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[Panda1]

I don't necessarily agree. Resident Evil 4 had one difficulty level prior to unlocking Professional, but it worked because it was perfectly balanced throughout. I think being able to switch down to a difficulty level that lets you cheese your way through detracts from a game more than it adds, besides the fact that it means the devs don't have as much incentive to properly balance normal mode anymore. You can switch the difficulty up when it gets too easy or down when it gets too hard, essentially making the player the arbiter of challenge. I don't like that. However, I also dislike the kind of random difficulty spikes that you see in this game, although it's pretty funny that they're actual literal spikes in one case.

Basically, more games should be as perfect as RE4.

Yeah Resi is perfect at this there are multiple levels of difficulty behind the scenes I think 10 and it dynamically goes up and down depending on headshots and misses

 

[Kos Luftar]

For the labyrinth with those millions of enemies, I maxed my Head of Helios, blinded enemies and let them get killed by the spikes. It worked for everything cept' the sirens who I promptly beat the shit out of. I also just walk to the spikes, and jump+air dash right before the spikes come out and that worked a couple of times too.

I forgot I could L1+O on harpies. Shit got me killed and I thought I couldn't figure out an important piece of the puzzle :lol

Yeh I used that technique too during my Titan run.

 

[victreeb3l]

Around the end now and I feel like the game is getting easy for me even on Titan mode. I really love the combat and I'm using only the other weaker weapons (Hades' soul summons are awesome) now to give myself more of a challenge.

I will definitely do a run on Chaos just to see how insane it will be. I think the labyrinth has been the weakest point of the game so far and I'm kind of disappointed. I hope the finale is better.

I'm playing through GOWII now simultaneously and all the people saying that game is better is straight buggin. It's really full of just stupid puzzles and slow combat, and I really hate the flying parts.

 

[Wthermans]

Just finished the Hercules fight and it was awesome. I loved everything from the smack talking by Hera to Hercules intro to the RAGE ending. The mechanics of the fight were rather simple (I wouldn't expect a mythological entity known for strength to be too complex), but the slugfest was a nice challenge and extremely fun.

 

[User 10639]

Yeah Resi is perfect at this there are multiple levels of difficulty behind the scenes I think 10 and it dynamically goes up and down depending on headshots and misses

....why did you quote that post again? I already responded to you.

 

[castlegar]

Finished it last night and for the most part loved it

Spoiler

Didn't really like the whole redemption thing at the end. I mean, all he did was fuckin waste people for three games. And apparently (if athena can be believed) everything was his goddamn fault in the first place. However, I did enjoy the design of the death sequence. His developed attachment to pandora was nice too, though that should have been the extent of any sympathy developed towards Kratos

 

[The Chef]

My lord going from Titan to Easy is just a joke. I can't imagine why anyone would play the game on easy unless your trying to do a complete playthrough with your feet.

 

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

My lord going from Titan to Easy is just a joke. I can't imagine why anyone would play the game on easy unless your trying to do a complete playthrough with your feet.

Exactly what i thought too...but after getting through it on Titan, i wanted my 2nd trip through for the last few trophies i needed to be as stressfree as possible, and boy was it ever! :lol

 

[victreeb3l]

Going down the second "flying" sequence and my little brother asks me why walls do more damage to Kratos than lava :lol Dude can beat up Gods and Titans but loses to planks of wood.

 

[The Chef]

Platinum'ed baby!
Thanks for the help guys.

Ahhh what to do now I have Mass Effect 2, I gave up on Assassins Creed 2 and I am only half-way through Heavy Rain. I just want to play some more GOW. Back to Chaos!

 

[Robot 492]

.

 

[Stillmatic]

Everyone seems to have different tactics to take down Cerberus on Titan. I've tried a few different techniques but this one worked the best and makes the fight fairly easy and it's fast.

Weapon: Blades of Exile

Head 1: Cerberus
- When it spawns in hit it with the /\, /\, /\ combo, then get a few more hit in with [ ] and roll away.

- Dog kicking time. When he spits out one grab it as quickly as you can to kick it, then roll back immediately as another dog will be on the battlefield and will do 1 of 2 things:

a) it will explode straight away - you would have avoided this with the roll after kicking the first dog

b) it will come after you for a few seconds and then pause to explode, if it does 'b' instead of 'a' then you would've created enough space with the roll after the first dog to see it coming, grab it (even if it has paused to start charging its explosion, grabbing it cancels the charge) and kick it.

