Platform: PlayStation 3
Genre: 1-Player Action/Adventure
Developer: Santa Monica Studio
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Release: 16.03.2010 NA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZHSGckREdY&hd=1
*GoWII spoiler alert*
"Set in the realm of brutal Greek mythology, God of War III is a single-player game that allows players to take on the climatic role of the ex-Spartan warrior, Kratos, as he scales through the intimidating heights of Mt. Olympus and the dark depths of Hell to seek revenge on those who have betrayed him. Armed with double-chained blades, and an array of new weapons and magic for this iteration of the trilogy, Kratos must take on mythology's darkest creatures while solving intricate puzzles throughout his merciless quest to destroy Olympus." - Excerpt from main website
God of War II ended with the Titans ascending Mount Olympus to take the war to the Gods. We were treated to a view of Kratos being carried up on the back of Gaea. God of War III is the direct sequel and continuation of part two. GoW3 is to be the last installment of the story started with the original God of War. It will, however, not be the last game in the franchise.
The God of War series is known for its over-the-top violence, blood and gore as well as its visceral and fluid gameplay. You play the entire game as a bad-ass spartan warrior who has short swords attached to chains permanently welded to his arms.
"God of War III is expected to feature gameplay similar to that of previous installments. Only four weapons have been confirmed so far: the Blades of Athena, the Blade of Olympus, Apollo's Bow, and the Cestus, a pair of fist gauntlets shaped like lion heads. This new weapon appears to have the ability to smash through solid objects such as rocks and plowing through enemy shields, as well as a slightly smaller range than the extending chains as the Blades of Athena. The Golden Fleece appears on Kratos' arm in gameplay trailers and the demo, and the Icarus' wings, showing that he keeps both from his adventure in God of War II." - Excerpt from Wikipedia
God of War III Update: Rushing Olympus
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot Posted Mar 1, 2010 4:33 pm PT
Where Kratos treads, gods tremble. We tackle the opening scenes of Sony's upcoming action game.
God of War III is set to kick 2010 off with a bloody bang for the PlayStation 3. The game will wrap up the story of its main character and poster boy for carnage, Kratos, who's had a bone to pick with the Greek pantheon for a while now. GOWIII has impressed us ever since we first saw it last year. A playable demo--complete with centaur gutting and sun god mangling--as well as a compilation disc of the first two games in the series ensure that fans will be suitably riled up for Kratos's big finish. Sony recently held an event to show off an essentially final version of the game and let us play through the opening sequence. While the opener was pretty brief--roughly 25 minutes or so--it definitely sets GOWIII up to live up to the incredibly high expectations set for it.
The game's opening has all the makings of an old-timey joke that starts something like "A rage-filled demigod and a pack of crabby Titans go into Olympus…" But, unfortunately, "and the gods all died horribly" doesn't work as a satisfying punch line. However, it does all work pretty spectacularly as a game opener. GOWIII picks up right where the previous game ended, with Kratos and a mob of Titans scaling their way up Mount Olympus eager to give the surviving Greek gods a whuppin'. The gorgeous opening cinematic, all rendered in real time via the game's jaw-dropping graphics engine, zooms around to give players a dazzling view of Olympus and the surrounding land before resting on Kratos who's just itching for a fight as he rides on Gaia's shoulder.
As fearsome as Kratos's mob may be, the gods aren't exactly trembling in fear: Zeus, Hades, Hermes, Helios, and Poseidon are more than willing to throw down with the oncoming mob, which is exactly what each heads off to do. Poseidon is the most pressing threat in the opening because he creates a watery creature to yank the advancing Titans off the mountain. Your immediate concern when you get control of Kratos is to deal with the various enemies appearing on Gaia intent on stopping you. Once Gaia is nabbed by Poseidon's creature, you'll have to deal with that as well. This isn't much of a problem due to Kratos's powered-up status at the start of the game, and given what the last two games were like, we don't expect that will last, but it sure is nice.
