God of War III
Review
The Ghost of Sparta is Back with a Vengeance
by Kiran Sury
reviewed on PS3
Blades of Chao…I mean, Exile (cntd)
The alternate weapons, however, are quite the surprise. In the previous two games, the alternate weapons were there for when you wanted to fool around, but were never quite necessary, or as useful as the Blades. In this game, they are a joy to play with. Two of them, the Claws of Hades and the Nemesis Whips are variations on the Blades, with undead/lightning attributes respectively, but they are unique enough to be used as often as the blades. The fourth weapon however, the Nemean Cestus, steals the show. These huge lion-head gauntlets are essentially gigantic boxing gloves, and are an absolute joy to play with. You really feel each and every impact as Kratos whales on his foes. If you were skillful enough, the Blades have always been adequate in dealing with the larger foes like Cyclopes and Minotaurs. You had to take potshots as you dodged around them, but eventually you wore them down. With the Cestus, you take the fight to them. A blow with the Cestus is enough to knock a Minotaur on its ass, even if the Minotaur is in mid-combo. Kudos to Santa Monica to making a weapon that actually supplanted the Blades as my weapon of choice for a large portion of the game. Being able to switch between weapons mid-combo made it even easier.
Some people may be disappointed, but quick time events also make a return. God of War was perhaps the first game to really do QTEs and do them well, so it makes sense that it would be in this game too. Instead of popping up as a big obtrusive indicator at the center of the screen, the button appears on its corresponding side of the screen with a little glow (the x indicator appears at the bottom, the triangle appears at the top, etc). This is a big improvement as it leaves the majority of the screen clear for your viewing pleasure. God of War III approaches QTEs as an extra, rather than an annoying burden that you must complete. At the end of a long fight, you're treated to a show, as you get to watch Kratos apply pain as only Kratos can.
Let's See David Blaine do This
As with all God of War games, magic is an important part of combat. In the previous games, once you acquired a magical ability, you could use it any time you wanted, at the expense of blue orbs. In this game, magic is linked to your weapons. Each weapon has one power linked to it, and if you want to use a different power, you must switch weapons. Every use of magic still takes up orbs, but the powers are matched so that they compliment the weapons. When you do use magic, the screen darkens and the effects pop, so it looks quite majestic. It really feels like you're summoning devastating powers, as opposed to the first game, where the magic looked like a parlor trick.
New to this game are items, which function like magic, but have their own energy bar. Items can be used both in puzzles and in combat, lending them a dual functionality. The energy bar replenishes itself, which makes the items actually useful. In the second game, the bow was a cool weapon, but since it counted as 'magic,' it ate up too much energy and was rarely used. In this game, the bow is an item, meaning you can use it as much as you want. Giving the items their own refilling energy bar was one of the smartest decisions the game designers made, because the items feel like more magic at you disposal, and are actually used frequently throughout the game.
9.5
fun score
Pros
God of War polished to perfection, great combat you love with even more epic boss battles.
Cons
There\'s no new groundbreaking mechanics, story ends a little too mushily.