Repeat until you get the 'O' prompt for his first head.

*Doing the above usually limits the playing field to 2 dogs at a time, if there are 3 then avoid them until Cerberus gets back to his cycle of throwing out the 1st of 2-3 dogs.

*If Cerberus charges you just roll out of the way until he starts up the dog spitting cycle again.


Head 2: Cerberus + Satyr
- This phase is super quick. Ignore the Satyr, initiate Rage of Sparta and just focus on Cerberus. If you're lucky you'll get the 'O' prompt just before your RoS dies, if not then just a few hits with the blades will get it.

*Don't intentionally try to, but during your RoS you might do some damage to the Satyr which is always good.


Head 3: Cerberus + 2 Satyrs
- Use up all of your magic with Army of Sparta (Blades of exile magic). This will 'O' prompt Cerberus (if you have a maxed magic bar), and maybe one of the Satyrs.

*After killing Cerberus you'll get enough magic for another AoS magic attack, so you might as well use it on the remaining Satyr/s

- If 1 Satyr is alive grab it with 'O' until it's dead.

- If 2 Satyrs are alive separate them with L1 + O, when separated grab them with 'O'. Repeat until it's all over.

 

[Yoboman]

I keep getting killed by this Centaur general from the demo area, it's probably not even a difficult section for everyone but me he just has so much fucking health

 

[Robot 492]

.

 

[daxter01]

i m also in gow2>gow3>gow1 camp

 

[neojubei]

Guess I'll fall under the GOW3=GOW2>GOW CoO> GOW1 camp

 

[The Chef]

i m also in gow2>gow3>gow1 camp

I think were all unanimous that 3 is better than 1 it just depends on what your favorite thing is about the series to appreciate 2 or 3 more.

 

[Vorador]

Just finished

Spoiler

the garden

Spoiler

Hera scenes were pretty sad alone, powerless, drinking her sorrows on wine and desperate with her world crumbling around her.

 

[TEH-CJ]

Just finished

Spoiler

the garden

Spoiler

Hera scenes were pretty sad alone, powerless, drinking her sorrows on wine and desperate with her world crumbling around her.

Meh the bitch had it coming.

 

[TEH-CJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLEBtvOhGnM&feature=player_embedded

favorite track in the game.

 

[ZeroRay]

So I'm playing through the game on easy for my trophy cleanup run and

Spoiler

during the Aphrodite sex scene, her servants were saying things (or at least I assume) I haven't heard before like "This scene is definitely made for mature audiences" and "Parents shouldn't let their kids watch this." I said I assume because I was listening to music through my headphones and don't know if it was spoken as well or just an easter egg through the subtitles.

Either way, some funny stuff.

 

[Gr1mLock]

Yeah my one fleece counter and non existant air dash?

um..tap the right analog stick in whichever direction you want to fly when you jump?

*edit* my bad i read hades but thought zeus.

 

[jett]

So I'm playing through the game on easy for my trophy cleanup run and

Spoiler

during the Aphrodite sex scene, her servants were saying things (or at least I assume) I haven't heard before like "This scene is definitely made for mature audiences" and "Parents shouldn't let their kids watch this." I said I assume because I was listening to music through my headphones and don't know if it was spoken as well or just an easter egg through the subtitles.

Either way, some funny stuff.

Yeah they say that sometimes

 

[StealthGoblin]

So I'm playing through the game on easy for my trophy cleanup run and

Spoiler

during the Aphrodite sex scene, her servants were saying things (or at least I assume) I haven't heard before like "This scene is definitely made for mature audiences" and "Parents shouldn't let their kids watch this." I said I assume because I was listening to music through my headphones and don't know if it was spoken as well or just an easter egg through the subtitles.

Either way, some funny stuff.

Yeah, thats in there. Its the developers taking the piss out of the soccer moms who get pissed when their kids are exposed to violence, even though it was themselves that bought the violent content for their kids over the counter.

 

[JB1981]

Playing through God of War II right now and why did they change the Golden Fleece? I love how you are able to time your deflections in this game and the Golden Fleece sound effect never gets old. Please don't tell me you can do this in GOWIII and I just totally missed it.

