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God of War III |OT|
- Thread starter Robot 492
- Start date
Katana_Strikes
Member
gumshoe said:
Yeah you can skip past those parts by doing that at no affect to the game. Though I did break the game at destroying the judges and trying for the chain once you 1st get there. Also don't use
Helious' Head
MazingerDUDE
Gold Member
Morpheus
Phantom of Chaos
Dominus
Now this one's GOW1 CG vs GOW3 in game
Phantom of Chaos
Dominus
Now this one's GOW1 CG vs GOW3 in game
RustyNails
Member
I have to say CG Kratos from GoW 1 was more evil looking whereas 2 and 3 Kratos are more angry looking.
TAJ said:
Jack Scofield
Member
I hope they release these costumes for free on PSN (though I doubt it), and I really hope that they release Kratos' god costume from GOW2. He looked awesome as the god of war.
I think it's a crappy design decision to only allow the player to use these costumes with their respective quirks activated. I wanna replay the game on Titan mode soon enough, and I want to play with the Fear Kratos skin, but they made a crappy decision to only let you use them with their "powers" on, shutting of trophies in the process. Boo!
MazingerDUDE
Gold Member
jett said:
nothing much, just some meaningless double the orbs, double the power crap.
I wish these costumes just served as cosmetic means, like in Ninja Gaiden games.
Giving it more flexibility (ie. change any time, start new game with it etc)
And they should've done all the cut scenes showing Kratoss in real time, or at least add seperate videos for each of them since we had 15 GB to spare.
MazingerDUDE
Gold Member
TTP said:
nope it doesn't
So I just finished God of War 3 and I thought Id share my thoughts on it.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. THE REVIEW IS 6 PAGES LONG AND I DIDN'T WANT TO GO THROUGH HIGHLIGHTING EACH AND EVERY LITTLE THING, SO THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING BEFORE YOU READ IT. IF YOU WANT TO QUOTE A CERTAIN SECTION, YOU WILL HAVE TO HIDE THE SPOILERS YOURSELF SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.
Before I begin, however, Id like to say a few things first. First and foremost, I enjoyed the game. This review is going to be pointing out mostly the negative aspects of it because all the good stuff has already been said and criticism stimulates better discussion anyway. Also, you should know that Im the kind of guy who likes to analyze and put things under a microscope. Even though Im about to complain about a million and one things, I honestly did enjoy the game.
The story is probably the games biggest flaw. When you get sent to Hades, Athena tasks you with retrieving the flame. To get the power to kill a god, specifically Zeus. This makes no sense. Kratos does not need to get the flame, he already has the power to kill Zeus (he nearly did so in GoW2 and would have finished the job if not for Athena), and he doesnt even need the blade of Olympus to kill a god (he killed Poseidon with his bare hands). This journey is entirely pointless. God of War has always had logic issues with its story, especially when time travel was thrown into the mix, but after beating the game twice and seeing the story unfold, I cannot think of a reason why Kratos would go after this power when he knows hes strong enough already. The only reason I can think of is because the developers wanted to shoehorn in the redemption journey and hope stuff for Kratos later on, so they made the plot develop unnaturally.
The ending has also been the subject of a lot of discussion, but while I didnt like it, Ive decided that its too ambiguous to determine its quality. Personally, what bothers me is the entire hope plot device. Yes, I know that in classic Greek mythology, hope was actually a force that could physically empower a person and make him accomplish deeds that would be impossible, but these are modern times. Here and now, we know that emotions and inclinations can motivate and empower a person spiritually to get a goal done, but hope as a tangible power up that actually physically empowered Kratos to kill Zeus and having it be something that could be literally given to other people is silly, stupid, and unrealistic. It being faithful to Greek mythology doesnt excuse it. Having a story end with a dues ex machine is also part of Greek mythology, but if Santa Monica suddenly resurrected Kratos wife and daughter and saved the world, then people would be rightfully pissed, so I dont see why this hope stuff should get a free pass.
It really just seems to me that they wanted an excuse to portray Kratos as noble. As I said, the whole thing really is pointless. When he killed the gods, would he not have freed mankind from the gods rule? The only difference is that they wouldnt have hope, but again, as an actual power, I feel its silly, especially when its already been shown that you dont need hope to kill a god, just enough brute force, which there must be more of in the world besides Kratos. Besides that, its out of character for Kratos to give a shit about the people. He was never shown to, even before Ares, the only people he was shown to care for was his family and Athena, so it makes no sense for him to give the power to the people (except maybe to screw Athena over, but if so, why not simply die with the power in him, taking it to his grave? It seems like a reasonable action, as it seems hope can only be given, else wise, she could have just taken it from mankind) But as I said, the ending relies way too much on personal interpretation to be definitively called good or bad. Its just my personal opinion that it doesnt stand up well.
The real problem I have with the plot, however, is that the damage goes beyond just giving us a pointless story. This search for Pandoras Box dominates every aspect of God of War after the Poseidon fight. Why did we have a giant scorpion boss fight when Hera, Hermes, and Helios barely got a fighting chance? The scorpion fight is more appropriate in the context of the story. Why is there a lack of focus on what the gods and titans are doing? We got to go find Pandoras box. Why must the player backtrack through areas a bunch of times? To get the fucking box.
