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God of War: what's the big deal?

  • Posted March 5th, 2013 at 03:13 EDT by Richard Archer
  • 31 Comments

(continued from previous page) ...draw breath.

Firstly, I don't like the constant way the camera angle changes for nothing more than dramatic effect rather than adding anything to the gameplay: If Kratos needs to hang upside down, then there should be a reason other than that it looks cool. Next, while the Quick-Time Events bring the action to life when you have to go seemingly through them every time you fight a mini-boss, the originality of the Quick-Time Events originality quickly wears off. Then, the hints as I said earlier hover on the verge of spoilers: If I need to swing somewhere, surely I can work it out without the game signposting to me exactly what I need to do. Lastly, I just don't like Kratos. I find myself not caring about his story as he just seems so one dimensional with his posturing and roaring "Zeus" all the time. All these things individually in a game I could take or leave, but when they assault me all at once I find the only solution is to play something else.

In 2010, PSU gave God of War 3 a score of 9.5 calling it " the best entry in the series, " and " one of the best action-adventure games of this generation." I disagree, as I found it a repetitive, button-mashing mockery of Greek mythology with little to thrill me, and I am surprised at the excitement generated by the imminent launch of God of War 4. A game which I feel, unless it takes time to engage gamers and make the plot thicker than a slice of honey-roasted-ham, won't be causing me to part with any of my hard earned cash.

So when it comes to the God of War franchise do you agree with me or disagree?

 

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Comments

  1. jacobia

    • 3:45am EST - March 5th, 2013

    @ Richard Archer - I disagree with your opinion. However, you didn't indicate if you've played the first and second God of War games from the PS2/HD Collection. Seeing as the story of 3 is the finale, I think it's important to of played 1 and 2 in order to have a chance to feel emotionally invested in the journey of Kratos.

  2. Omar Swellam

    • 3:50am EST - March 5th, 2013

     Agree with jacobia (#1)

    I played 1,2,3,Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta, and I loved every one of them

    Edit: Also, how dare you not like Kratos, he's gaming's number one BADASS

  3. Richard616

    • 3:51am EST - March 5th, 2013

    I have never played 1 or 2 but there are lots of games where I never played the first ones that engaged me. Bioshock 2 and any of the Tomb Raider games spring to mind

  4. Eliphaz Levi | Eliphaz

    • 3:56am EST - March 5th, 2013

     Hello, been visiting this site about a year & it is part of my daily routine, by far 1 of the best gaming sites, imho. This article drove me to the point of attempting to register here again (as i failed originally- & resorted to psn messaging a writer here - & he replied!! awesum site & people). Wow it worked!! So what did I find to be so important to require a 2nd attempt at posting on this fine site ( beside blowing smoke up your bums?) 

     GOW SUCKS!!! Im so relieved another individual agrees with me, as apparently the rest of the world loves button mashing quiktime over masculised chest beating (even my own dear family and friends). Honestly i thought I'd have to visit a other-box fan-boy forum to hear it (but even they like it !?!?- perhaps the truest proof).
    Its pretty I'll give them that, it WAS fairly original, with its proper implemention of quiktime button mashing (in the original) but a few incarnations later its the same immersion stealing quik time shallow kratos with its wonky camara & button mashing splendour. 
    Great article you have expressed my opinion perfectly. And in the process vindicated my view- GOW is so much bleh under pretty graphics. 
    Thanks & sorry 4 ranting.

  5. Kauldron

    • 4:03am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Sounds like someone's never played the first two games. If you haven't then you would mistakenly think the story is thin and the character is one dimensional. That is glaringly obvious.

    It is the same as watching the third Lord of the Rings movie without watching the first two.  There is no way you would get the story.  Skewed viewpoint.

  6. Richard616

    • 4:05am EST - March 5th, 2013

     glad you enjoyed it Eliphaz, Kratos is I feel the marmite of characters. :)

  7. Kauldron

    • 4:06am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Site always makes me double post.  WTH?

  8. Richard616

    • 4:10am EST - March 5th, 2013

     if i have to play every game in a series before the current release then something is wrong, even LOTR has a recap so you can watch any film you want.

  9. Fazi Ali Shah | godofwar3

    • 5:34am EST - March 5th, 2013

    i like god of war serious.... i play god owar 1 ,2 ,3 and god of sparten and chain of olympus... i m play first time in 2005 good of war one. and i have 8 years experians of god of war serious. honestly this is a great game in my life.......

  10. Ghost-Rhayne | Ghost-Rhayne

    • 5:49am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Most of us PlayStation guys grew up with Kratos. He has been a staple of the PlayStation brand for ages and I think we have a different perspective than someone who jumps in now. Kind of like how many who played MGS4 as their first Metal Gear game couldn't understand what the fuss was about. A lot of us have "known" Kratos for around 8 years and have followed his story since the beginning, so its just different. YOu don't get that by jumping in on the current gen iteration.