The short sequence we played was a dynamic rollercoaster that saw Kratos skittering up Gaia's arm while the Titans crawled up Olympus and dealing with assorted enemies, including Poseidon's water creature, as well as the sea god himself. The intro offered another showcase for the impressive Titan gameplay that has the environment change around Kratos on the fly. In the space of a few minutes, we were running normally, hanging upside down, and crawling up--all off of Gaia's arm. The cinematic shifts looked great and helped mix up the game's pacing to good effect. Along the way, we got the chance to do just about everything we were expecting as Kratos (stabbing, punching, eviscerating, and goring anything in our way) along with some new perks (using enemies as a battering ram; a much more visceral way to kill) that fit in nicely. At the moment, we're big fans of the evolving levels courtesy of riding a Titan, and we can't say enough about the new mechanics involved in deicide. While the series has always been on the cutting edge of god-murdering, we'll go out on a limb to say GOWIII offers the most visceral experience the series has seen yet, thanks to a good mix of button pressing along with a wicked use of the R3 and L3 buttons.
God of War III's visuals handily set a new high watermark on the PlayStation 3, thanks to their insane level of detail, sheer scope, and impressive art direction. One key thing to note is that the game looks a lot better than the recent PlayStation Network demo. The static environments are gorgeous, and the Titans--living, moving environments in their own right--look fantastic. The assorted enemies on display, both big and small, are a sight to behold--and that's before Kratos guts them. The violence in the game is as over the top as ever with the added benefit of HD viscera and blood…so much blood. Our favorite element so far is the creative camera work that zips through first-, third-, and second-person angles during god murdering. At the center of everything is Kratos, who's never looked better. The package is topped off by some jaw-dropping lighting effects, smooth animation, and a steady frame rate that we haven't seen waver--even when things onscreen are going nuts.
The game's audio is the perfect complement to its stunning visuals. The franchise's score has always aimed high and helped sell each entry's scale. The music in God of War III stays the course and serves up some truly epic accompaniment to the onscreen action. The score we've heard so far has matched the onscreen action perfectly and packs the punch of a movie score. The voice acting in the game is a top notch as ever, rooted in Linda Hunt's fantastic narration and T.C. Carson's rage-filled voicing of Kratos. The supporting cast seems to be stepping up to Hunt and Carson's level--for as long as they're alive anyway. Did we mention there's a whole lot of dying going on?
While the expectations of God of War III border on incredibly high, the game looks like it's most certainly ready to meet them. So far it's hitting all the notes fans of the series would want and adding more than a few new ones to boot. God of War III is slated to ship March 13 for the PlayStation 3.
original article
By Ricardo Torres, GameSpot Posted Mar 1, 2010 4:33 pm PT
Where Kratos treads, gods tremble. We tackle the opening scenes of Sony's upcoming action game.
God of War III is set to kick 2010 off with a bloody bang for the PlayStation 3. The game will wrap up the story of its main character and poster boy for carnage, Kratos, who's had a bone to pick with the Greek pantheon for a while now. GOWIII has impressed us ever since we first saw it last year. A playable demo--complete with centaur gutting and sun god mangling--as well as a compilation disc of the first two games in the series ensure that fans will be suitably riled up for Kratos's big finish. Sony recently held an event to show off an essentially final version of the game and let us play through the opening sequence. While the opener was pretty brief--roughly 25 minutes or so--it definitely sets GOWIII up to live up to the incredibly high expectations set for it.
The game's opening has all the makings of an old-timey joke that starts something like "A rage-filled demigod and a pack of crabby Titans go into Olympus…" But, unfortunately, "and the gods all died horribly" doesn't work as a satisfying punch line. However, it does all work pretty spectacularly as a game opener. GOWIII picks up right where the previous game ended, with Kratos and a mob of Titans scaling their way up Mount Olympus eager to give the surviving Greek gods a whuppin'. The gorgeous opening cinematic, all rendered in real time via the game's jaw-dropping graphics engine, zooms around to give players a dazzling view of Olympus and the surrounding land before resting on Kratos who's just itching for a fight as he rides on Gaia's shoulder.
As fearsome as Kratos's mob may be, the gods aren't exactly trembling in fear: Zeus, Hades, Hermes, Helios, and Poseidon are more than willing to throw down with the oncoming mob, which is exactly what each heads off to do. Poseidon is the most pressing threat in the opening because he creates a watery creature to yank the advancing Titans off the mountain. Your immediate concern when you get control of Kratos is to deal with the various enemies appearing on Gaia intent on stopping you. Once Gaia is nabbed by Poseidon's creature, you'll have to deal with that as well. This isn't much of a problem due to Kratos's powered-up status at the start of the game, and given what the last two games were like, we don't expect that will last, but it sure is nice.