 

[TTP]

Playing through God of War II right now and why did they change the Golden Fleece? I love how you are able to time your deflections in this game and the Golden Fleece sound effect never gets old. Please don't tell me you can do this in GOWIII and I just totally missed it.

You can deflect in GOWIII. Even Gorgon's petrifying attacks!

 

[jett]

Playing through God of War II right now and why did they change the Golden Fleece? I love how you are able to time your deflections in this game and the Golden Fleece sound effect never gets old. Please don't tell me you can do this in GOWIII and I just totally missed it.

You missed it. Dur. You even get _two_ different counters in GOW3.

And this kids is why you don't turn off the goddamn tutorials in your first playthrough of a game.

 

[JB1981]

You missed it. Dur. You even get _two_ different counters in GOW3.

And this kids is why you don't turn off the goddamn tutorials in your first playthrough of a game.

Yes, but you deflect and TOSS RIGHT BACK!???

 

[jett]

Yes, but you deflect and TOSS RIGHT BACK!???

That's how it works with projectiles.

 

[The Chef]

Playing through God of War II right now and why did they change the Golden Fleece? I love how you are able to time your deflections in this game and the Golden Fleece sound effect never gets old. Please don't tell me you can do this in GOWIII and I just totally missed it.

JB! Here I thought you were a intelligent individual

Spoiler

 

[TEH-CJ]

Holy shit!

is this not the best track in a game ever! :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJFI2YtP58&feature=related

 

[torontoml]

This game is pushing my slim, you know that clicking sound that slims get a couple of minutes after shutdown because of the expanding, this game is making my slim give more of a cracking noise then a clicking noise I usually hear. :lol

Maybe you are just playing on it for longer than usual.

 

[JaseC]

Holy shit!

is this not the best track in a game ever! :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJFI2YtP58&feature=related

While certainly epic and awesome, DKC2's Stickerbrush Symphony would disagree.

 

[WasabiKing]

Those complaining about the ending:

Spoiler

ever heard of GREEK TRAGEDY?

 

[jett]

Those complaining about the ending:

Spoiler

ever heard of GREEK TRAGEDY?

I think the complaints are more about how there's no real conclusion to the story. That's mine, anyway.

 

[neojubei]

I think the complaints are more about how there's no real conclusion to the story. That's mine, anyway.

Actually there is a real conclusion to the story. Anyways, got my Platinum Trophy!!!

 

[vazel]

I think the complaints are more about how there's no real conclusion to the story. That's mine, anyway.

There is a conclusion of the story. The only issue with the ending is what was in Pandora's Box being used as a weapon. Kind of cheesy.

 

[mjemirzian]

First labyrinth fight with minotaurs tip:

Spoiler

Don't kill the minions that show up. Wait for the minotaurs to appear, then start ramming the minions into the minotaurs - you should be able to ram the minotaurs off the edge and instantly kill them. Repeat this for the 2nd wave of minotaurs. Same with the cerebrus: ram the minions into it and it the circle prompt will show up in no time. Once the cerebrus is dead and you are facing off against 2-3 minotaurs, use Rage of Sparta and magic to finish them off.

Interesting note - even if you kill both minotaurs before they can touch the chain, two pieces still fall off of it. Cheaters.

 

[Cruzader]

Got my platinum!

After beating it 2x, I say this is a fucking Amazing game. Great way to end the series. I have to say they made this game more accessible. Its easier to level up all your weapons and find all eyes/feathers/horns but not saying its easy either on harder difficulties. Also the gameplay is improved over previous games.

Only thing that pissed me off is the removal of extra costumes when you beat stuff.

 

[Sh0k]

Does anybody knows how long it takes to receive the PSN code to download the Phantom of Chaos skin for pre-orders from Gamestop ? I submitted the code last Friday on the official website and still haven't received the email with my code

 

[neojubei]

Does anybody knows how long it takes to receive the PSN code to download the Phantom of Chaos skin for pre-orders from Gamestop ? I submitted the code last Friday on the official website and still haven't received the email with my code

5 business days from the date you enter the code online.

 

[ZeroRay]

PLATINUM GET!

Amazing game! Can't wait for SSM's next one.

 

[Rocket786]

Holy shit!

is this not the best track in a game ever! :O

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLJFI2YtP58&feature=related

I remember this playing during the

Spoiler

Zeus Street Figther fight

and it was EPIC! I agree that this was the best track in the game, although I do like Pandora's Song and Rage of Sparta a lot as well.

