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The weight of the franchise is a great one to carry; two directors before him had done a fantastic job of taking the franchise and its protagonist to astronomical heights. All this made it very easy to forget that God of War III is Santa Monica’s first game on the PlayStation 3. After three long years of building a bomb from scratch, Santa Monica has finally arrived in style, riding the back of a gigantic titan, with Kratos in tow as he climbs a mountain to begin his final assault on the Gods of Olympus.
In fact, the game begins at the cliffhanger we were left dangling off with God of War II. Riding atop the Titan Gaia, Kratos is seen huffing and puffing in the general direction of the top of Mount Olympus. His star-studded audiences, however, are unfazed, and begin their counter-assault, with one of them foolish enough to take on the fallen god and his colossal ride head on. Needless to say, it does not end well for him.
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Between these two events, God of War III delivers what is undoubtedly the single most breathtaking set piece I have ever seen; and I’m not just talking about video games here. And it is both a gift and a curse. On the bright side, it obliterates any doubts you might have had about God of War III in a brutal and spectacular symphony of chaos and destruction. It also teaches you how to survive on smaller doses of oxygen.
On the downside, it becomes the yardstick to measure the rest of the game by. Expectations, which have been over the top as the game has drawn close to its release, are raised even more by the first 45 minutes of the game to a level where they simply cannot be matched consistently throughout the nine-hour journey, except in some of the grand set pieces that come later on. God of War III is all about setting the bar for scale in video games, be it through the massive titans, which are a whole lot more than passive backdrops, the incredibly well thought out boss encounters, or the gargantuan puzzles that the game throws at you. But the general gameplay segments (which stick very close to the established formula) interlinking these moments can be a little underwhelming in the face of what the game is at the peak of its grandeur.
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This isn’t helped by the fact that the pacing isn’t as spot-on as the previous two games. The trademark God of War experience is all about juggling between action, puzzles and the story moments expertly, and the latter loses its way slightly around the middle. It is towards the end when the story really picks up, culminating with a powerful finale that Kratos so rightly deserves. Don’t let the last few lines dampen your excitement though. Even at its slowest, God of War III is head and shoulders above anything that the alleged ‘competition’ (I’m looking at you Dante’s Inferno) has to offer.
The primary reason for that is the excellent work that Santa Monica has put into the gameplay, and more specifically, the combat. The combat of God of War III is the best in the series, retaining the core of chaining together light and heavy attacks in over the top combos, but adding enough around it to make the fans of the genre squeal with delight. The biggest change comes from the implementation of alternate weapons. Apart from the standard blades of exile, the player will go on to acquire three more weapons through the course of the game, which are just as diverse in the combos they deliver.
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The fact that certain enemies are more vulnerable to specific weapons, and that each magic attack is linked to a unique weapon, will ensure that the player will experiment with different weapons to figure out the optimum way to bring down his enemies. Add to the mix additional moves like grappling into the enemy, or using a smaller enemy as a battering ram for crowd control, and we have a deep combat system with enough scope for experimentation that retains its accessible nature right through. To top it off, the QTE segments make a return, serving as the goriest and most violent finishing manoeuvres in gaming for both larger enemies and bosses.
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When you aren’t spilling blood by the gallons, there is a fair bit of platforming and puzzle-solving to be done. The puzzles are understandably fewer this time around, with the focus squarely on the excellent combat. But what they lack in quantity, they more than make up for in quality, especially a couple in the latter half of the game. They are never overly complex to become frustrating, yet the scope and scale of some of them makes for a very satisfying experience. There are some genuinely good ideas at work here composed of the mundane tasks of moving blocks and turning cranks, and apart from a shameless and atrocious Sony-sponsored contraption that serves as a Guitar Hero-esque puzzle, they mostly deliver. The fixed camera works well during the platforming segments, and aside from a couple of times where it decides to brood over the meaning of the universe, life and everything, it does a good job of making the way forward clear by highlighting the appropriate platforms and grapple hooks.
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All this action and adventure comes packaged within eye-popping visuals and a frame rate that doesn’t stutter during even the most intense segments of the game. The level of detail on Kratos and some of the environment is phenomenal, though some of the other characters in the game haven’t received the same amount of love. The awesome graphics bring to life some of the beautiful renditions of the Greek mythos, be it the Gods, the titans, or Olympus. The game also features the best lighting engine I have seen in gaming. Each source of light, be it the standard torches, the glow of the orbs, or the flashes of the blades of exile, have a perceivable effect, and the game shows it off proudly, especially in areas that are pitch dark. Given that this is Santa Monica’s first foray in this generation of gaming, I can’t wait to see just how far they can push the boundaries of what is thought to be possible.
The orchestral score makes a return, rising and falling, sometimes even haunting. The sound effects also do a great job of immersing you within the experience, be it the slicing of the blade when you spill the guts of a centaur onto the floor, or the meaty impact of each blow of the Cestus. And when it all comes together, it turns into an unrelenting, awe-inspiring and ‘un-put-down-able’ experience that bashes the face of any competition into its own head by throwing one spectacular set piece after the other, threaded together by some fast, addictive and very responsive gameplay.
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That’s not to say that everything is all peachy. There are a couple of technical hitches here and there. For example, you need to be in a specific position or space to access the save point. There’s also a heartbeat of a freeze when you exit the pause/weapon upgrade screen. But none of these stand to take away from the experience. It’s one hell of a ride from top to bottom (or in this case, bottom to top) and when it is at its best, no other game comes close to God of War III.
Conclusion
God of War III is not innovation. Neither does it walk too far away from the shadow of its predecessors. Instead, God of War III is redefinition. It redefines our understanding of scale in video games. God of War III is restoration. It restores the meaning to a word we reviewers often throw at the drop of a hat – epic. It is the most beautiful violence you have ever seen in a video game. In all its moments of brilliance, you will revel in delicious bloodlust while the blades of exile are on song, and your most primal instincts will scream with delight. Pull out your most wicked smile for this one.
(+) The single most awesome and explosive opening ever
(+) Great combat system. Sticks to the roots, but adds enough to feel fresh
(+) Well thought out boss encounters, set pieces and puzzles
(+) Top quality graphics, phenomenal lighting
(+) Excellent musical score and sound effects
(+) A fitting conclusion to the series
(-) The pacing is a bit off around the middle
(-) Some technical issues here and there
Title: God of War III
Developer/Publisher: Santa Monica Studio/Sony
Genre: Action
Rating: 18
Platforms: PS3 (Rs 2,499)
Reviewed on: PS3
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