The short sequence we played was a dynamic rollercoaster that saw Kratos skittering up Gaia's arm while the Titans crawled up Olympus and dealing with assorted enemies, including Poseidon's water creature, as well as the sea god himself. The intro offered another showcase for the impressive Titan gameplay that has the environment change around Kratos on the fly. In the space of a few minutes, we were running normally, hanging upside down, and crawling up--all off of Gaia's arm. The cinematic shifts looked great and helped mix up the game's pacing to good effect. Along the way, we got the chance to do just about everything we were expecting as Kratos (stabbing, punching, eviscerating, and goring anything in our way) along with some new perks (using enemies as a battering ram; a much more visceral way to kill) that fit in nicely. At the moment, we're big fans of the evolving levels courtesy of riding a Titan, and we can't say enough about the new mechanics involved in deicide. While the series has always been on the cutting edge of god-murdering, we'll go out on a limb to say GOWIII offers the most visceral experience the series has seen yet, thanks to a good mix of button pressing along with a wicked use of the R3 and L3 buttons.
God of War III's visuals handily set a new high watermark on the PlayStation 3, thanks to their insane level of detail, sheer scope, and impressive art direction. One key thing to note is that the game looks a lot better than the recent PlayStation Network demo. The static environments are gorgeous, and the Titans--living, moving environments in their own right--look fantastic. The assorted enemies on display, both big and small, are a sight to behold--and that's before Kratos guts them. The violence in the game is as over the top as ever with the added benefit of HD viscera and blood…so much blood. Our favorite element so far is the creative camera work that zips through first-, third-, and second-person angles during god murdering. At the center of everything is Kratos, who's never looked better. The package is topped off by some jaw-dropping lighting effects, smooth animation, and a steady frame rate that we haven't seen waver--even when things onscreen are going nuts.
The game's audio is the perfect complement to its stunning visuals. The franchise's score has always aimed high and helped sell each entry's scale. The music in God of War III stays the course and serves up some truly epic accompaniment to the onscreen action. The score we've heard so far has matched the onscreen action perfectly and packs the punch of a movie score. The voice acting in the game is a top notch as ever, rooted in Linda Hunt's fantastic narration and T.C. Carson's rage-filled voicing of Kratos. The supporting cast seems to be stepping up to Hunt and Carson's level--for as long as they're alive anyway. Did we mention there's a whole lot of dying going on?
While the expectations of God of War III border on incredibly high, the game looks like it's most certainly ready to meet them. So far it's hitting all the notes fans of the series would want and adding more than a few new ones to boot. God of War III is slated to ship March 13 for the PlayStation 3.
original article
God of War III: Hands-on with the Opening Moments
We pick up right from the beginning and play through another epic intro.
by Chris Roper
March 1, 2010 - Kratos' finale (for now) is nearly upon us with the release of God of War III only weeks away. Outside of a few great trailers and the E3 demo, there haven't been many details made available about what will be in store for the Spartan warrior in the first PlayStation 3 title from Sony's Santa Monica studio. That changed a bit last week as I was able to play through the opening moments of the game, and what an opening it is.
I'm not going to walk through its content point-for-point as there should be some surprises left in store for you, but it's impossible to talk about it without spoiling anything. If you want to go in to the experience completely fresh, then avert your eyes.
Click the image to see the latest God of War III trailer.
God of War III opens up right where God of War II ended with Kratos riding on Gaia ascending Mount Olympus along with a Titan army to take down the gods. The sense of scale in this scene is incredible. As Gaia moves, the trees and foliage around you sway appropriately and the ground shifts beneath your feet. In the background, you can see other Titans climbing the mountain, fighting off Olympian forces.
The game often shifts between cinematic views of the bigger picture and your own, relatively small-scale efforts on Gaia. One really cool thing to note is that outside of some nice Flash-esque cinematics that you'll see to tell the backstory, there are zero CG cutscenes in God of War III. Some sequences were too intense for the engine to handle in real time so the frames were exported and played back as a video to keep everything smooth, but there's no post-processing or image fakery going on. The result is that for the untrained eye, the cuts between the two are seamless.