 

[ScrubJay]

I have beaten the game on Chaos now. What a rush. Felt so good to finally

Spoiler

punch Zeus' head in

after dying so much to him. Beat the challenge of exile last night too. Switch blade was the hardest, why do they saddle you with the weakass claws against all those minotaurs

Listening to the Blood and Metal album now. This last song is awesomely bad. Reminds me of a Monty Python song a bit.

 

[Dogenzaka]

So I just finished God of War 3 and I thought I’d 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, I’d 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 I’m the kind of guy who likes to analyze and put things under a microscope. Even though I’m about to complain about a million and one things, I honestly did enjoy the game.

The story is probably the game’s 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 doesn’t 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 he’s 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 didn’t like it, I’ve decided that it’s 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 doesn’t 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 don’t 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 wouldn’t have ‘hope’, but again, as an actual power, I feel it’s silly, especially when it’s already been shown that you don’t need hope to kill a god, just enough brute force, which there must be more of in the world besides Kratos. Besides that, it’s 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. It’s just my personal opinion that it doesn’t 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 Pandora’s 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 Pandora’s box. Why must the player backtrack through areas a bunch of times? To get the fucking box.

Now, don’t 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 wouldn’t 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 I’ve ever seen. But GoW3’s 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, you’ve pretty much visited every location you are going to visit, stylistically speaking. And while I’m speaking of level design, there are two minor points I’d 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 GoW2’s 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 we’re not out there, fighting gods and titans. I can’t 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 didn’t work on me. Even if it did work on you, honestly tell me if you don’t 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 can’t give examples because I don’t think I’m 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 he’s 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 that’s 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, I’d do my best to make him feel like the god he should have been. And even if you don’t agree with my example, do you at least not agree that he should have been fucking funny? He’s the God of Wit and the best he could think up was “So slow, Kratos!”?

Also, this is a minor point, but I’m being increasingly annoyed by how petty and unlikable everyone is in this game. It’s like they just act like that because they want to make kratos look decent by comparison, but it’s annoying because it really leaves your opponents with no dignity. Hermes is annoying, Hera is a drunk, Zeus is a coward, etc. Couldn’t they just have a character coming in and saying they are going to stop Kratos because he is a monster who’s ruining lives all for his petty vengeance? It’d be a much more interesting situation than fighting a whiny Hercules because his daddy didn’t 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 aren’t even trying. Cronos may be the most retarded boss of all time. Anybody that’s 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, we’d think the person had brain damage. I won’t deny it, fighting him was a visual marvel. On a technical and artistic level, the fight was excellent, but, goddamn, I’ve 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 didn’t 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 can’t think of many ways to make him into a believable boss fight, because he’s so huge, and if he threw all his weight against you, it’d seem silly if he couldn’t 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 doesn’t 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 hasn’t 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 aren’t 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 that’s certainly true. I’ve been told that I keep looking at the game from an action gamer’s perspective when I should be looking at it from an action adventure perspective, the same I way I’d 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 don’t 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, GoW3’s 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 that’s 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 doesn’t hold a candle to true action games, but it’s the only GoW game where I didn’t get bored of the combat before finishing the game, so it’s 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 you’re being picky and count the first 2 sisters as one boss fight) in GoW2. GoW3 has 14 enemies, and 8 bosses (I’m being generous counting Hermes and Cronos as bosses). Third, they seem somewhat simplified. Now, my memory is fuzzy so I may be wrong, but didn’t most enemies have a way to break your guard in GoW2? I know that minotaurs did. However, in GoW3, many enemies, including minotaurs, couldn’t break it no matter what. Certain attacks did make it through, (Cyclops’s slam, fire attacks) but many enemies couldn’t do anything if you were blocking. Even if GoW2 didn’t 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 Satyr’s 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 game’s 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 isn’t 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 GoW’s(I don’t 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 Poseidon’s wrath, others I don’t, and some songs I don’t 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, it’s 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.

Goodness gracious, there is so much in that post I agree with or thought about but didn't know how to articulate--I'm overwhelmed. This person speaks truth.

There are a few things I disagreed with you about. While I did dislike the ENTIRE implementation of

Spoiler

Hope

in the plotline, I felt that if done right (which it wasn't), it could make sense because it's actually part of Greek Mythology. But in the state that it's in, I think it harmed more than it did good.

