KOCHI: The word ‘epic’ is arguably one of the most overused words in gaming. It’s quite unfortunate, therefore, that it also happens to be the best possible description of God of War 3 — which, at the time of its release in 2010, was meant to be an end to Kratos’ story. Now, with a new God of War game set to release this year, we know that that wasn’t exactly the case; and yet, God of War 3 remains the finale to the story of the Ghost of Sparta.
A quick recap — the God of War series is the tale of how a haunted Spartan named Kratos sought vengeance for his murdered family. In the course of his quest, he’d fight and defeat Ares (hence the name of the game) and the Sisters of Fate, among others; and in God of War 3, he’s going up against the remaining gods and goddesses of Olympus, but he’s got a particular axe to grind with Zeus.
From its introductory sequence — and I could write pages about that sequence — God of War 3 raises the bar. The opening scene of God of War 2 (forever to be known as ‘the Colossus scene’) was easily one of the most cinematic introductions to a game that I’ve ever seen; and yet, God of War 3 didn’t just match it, they beat it! From there, the game never lets up. It sustained the murderous tempo set by its predecessors, and along the way, pretty much rewrote the book on what boss fights should be. The sheer sense of scale involved in most of them boggles the mind; sadly, you’re often too busy trying to stay alive to properly appreciate them, which makes a second playthrough almost mandatory.
As far as gameplay goes, God of War 3 doesn’t reinvent the wheel. If you didn’t like how the earlier games played, you won’t find anything here to change your mind. It’s still the same brand of ultra-violent arcade-like carnage and mayhem, and it’s a blast.Graphically as well, this game was miles ahead of its predecessors. Kratos, in particular, looks far more detailed than he’s been. Not that that makes him any less angry, but at least he looks quite natty as he slices through hordes of enemies.
The backgrounds too are spectacular, and worth a mention — my jaw dropped on more than one occasion. The camera deserves a shout-out here as well, because it does a phenomenal balancing act between appreciating the gorgeous visuals on display and cueing players in on what they need to be doing.
I’d like to give a special mention here to the introductory movie. Not only did it do an absolutely phenomenal job of summarising the events of the first two games for those who needed a refresher, it had wonderfully designed visuals based on stylised artwork. The overall effect was extremely striking and, though the same style is used for a couple of other cut scenes as well, I can only wish that it had been used even more.God of War 3 is that rare beast — a finale that sticks the landing. In my opinion, it is the ending that the God of War series both needed and deserved.
If you’d like to
rampage through Greek mythologyface off against gods, goddesses, monsters and Titansexperience the conclusion to one of gaming’s best revenge stories ...you should play God of War 3!