God of War 3 Review (PS3)

I love the God of War trilogy.  I've been a fan since the epic first game debuted and God of War 3 was one of the main reasons that I wanted a PS3.  The previous two games were arguably two of the best action platformers of all time and oozed with style that many games today still try to emulate.  Its an understatement to say that the third game in the trilogy had some hype to live up to.  The question now is, did it?

If you've played the second game and beat it, then chances are that you were pissed at the ending.  I know that I was and I couldn't wait for the third game to release.  Little did I know that it would be close to 3 years of waiting.  (By the way, if you haven't played the first two, pick up the GoW collection for PS3 for 29.99)  Once you pop the disc in your PS3, the first thing you'll notice is how ridiculously detailed Kratos is (games protagonist).  You're then dropped straight into the action picking up where the last game left off and (minor spoilers ahead) seriously if you haven't played the first two, please do yourself a favor and play them.  At the end of the 2nd game, The Goddess Athena is dead and you're on your way to Mount Olympus on the back of the Titan Gaia to confront your father Zeus.  You're after your revenge and won't let anything get in your way be it Gods or Titans.  (end of minor spoilers).  I'm not exaggerating about how incredible the rendering is in this game.  Kratos scars and equipment are much more visible from the last game and his facial animations show every feeling his character has.  The levels are packed with dozens of enemies on screen at once and the levels themselves are so detailed that at times you may get lost just looking and admiring the scenery.  Of course you could easily die to the scenery seeing as how sometimes you're literally fighting the terrain you're standing on. 

The gameplay is just as fluid and if you've ever played any good action game before, you'll feel right at home.  Each brutal kill is shown in excellent detail and showcases the developers hard work.  Give them credit considering that over the span of three games, they've had three different directors.  You probably wouldn't have even noticed considering how seamless the games tie into eachother and God of War 3 is a nice cap to the end of the "trilogy".  But you may notice that while there was a jump in quality from the 1st game to the 2nd (in terms of graphics and gameplay) the 3rd one seems to be slightly more superficial.  That's not to say that the gameplay is bad or that more of God of War 2's excellent combat is a bad thing, its just that as a fan, I kinda expected a little more, gameplay wise.  Once again I'm nitpicking, but with a great game like this, sometimes you need to be honest about ways the game can be improved.  Also, the game can easily be beaten in under 10 hours and while there's extra costumes, special arena modes, and harder difficulties, there doesn't seem to be too much here to continue playing.  Of course like the first two games, you can play through the fun story mode, but is that enough to warrant a 60$ purchase? 

If there's one thing that the God of War Trilogy (excluding the PSP adventure Chains of Olympus and the mobile game Betrayal) is known for, its the epic boss battles.  Who could forget the openings of God of War 1 where you fight the three headed hydra or the second games colossus fight?  God of War 3 doesn't disappoint at all with bosses putting you against some of the largest and most epic bosses you'll ever encounter.   One fight literally has you scaling the boss as he throws enemies at you, swats at you with his building sized hands, and makes the Shadow of colossus bosses look like midgets.  The gameplay remains largely unchanged though consisting of slashing the enemy, dodge, slashing the enemy, QTE, brutal kill.  I could go on and on about each boss but of course, it'd be a lot more better if you tried the game for yourself.

SUMMARY

Pathetic:

Gameplay doesn't introduce anything new

Short Quest

Some fights become tiresome

Very Nice!:

Some of the best graphics ever

Epic boss fights

Decent end to the trilogy

Solid fun overall

FINAL GRADE: A

The game doesn't really introduce anything new, but it doesn't really have to.  Great game and a lot of fun for fans and newcomers.  Another solid title for the PS3 library for 2010.