Second was level design. I agree with you that it was underwhelming, but to an even larger scale. I wasn't impressed by Hades, I felt it looked like pretty much every other "hell" world I've ever seen, even in games rated E10 (Yes, I realize there are dead bodies laying around and souls, but I'm talking about the look and design of the actual level ignoring that). The only interesting scene in Hades and actually stand-out moment for me was when I was

Spoiler

looking out over Tartarus and saw all the souls.

. All-in-all, I certainly was not expecting level design this generic and boring from the God of War series. Not only was scenery not very varied in color, aesthetic or actual navigation, you revisit it multiple times throughout in an inorganic way (portals). Very disappointing for me.

You absolutely nailed it when it comes to combat and enemies. That's how I felt throughout the entire game. Combat was greatly improved, but the satisfaction-response from the enemies simply was not there (well, it was there in a sense since I played on Titan Mode, but that was more along the lines of "can't believe I beat this cheap-ass gauntlet of enemies gatdam" and not really "WHOA, that enemy was impressive.")

I liked

Spoiler

Cronos'

boss fight. I totally agree with your criticisms, but I don't see how they could have done it either way, and for that I enjoyed it. But still, I agree.

As said, well done.

I don't really know what else to say; you covered a lot that was on my mind.

EDIT: I'll add that,

Spoiler

Daedalus and his labyrinth

was one of the most disappointing aspects in the game. I simply wasn't left with the feeling of belittlement, wonder and awe while exploring the

Spoiler

labyrinth

as much as I was with the architect of Pandora's Temple, or the overall design of the Island of the Fates. Pandora's Temple was so long, buried, intricate and complicated that it made me feel like it must have taken the entire life out of a man to build something like that. Island of the Fates felt so majestic and exotic, yet secluded and unbeknownst to man that it was like I was actually exploring a mystical place that few had ever been to. The

Spoiler

labyrinth and its puny architect

simply didn't convey that feeling.

 

[Veelk]

Goodness gracious, there is so much in that post I agree with or thought about but didn't know how to articulate--I'm overwhelmed. This person speaks truth.

There are a few things I disagreed with you about. While I did dislike the ENTIRE implementation of

Spoiler

Hope

in the plotline, I felt that if done right (which it wasn't), it could make sense because it's actually part of Greek Mythology. But in the state that it's in, I think it harmed more than it did good.

Second was level design. I agree with you that it was underwhelming, but to an even larger scale. I wasn't impressed by Hades, I felt it looked like pretty much every other "hell" world I've ever seen, even in games rated E10 (Yes, I realize there are dead bodies laying around and souls, but I'm talking about the look and design of the actual level ignoring that). The only interesting scene in Hades and actually stand-out moment for me was when I was

Spoiler

looking out over Tartarus and saw all the souls.

. All-in-all, I certainly was not expecting level design this generic and boring from the God of War series. Not only was scenery not very varied in color, aesthetic or actual navigation, you revisit it multiple times throughout in an inorganic way (portals). Very disappointing for me.

You absolutely nailed it when it comes to combat and enemies. That's how I felt throughout the entire game. Combat was greatly improved, but the satisfaction-response from the enemies simply was not there (well, it was there in a sense since I played on Titan Mode, but that was more along the lines of "can't believe I beat this cheap-ass gauntlet of enemies gatdam" and not really "WHOA, that enemy was impressive.")

I liked

Spoiler

Cronos'

boss fight. I totally agree with your criticisms, but I don't see how they could have done it either way, and for that I enjoyed it. But still, I agree.

As said, well done.

I don't really know what else to say; you covered a lot that was on my mind.

My main problem with the

Spoiler

Hope

plot is just that it feels unnecessary. If

Spoiler

Athena

had simply explained in detail the whole thing from the beginning, and how Kratos honestly needed

Spoiler

hope

to have a chance of winning, and if the game didn't involve so much backtracking because of it, I would have been happy. I seriously feel that we are restricted from exploring the rest of Mt. Olympus and we get weaker god fights because we can't go and join in the fray the titans and Gods are having. No, we're too busy running an errand for

Spoiler

athena

, looking for

Spoiler

the flame

. You've peaked my curiosity though, how would suggest doing it?

