God of War III Review
- Posted March 8th, 2010 at 17:08 EDT by Adam Dolge
- 21,036 views
- 62 Comments
Review Score
- PSU Review Score
- 9.5
- Avg. user review score:
- 9.3
Summary
God of War III is the best entry in the series, hands down, and one of the best action-adventure games of this generation. Kratos' journey comes to an end, along with the trilogy, in an explosion of fluid combat, mammoth environments, and a superb narrative.
We like
- The combat, combos, and boss battles are by far the best in the series
- Lighting is as much a part of the game as the combat
- The enormous scale of the environments
We dislike
- The occasional button-trigger glitches
- Saying goodbye to the trilogy
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Since the God of War series launched in 2005, we’ve journeyed alongside Kratos through the depths of hell, annihilated hordes of demonic creatures in a gory clash, and defeated Ares to take his place as the new God of War. It’s a franchise based heavily on intense, fluid combat, enormous boss battles, gruesome finishing moves, and a story that spans the emotions of anger, fear, and revenge. To put it simply – the games are absolutely brilliant and a joy to play. All of that praise for two games from last generation is well deserved, but was Sony able to close out the trilogy with a bang? We advise you to remove any notions you have about why the series is so enjoyable to play, because God of War III absolutely blows the other games out of the park.
God of War III is an action-adventure game releasing next week exclusively for the PlayStation 3, marking the final chapter in the trilogy and bringing the curtains down on the story and struggles of Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior on a quest to take on Mt. Olympus and the Gods. Developer Sony Santa Monica Studios has taken everything we loved about the first three games (that includes Chains of Olympus on PSP), and made the controls tighter, the combos more satisfying, the violence more gory, the environments more complex and lush, and the gameplay more seamless.
This is a spoiler free review, so we’ll be brief in explaining the story. The game picks up after the events of God of War II as Kratos, joined by the Titans, makes his final attack on Mt. Olympus. That’s all you need to know and all the specifics we’ll share. The story is strong, and again tugs heavily on emotions like fear, anger, and redemption, though if we’re being honest, isn’t quite as compelling as the first two games. Still, if there are moments that feel repetitive or overly familiar, the last couple hours (and the ending) provide undoubtedly one of the best gaming experiences of this generation.
The combat is virtually flawless. You can almost feel the impact of each blade sinking into an enemy. Kratos swings his blades above his head, jumps in the air and destroys five enemies before touching the ground. He throws his blades into a beast’s chest, and pulls himself into the opponent (Scorpion-style from Mortal Kombat) in one flawless motion. You’ll take on even more foes at once than in the previous games. This all works out fine because Kratos is stronger than ever, and with his new arsenal of weapons, abilities, and combos, even the biggest bosses or vast hordes of hellhounds can be defeated. Furthermore, if you are a fan of Greek mythology, you may also be happy to hear that you can tame and ride some classic creatures. You’ll typically ride a beast in a battle situation, but there are other occasions where you’ll use one to cross platforms or solve puzzles.
The new weapons offer an even greater variety of combat options than previous iterations. Whereas before you could rely on one or two weapons through most of the game, in God of War III each weapon serves a purpose, and in nearly all instances they can be used against any enemy. There are even some large battles where you’ll want to cycle through a few weapons to take advantage of your enemies’ weaknesses. At no point does changing weapons become distracting or disorienting. Each of the weapons is associated with a specific magic ability, meaning you’ll need to switch weapons to change magic abilities. Indeed, the ability to change weapons quickly during battles makes for a more streamlined and fluid combat experience. We absolutely love some of the new weapons – our favorite, The Cestus, can bash both enemies and objects to work through puzzles.
Puzzles are alive and well in God of War III. Like the previous games, you are tasked with pulling levers to rotate stone objects, and placing dead bodies on moveable tiles to open barriers. The puzzles can be difficult and time-consuming, but they are a welcome break from the relentless battles. The best thing about the puzzles in God of War III is how they play ... (continued on next page)
Comments
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Yuuichi
- 5:24pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 5
They gonna milk this franchise worse than COD after this game, and no matter how bad the other games will be(cause you they gonna rush most of them) itll get good reviews, or they will take thier time, prob make another PSP game, then something GOW agian for PS3. LEts hope they take thier time.
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squirrelbo1
- 5:24pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 6
really cant wait and this review make sme even more hyped.
also in light or recent critisism, this is a very enjoyable article and you make some very valid points.
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Adam Dolge
- 5:27pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 7
@6 - thanks - You guys are going to LOVE this game. Looking forward to seeing the threads about the story and the ending.
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TheDarkKnight
- 5:33pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 8
i played the demo and its made me buy the game and no demo has persuaded me to buy a game.
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alrightiwill333
- 5:35pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 9
normally i dont read through reviews in case of spoilers... an this will be no exception :D
but i'm glad that when i skimmed through the review that the game is 12-15 hours long. seeing as the game comes out 2 days after paddy's day, it'll be the greatest hangover over cure ever XD
enjoy your epic gaming PSU from ireland :D
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neoxthexone
- 6:09pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 12
@5
Sony isn't Activision....GOW games don't come out every year year so your comparision is silly. Also want to add that Sony even said they putting away GOW franchise.