  11. Richard616

    • 6:10am EST - March 5th, 2013

     not getting Kratos because you never grew up with him is an interesting point as nostalgia can make big money. Its interesting though that GOW 4 is a prequel almost as if even the designers think people need to reconnect somehow with this 'popular' character.

  12. jacobia

    • 6:34am EST - March 5th, 2013

    @ Richard616 - With regards to your 2 examples of Bioshock 2 and Tomb Raider, those franchises have self contained stories, and therefore can be played irrespective of eachother. With the GoW franchise, specifically 1, 2 and 3, the story evolves and culminates in the final showdown of 3. I liked your referencing of LotR films, but if I had only seen RotK, I wouldn't of enjoyed it as much if I hadn't seen FotR and tTT, as the chronological order gives the 3rd film greater depth and meaning.

    As for the prequel game GoW:A, the ultimate purpose of all video games is to make their developers and publishers money.

  13. Richard616

    • 6:40am EST - March 5th, 2013

     Jacobia, I agree you are spot on with Bioshock and Tomb Raider a poor choice of examples from me :(

  14. Fazi Ali Shah | godofwar3

    • 8:11am EST - March 5th, 2013

     i also paly and like, uncharted 1 2 3 and kill zone 1 2 3 and darksider 1 2, and super mario series, and etc. butt i sey the best cracter is KRATOS. listen me WHY peopel like xbox360? he have no big games and cractor, like uncharted, kill zone, last of us, kratos............ i play 360 games, HONESTLY  i hate HELLO, AND GREAS OF WAR..... THIS IS BORING GAME........... 

  15. Johnny Kratos Davidson

    • 8:35am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Proof that opinions can be wrong. Every game in the God of War series has been a masterpiece and God of War III is the best in the series. Also why would you start with GoW3  then slag off the characters and story? It's like reading the final third of a book and then forming an opinion of the entire story arch from that, moronic. Your complaints are juvenile, petty and nonsensical, it must suck to be part of an insignificant bitter minority when the rest of the world enjoys the most critically acclaimed, bestselling and most beloved franchise in the genre of all time. It's also Sony's second biggest and by a significant margin the most beloved Sony exclusive franchise nearing 4.5 million fans on the biggest Facebook fan-page which is more than every other exclusive franchise combined.

  16. TristanPR77 | Tristan77

    • 10:23am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Totally disagree with the author. God of War 3 is one of the best games I ever played, I love the series overall and the story. Kratos is #1 bad as of the whole gaming industry. I played the new GOW demo and I can say that I am an addict of the action provided in GOW games plus playing multilayer online will be amazing. Hope to see GOW on PS4

  17. A_Drifter | A_Drifter

    • 10:34am EST - March 5th, 2013

    I do have to say that I wasn't really impressed with the GOW Franchise. (Let hate mail pour in.) I felt that it is a Carbon copy of the DMC series, (also not really a fan.)  I am a fan of puzzle games and beat em ups, but the way Kratos went about himself rubbed me the wrong way. Kratos is Sony's baby, and I understand that, but Kratos is treated like he is the end all be all character and that he puts other things to shame, while in fact he is a very flat character with no decernable relation to us the players. Consider Infamous 1 and Assassin's Creed 1, I liked both of these characters, they seemed resonable and had a personality, but then the studios or the publishers felt that the characters were unrelatable to the audience... -_-  

  18. Tears0fBlood | Bl00dC0mplex

    • 11:38am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Kratos is in no way a flat character, compared to most protoganists he's quite interesting to say the least. The way he does things may not be the right or best way but its a lot of fun, and makes him one of few very grey characters.

  19. PermanentlyAngry

    • 11:45am EST - March 5th, 2013

    Each to their own I guess. I can understand people not liking God of War, I really can. It is a no holds bared hack and slash game that is over the top and bombastic in a way that makes Michael Bay look tame in comparison. I have to admit the series is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine. I'm normally more likely to list games like Ico or Okami as favourites, but I do love me a bit of mindless Kratos themed violence. Sure the bloke is 2D in terms of his character, and is arguably as shallow as a puddle, BUT... and it is a big BUT (he he big butt, ahem) you can't really fairly judge the story arc in GoW3 without having played the first two games. Yep, you can comment on gameplay and it's repetitive nature or otherwise. You can even pick apart the graphics, sound, AI and whatever else. However, slating a game that has had a consistent story arc from the first game onwards, including some backstory infill on from the PSP games, on its story without having experienced them all is bad form, and poor journalism in my book. Your entitled to your opinion, but if you are going to give an opinion it is encumbent on you to inform yourself about that topic as much as you can, which sadly I have to say you clearly haven't done.

  20. Kauldron

    • 12:11pm EST - March 5th, 2013

    For the record. God of War: Ascension is not God of War IV.

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  • Related game: God of War III

    Release date (US):
    March 16th, 2010
    Developer:
    SCE Santa Monica
    Genre:
    Action - Adventure
    Rank:
    13 of 2,395 Games
    Up 0 places (in last 7 days)

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