When I first saw a rough copy of Kratos in his early testing stages nearly 6six years ago, I thought, “Who the hell would play a game as this pale- ass fool in a skirt?”. The stills didn’t seem convincing and his so-called chain blades weren’t jumping out at me. Well, after conquering God of War I, II, III, and Chains of Olympus, I am obviously that person. God of War, easily one of the most epic franchises in gaming history, has unleashed its final chapter to the home console story. Finally, Kratos, our ash- stained Spartan, stands toe- to- toe with the god of all gods, vowing to make him pay for the misery he has brought him. In the end, it says there will only be choaos … at the end of God of War III there shall only be greatness.

From our first journey with Kratos, killing the god of war Ares for tricking him into murdering his own family, to tracking down the sisters of time to change the past, we have been introduced to a level of gameplay mechanics, storytelling, and presentation that has truly set the bar for others to reach. After making two of the greatest Playstation titles of all time, how was the team at Sony Computer Entertainment America going to be able to top themselves?  By purely giving it everything they got.

As we begin our tale of God of War 3, we follow Kratos as he rages war alongside the Titans against Mt. Olympus and his own father, Zeus. Driven by some serious accounts of fatal treachery and betrayal by his father, Kratos wants nothing more than to kill Zeus and make him pay for the agony and torment he has dealt with. What a story this all unfolds. Leading your army of one all over the halls of the underworld and Mt. Olympus, slicing and bloodily mutilating your foes, your mission is merely to succeed in your goal and annihilate everyone that steps in the way.  Of these enemies are other gods who deem it not fit for you to be killing their brother, or in some cases, father. Poseidon, Hades, Hercules, Helios, and Hermes have no intention of letting you follow through with what you have come to do, and it’s only up to you to brutally prove them wrong.

God of War 3 succeeds on a level of story telling where most games fail, and the team at SCEA should be commended for that. It does a fantastic job on the level of directing action sequences in- game and through cut-scenes that only your imagination could compete with. Scenes of epic proportion such as the entire mind- blowing opening portion of the march on Olympus alone are  enough to make a person realize greatness at its finest. Being coupled with some fantastic voice acting, and gorgeous visuals, GOW3 boasts some blockbuster- caliber presentation. Accompany that with a stellar score and some brutal sounds of destruction and agony, and you’ve got a game far more than worthy of your surround system.

The look and feel of GOW3 is so gritty and dark, while some locations and scenes are so beautiful; they can just have you standing around to take in the sights. It’s amazing how a game with so much violence and gore could look so good, but it does. Many of the kill visuals have been revamped. No longer do you merely slide down the chest of a Cyclops and see no mark of damage, now you’re ripping out eyeballs and slicing open stomachs and watching the intestines come a rolling out.

Controlling Kratos is nearly the same as it always has been, with a few changes being made to some of his moves sets and magical abilities being mapped to particular weapons rather than d-pad specific locations. Instead of the d-pad buttons resembling a certain attack that Kratos’ can unleash, it instead changes his weapon. Utilizing the Blades of Exile, Claws of Hades, Hercules’ Nemean Cestus, and Nemesis Whip, you are able to perform a magical attack given the specific weapon at hand. The Blades of Exile will unleash a phalanx of fallen Spartan soldiers around, while the Nemean Cestus causes Kratos to create shockwaves to impact and knock back your opponents. Also available are the Icarus Wings, which allow for Kratos to glide distances and later on you’ll obtain the head of Helios; one you have personally ripped from his, still then, living body and granting you the power to ‘see where you cannot’.

The only thing that doesn’t make this game perfect for me is the level of difficulty GOW3 was given. Even on Titan mode I was able to easily blow through the game;, where as in previous titles on the similar difficulty, I was contemplating whether I wanted to destroy the game itself or not. Dealing with some enemies can make you feel like you’ve got a couple grey hairs coming on at first, but after a few deaths, the strategy to succeeding  just kicks in. Not like the game randomly makes itself easier (unless you accept the random Easy mode from dying too many times);, it’s just the level of expectation of the gamer was reduced. This easily could have been to bring  in a more broader and casual- based audience for the experience. Either way, it takes away from the overall hardcore, engaging experience GOW players have come to respect and love. When I finished God of War 3, however, I felt the way that only the first God of War has made me feel. When all was said and done, and GoW3 came to an end, there are very few games that will give off that same sense of accomplishment, that same sense of satisfaction, that same sense of greatness

9.5/10

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