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knowledge4lyfe
- 6:55pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 13
i really dont care that the game got a 9.5 and not a 10. but you are deducting points because its the end of the story?? is this a joke. and a little button glithc?? really?? but bayonetta gets a 9, but your problems are :
We dislike
- Combat can at times prove overwhelming
- Some minor visual quibbles and bland textures
- The horrible load times
am i missing something?? or are you afraid that if you give it a 10 people will call you biased because your a playstation site??? please explain that to me?
also MINOR VISUAL QUIBBLES AND BLAND TEXTURES?? some are horrible. plus slow down.
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knowledge4lyfe
- 7:49pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 18
at #16. im not bugging out. im just curious as to y bayonneta gets a 9 when it had many more flaws. and they take .5 off because of it being the end of the series. and you gotta be a fool not to think a game can get a 10. why the heck would the scale go to 10 then if it cant be attained. thats quite ignorant.
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Thorzilla
- 7:53pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 19
Some of you people should smoke some weed, have sex or just throw yourselves off a cliff (yes, goes at you knowledge4lyfe).
Is a 9.5 not a decent enough score? No damn game is perfect. The moment a site gives a 10 is when a site loses all its credibility for falling into bias-ness.
Team Xbox didn't give Halo 3 a 10, you idiot, they gave it a 9.
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thegame97338
- 8:16pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 21
Hey PSU gave MGS a perfect 10, so whats the deal, it is a great game, it had its flaws, like MGO, too long of cutscenes, GOW3 is a 10, I've never wanted to play a game more then GOW3, no other series like it, not even MGS.....
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knowledge4lyfe
- 9:03pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 23
awww thorzilla you sad cause someone else has an opinion. i got a wife, a daughter and son. so stfu. i was just making a comment on my thoughts. you dont like it go play with yourself. but halo 3 got a 9. whoop-d-doooo. the game sucked. there was no major improvements from 2 except forge. yipppeeeeeeeeee. f-ing idiot.
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knowledge4lyfe
- 9:09pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 25
her thorzilla. you say" No damn game is perfect. The moment a site gives a 10 is when a site loses all its credibility for falling into bias-ness." go look at psu.com score of uncharted 2. its a 10. so do us all a favor and leave this sire. since it loses "credibility" right??
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UziPinkyRing
- 9:40pm GMT - March 8th, 2010
- 26
I must say all the PSU reviews I have ever read are really good and enjoyable to read. It's true gamers writing for gamers. Really all there points are valid. +rep to review team/guy :D. ONE WEEK LEFT!
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PSX_Legend
- 12:25am GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 31
"And so it ends...after a long bloodshed and twisted souls his power is more than before and olympus will fall and he but only HE will remain to claim control over the earth"
just made up that by myself :P
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darkprince650
- 4:00am GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 33
@13.... Honestly... i think the whole disliking the fact that it's the final game of the trilogy isn't why they are giving it a 9.5... that's meant to be more of a joke.... you just took it in every literal sense
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Adam Dolge
- 4:04am GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 34
@33 - you nailed it man. Although, it is sad it's all over, we are more making light of the fact the trilogy is all over.
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Shadowcoust
- 3:11pm GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 35
I'm sorry, but "saying goodbye to the trilogy" was a downside? Erm. really, what..? Sh1t, if I didn't say goodbye to the story at this point, I would prolly give this game a 5 / 10 - Totally not a big fan of games that drag on for eons with the same bullcrap plot extension such as, (casual) Devil May Cry series.
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Suzano-O
- 3:19pm GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 36
First of all, I'd like to say (once again) that a 10/10 DOES NOT = a perfect game...
Also, a "perfect game" isn't exactly unattainable, either...
Anyways, good review...I expect to see more scores like these in the next week (embargo's been lifted, right?)...
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SefirothPH
- 11:27pm GMT - March 9th, 2010
- 40
@5 Santa Monica said that this was the last game in the series, and even if thats a lie, they probably respect their work too much to let their games become COD, or Halo lol. Infinity Ward and Bungie can't come up with anything new ^-^
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CerBeRuS_n1n3
- 1:16am GMT - March 10th, 2010
- 41
Well 9.5 is still great. Besides, Adam and Morgan with X Play gave it a 5 out of 5. They DID give it a perfect score and those two are brutally honest when a game isn't quite up to par, they don't pull any punches. Also, they didn't mention ANYTHING about a button glitch in the game, so perhaps PSU's problems are isolated to the copy they were playing. Oh well, whatever the case, I can hardly wait a week for this. It's going to be the KING of Epic games.
Quote: Adam Sessler from X Play on the review of GoW III: "Quite simply, if you have a Playstation 3 GET THIS GAME and if you don't have a Playstation 3, GET a Playstation 3 and then GET THIS GAME. It's that damn good."
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Flashjoker
- 4:23pm GMT - March 10th, 2010
- 43
how are you gonna dislike the game because its the last of the trilogy.
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StrasniKula
- 8:20pm GMT - March 10th, 2010
- 44
again...........you cant comparing others games with this one......this one is on top food chain..........salute!!!!
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Shadow77
- 11:03pm GMT - March 14th, 2010
- 50
It doesn't really matter what score they give it. Gamer critics and movie critics are alike. Most of the time they pick movies and games apart (in this case it got a good score), then the fans come along and love them. It is all a matter of opinion. From what I have seen and played the game is going to be incredible. Picking up my collectors edition Tuesday.
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