There have been some rather lofty claims tossed around about God of War III's graphics, and I'm happy to say that they're all true. This game looks stunning, not only due to the unheard of sense of scale, but largely because the texture detail is sharp as a razor and the lighting is film-like. Kratos is probably the single best-looking character ever seen in a videogame. While he looks great from afar, when the camera pans in up close and you can see just how detailed the texture work on him is, you will be floored. What used to be a blanketed white canvas to portray the ash affixed to his body now actually looks real with tons of detail and subtlety. Really, it has to be seen to be believed.
While the sense of scale and visual prowess are the two aspects that served to be most impressive, I really liked two things that happen in these opening moments. First, Sony Santa Monica starts things out big and you wind up killing a god within the first 15 minutes or so. It's a good fight that ends with one of the most brutal beatings I've ever seen in a game. That leads me to the second thing that I took notice of, which is that the studio is no longer afraid to really play with the camera. When Kratos finishes off the god (whose identity I won't spoil here), the camera cuts to a view from the unfortunate deity's eyes a few times, meaning you see Kratos from a first-person perspective punching and kicking the god into submission. And when you get the prompt to press down on L3 and R3 simultaneously for the finale, you'll almost assuredly be squirming uncomfortably in your seat.
I don't really want to give out too many other details as it'll take away from an opening that you should really experience for the first time on your own, but know that God of War III follows nicely in the footsteps of the previous releases with a huge, epic, awesome opening. Kratos' final push for revenge ships on March 16th, and the demo is available now on the PlayStation Network for those of you who haven't played it yet.
original article
We pick up right from the beginning and play through another epic intro.
by Chris Roper
March 1, 2010 - Kratos' finale (for now) is nearly upon us with the release of God of War III only weeks away. Outside of a few great trailers and the E3 demo, there haven't been many details made available about what will be in store for the Spartan warrior in the first PlayStation 3 title from Sony's Santa Monica studio. That changed a bit last week as I was able to play through the opening moments of the game, and what an opening it is.
I'm not going to walk through its content point-for-point as there should be some surprises left in store for you, but it's impossible to talk about it without spoiling anything. If you want to go in to the experience completely fresh, then avert your eyes.
Click the image to see the latest God of War III trailer.
God of War III opens up right where God of War II ended with Kratos riding on Gaia ascending Mount Olympus along with a Titan army to take down the gods. The sense of scale in this scene is incredible. As Gaia moves, the trees and foliage around you sway appropriately and the ground shifts beneath your feet. In the background, you can see other Titans climbing the mountain, fighting off Olympian forces.
The game often shifts between cinematic views of the bigger picture and your own, relatively small-scale efforts on Gaia. One really cool thing to note is that outside of some nice Flash-esque cinematics that you'll see to tell the backstory, there are zero CG cutscenes in God of War III. Some sequences were too intense for the engine to handle in real time so the frames were exported and played back as a video to keep everything smooth, but there's no post-processing or image fakery going on. The result is that for the untrained eye, the cuts between the two are seamless.
There have been some rather lofty claims tossed around about God of War III's graphics, and I'm happy to say that they're all true. This game looks stunning, not only due to the unheard of sense of scale, but largely because the texture detail is sharp as a razor and the lighting is film-like. Kratos is probably the single best-looking character ever seen in a videogame. While he looks great from afar, when the camera pans in up close and you can see just how detailed the texture work on him is, you will be floored. What used to be a blanketed white canvas to portray the ash affixed to his body now actually looks real with tons of detail and subtlety. Really, it has to be seen to be believed.
While the sense of scale and visual prowess are the two aspects that served to be most impressive, I really liked two things that happen in these opening moments. First, Sony Santa Monica starts things out big and you wind up killing a god within the first 15 minutes or so. It's a good fight that ends with one of the most brutal beatings I've ever seen in a game. That leads me to the second thing that I took notice of, which is that the studio is no longer afraid to really play with the camera. When Kratos finishes off the god (whose identity I won't spoil here), the camera cuts to a view from the unfortunate deity's eyes a few times, meaning you see Kratos from a first-person perspective punching and kicking the god into submission. And when you get the prompt to press down on L3 and R3 simultaneously for the finale, you'll almost assuredly be squirming uncomfortably in your seat.
