There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything. So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. "It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
-An Ancient Text
The god I didn’t know until now was Kratos. I had never even played a God of War game until Santa Monica’s third effort. I hardly even cared about the franchise. Here at The GameTrust I’m the PS3 man and, by default, it became my baby. I left this game paying attention not just to the God of War franchise but to the developer Santa Monica. Yes, I know, I’m late to the game. Many of you have already been here and done this. My perspective is from a completely fresh experience, and thus I will not be comparing it to any of the prior franchise games.
Continue past the break for the whole review including a podcast review >>>
Overall Experience:
In GoW3 Kratos is seeking his revenge on Zeus and all of Olympus. The player starts off scaling Mount Olympus on the back of Gaia (A huge rock Titan of Earth). After reaching the top of Olympus Kratos is quickly defeated by Zeus and thrown down to Hades. A large portion of the game is spent fighting your way back to the top of Mount Olympus. Along the way the player will run into traps, puzzles, platforming, and huge boss fights. These boss fights are a hall of fame for Greek gods and include Hades, Hermes, and Cronus.
In terms of story GoW3 is adequate. There’s nothing too spectacular, but it serves the game well enough. If you’re jumping into the GoW franchise with the third game I recommend watching this God of War in 5 Minutes by IGN. It’s good enough to catch you up. But if you’re too lazy to watch IGN’s video gameplay will still be captivating.
Voice acting is where GoW3 falls flattest. I believe that better voice acting could have created a more captivating story. There were some performances in the game that just fell flat. The shame is some of the performances are captivating. It’s obvious there were two caliber of actors hired for this gig. Some were serviceable and others were fantastic. Kratos is a huge distraction. His voice seems over the top and completely void of any emotion but rage. It’s a shame because he could have been played so well. I had very little compassion for him at any point but the very end of the game.
You may have to suffer through some of the voice acting, but the music is something to be savored. Beat by beat and measure by measure the score of GoW3 moves, pushes, and shakes the player. I found myself wanting to stop and listen. Much of the music isn’t beautiful but powerful. Deep horns and driving beats wrap this game perfectly. I muted the game at one point to see how different the gameplay was without the music. The game played quite well but in many ways lost some of its visceral passion. The music doesn’t make GoW3, but like so many movie and game scores before it the game is greatly enhanced.
Graphically GoW3 is epic. There are huge areas surrounded by captivating backgrounds. When the player is in Hates bodies are constantly falling from the sky. When climbing Olympus giant Titans, the size of mountains, fill the background and sometimes even foreground. Bosses tower above Kratos and make him look like nothing more than a gnat. There is rarely an instance in God of War 3 where I wasn’t completely inthralled by what I was seeing. Characters are rendered beautifully and animations, for the most part, are smooth and lifelike. Kratos is modeled down to the pours on his face. It’s obvious that Santa Monica put their hearts into this game. All of it runs in a glorious 60 frames and 720 progressive pixels. I audibly gasped at points in the game because of the beauty.
This picture gives you a perspective of the scale. Kratos is the dot near the bottom.
The excellent visuals of GoW3 are framed perfectly with a computer controlled camera. It may turn some people off but the player has no control over the camera. At first it bothered me after coming off of games like Uncharted 2 and Batman Arkham Asylum, but I got used to it. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Every part of the game has been set up with purpose and care. My eyes were drawn exactly where the developer wanted them. This does make it a little harder to explore and there were times when I was curious and wanted to look at something but couldn’t. Those complaints are rare.
After all that doting on the appearance of the game I have one complaint. Some animations seem quickly thrown together. None of them have to do with cinematics or Kratos but with auxiliary characters. A great example of this can be seen in the GoW3 demo (as to not be a spoiler). Helios’s chariot flies around but it looks rigid and, well, animated. This happens in more than just that area. The goal of animation is for it to be invisible. The viewer needs to completely believe in the movements of the characters.
Watch closely for the animations of Helios's Chariot.
God of War 3 isn’t a long game. It isn’t a game that gives the player many choices. It is very linear. It’s also very impressive for the things it is and most of what it isn’t. In the age of games that allow players to go anywhere and do anything God of War 3 is the opposite. I do not knock it a single point for that.
Crap Index:
God of War 3 Is violent. Blood will fly, squirt, and spew from almost everything in this game. Blood will stain Kratos’s and the ground. Kratos will disembowel and de-eye enemies. Kratos’s rage flows into the way he kills enemies. He doesn't just kill them he massacres them. If you have a weak stomach this game isn’t for you. None of the violence looks real but is very over the top. Realistic violence tends to bother me more than what’s in GoW3, but many times children can’t tell the difference. For that reason I never played this game while my daughter was awake.
Cursing is almost nonexistent. I think there are two words used in the entire game. If you were fine with the language in The Lord of the Rings you’ll be okay with what God of War 3 offers.
Also be aware there is “Greek” nudity throughout the game. Statues, paintings, and even some characters are topless. Much of this nudity is something like what one would see in a college art appreciation class. Except for what happens in the paragraph below.
The GameTrust's podcast review of God of War III
Funny story: My wife watched me play 80% of this game. At a certain point (about half way through) I mentioned how, “Besides violence this game is pretty clean.” Three minutes after I uttered those words I ate them. For about 30 minutes of GoW the breasts of a slave you interact with are exposed. Many camera angles are meant to show them off. I got my wife to watch the screen while I turned away. A few minutes later I entered into Aphrodite’s layer. She is nude to the point I turned the television off and waited for an in game cinematic to finish. When the cinematic was finished the player will be given the choice to have sex with her. I chose no and did not watch the scene, but heard it was quite graphic. All of that happens in the span of an hour.
There also may be some concern over the idea of Greek mythology. Some people could get confused and even want to believe in the world presented in GoW. I was not one of those people. If you can handle the mythology of Star Wars or even Harry Potter without wanting to follow the Jedi religion or become a wizard you can handle God of War.
Conclusion:
This game is why my job at The GameTrust is so difficult. On one hand God of War 3 is a fantastic game, but on the other hand there are many offensive and questionable elements to it. In gameplay alone I recommend the game. In terms of the crap in it I cannot recommend it. Would I ever let my son or daughter play through this game? Not while they’re under my roof. Would I recommend it to the students that I mentor at my church? Not in a million years. Because of those things I cannot recommend this game in its entirety to you.
I would like to offer you this. The unknown god isn’t Kratos but the one that the Apostle Paul tells about below:
The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him! One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?
"God overlooks it as long as you don't know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he's calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead."
-Acts 17:24-31
When thinking about renting, purchasing, or even playing God of War 3 be cautious because there are things that could affect you on a level that is hard to explain in a 2000 word review. My scores are as follows.
O.E. - 9.1
C.I. - 2.5
GameTrust Recommendation- 5.8
Submitted for your approval- Ivey Rhodes
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