God of War III

The first two entries to the God of War series immersed you into the gameplay right off the bat, so it should come as no surprise when you boot up the third game for the first time and find yourself fending off enemies while riding atop Gaia, as she ravages her way up Mount Olympus. In fact, God of War III stays very true to the style and overall feel that was established so well by its predecessors. That's not to say the series' next-generation debut isn't unique in ways of its own. God of War III could have been one fine game by doing no more than adding new technology and capping off the story, but Santa Monica has learned from experience and crafted a near perfect fusion of hack-and-slash game mechanics from the past God of War titles.

If you have played a God of War game in the past, things are automatically going to feel familiar. Many of the combos have been recycled, but there's also a nice amount of additional moves that have been added to Kratos' repertoire, including a grapple move and using a grunt as a battering ram. Perhaps the biggest change to the gameplay this time around is how other weapons are implemented. In the past, you would unlock another weapon or two for optional use, but just about every player chose to stick to the Blades because of how insignificant and weak the unlocked weapons felt compared to your primary weapon. Over the course of God of War III you will unlock three new weapons, each with their own strengths and advantages, which lead me to actually want to use these at time (although the Blades of Exile were still my favorite). This also has changed the way magic works. Each of the four weapons has a unique magic attack attached to it, which makes things simpler in the long run because you don't have to fumble with controls as much. It also makes leveling up easier, because when you upgrade one weapon, it's also improving the magic.

Similar to magic are the new items, represented by a yellow bar on the user interface that refills automatically after use (no need to find a chest, well, except for ones with minotaur horns to expand the gauge). One of these items is the Bow of Apollo, which is a lot more useful in adding range to your fighting now that you are able to just whip it out whenever you want. I don't want to spoil anything, but there are a few other nice surprises that become available as items as you get deeper into the game. For anyone who has played through the demo, you already know about a certain someone's head. Combine all these new elements with flying mini-games, and the new ability to take control of a cyclops or cereberus at specific times, and you have not only the smoothest playing, but also the most varied God of War title yet.

That's also partly thanks to the puzzles and platforming, because we all know it wouldn't be a God of War game without these things. The third installment definitely has the fewest puzzles of all the console versions, for better or for worse. The puzzles also didn't seem nearly as challenging as in the past, and for a good majority of them you are generously guided by hints from the camera highlighting an objective. I personally wouldn't have minded if a few more though-provoking puzzles had been added, but I'm content with the way puzzles were handled, and they still do wonders for freshening up the gameplay at the right moment.

Slicing through enemies and decapitating the gods is all good and fun, but it wouldn't be the same if not complimented by the awe-inspiring technology, pushing the Playstation 3 hardware to the limit. Now let's just get this out of the way, graphically, God of War 3 is perhaps the best looking video game I have ever seen. Character models are highly detailed, and although a lot of what you're seeing is mythological creatures, they seem to be so realistic. You can see the individual pores on faces, and watch the blood splash and drip down Kratos in the heat of a battle.  Lighting is no slouch either. As you walk through the dark and grimy landscapes, you get a true feel for the sun peeking through the cracks, reflecting on everything with true to life characteristics, or flames making the world glow, or the Blades of Exile lighting up corridors as Kratos furiously swings them about.

The God of War series has been notoriously well-deserving of it's Mature ESRB rating thanks to all the gore and gruesome finishing moves, and God of War III takes the violence to a new extreme. Thanks to the graphical upgrade, now you can see the guts of a centaur spill out in full detail, as well as some of the craziest boss closings in memory. There are truly some moments here that will make you squirm at just how nasty they look. The great thing is that all the violence isn't just here in a childish manner intended to beef up the masculinity, but rather to add to the dark atmosphere of Greek mythology. Oh, and just for the record, there is another of Santa Monica's infamous sex mini-games.

What really brings God of War above all other action games is the sheer scale of the game. There's not a lot I can say without giving something from the plot away, but there are some breathtaking encounters along the way, with some of the most prodigious boss battles in history. One of these boss battles involves a Titan the size of an entire level, who is still interacting with the environment around him as you work your way across his body, trying to find weak the weak spots while avoid his gigantic blows. At times the cinematic camera zooms out (while you still control ant-sized Kratos) to show you just how massive of a battle this is.

As anyone who finished the second game would know, God of War III picks up directly after that one, with Kratos and the Titans climbing Mount Olympus to reach the Gods. Now all the cutscenes are presented with the in-game engine, no CG needed. Bits and pieces are told through cartoony videos, and I wasn't a big fan of this artistic style, so thankfully there were only a handful of these throughout the adventure. While storytelling is a little light in the core of the game, things heat up near the ending, and the final sequences were a fitting way to wrap up the trilogy. The closure is not only a terrific completion to the journey Kratos has embarked on with you over seven years, but also a great ode to the world of Greek gods and goddesses. It does seem just a little bit rushed though, because I felt that there was a something more Stig Asmussen and the team wanted to include but just didn't have the time.

Once you complete the game, you are fittingly rewarded with many unlocked treasures. These include videos, costumes, challenges, a battle arena, and an extra difficulty titled Chaos". The videos include behind the scenes footage on how different aspects of the game were made and what went on in the studio over the past three years. It's something most players will probably take for granted, but these seemed to be especially well done and you get a great sense of the chemistry between everyone at Santa Monica. The costumes however, are very disappointing. While the previous titles had five or six costumes that gave you special abilities, God of War III only has one. Actually, there are a total of six you can have, but five had to be obtained by other ways like pre-orders, 7-Up cups, or eventually DLC.

The challenges consist of seven different objectives to complete, made much easier this time not only because of the tasks themselves, but also because they save and you don't have to do them all at once. When you complete all seven challenges, you are awarded with the Combat Arena. This is a place where you can set up your own custom battles against whichever enemies you want on a fairly small circular stage. This can be good fun for a little while, with the potential for some intense fights against a stage full of enemies, but there's not much to it and no reason to return to it. It might have been a little more useful as a practice arena to hone your skills, but since you have to beat the game and complete all seven challenges, you'll more than likely already have a good feel for the combat system by the time you have the Combat Arena unlocked. These extras will add a few more hours of replay value, and the single player itself will only take about ten hours the first time around, but it's a journey you'll want to experience more than once. Don't worry, you're getting your money's worth.

God of War III is one of those games that will go down as a defining game of this generation. Sure there are a couple of small problems here and there that you could pick at, because by no means is it perfect. But what God of War III does offer is one of the best games ever in the action adventure genre, highlighted by the simple but entertaining combat system, varied gameplay, incredible visuals, and an impressive story to conclude this God of War saga (or at least we think so).  The gameplay is nothing groundbreaking, but it didn't need to be. The third title stays true to its roots, and in turn, delivers one of the most satisfying games in the past few years.

Logan Smithson, Noobfeed