It has been a few hours since we let the PS3 gamepad slip from our clammy, sweating hands and we must confess that we are still stunned, with blurred vision and buzzing ears. Yep, that is the kind of impact the final episode of the epic God of War series has on us. We are not sure if the series has really ended, but what we can confidently assure you is that God of War 3 has got to be the definitely PS3 game in terms of being a sheer spectacle.
We know that remark is going to send critical eyebrows soaring all over the gaming world. After all, a number of people have already pointed out weaknesses in Kratos’ final bloody sally against the gods. We have been told that the game is not free roaming like Assassin’s Creed or GTA, that it is painfully linear, that it is way too gory, has a fixed camera, has no multiplayer, and that it is basically the same old game in a new, hi-def bottle.
Well, all that is true. And it is also true that the game still managed to leave us shaken to our gaming cores.
For God of War 3 is not really about gaming innovation or about a radical new wave in the world of gaming. It ain’t a GTA or Unchartered 2 in those terms. What it is, and is unhibitedly so, is a massive and magnificent spectacle – a bit like a gaming Ben Hur, in Hollywood terms. From the moment when the game kicks off, with former Spartan captain Kratos riding on the back of a massive Titan, Gaea, heading an army of Titans up Mount Olympus, literally pulling rocks out of mountains and hurling them at Zeus and other gods. Needless to say Zeus and Co. are in no mood to stand any challenge to their Godhood and promptly hit back with hordes of warriors and join battle themselves.
The result is a jaw-dropping experience. God of War 3 is the first game in the series to come on the PS3 and the result are phenomenal details and dazzling colours – Gaea herself is a sight for sore eyes, carrying Kratos on her shoulders and turning him upside down whenever she writhes. Mind you, that does not stop the man from fighting – he fights Poseidon while literally standing on his hands for a while, slashing away vengefully. We have never seen anything like this.
Going back to the game, you control Kratos as he fights wave after wave of Godly sidekicks and then takes on the Gods themselves. Of course, as any person who has played earlier games in the series will know, Kratos is one heck of a warrior himself, having tangled with the gods before and with some success too (hey, they made him God of War for a while). Aiding him this time are his faithful (and now iconic) Blades of Exile, although he also messes around with the Blades of Athena, Poseidon’s Trident, the boots of Hermes, the bow of Apollo, the Claws of Hades and the Nermean Cestus gauntlets seized from the mighty Hercules, and a few other exotic weapons. And he can get pretty crazy too – get him into Rage of Sparta mode and he starts wielding the Blades of Olympus and becomes temporarily invincible.He slices through flesh, rips through entrails, swings enemies at other enemies, and hacks and slashes like a butcher in a abattoir. There is some magic too, depending on the weapon he happens to be wielding, but believe us, you will prefer the blade most of the time. Much more spectacular. Gameplay remains as simple as before, with button mashing the need of the hour.
It is literally amok time for something like fifteen hours before you come to the end of the game. No, we are not telling you the end beyond saying that there is one helluva battle between Zeus and the vengeful Kratos (Zeus killed him in GOW 2, remember?) and that there’s a twist at the end of the game. Does Kratos die forever? Well, we would not like to comment on that, considering that he started the series by jumping off a cliff to end his life and succumbed to Zeus once, but yes, there is a chance that we might have seen the last of the most famous Spartan in gaming.
Once the fog of war has dissipated, you will be able to spot many shortcomings in the game, as mentioned at the very beginning of the review. We are not going to get into them again, although we did find it plain daft that Kratos could chop up Gods with his blades but was not able to cut through a mere log lying in his path, and also that we could not move the camera around to take in the breathtaking – and they are superlative- visuals from all angles.
But as we said, you are going to realise that only after you have finished quivering with excitement. God of War 3 is that kind of game. Judge it not until you have played it.
Fare thee well, Kratos. We sure were entertained.
