Even if GOW3 is not as deep as the first GOW, it is still truly epic & it provides a fitting ending to the trilogy.
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Visuals and production values: A+ (10/10)
Simply put, God of War III is one of the best looking games on the PlayStation 3; animations look amazing, the environments look stunning, all the effects (such as the lighting effects in dark places) look fantastic, and last but not least, the amount of detail that went into designing characters and textures will blow your mind!
Overall, the production values in this game are truly fantastic; from the topnotch graphics to the amazing sense of scale in battles and incredible cutscenes. The game is easily at the same level as Hollywood movies (or even better) when it comes to production values.
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Gameplay: A+ (9.5/10)
The gameplay is almost identical to all the other God of War games with some minor differences. For example, the magic system is completely different in this game; each weapon that you obtain contains a magic power that can be upgraded by upgrading that particular weapon. So instead of using the D-pad to choose your magic, you use it to choose your weapon and then by pressing R2, you can use the magic power of the weapon that you are holding. I personally think it's an improvement over the first two games simply because you don't have to go to the menu to choose your secondary weapon; all you have to do is pressing one of the buttons on the D-pad.
The basic gameplay formula in God of War games is pretty simple; it contains three elements: combat, platforming, and puzzle solving. Each game in the saga has done a really good job in making a great balance between these three elements. Same rule applies in God of War 3; the balance between the elements of the gameplay is very good. The game makes sure that the person who's playing never gets tired of mashing buttons to win the combats or gets bored of spending a long time on solving extremely hard puzzles. Speaking of puzzles, they are way easier in God of War 3 than the first two games. In my opinion, God of War 1 had the hardest puzzles, God of War 2 had some hard puzzles and some easy ones, but God of War 3's puzzles are all easy and can be solved within 20 to 30 minutes. Is that a bad thing? No. The puzzles in this game are easy, but some of them are really clever. Plus, if you want to get the bonus items, you need to spend more time on some of these puzzles to figure out how to get the extra items, which make the puzzle solving section of the game more challenging.
Combat is very similar to the previous games in the trilogy, but now Kratos has three new weapons and there are new combos and moves for each of these weapons to execute. There is really no point in going into details about these new moves and combos; you will easily learn them as you go through the game. You will also realize that the combos for the Blades of Chaos (that was the name of Kratos's blades from the first game, I can't remember what they are called in the third game) are exactly the same as before, which really pisses me off. I really wanted to see Kratos doing some crazy stuff with those blades, not the same moves as before. Well, to be honest, those old combos are still fun as hell to execute and it's still satisfying as hell to watch the enemies getting slaughtered by Kratos!
There is really not much else to say about the gameplay; the platforming is fun, but it could have been better. There are times where the camera does not cover the whole area or the platforms that you need to jump on, and due to the fact that you can't control the camera, it's a bit hard to judge whether you're going to land on the platform or not.
Overall, the gameplay is not different from the previous game, but it's not a bad thing; in my opinion, the gameplay has always been one of the strongest aspects of the God of War games, and same thing is true about God of War 3.
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Music and voice acting: A- (9.0/10)
The music of this game is just as epic as God of War 2; however, I still think God of War 1 had the best soundtrack. Most of the music in this game is very similar to what we have heard before in the previous God of War games or movies like Troy. Bottom line is that the music is epic and it fits the game perfectly, but it's not as good and original as God of War 1.
Voice acting is amazing, just like the other two games. Kratos's voice actor does a great job in making the gamer feel Kratos's anger. All the other voice actors have done a great job in delivering the dialogues.
Overall, the voice acting is very good and the music is epic, but like I said before, the music is not as good as the first God of War.
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Story: A- (9.0/10)
God of War 3 begins right after the end of God of War 2. Kratos seeks for vengeance; all he wants to see is the destruction of Olympus and the death of his father, Zeus. At the beginning of the game, he is on Gaia's back and they are climbing Mount Olympus (with the help of all the other titans) to reach Zeus and finish him once and for all. However; their first attempt to kill Zeus turns out to be a failure. After a surprising twist in the story, Kratos realizes that in order to kill Zeus and destroy Olympus, he needs to find the Flame of Olympus. If he finds the flame, Zeus will be weak and he can be defeated easily. Thus begins the final journey of the Ghost of Sparta.
The story of God of War 3 starts off epic, but after an hour or so it begins to slow down until near the end of the game; that is when the story really picks up and the ending will blow your mind! Trust me; it is one of the best endings I have ever seen in a video game. There were a few things that I didn't like about the storyline: first, it's not as deep as God of War 1, and second, some of the dialogues are a little bit shallow and cliché.
Note: If you haven't played the first two games, I strongly recommend you play them first. The reason I'm saying this is because it will be easier for you to get into the story of the third game. There is no real flash backs to fully explain the events of the first two games, which is fine because you can purchase God of War collection to play the first two games in the trilogy.
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Few minor issues that need to be mentioned:
-After you beat the game, Challenge of Olympus will be unlocked; this mode is just like Challenge of the Gods in God of War 1 and Challenge of the Titans in God of War 2. In the first two games, these challenges were really fun and it was hard to finish them; however, Challenge of Olympus in God of War 3 is not as good as the challenge modes from the first two games. I think one of the levels is actually a rehash from the first God of War. It's not really a big deal, but I thought it needs to be mentioned in this review.
-There is no real reason to play the game again on harder difficulties simply because there are no real bonuses or unlockables besides Challenge of Olympus and a gold trophy for beating the game on hard.
-You can't skip the cutscenes even if you are playing on the same difficulty as before for the second time. Don't get me wrong, the cutscenes are brilliant, but I don't want to watch them over and over again. It would have been better if you had the option to skip them.
-The last boss fight could have been a lot better.
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One fact that really impressed me:
-Two words: boss battles! They were all epic and fun to fight with. It wasn't really hard to figure out how to kill them, but it was still pretty epic.
One thing that blew my mind:
-The fight with Cronos was probably one of the most epic and brutal fights I've ever had in a video game. Words can't describe how huge Cronos was; his one finger was covering the whole screen!
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Final Words:
All in all, God of War 3 provides a fantastic and fitting ending to an epic trilogy. If you are a God of War fan, you obviously need to buy this game, but if you are just a fan of Action Adventure games and your goal is to play an excellent game in the genre, I would say rent God of War 3 because after beating it, there is not much to do (the game takes between 8 to 12 hours to finish depending on your skill and the difficulty level you are playing the game on).
I guess there is only one more thing I need to say before finishing this review: Thank you Sony Santa Monica for bringing us gamers this epic trilogy, and thank you for providing a brilliant ending to Kratos's saga.
Final Score: 9.3 / 10