Now, dont get me wrong. The level design in GoW is fucking awesomesauce. I was in absolute awe anytime I visited Hades. To put that statement into perspective, up until I entered Hades in GoW3, I was convinced I wouldnt be impressed by hellish and grimdark level design ever again because I was so desensitized to it from games, and bright, majestic, heavenly environments looked much better than any grimdark game environment Ive ever seen. But GoW3s Hades sold me back on the idea that hell can be an interesting place to explore. Great, great level design. However, GoW2 was basically shocking you every hour with some magnificent new location. By the time you get past the half way marker in GoW3, youve pretty much visited every location you are going to visit, stylistically speaking. And while Im speaking of level design, there are two minor points Id like to point out. I liked the sense of travel that was given by GoW2 by having you actually walk from place to place. Using teleportation portals is kind of weak, at least compared to that. And the other is that GoW3 lacks GoW2s varied color palette. Everything is dark and dreary. The wide range of colors in GoW2 emphasized how different each location was, so it was disappointing to see that gone.
But the real waste is that were not out there, fighting gods and titans. I cant help but blame the plot for this. The developers should have gone about this the way they went about GoW2, just going through Mt. Olympus, killing everything in your way, instead of making the player jump through hoops to get a power no one needed so they can awkwardly deliver what can be interpreted by certain people as a noble ending for Kratos. If not for that, we may have had greater location variety, a greater color palette, and more fights with gods and titans instead of the instead of the stream of cop outs and half fulfilled potential we were given.
Let me show you what I mean by that.
Take Hermes for example. They gave him a camp voice that throws out insults so weak that third graders would roll their eyes. Okay, maybe what they were going for was pissing off the player so that he would feel satisfaction when they finally killed him. But if so, it sure as hell didnt work on me. Even if it did work on you, honestly tell me if you dont think the scenario I give would have been better. What if instead of spewing the most obvious and generic lines at you, Santa Monica studios actually got some really good comedian to write the lines for Hermes. I cant give examples because I dont think Im witty enough to do the job right, but just imagine that the jokes he makes are creative, true, funny, but also hurtful and mocking, with a good voice actor that can pull off witty asshole without seeming obnoxious. In terms of gameplay, what if instead of just running around randomly and stopping, just to show that hes faster than Kratos, there was actually a point to his actions? Imagine if he actually lead Kratos into a trap, or at least an area thats advantageous to him so that he can provide a proper challenge instead of being weakened because Kratos throw a giant rock at the statue he was on (Personal thought here, but I thought that part was extremely lame and relatively unbelievable. The sense of agility and balance he gave in other scenes makes the whole thing seem silly. When I was throwing the thing, I kept thinking he would simply jump off the statue, but the propulsion Kratos got would allow him to finally catch him before he got away.). In my scenario, he would be funny enough to make the player laugh, making him both a dick to you, but also entertaining. Besides making him more memorable for his complexity, this would also generate more emotional response than just lulz, his legs got cut off when you finally beat him down. He would demonstrate tactics and strategy and would get a better fight than the one he got, making him a true challenge. In the game, he was a minor annoyance, but in my example, Id do my best to make him feel like the god he should have been. And even if you dont agree with my example, do you at least not agree that he should have been fucking funny? Hes the God of Wit and the best he could think up was So slow, Kratos!?
Also, this is a minor point, but Im being increasingly annoyed by how petty and unlikable everyone is in this game. Its like they just act like that because they want to make kratos look decent by comparison, but its annoying because it really leaves your opponents with no dignity. Hermes is annoying, Hera is a drunk, Zeus is a coward, etc. Couldnt they just have a character coming in and saying they are going to stop Kratos because he is a monster whos ruining lives all for his petty vengeance? Itd be a much more interesting situation than fighting a whiny Hercules because his daddy didnt hug him enough.
This extends to gameplay as well. In another GoW thread, I posted my negative thoughts on what we saw of an early video of the Poseidon fight, and (after much flaming) that actually sparked an interesting debate about how aggressive and complex enemies are allowed to be and in what games. In the case of GoW, some argued that because Kratos lacks the agility of other action game characters his enemies must be slow and simple. I still argue that Kratos could handle more. Perhaps not both aggressive AND complex enemies, but one or the other can easily be implemented into what we have now.
Now, let me be the first to admit that God of War 3 has decent boss fights, and Hades and Hercules were especially fun. I particularly enjoyed Hades because he was probably the most aggressive boss in the game. Hercules was extremely fun as well, though I think it was more because you both were on a level playing field, because his mechanics were otherwise pretty weak, but I still enjoyed it.
However, many battles in GoW feel unnatural, like the bosses arent even trying. Cronos may be the most retarded boss of all time. Anybody thats ever had an ant crawling up their arm knows what to do if they want to get it off. If we saw someone acting towards an ant like Cronos did with Kratos, wed think the person had brain damage. I wont deny it, fighting him was a visual marvel. On a technical and artistic level, the fight was excellent, but, goddamn, Ive never fought a dumber opponent in my life. At any time he could have made it impossible for Kratos to win, but he never thought to simply slam his arm down on Kratos when he didnt have the opportunity to fight back. No, instead, he rams the side of his arm, blows from a long distance away, and when he finally tries to crush me, he does in with a clenched fist that never comes close to hitting the area Kratos is in, just so the player has a chance to rip his nail off. There was even a point where he was looking directly at Kratos, without being blinded in any way, and he still said Kratos, where are you? Now, to be fair, I cant think of many ways to make him into a believable boss fight, because hes so huge, and if he threw all his weight against you, itd seem silly if he couldnt beat you, except for one thing: At one point, I feel that he DOES throw his weight against you with all his might at one point (The palm slap where kratos is forced to get the Blade of Olympus out), and he over powers him. If one grants that Kratos is THAT strong, then Cronos could have been made several times more vicious than he was. As it stands, he only attacks in 15 second intervals, and even then, the attacks are slow, easy to see coming, and the entire fight feels completely unnatural and unsatisfying.