I don't really want to give out too many other details as it'll take away from an opening that you should really experience for the first time on your own, but know that God of War III follows nicely in the footsteps of the previous releases with a huge, epic, awesome opening. Kratos' final push for revenge ships on March 16th, and the demo is available now on the PlayStation Network for those of you who haven't played it yet.
original article
GOD OF WAR III FINAL HANDS-ON PREVIEW
By Patrick Klepek - Posted March 01, 2010
I was so close, guys. I could have played God of War III from start to finish, but it would have required turning to physical violence...and I'm hoping to keep my job a little longer. See, a full version of God of War III was inside the PlayStation 3 in front of me at a God of War III event on Thursday, but a nearby member of the God of War III team pulled the controller out of my hands after finishing the first boss encounter in Kratos' possibly final adventure.
Before the machine was powered on however, I'd spent a palm-sweating 20 minutes with the opening to God of War III. There are few words that summarize God of War III besides an unfortunate but fitting cliche: epic. The scope of the third installment is terribly ambitious. The game opens with massive Titans crawling up Mt. Olympus, intent on taking down the gods.
What's so impressive about God of War III, however, is not that everything's done in real-time, it's that so much is happening all at once in real-time. Every few seconds, there are moments that could have easily been implemented by the team without much pain and suffering using pre-rendered video; instead, it's all happening in-engine. You'll be running forward on the backs of these gigantic creatures, fighting off enemies, leaping from platform-to-platform, while other Titans are scaling the same mountain to the left and right of you. Often times, these Titans will reach over and interact with you. It's a supremely impressive technical feat.
Really, though, it's better to let a video do the talking for me.
*video not included in copy*
It also served as a powerful reminder to games profoundly influenced by God of War, such as the recent Dante's Inferno (a game I reviewed and quite liked, actually): we were here first.
The game itself plays like you'd expect: God of War. It's hard to argue that's a bad thing. God of War III looks and plays like the God of War series, but taken to the Nth degree by a development team acutely aware of its strengths. Sometimes the amount of action happening in the background can prove distracting from the action, but that's pretty much complaining about the game being too good looking. I'll deal.
I have to put my foot down, though. Why do I have to hold a shoulder button to open every chest in God of War? I can take down gods, but I need to muster strength for a chest?!
Okay, okay, I'm nitpicking.
Soon, I won't have to complain about not being able to check out the rest of God of War III. In just a few weeks, we'll finally see how Kratos' story plays out. It can't come soon enough.
original article
By Patrick Klepek - Posted March 01, 2010
I was so close, guys. I could have played God of War III from start to finish, but it would have required turning to physical violence...and I'm hoping to keep my job a little longer. See, a full version of God of War III was inside the PlayStation 3 in front of me at a God of War III event on Thursday, but a nearby member of the God of War III team pulled the controller out of my hands after finishing the first boss encounter in Kratos' possibly final adventure.
Before the machine was powered on however, I'd spent a palm-sweating 20 minutes with the opening to God of War III. There are few words that summarize God of War III besides an unfortunate but fitting cliche: epic. The scope of the third installment is terribly ambitious. The game opens with massive Titans crawling up Mt. Olympus, intent on taking down the gods.
What's so impressive about God of War III, however, is not that everything's done in real-time, it's that so much is happening all at once in real-time. Every few seconds, there are moments that could have easily been implemented by the team without much pain and suffering using pre-rendered video; instead, it's all happening in-engine. You'll be running forward on the backs of these gigantic creatures, fighting off enemies, leaping from platform-to-platform, while other Titans are scaling the same mountain to the left and right of you. Often times, these Titans will reach over and interact with you. It's a supremely impressive technical feat.
Really, though, it's better to let a video do the talking for me.
*video not included in copy*
It also served as a powerful reminder to games profoundly influenced by God of War, such as the recent Dante's Inferno (a game I reviewed and quite liked, actually): we were here first.
The game itself plays like you'd expect: God of War. It's hard to argue that's a bad thing. God of War III looks and plays like the God of War series, but taken to the Nth degree by a development team acutely aware of its strengths. Sometimes the amount of action happening in the background can prove distracting from the action, but that's pretty much complaining about the game being too good looking. I'll deal.
I have to put my foot down, though. Why do I have to hold a shoulder button to open every chest in God of War? I can take down gods, but I need to muster strength for a chest?!
Okay, okay, I'm nitpicking.
Soon, I won't have to complain about not being able to check out the rest of God of War III. In just a few weeks, we'll finally see how Kratos' story plays out. It can't come soon enough.
original article
PlayStation Official Magazine (UK) -- 9/10 -- 01.03.2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0DlDMcUSc0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cxx2hM-9c0U