I guess that a grimdark place with flowing lava, tortured souls, and stuff has been done before, but I really liked the look of it for some reason. As I said, up until I saw GoW3's Hades, I was ready to put the dark and gritty stuff behind and move on to heavenly and majestic looking environments, but this renewed my faith.

The combat has been my complaint of the GoW series for a while. It feels like a game that's mostly dedicated to action and combat, but I was never satisfied by killing any of the enemies. It's much better than what it used to be, but it's still not enough imo.

As for

Spoiler

Cronos, I feel they could have done a few things. First of all, established that Kratos is REDONCULOUSLY strong, to be able to throw off Cronos' hand like that. Because of that, I feel that they could have thrown in some actual attacks. With the Hermies shoes, you could have evaded and ran along Cronos in more of a believable manner. Is it possible to make it fully believable though? I'm not sure, but more could have been done.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I really, REALLY appreciate it. After having people only read and discuss the first 2 paragraphs of a 6 page review that took me a week to write, I really appreciate any feedback on the whole thing. Hopefully, others will get in on it and discuss some more.

EDIT: I'll add that,

Spoiler

Daedalus and his labyrinth

was one of the most disappointing aspects in the game. I simply wasn't left with the feeling of belittlement, wonder and awe while exploring the

Spoiler

labyrinth

as much as I was with the architect of Pandora's Temple, or the overall design of the Island of the Fates. Pandora's Temple was so long, buried, intricate and complicated that it made me feel like it must have taken the entire life out of a man to build something like that. Island of the Fates felt so majestic and exotic, yet secluded and unbeknownst to man that it was like I was actually exploring a mystical place that few had ever been to. The

Spoiler

labyrinth and its puny architect

simply didn't convey that feeling.

To be fair, the

Spoiler

Labyrinth

wasn't an entire island, or a temple on a titan's back.

Spoiler

It was just a bunch of giant cubes. But that's it, isn't it? It's such a simplistic design that it's hard to compare. On the other hand, they are so fucking big, it's hard not to be impressed, at least visually. On the other hand...they are just fucking cubes. The problem is that the puzzle wasn't that hard to solve, you just turn a few levels and go back to it every so often. It's not like Pandora's Temple, where the whole thing was so massive that it actually took the majority of the game to get through. While it's plain and simple, it's also grand, just because of it's size. It felt appropriately GoW-y, especially when Kratos lifted it back up into the temple, but it was extremely simple and straightforward. I guess I agree with you, I suppose, but puzzles aren't very important to me, good or bad (well, unless they are so bad that they actually keep you from progressing), so it's okay by my standards. I can see how other fans, like you, would have a problem with it though.

I find that solving it is more amusing than satisfying.

Daedalus:

Spoiler

It took my entire life to build this grand puzzle
*Kratos pulls a few levers, is done 20 minutes later*

Daedalus:

Spoiler

FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Listening to the Blood and Metal album now. This last song is awesomely bad. Reminds me of a Monty Python song a bit.

What? The last song was, besides the 'This is Madness' track, the only good thing on that EP IMO. The rest was shitty, generic metal. And Monty Python is always good. Always.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I don't understand people who are against addition OPTIONS in a game.

 

[Amir0x]

Well, *sniff*, I beat God of War III. I feel so empty now. I need more Kratos. I need more ridiculously epic fights and insane mountain sized bosses. Please Sony please.

GOTY 2010 so far.

 

[Amir0x]

Everyone seems to have different tactics to take down Cerberus on Titan. I've tried a few different techniques but this one worked the best and makes the fight fairly easy and it's fast.
.

The Cestus fucking destroys the Flame Cerberus. As soon as it spawns, just run behind it and start pounding, taking care to roll around trying to position yourself to the side of it, and whenever it swipes so it misses. The Cestus is so strong against the flame Cerberus that it only takes me about ten seconds until I have the first QTE up for head slicing goodness :lol

The Satyr's are the difficult part. Harder than the boss!

But it's not that difficult either. Make some distance between you and the flame Cerberus so it doesn't feel compelled to join the fray (as often), and then simply grab the Satyr with circle. Do this three times and you'll instant kill the Satyr. At least, that works when there is one Satyr alone.

For the last phase with two Satyr's, simply switch to Hades weapon, then use Gorgon on each individually. Break stone Satyr's. You're done, since the Cerberus itself is so easy to kill.