Cronos was the worst of them, but others are like this as well. Why doesnt Poseidon attack more viciously? Why does he only have a few, and very simple moves? Why does Zeus never use the kind of power he used in the beginning on Gaia? Why is Kratos so much more effective with the Claws of Hades than Hades (even at base level, kratos has 3 times the moves with them than Hades, and he is much faster with them as well)? Just why the fuck does Hercules randomly turn his back on you to talk to Hera when he hasnt defeated Kratos? It just really hurts the experience for me, because these are supposed to be gods. However, all satisfaction I could have gotten from defeating them is lost because I feel they either arent giving it their all or are making incomprehensible mistakes for no reason. Why? Just so you can win?
Now, it has been argued that God of War is a very different kind of game than the likes of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden, and thats certainly true. Ive been told that I keep looking at the game from an action gamers perspective when I should be looking at it from an action adventure perspective, the same I way Id look at Prince of Persia. But I disagree. The fact is that that while other action adventure games focus on other elements with the action being there along for the ride, here, the main focus is action. Puzzles, platforming, story, are all centered around Kratos immense strength, and combat is the most focused on piece of gameplay in the game. And in that regard, I say that God of War can and should do better. The game revolves around being an action star badass, but I never once felt like I really accomplished anything especially awesome, and until the developers learn to make the enemy a truly formidable opponent, I dont think I ever will.
The combat is, however, on a higher level than any of the other GoW, and for that, I commend the team. Unlike past weapons that handled awkwardly and had limited uses, GoW3s weapons give you actual flexibility in the combat. You can get through the game using any single you choose, except when you need to use cestus to break through an enemy, but thats not a very common scenario. Add in the grapple mechanic and the item bar, you can actually mix things up a bit. Of course, it doesnt hold a candle to true action games, but its the only GoW game where I didnt get bored of the combat before finishing the game, so its at an acceptable level of depth.
There are still plenty of problems, however. For one, like bosses, common enemies are too simple, having 2-3 attacks to their name. The Chimera was a very intimidating enemy until I realized it only had a few attacks per phase, all of which were extremely easy to evade or block. After that, he was essentially cannon fodder with power. Second, why are there so few enemies? I counted, and there are 29 normal enemies and 13 bosses (or 12, if youre being picky and count the first 2 sisters as one boss fight) in GoW2. GoW3 has 14 enemies, and 8 bosses (Im being generous counting Hermes and Cronos as bosses). Third, they seem somewhat simplified. Now, my memory is fuzzy so I may be wrong, but didnt most enemies have a way to break your guard in GoW2? I know that minotaurs did. However, in GoW3, many enemies, including minotaurs, couldnt break it no matter what. Certain attacks did make it through, (Cyclopss slam, fire attacks) but many enemies couldnt do anything if you were blocking. Even if GoW2 didnt have it, I think every enemy should have some sort of Guard breaking move, so they are a threat to you at all times. Lastly, there are some really questionable design decisions. Like, why is it that we only fight the Satyrs 2 times, with the second occasion being against a normal enemy who has an absurd amount of health (more than any boss), in a rather small area, where there are awkward directional controls (I cannot tell you how many times I died because Kratos accidentally grabbed the giant Cerberus and not the small exploding dogs next to him) or because the camera decided to not have a clear view of where I was fighting(Final Zeus fight comes to mind). There were also some hit detection issues throughout the game, which you can imagine what meant when they occurred while you were trying to block an attack.
In the course of writing this review, I may have stumbled upon the games biggest problem, besides having the plot rule over every aspect of the game. A lack of innovation. Not to say that the game doesn't do any new things at all, that is not the case. But, the more I look, the more I see that every element is an old idea that isnt improved much by it being on a next gen console. In your drastically smaller roster of enemies and bosses, you only have 3 enemies that are actually new (Brutes (and their cestus only brothers, the Talos), the scorpions (hardly a creative design), and the chimera), and the Chimera itself was an old idea that just never made it into GoW2, like the grapple technique. The puzzles are very simple and straight forward compared to other GoWs(I dont actually care about this, especially if it means no Push X to point B, while enemies try to rape you from behind puzzles, but some might). The devs went on about how GoW3 is something that can only be done on the PS3, but the only times it shows is when there are Titans on screen (which is only 40 minutes of the entire game) and the lighting system. Otherwise, besides graphical quality, the game feels like it could be done on the PS2 with little lost. And for all the hype the devs stirred up over the opening, the game never reaches that level of excitement and scale again.
The game is graphically phenomenal, the soundtrack is hit and miss with me (I really like some songs, like Poseidons wrath, others I dont, and some songs I dont like listening to, but fit very well with the visuals (like Anthem of the Dead)), and, in the end, the game was entirely enjoyable. The general issue I have is that despite all the improvements it made to the combat system, its still a very shallow game, takes steps back in many ways, and fails to achieve everything it could have had. GoW3 wasn't a bad note to end the series on, but it should have been the highest note the GoW series ever reached. It barely beats out the old ones, if you even consider it above them.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. THE REVIEW IS 6 PAGES LONG AND I DIDN'T WANT TO GO THROUGH HIGHLIGHTING EACH AND EVERY LITTLE THING, SO THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING BEFORE YOU READ IT. IF YOU WANT TO QUOTE A CERTAIN SECTION, YOU WILL HAVE TO HIDE THE SPOILERS YOURSELF SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS.
