I must admit, I did jump in at the deep end and start on Chaos mode as I'm a bit of a 3rd person button mash master but, even I ran in to a couple of proverbial brick walls with the likes of the Labyrinth exiting "battle royale".
However, as a whole, the game was enjoyable and actually had me humming "Hold devil's pot of tea" the whole bloody day at work. If you have a PS3, I would say this is a definite must for your collection!
So, the story... spanning over 3 games, I'll try to keep it short!:
Areas keeps attacking Athena's worshippers because she's Zeus' favourite child and as a result, she approaches Kratos and offers him not only freedom of his servitude but, also freedom from the nightmares IF he can kill Ares. He's obviously pretty pissed at Ares anyway and being a slave ain't much fun either so, goes on this big quest to find Pandora's Box. Long story short, he finds it, kills Ares and although his sins are forgiven, the nightmares are still with him. He can't take the sorrow and pain any more and decides to throw himself off a cliff only to be saved by Athena who makes him the NEW god of war as a reward. However, Kratos' thirst for revenge is not complete and being very angry at the broken promises made to him for killing Ares, decides to join a Spartan army in turning over the city of Rhodes. Athena and the other gods are a little funny with him anyway because his was not born an Olympian but instead, a bastard. So, Athena decides to strip Kratos of his godly powers and uses them to do a Ghostbusters 2 and bring a giant statue to life (talk about make a dude angry!). Being a demigod, Kratos needs help in defeating it and so, Zeus offers him the Blade of Olympus which is useless unless he empties what's left of his powers into it... so he does and then is stabbed by Zeus and killed (SUPER PISSED!) Gaia (the earth Titan) saves him because she wants revenge on Zeus also and so, he goes on a revenge mission against Zeus destroying everything that stands in his way. During his final confrontation with Zeus, Athena gets in the way and is shanked with the blade of Olympus but, tells Kratos that Zeus is actually his father and was scared that he'd do the same thing to him that Zeus had done to his parents, the Titans. The Titans climb mount Olympus to overthrow the gods and Kratos ride Gaia like the earth Titan she is (WHAT!?). At it's summit, Zeus manages to knock both Gaia and Kratos of the mountain but, Gaia manages to grab on just before they plummet to their demise... Kratos on the over hand, isn't so lucky and can't hang on. He calls to Gaia to help him but, is denied by her and falls off the mountain to his death. Landing in the river Styx, Kratos survives the fall and is now probably as angry as he could probably get and goes on an all out DESTROY EVERYTHING mission.
You play as Kratos.
He's a very angry man because in the first game, Ares (the god of war) made him a slave in return for killing his enemies in a battle he was losing against some barbarians and then tricked him into killing his own wife and child. Not only did he kill them but, as a reminder of his sin, their ashes were burnt onto his skin and he can't sleep without having nightmares of the moment he murdered them!
Not happy with just finishing it there, Kratos goes back in time (see what happens when you piss someone off THAT much) to The Great War and helps the Titans to not only win but, brings them back to the present with him (now THAT is seriously angry!).
Needless to say, everyone who gets in his way dies in some very interesting yet, highly violent ways. Bit of advice, NEVER ask Kratos for help if it will slow him down!!
If you would like a better detailed description of the plot, check out wikipedia... it's all there!
When playing God of War 3 and looking into the success it's had (along with why I also enjoyed playing it) I was forced into analysing the elements that made the game.
The obvious stuck out instantly:
- Sex
- Fantasy action
- Extreme violence
- Compelling and complex storyline
- Characters who actually wind you up so, you can't wait to kill them
There were a few other points like the voice actors used, seriously dramatic soundtrack, amazing visuals/art work etc... but, what stuck with me were the controls.
I was told once how to do something (and maybe reminded again later when I was flapping around like a moron not knowing what to do) and wasn't told to press the right stick in, down on the d-pad, rotate the right analogue stick while tapping O and X to the rhythm of "We are the cheeky girls" to do a right hook attack.
Instead, they kept it simple... Light attack, Heavy attack, Grapple, Jump, Block and Dodge. Sure there's an item button but, it's something you can tap in the middle of a fight by mistake and it'll have a positive impact on the situation!
What I also liked about God of War 3 were the "fixed" camera angles which reminded me of Devil May Cry and Resident Evil. You knew the enemy was to the left of you character and so, pressed left to face them or right to flee like girl. A lot of games that give you control and you just end up running into a wall attacking the sky because you've accidentally nudged the camera control.
I think what impressed me the most (and believe me, a LOT of games since the likes of Metal Gear Solid have lacked this) was an amazing soundtrack and characters you can say "I fully understand why he's THAT angry".
Metal Gear Solid is a good example as everyone remembers...
OR
The fight with Gray Fox in Otacon's working space (not to mention Otacon pissing himself in the cupboard!)
These were both EPIC moments in gaming history as the game went from:
What I'm trying to get at is games recently have lost that connection which makes you go back to them 4 or 5 times even though no matter how many times you complete it, you get a sense of achievement.
So, I'm doing a list of EPIC GAMING MOMENTS!
These are some of my favourites that actually made me sit back and go "Fuck me, that was awesome!" :
- The Psycho Mantis fight (Metal Gear Solid)
- Dante vs. Phantom (Devil May Cry)
- Prologue: "The Clock Tower" (Bayonetta)
- The FINAL Zeus fight (God of War III)
- THE Stairs (Ninja Gaiden II)
- The Scarab/Death boss (Kingdom Hearts)
- Malus (Shadow of the Colossus)
- Omega Weapon (Final Fantasy VIII)
- Mother Brain (Super Metroid)
- Liquid Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid 4)
Those are some of mine... what are yours?
