Kratos returns for the third main story chapter in the God of War franchise, now with updated tech and a bigger budget than ever. Featuring more gods and titans to slaughter, a revamped magic and weapon system, and some of the most outrageous set pieces to date, God of War III follows up the extraordinary second installment in a truly worthy fashion. It's the same hack and slash gameplay that you're familiar with, but with a level of polish that overtakes its predecessors.
Most of what you get in God of War III isn't surprising. You might mythical beasts by chaining together combos and magic abilities just like in the past installments. That's not to say it doesn't change anything up, however. Instead of the traditional magic and subweapon system, where everything is separated, God of War III fuses each magic spell to each weapon. They're not really treated as subweapons anymore, either. The four weapons that you have are fully fleshed out, with their own unique movesets and advantages and disadvantages. Most of them are chain-based swords like the classic blades you start with, but still handle very differently. The huge advantage to tethering each spell to each weapon is that you no longer fall under the conundrum of having to upgrade weapons and spells individually. For me, this generally resulted in highly upgraded weapons, but weak spells, since spells are used more sparingly.
A new mechanic is also introduced in the item system. Now, utilities that don't really fall under magic or weapons use their own unique resource which regenerated automatically. This means using a bow no longer wastes precious mana reserves, and you can utilize it along with your other items a little more liberally. Quick time events make a return, as is expected, but with a few new queues to keep you on your toes. They're also revamped so the face buttons are displayed in each cardinal direction they represent. This makes it a little easier to react on the fly. Still, if you're not a fan of quick time events, it won't do anything to win you over. If you're the kind of person who needs a game packed with extras, this game does include the same gameplay altering costumes, bonus play, and challenge modes that the previous games included. The replayability is there, should you choose to indulge.
The actual world design is right up there with God of War II. Whether you're fighting inside a titan, travelling through the core of the Earth, or navigating the monolithic labyrinth, the memorable destinations will almost assuredly at some point leave you grinning. This goes along with the games excellent pacing. Previous titles at times left you feeling some intense combat fatigue, just waiting for the endless onslaughts to be over. God of War III does not have this problem, and leaves a comfortable, perfectly timed cushion of platforming and puzzle solving in between nearly every major encounter. The violence has been amped up as well, with some downright cringe inducing and exceptionally creative executions.
Continuing tradition, the story is just as enticing as it has to be. Most plot points and twists are delivered fairly heavy handed. However, for a game of this nature, that's not a bad thing. Leaving too much to the imagination would honestly feel out of place with the heavy hitting nature of the rest of the game. The animated cutscenes are absolutely gorgeous and the art style chosen holds up incredibly well. The ending of the game actually gets remarkably artsy, as well, without spoiling anything. Kratos remains the same anti-hero as always, usually giving you almost no reason to root for him. But that helps give the game character and a solid identity.
As a complete package, God of War III stands up with the titans of the hack and slash genre. There was never a point where I felt bored, or wanted to put it down. It draws you in and keeps you in its grip until you're finished. That, to me, is always the mark of a well made game. There are still the same issues that all the previous games have, but at this point, you shouldn't be surprised by any of them. Every type of game will have its signature quirks, and pure perfection would be a difficult thing to achieve. In the end, though, it's a must-play for the PS3. Just make sure to play the preceding titles first, as the story does chain together pretty closely.