Before I begin, however, Id like to say a few things first. First and foremost, I enjoyed the game. This review is going to be pointing out mostly the negative aspects of it because all the good stuff has already been said and criticism stimulates better discussion anyway. Also, you should know that Im the kind of guy who likes to analyze and put things under a microscope. Even though Im about to complain about a million and one things, I honestly did enjoy the game.
The story is probably the games biggest flaw. When you get sent to Hades, Athena tasks you with retrieving the flame. To get the power to kill a god, specifically Zeus. This makes no sense. Kratos does not need to get the flame, he already has the power to kill Zeus (he nearly did so in GoW2 and would have finished the job if not for Athena), and he doesnt even need the blade of Olympus to kill a god (he killed Poseidon with his bare hands). This journey is entirely pointless. God of War has always had logic issues with its story, especially when time travel was thrown into the mix, but after beating the game twice and seeing the story unfold, I cannot think of a reason why Kratos would go after this power when he knows hes strong enough already. The only reason I can think of is because the developers wanted to shoehorn in the redemption journey and hope stuff for Kratos later on, so they made the plot develop unnaturally.
The ending has also been the subject of a lot of discussion, but while I didnt like it, Ive decided that its too ambiguous to determine its quality. Personally, what bothers me is the entire hope plot device. Yes, I know that in classic Greek mythology, hope was actually a force that could physically empower a person and make him accomplish deeds that would be impossible, but these are modern times. Here and now, we know that emotions and inclinations can motivate and empower a person spiritually to get a goal done, but hope as a tangible power up that actually physically empowered Kratos to kill Zeus and having it be something that could be literally given to other people is silly, stupid, and unrealistic. It being faithful to Greek mythology doesnt excuse it. Having a story end with a dues ex machine is also part of Greek mythology, but if Santa Monica suddenly resurrected Kratos wife and daughter and saved the world, then people would be rightfully pissed, so I dont see why this hope stuff should get a free pass.
It really just seems to me that they wanted an excuse to portray Kratos as noble. As I said, the whole thing really is pointless. When he killed the gods, would he not have freed mankind from the gods rule? The only difference is that they wouldnt have hope, but again, as an actual power, I feel its silly, especially when its already been shown that you dont need hope to kill a god, just enough brute force, which there must be more of in the world besides Kratos. Besides that, its out of character for Kratos to give a shit about the people. He was never shown to, even before Ares, the only people he was shown to care for was his family and Athena, so it makes no sense for him to give the power to the people (except maybe to screw Athena over, but if so, why not simply die with the power in him, taking it to his grave? It seems like a reasonable action, as it seems hope can only be given, else wise, she could have just taken it from mankind) But as I said, the ending relies way too much on personal interpretation to be definitively called good or bad. Its just my personal opinion that it doesnt stand up well.
The real problem I have with the plot, however, is that the damage goes beyond just giving us a pointless story. This search for Pandoras Box dominates every aspect of God of War after the Poseidon fight. Why did we have a giant scorpion boss fight when Hera, Hermes, and Helios barely got a fighting chance? The scorpion fight is more appropriate in the context of the story. Why is there a lack of focus on what the gods and titans are doing? We got to go find Pandoras box. Why must the player backtrack through areas a bunch of times? To get the fucking box.
Now, dont get me wrong. The level design in GoW is fucking awesomesauce. I was in absolute awe anytime I visited Hades. To put that statement into perspective, up until I entered Hades in GoW3, I was convinced I wouldnt be impressed by hellish and grimdark level design ever again because I was so desensitized to it from games, and bright, majestic, heavenly environments looked much better than any grimdark game environment Ive ever seen. But GoW3s Hades sold me back on the idea that hell can be an interesting place to explore. Great, great level design. However, GoW2 was basically shocking you every hour with some magnificent new location. By the time you get past the half way marker in GoW3, youve pretty much visited every location you are going to visit, stylistically speaking. And while Im speaking of level design, there are two minor points Id like to point out. I liked the sense of travel that was given by GoW2 by having you actually walk from place to place. Using teleportation portals is kind of weak, at least compared to that. And the other is that GoW3 lacks GoW2s varied color palette. Everything is dark and dreary. The wide range of colors in GoW2 emphasized how different each location was, so it was disappointing to see that gone.
But the real waste is that were not out there, fighting gods and titans. I cant help but blame the plot for this. The developers should have gone about this the way they went about GoW2, just going through Mt. Olympus, killing everything in your way, instead of making the player jump through hoops to get a power no one needed so they can awkwardly deliver what can be interpreted by certain people as a noble ending for Kratos. If not for that, we may have had greater location variety, a greater color palette, and more fights with gods and titans instead of the instead of the stream of cop outs and half fulfilled potential we were given.
Let me show you what I mean by that.
