God of War 3 review: A Titanic Masterpiece
What you thought to be a huge boss was nothing more than a small part of a bigger, greater entity – The Lord Poseidon. Upping the ante is an ever-present theme all throughout the game. The developers funnel you into a false sense of security before dropping the bomb and unleashing an awe-inspiring set –piece that will leave your senses exhausted. While the prior games had you killing one god at the end of the game, God of War 3 starts off with a boss battle that will eventually lead to the death of Poseidon in a fashion that you cannot possibly imagine. Let’s just say, this sequence will show you the immense brutality of Kratos from the perspective of the victim.
After the impressive opening sequence the game settles into a healthy pace like the previous games. However, every now and then, God of War 3 will open the floodgates and unleash pure awesome in voluptuous amounts. The gameplay involves clearing out an area of enemies in hilariously brutal ways and moving on ahead to face another batch of enemies or a sub-boss. As mentioned above the crux of the combat remains mostly the same including some great additions. Pressing L1+O will allow you to do a combat grapple which is a great way to latch onto enemies and hurl yourself closer to your target, for dishing out pain up close and personal.
Also for the first time in the history of the series, players can switch weapons on the fly, even mid-combo for amazing results. While in previous games, the Blades of Chaos was the only weapon that you really used, this time around, I have no doubt that the Cestus will be the favorite. An evolution of the Zeus Gauntlets from God of War: Chains of Olympus, the Cestus is a close range, boxing style weapon to punch the living daylights out of your enemies. Magic is now tied to every different weapon which makes it easier to deploy a devastating magic attack to overcome your opposition. Kratos will also come across various godly items that have a rebounding usage meter, and hence can be used indefinitely. These items while great as combat modifiers are mostly helpful for navigating the terrain, clearing out blocked paths or finding secret items and areas.
As much as the focus of God of War 3 is on the combat and colossal set-pieces, the game also features brilliant platforming and puzzles. Though clearly lesser in quantity that the previous games, the puzzles do a great job of slowing down the pace a bit, before engulfing you in another heart-throbbing sequence. Of notable mention is an ingenious puzzle later on in the game which is basically a prettier version of Echochrome. The platforming in most action-adventure games are tools used to throw players from one combat scenario into another. However, in God of War 3, platforming is an equally important part of the game and even something as simple as Kratos jumping from point A to point B with timed button presses is presented in glorious fashion.
And then there are the boss battles. The boss battles in God of War 3 alone warrant the $60 price tag. Each boss fight is surprisingly varied and is an extension of the boss that you are facing. For example, Poseidon battles Kratos using the sea; Hades is a much more traditional fight where Kratos goes mano-a-mano with the Lord of the Underworld; Hermes on the other hand is not a brawler and hence this boss fight involves a chase sequence across the crumbling city of Olympia. Each boss fight will end with a quick-time event which will have players witness some of the most brutal and gut-wrenchingly gruesome scenes of violence ever to grace the medium. Kratos is pissed and he lets his rage govern his violent behavior. Limbs being lopped off, fountains of blood, decapitations and plain-old tearing enemies apart are just some of the things you will have to get used to. Â The diversity of the boss battles is what truly makes them an experience worth reliving again and again and again. Of course, the final apocalyptic battle between Kratos and Zeus will be something that will be remembered forever in video gaming history.
As perfect as the game sounds, there are some minor complaints that stand out. For starters, the puzzles seemed to have been dumbed down exponentially. There is hardly a puzzle in the game that will have you scratching your head over a solution. Most of them are laid out in a way that requires minimal thought. Because of the lack of intelligence required to solve the puzzles, there is lesser satisfaction when you do solve one. Also over the 10 hours of my play time, most of my deaths occurred not because of the combat but due to the erratic placement of the camera in some of the platforming segments. Overall, the focus on the action and decline in the quality of puzzles has resulted in the lack of diversity in gameplay. However, when Kratos throws down a Centaur Chief and rips its belly to spill the innards out as the Centaur writhes in pain, the evil smirk on your face is proof of how these minor quibbles are minor indeed.
