around Greek mythology, God of War 3 continues the stunning Playstation exclusive series on the next gen console, direct from the end of God of War 2. Having not played GOW2 myself ( i have GOW1 ) didn't make the slightest bit of difference as the story is pretty self explanitory and easy to pick up from the word go. It's presented extremely well and quite simply... the player you are, Kratos, wants his VENGANCE from the gods, especially Zeus, and let not one get in his way, to achieve this single minded, blinkered, violent path of descruction to acheive his goal.
The characters along the way are suprubly acted, with none other than Rip Torn and Malcolm Mcdowell providing their thespian skills in this epic adventure. It's nothing fancy, or taxing, but then sometimes the simple stories of love, hate and vengance don't need much to them to be remembered.
Graphics / Audio
If i'm going to be really harsh, i've seen better more detailed graphics, in Castlevania, and better particle effects in Killzone, but ultimately, i'm splitting an extremely tiny hair, that is instantly forgotton about when you realize the shear SCALE of everything in this game and the pixellated art being acted on your screen. It's mind bogglingly huge and beautiful to look at. I've never really conceived what an art director does in a computer game, but play 10 minutes of GOW3 and you'll figure it out. Not one moment of screen tear, no frame rate issues, no matter what is happening on and behind the main battle arena. If you have any idea of what exactly is going on in the background this is mind blowing. The icing on an already gorgeous scrumptious cake, is the lighting and texture effects are supurb. There is an unusual amount of clarity and definition to help exsenuate the depth and vastness of the landscapes.
The audio of the gameplay is nothing ground breaking, but the big time hollywood movie score deliciously pumps along in time to the on screen action. Whether it's a hetic or thoughful moment, it flows perfectly with the game.
The music score, is so good infact, that on the PSN for £11.99 you can download all 71 musical pieces from all of the god of war games for your listening pleasure. Yes the effort put into the music is THAT good.
Also on the audio - part of the extras of the game are some video's of them making the game. Malcom Mcdowell was a true thespian, and it was interesting to see his reaction to.. " that was great, lets do it again just to make sure "
... and he turned up for the recording with a golf club ??!?!.
Plus without wanting to dispell some myths, but the man who voice acts Kratos... is a weedy little black guy with glasses.. and watching him acting tough when delivering his lines is frankly hilarious.
Gameplay
GOW3, is an in the main over the shoulder, quite a way back 3rd person hack and slash adventure, platform, puzzle game. If you've played a previous GOW you'll feel right at home as the controls are exactly the same but with a few little tweaks here and there.
In the main Kratos will aquire 5 weapons and some magical items to use. 3 of the weapons are pretty much the same just slight tweaks. Thats a shame as it's missed opportunity to mix things up a little in the combat. Each and every one though is satisfying and fun to use, and if you wanted to, you can get through pretty much most of the game using the preferred weapon of your choice, but you will need to switch them around from time to time.
As well as the normal 3rd person views, the camera sometimes zooms right in close, then way out far to keep the gamer on his toes and to keep things feeling fresh. It may sound like a little thing in the movement of the camera but it adds a dynamic to situations. When your in a monumental arena, and the camera pulls back, you just can't but help go wow.. and that makes it hard to concentrate on the fighting as you want to take it all in. Then the camera pulls in close for some brutal, violent, and bloody fights. Its directed and executed delicously well.
There's quick time events mainly on the bosses, collectables to find, an occasional first person view, a dream sequence, flying sections, swimming sections, all intertwined with cinematics that beautifully cut in and out of the action to blur the edges of where the game is pausing to watch to where you then have to join in play. All of them are suprizing with how well they work.
So if this sounds like normal 3rd person game to you what makes GOW gameplay so special ? The variety of the gameplay arenas and how it intereacts with the scenery, gameplay, and the story is how.
It's difficult to do the gameplay justice in words, but simply put you very rarely stay playing the game from the same angle in the same way for very long. Sure for the most part it's a 3rd person hack and slash, but it doesn't let you get comfortable playing the game the same way as it will change to keep you on your toes.
They have paced this game to perfection to, as they have mixed all the gameplay elements up so well, not only are you interested in the engaging story but your also intereagued into not only what you'll be doing next, but in what way the next level will be different to the last. They keep doing that for 8 and a half hours all the way through.
There's so many different mechanics, tweaks, views, events per level, and bloody finishing moves, it's an assault on the senses for every glorious minute. Uncharted 2 for example has the same camera angle from start to finish. GOW is all over the place all the time and that is genious.
Add to this technically every aspect of gameplay is accessable, fun, simple to use, easy to navigate, no glitches, or issues, it's again top of it's class for what it does.
Conclusion
So, when you add the stunning graphics, the great audio, the hugely varied and incredible gameplay together with a simple yet effective story you get a great game, no question, but where GOW wins hands down as the best game i've ever reviewed to date is due to the commitment to excellence to EVERY aspect of everything it does.
The game felt so satifying to play, it's so violent, bloody, in some cases even a bit sadistic and grauitous, yet sometimes hard to complete even on easy level, but isn't that what you want from a hack and slash video game ?
GOW3 is an assault on the senses, all of them, from start to finish 8 hours or more all the way through. Every level felt like it was going to be my "favourite." Every moment was awsome. The pacing of the game is perfect. The pacing is actually a little all over the place, but then again thats a good thing as your suprized and can never guess with any certainty when something is due to happen. Sometimes the end of a level arrived quicker than you thought, sometimes it was longer. I'm not a huge fan of in game puzzles but they always arrived at the time in the game that i was ready for them. That for me is a testament to the pacing of GOW.
God of War 3 never felt like a grind to play, never felt repetitive, the design and imagination in how the gamer is thrown around the screen on levels was frankly genious and totally awe inspring. I didn't think a game could manage to feel fresh after 8 hours of gaming but this one did. It's imaginative, entertaining, but above all, bloody good fun to play.
Any other game i play from here on in will feel boring in comparison to the scope, and sheer scale of this one. GOW is IMO a perfect game for what is says it does on the box. I wouldn't want to add anything to it to make it better. Quite simply in my humble opinion, it's perfect.
Rating 10/10
One of the easiest games to review... perfect, faultless entertaining fun from beginning to end. All games should be this fun to play.