Take Hermes for example. They gave him a camp voice that throws out insults so weak that third graders would roll their eyes. Okay, maybe what they were going for was pissing off the player so that he would feel satisfaction when they finally killed him. But if so, it sure as hell didnt work on me. Even if it did work on you, honestly tell me if you dont think the scenario I give would have been better. What if instead of spewing the most obvious and generic lines at you, Santa Monica studios actually got some really good comedian to write the lines for Hermes. I cant give examples because I dont think Im witty enough to do the job right, but just imagine that the jokes he makes are creative, true, funny, but also hurtful and mocking, with a good voice actor that can pull off witty asshole without seeming obnoxious. In terms of gameplay, what if instead of just running around randomly and stopping, just to show that hes faster than Kratos, there was actually a point to his actions? Imagine if he actually lead Kratos into a trap, or at least an area thats advantageous to him so that he can provide a proper challenge instead of being weakened because Kratos throw a giant rock at the statue he was on (Personal thought here, but I thought that part was extremely lame and relatively unbelievable. The sense of agility and balance he gave in other scenes makes the whole thing seem silly. When I was throwing the thing, I kept thinking he would simply jump off the statue, but the propulsion Kratos got would allow him to finally catch him before he got away.). In my scenario, he would be funny enough to make the player laugh, making him both a dick to you, but also entertaining. Besides making him more memorable for his complexity, this would also generate more emotional response than just lulz, his legs got cut off when you finally beat him down. He would demonstrate tactics and strategy and would get a better fight than the one he got, making him a true challenge. In the game, he was a minor annoyance, but in my example, Id do my best to make him feel like the god he should have been. And even if you dont agree with my example, do you at least not agree that he should have been fucking funny? Hes the God of Wit and the best he could think up was So slow, Kratos!?
Also, this is a minor point, but Im being increasingly annoyed by how petty and unlikable everyone is in this game. Its like they just act like that because they want to make kratos look decent by comparison, but its annoying because it really leaves your opponents with no dignity. Hermes is annoying, Hera is a drunk, Zeus is a coward, etc. Couldnt they just have a character coming in and saying they are going to stop Kratos because he is a monster whos ruining lives all for his petty vengeance? Itd be a much more interesting situation than fighting a whiny Hercules because his daddy didnt hug him enough.
This extends to gameplay as well. In another GoW thread, I posted my negative thoughts on what we saw of an early video of the Poseidon fight, and (after much flaming) that actually sparked an interesting debate about how aggressive and complex enemies are allowed to be and in what games. In the case of GoW, some argued that because Kratos lacks the agility of other action game characters his enemies must be slow and simple. I still argue that Kratos could handle more. Perhaps not both aggressive AND complex enemies, but one or the other can easily be implemented into what we have now.
Now, let me be the first to admit that God of War 3 has decent boss fights, and Hades and Hercules were especially fun. I particularly enjoyed Hades because he was probably the most aggressive boss in the game. Hercules was extremely fun as well, though I think it was more because you both were on a level playing field, because his mechanics were otherwise pretty weak, but I still enjoyed it.
However, many battles in GoW feel unnatural, like the bosses arent even trying. Cronos may be the most retarded boss of all time. Anybody thats ever had an ant crawling up their arm knows what to do if they want to get it off. If we saw someone acting towards an ant like Cronos did with Kratos, wed think the person had brain damage. I wont deny it, fighting him was a visual marvel. On a technical and artistic level, the fight was excellent, but, goddamn, Ive never fought a dumber opponent in my life. At any time he could have made it impossible for Kratos to win, but he never thought to simply slam his arm down on Kratos when he didnt have the opportunity to fight back. No, instead, he rams the side of his arm, blows from a long distance away, and when he finally tries to crush me, he does in with a clenched fist that never comes close to hitting the area Kratos is in, just so the player has a chance to rip his nail off. There was even a point where he was looking directly at Kratos, without being blinded in any way, and he still said Kratos, where are you? Now, to be fair, I cant think of many ways to make him into a believable boss fight, because hes so huge, and if he threw all his weight against you, itd seem silly if he couldnt beat you, except for one thing: At one point, I feel that he DOES throw his weight against you with all his might at one point (The palm slap where kratos is forced to get the Blade of Olympus out), and he over powers him. If one grants that Kratos is THAT strong, then Cronos could have been made several times more vicious than he was. As it stands, he only attacks in 15 second intervals, and even then, the attacks are slow, easy to see coming, and the entire fight feels completely unnatural and unsatisfying.
Cronos was the worst of them, but others are like this as well. Why doesnt Poseidon attack more viciously? Why does he only have a few, and very simple moves? Why does Zeus never use the kind of power he used in the beginning on Gaia? Why is Kratos so much more effective with the Claws of Hades than Hades (even at base level, kratos has 3 times the moves with them than Hades, and he is much faster with them as well)? Just why the fuck does Hercules randomly turn his back on you to talk to Hera when he hasnt defeated Kratos? It just really hurts the experience for me, because these are supposed to be gods. However, all satisfaction I could have gotten from defeating them is lost because I feel they either arent giving it their all or are making incomprehensible mistakes for no reason. Why? Just so you can win?
Now, it has been argued that God of War is a very different kind of game than the likes of Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, and Ninja Gaiden, and thats certainly true. Ive been told that I keep looking at the game from an action gamers perspective when I should be looking at it from an action adventure perspective, the same I way Id look at Prince of Persia. But I disagree. The fact is that that while other action adventure games focus on other elements with the action being there along for the ride, here, the main focus is action. Puzzles, platforming, story, are all centered around Kratos immense strength, and combat is the most focused on piece of gameplay in the game. And in that regard, I say that God of War can and should do better. The game revolves around being an action star badass, but I never once felt like I really accomplished anything especially awesome, and until the developers learn to make the enemy a truly formidable opponent, I dont think I ever will.
The combat is, however, on a higher level than any of the other GoW, and for that, I commend the team. Unlike past weapons that handled awkwardly and had limited uses, GoW3s weapons give you actual flexibility in the combat. You can get through the game using any single you choose, except when you need to use cestus to break through an enemy, but thats not a very common scenario. Add in the grapple mechanic and the item bar, you can actually mix things up a bit. Of course, it doesnt hold a candle to true action games, but its the only GoW game where I didnt get bored of the combat before finishing the game, so its at an acceptable level of depth.
There are still plenty of problems, however. For one, like bosses, common enemies are too simple, having 2-3 attacks to their name. The Chimera was a very intimidating enemy until I realized it only had a few attacks per phase, all of which were extremely easy to evade or block. After that, he was essentially cannon fodder with power. Second, why are there so few enemies? I counted, and there are 29 normal enemies and 13 bosses (or 12, if youre being picky and count the first 2 sisters as one boss fight) in GoW2. GoW3 has 14 enemies, and 8 bosses (Im being generous counting Hermes and Cronos as bosses). Third, they seem somewhat simplified. Now, my memory is fuzzy so I may be wrong, but didnt most enemies have a way to break your guard in GoW2? I know that minotaurs did. However, in GoW3, many enemies, including minotaurs, couldnt break it no matter what. Certain attacks did make it through, (Cyclopss slam, fire attacks) but many enemies couldnt do anything if you were blocking. Even if GoW2 didnt have it, I think every enemy should have some sort of Guard breaking move, so they are a threat to you at all times. Lastly, there are some really questionable design decisions. Like, why is it that we only fight the Satyrs 2 times, with the second occasion being against a normal enemy who has an absurd amount of health (more than any boss), in a rather small area, where there are awkward directional controls (I cannot tell you how many times I died because Kratos accidentally grabbed the giant Cerberus and not the small exploding dogs next to him) or because the camera decided to not have a clear view of where I was fighting(Final Zeus fight comes to mind). There were also some hit detection issues throughout the game, which you can imagine what meant when they occurred while you were trying to block an attack.
In the course of writing this review, I may have stumbled upon the games biggest problem, besides having the plot rule over every aspect of the game. A lack of innovation. Not to say that the game doesn't do any new things at all, that is not the case. But, the more I look, the more I see that every element is an old idea that isnt improved much by it being on a next gen console. In your drastically smaller roster of enemies and bosses, you only have 3 enemies that are actually new (Brutes (and their cestus only brothers, the Talos), the scorpions (hardly a creative design), and the chimera), and the Chimera itself was an old idea that just never made it into GoW2, like the grapple technique. The puzzles are very simple and straight forward compared to other GoWs(I dont actually care about this, especially if it means no Push X to point B, while enemies try to rape you from behind puzzles, but some might). The devs went on about how GoW3 is something that can only be done on the PS3, but the only times it shows is when there are Titans on screen (which is only 40 minutes of the entire game) and the lighting system. Otherwise, besides graphical quality, the game feels like it could be done on the PS2 with little lost. And for all the hype the devs stirred up over the opening, the game never reaches that level of excitement and scale again.
The game is graphically phenomenal, the soundtrack is hit and miss with me (I really like some songs, like Poseidons wrath, others I dont, and some songs I dont like listening to, but fit very well with the visuals (like Anthem of the Dead)), and, in the end, the game was entirely enjoyable. The general issue I have is that despite all the improvements it made to the combat system, its still a very shallow game, takes steps back in many ways, and fails to achieve everything it could have had. GoW3 wasn't a bad note to end the series on, but it should have been the highest note the GoW series ever reached. It barely beats out the old ones, if you even consider it above them.
Jason's Ultimatum
Member
What happens after you collect all of those
and start a new game? Do you get to use some special armor/weapons?
boss items
RustyNails
Member
I only read first two paragraphs of your review and there's a glaring flaw.Generic said:
Kratos falls into the River Styx and all his power is sucked dry by the wandering souls in there. He's about to lay down when Athena appears and gives him the Blades of Exile.
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Jason's Ultimatum said:
The collectables give you certain special abilities. No special armor or weapons tho.
RustyNails said:
There is a glaring flaw in your post.
He is not about to lay down, he even says "Zeus, we're not finished yet!" I hope the 'glaring flaw' you are refering to isn't that I said he falls into Hades instead of the river styx. If you mean that he got his souls nad stuff taken away, that doesn't really matter. He has the blade of olympus back eventually, and that's all he really needs, if he even needs that. He beat Posiedon with his bare hands, not using the BoO. Gods have apparently become much easier to kill nowadays. There are even players who beat titan mode GoW2 with Lv1 Blades of Athena.
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
I don't think you're seeing the forest through the trees.RustyNails said:
Combichristoffersen
Combovers don't work when there is no hair
Second said:
I died quite a few times on the first boss, actually. One of the hardest bosses in the game IMO :lol
Omotesando
Member
Chaos finished.
I need to get one more trophy to get platinum, then I'll take a break from this amazing trip.
I need to get one more trophy to get platinum, then I'll take a break from this amazing trip.
Captain_Spanky
Member
Rez said:
To be fair that guys post has a lot of trees. Most of them are shaped like sentences.
RustyNails
Member
Generic said:
About to lay down = Kratos getting fucked bad by the fall into River Styx. Kratos saying We're not finished Zeus is typical of him. Even as he lay dying in GoW 2, he says "You will pay for this Zeus". His powers are gone from the fall. He cannot defeat Zeus with the Blade of Olympus. That's why Athena tells him "Zeus will not fall as easily as Ares. To destroy the King of the Gods, you must seek the source of his strength, which is the Flame of Olympus". As an added bonus, Kratos is also told that if he destroys the Flame, the entire Olympus will crumble. There's your motive right there.
RustyNails said:
Except that he doesn't give a shit about olympus. He says as much several times. He just wants to kill zues, and will kill any that stand in his way. If they don't, he doesn't bother them. Also, as I said in my review, Zeus would have died had athena not interfered, so he WOULD have fallen as easily to the blade of olympus and Athena is full of ghostly shit. And there is no indication at all that he was about to lie down. He had to rest for approximately 15 seconds, and he was as good as new.
jett said:
And what he said in GoW3 to Hephaestus is "I only seek to destroy one olympian". He explitictly states that he'll only destroy olympus if they stand against him, and he assume they will, so he's using them fighting words. But he does only want to destory zues, as he spares anyone not in his way.
Beat it last night and really enjoyed it but man, that ending was all over the place.
First off,
First off,
I liked how they wrapped up Kratos' storyline. From the very first game when he was protecting his family from essentially himself (Kratos dopplegangers which was pretty much a metaphor for his guilt and realization of what he did to his family and what kind of person he's become), to the anger he showed in GOW II when Athena didn't grant him his wish of not having visions of his family's death at his hands over and over again, and then just the overall me against the world attitude he had in GOW III they established that his anger is directly associated with the guilt he has from killing his family.
I can respect what they did with the ending, physically showing us Kratos' psyche mending and coming to terms with what he did to his family but it drug on for way too long. That's the sort of thing you want to experience, and they created too much leg work for the player trying to find the right path to go and running into walls when you weren't going the right way.
Now on to the "give the world hope" business. I look at it two ways: On one side, I get it...the real weapon in Pandora's Box (the weapon that supposedly can kill Zeus) is "hope" that will allow humans to live on without having to depend on the gods. Not only that, but the weapon (hope) is also Kratos coming to terms with the things he's done so that Zeus wouldn't have something he could always use to hold over him, that alone left Zeus powerless since it's the only thing he could use against Kratos.
On the other hand, the way they handled it was completely ham-fisted. I don't mind Kratos killing himself, hell God of War 1 starts with him trying to commit suicide. But they showed it in such a odd anticlimactic way. I was expecting a Gladiator-esque send off and instead we get Kratos sitting up breathing really hard with a hole through is torso and then roll credits. That's a cop out.
It also wasn't necessary to show a physical representation of Kratos giving Hope to those that are left. I think the point would have gotten across better if they handled it different. All the pieces to make that ending work were there but were a bit sloppy, not enough to ruin the whole game for me though.
The extra ending after the credits suggests that Kratos either threw himself off the ledge to finish the job, or that he drug himself away to fight another day. Not sure how to take that one.
Overall I really enjoyed the game. The combat was as good as ever (if not better) and the set pieces were at times incredible. I enjoyed it overall.
I typed waaaay more than I thought I would about this. LOL
I can respect what they did with the ending, physically showing us Kratos' psyche mending and coming to terms with what he did to his family but it drug on for way too long. That's the sort of thing you want to experience, and they created too much leg work for the player trying to find the right path to go and running into walls when you weren't going the right way.
Now on to the "give the world hope" business. I look at it two ways: On one side, I get it...the real weapon in Pandora's Box (the weapon that supposedly can kill Zeus) is "hope" that will allow humans to live on without having to depend on the gods. Not only that, but the weapon (hope) is also Kratos coming to terms with the things he's done so that Zeus wouldn't have something he could always use to hold over him, that alone left Zeus powerless since it's the only thing he could use against Kratos.
On the other hand, the way they handled it was completely ham-fisted. I don't mind Kratos killing himself, hell God of War 1 starts with him trying to commit suicide. But they showed it in such a odd anticlimactic way. I was expecting a Gladiator-esque send off and instead we get Kratos sitting up breathing really hard with a hole through is torso and then roll credits. That's a cop out.
It also wasn't necessary to show a physical representation of Kratos giving Hope to those that are left. I think the point would have gotten across better if they handled it different. All the pieces to make that ending work were there but were a bit sloppy, not enough to ruin the whole game for me though.
The extra ending after the credits suggests that Kratos either threw himself off the ledge to finish the job, or that he drug himself away to fight another day. Not sure how to take that one.
Overall I really enjoyed the game. The combat was as good as ever (if not better) and the set pieces were at times incredible. I enjoyed it overall.
I typed waaaay more than I thought I would about this. LOL
RustyNails
Member
Kratos wants utter destruction of everything Olympus. This much was clear from the last game.Generic said:
Maybe Zeus wouldn't have died even if Athena didn't get in the way? Maybe he became more powerful? Who gives a shit? The important thing to know as far as GoW 3 is concerned is that Kratos is told that Flame of Olympus is Zeus' power and he must seek it to kill Zeus once and for all.
Kazuma Kiryu
Member
I'm not going to get into an argument with you but writing 6 pages of text does automatically = valid points. As you can see even after writing all that he did not pay attention thus is given more insight from our wonderful members. By the way I have nothing wrong about criticizing GOW. I even have some of my own but the good so so much out ways the bad.Papercuts said:
Also don't use words such as logic to prove some type of point. That has nothing to do with logic.
RustyNails said:
You're right, who gives a shit if the story that you are forced to play through doesn't made any sense? *rolles eyes*
Srsly, he says a bunch of times that he only wants to kill zues and he's willing to spare anyone that's not in his way. How do you explain him not bothering Hephastus until he attacked him? How do you explain him simply pushing away Hera until she went too far and insulted Pandora? How do you explain him sexing up and leaving Aphrodite? All olympians, and yet he spares them because they don't impede his goal. HE JUST WANTS TO KILL ZUES. The other olympians can go fuck themselves for all he cares, so long as they stay out of his way.
If Zeus wouldn't have died, then what the flying fuck did Athena get herself killed for? She could have just left him there and said 'Go ahead, see where that gets you". And where was there any indication that Zeus got stronger? Now you are just making things up.
Srsly, he says a bunch of times that he only wants to kill zues and he's willing to spare anyone that's not in his way. How do you explain him not bothering Hephastus until he attacked him? How do you explain him simply pushing away Hera until she went too far and insulted Pandora? How do you explain him sexing up and leaving Aphrodite? All olympians, and yet he spares them because they don't impede his goal. HE JUST WANTS TO KILL ZUES. The other olympians can go fuck themselves for all he cares, so long as they stay out of his way.
If Zeus wouldn't have died, then what the flying fuck did Athena get herself killed for? She could have just left him there and said 'Go ahead, see where that gets you". And where was there any indication that Zeus got stronger? Now you are just making things up.
RavenFox said:
I'm not saying a 6 page review automatically means it's filled with valid points, but I've read it a few times and agree with it a lot. After writing all of that there's an argument over an incredibly minor part of the entire review, and even the point being argued can go either way with how little sense the entirety of kratos' character makes.
Lifejumper
Member
Just finished Chaos mode.
Plus I got platinum. Last tropy I needed was the AMazeD trophy, I did that one on Chaos mode, that was pretty shitty:lol
Plus I got platinum. Last tropy I needed was the AMazeD trophy, I did that one on Chaos mode, that was pretty shitty:lol
Went with a friend to a panel at his school which I'm attending next month. They had a raffle at the end in which they gave away 10 posters, bumper stickers, strategy guides and other stuff. Last thing they gave out was a game.
got it signed by Cecil Kim (lead artist) and Mehdi Yssef (lead cinematic animator) I guess I lucked out? haha :lol
got it signed by Cecil Kim (lead artist) and Mehdi Yssef (lead cinematic animator) I guess I lucked out? haha :lol
Generic said:
And your points have been posted and discussed a million times
The main problem is that you're completely misinterpreting the plot.
Kratos didn't want to look noble, and at no point the devs have made it feel that way. If he had a monologue in the end saying "I'm going to wash away my sins by releasing hope to the world" you would have a point. But that's not what happened. At all. There's nothing indicating that he knew hope would be released if he killed himself.
As for the fact that he didn't need the Flame of Olympus because he already killed a bunch of gods, well Zeus isn't exactly on the same level, and since Athena has been helping him during the whole story, he didn't doubt his words. Just to be betrayed once more. The fact that he went after that power also reflects the fact that he has always been seeking more power. It's faithful to his character.
As for the fact that he didn't need the Flame of Olympus because he already killed a bunch of gods, well Zeus isn't exactly on the same level, and since Athena has been helping him during the whole story, he didn't doubt his words. Just to be betrayed once more. The fact that he went after that power also reflects the fact that he has always been seeking more power. It's faithful to his character.
Raist said:And your points have been posted and discussed a million times
The main problem is that you're completely misinterpreting the plot.
Kratos didn't want to look noble, and at no point the devs have made it feel that way. If he had a monologue in the end saying "I'm going to wash away my sins by releasing hope to the world" you would have a point. But that's not what happened. At all. There's nothing indicating that he knew hope would be released if he killed himself.
As for the fact that he didn't need the Flame of Olympus because he already killed a bunch of gods, well Zeus isn't exactly on the same level, and since Athena has been helping him during the whole story, he didn't doubt his words. Just to be betrayed once more. The fact that he went after that power also reflects the fact that he has always been seeking more power. It's faithful to his character.
Maybe. Or maybe he felt guilty about everything he forgave himself and wanted to help the world in some way at all. Or maybe he did it purposely and he just wanted to screw the gods over one last time. The ending is way too ambiguous to definitively decide whether it's good or bad or what meaning it may have if it has any meaning at all. For that reason, I'd rather not spend too much time arguing it. There is no real right answer here. Given that there is no inuniverse reason that Kratos should have gone after the flame (next paragraph explains why), I can only think that the devs were trying to send some sort of message across, and that's how I interpret it. I think the entire point of the quest was so the devs could show kratos having a human side and ultimately doing possibly the greatest good deed of all time at the end of his life. That's what I think they were trying to get across, and I don't think they handled it well.
He always only picked up trinkets along his path unless he specifically needed another power to progress, but there is no reason for him to believe that he needs that power. And as I said, he WOULD have killed Zeus if not for Athena interrupting him, that's pretty much certain. He was wounded and tired, and there was no reason for Athena to sacrifice herself if he couldn't be killed then. While I understand why he'd trust athena (she wasn't helping him out since the beginning though, he was convinced she was against him for the most part of 2 and, frankly, she was, she was just nicer about it than Zeus was), but He should have just said "I gotz the BoO, and I would have killed Zeus then, why do I need to go get this flame". If she could have provided an answer after that, I would have bought it, but as it stands there's no reason for Kratos to go get that because as far as he knew, he already had the power.
He always only picked up trinkets along his path unless he specifically needed another power to progress, but there is no reason for him to believe that he needs that power. And as I said, he WOULD have killed Zeus if not for Athena interrupting him, that's pretty much certain. He was wounded and tired, and there was no reason for Athena to sacrifice herself if he couldn't be killed then. While I understand why he'd trust athena (she wasn't helping him out since the beginning though, he was convinced she was against him for the most part of 2 and, frankly, she was, she was just nicer about it than Zeus was), but He should have just said "I gotz the BoO, and I would have killed Zeus then, why do I need to go get this flame". If she could have provided an answer after that, I would have bought it, but as it stands there's no reason for Kratos to go get that because as far as he knew, he already had the power.