It is always difficult to keep a franchise fresh and exciting from sequel to sequel without drastically changing the formula. What were once game play innovations are now commonplace in a sea of lookalike titles that attempt to capture the magic of their competition. Yet, the risks may be too great in reinventing the formula, and the legion of fans that once fell in love with the first game may not take too kindly to an overhaul of their favorite series. The original God of War reinvented the action genre by having previously unseen production values and set piece moments paired with fluid combat and an unforgettable protagonist. The sequel only improved on the formula, maxing out the aging PS2 and standing out among a slew of more technically powerful games while still running on yesterday’s hardware. Now here we are, five years later and on a whole new console. Can Kratos recapture the throne and once again set an example for other action games to follow? In a short answer: Yes.
God of War III picks up directly where its predecessor left off. With the help of the Titans, Kratos is found ascending Mount Olympus with little on his mind but vengeance (Who would have guessed?). As he nears the top, each remaining god is shown looming over the mountain in anticipation for the encounter. Basically, the developers are lining up your future bosses and saying, “Okay, this is the order in which you will kill these dudes “. You are quickly thrown into one of the most cinematic opening battles that have ever graced a television screen. As you ride the massive flailing Gaia and fight for your life against aquatic stallions (a.k.a. Poseidon), the landscape consistently alters, throwing Kratos around like a drunken girl on a mechanical bull. There is no intermission to think or relax though, as you must continue your battle against the gods while mastering your terrain. With such an impressive beginning, it is difficult to imagine how one would keep the momentum up throughout the entirety of the experience. Yet, that is the beautiful part of this game: Not once will you be bored, not once will the experience slow down, and not once will you want to put your controller down and go outside. The first battle is only a taste of the delicious feast that is God of War III, and I sure hope you are hungry.
The combat is just as brutal and visceral as ever, with incremental differences but nothing that changes the overall feel of swinging the blades. Where the real improvement shows is in the variety of weapons Kratos has at his disposal. From gauntlets shaped like the heads of lions to a greatly improved bow that rains fiery arrows, God of War III continuously throws inventive weapon after weapon your way. You also have the ability to swap between these death-bringers mid attack, adding various combos and depth to the already exciting combat. What you really need to know is that for the first time in a God of War game you will actually use the new weapons you obtain for more than five minutes before switching back to your trusty Blades of Exile. Why? Because they are just that fun to use.
So how about the graphics? Kratos is finally attacking the power house that is the PS3, and in his usual fashion, he shows no mercy. From the minute the game kicks off all the way until the stunning conclusion, God of War III’s presentation never misses a beat. The animations are fluid, the characters are unbelievably detailed, and the frame rate is spot on. This is the best looking console game I have ever witnessed, taking the crown from last year’s beautiful Uncharted 2. Every few minutes I would have to stop and marvel at not only how epic the current scene was, but also how breathtaking it looked.
So is God of War III innovative? No. Nothing here will move the genre into a new direction or shake up the industry. It runs around the usual 7-10 hours and contains no real online component. What truly makes this game special though is that after three iterations, the formula still works and works wonderfully. It is a testament to how far ahead of its time the original God of War was. This is the pinnacle of action gaming, and will most likely not be touched for years to come. Your quest for vengeance is over Kratos, and what a quest it was.
The Opening Levels that hooked gamers from the outset.
Cultured Vultures: Let’s delve into Kratos’ long and rampageous history and find out which games are worth the hype and which are better left buried under the weight of Kratos’s might.
Both requels over 2 and 3? Clowns. Those are two of the most boring games I've ever played.
GoW 3 was amazing, but I personally hated just one thing. (This is on me alone, because I was dumb, lol.) I hated that you couldn't skip cutscenes on repeat playthroughs. I had to go back through the game a third time because I missed one trophy accidentally on my way to the platinum... The cutscenes were great the first go round, even the second... But the third was pretty agonizing.
Haven't played Ragnarok, but I still think GoW 4 is a wonderful game in its own right. Not sure how I would stack them up against each other honestly.
I don't consider the reboot part of the original series. The original series were high-skill games with combos and rewards for mixing things up.
lol square, square and triangle is the only combo you needed. I have played all of them on the hardest difficulties...
Maybe I’m just old school but I just couldn’t get into the last two. Maybe it’s the slower action and more story telling but the original trilogy was by far my favorite.
Me either, at all. It's just yap yap yap. They try to be a RPG's instead of being action games like they used to be.
My favorite was part 2 and I think Ragnarok is better that 2018.
There is no worst. Except for Ascension, only cause I didn't play it lol. They are all masterpieces. 1,2,3, 2018 and Ragnarok. 1 of, if not the greatest video game franchise...besides MetalGear.
Oh wow, I actually forgot that Ascension even existed... I never played it either.
If you didnt play it, how could you call it the worst? Its not as bad as the media portrayed it. Honestly the worst are those flash games. they arent even considered true GoW games but in name only. At least Ascension is a real GoW game.
Not saying it's a terrible game. Just mean it's at the bottom of my list. I played a little bit of it. Jus to me, compared to the other main games, it's last.
Can't agree, older games do so much more than the last two. More weapons, magic abilities, enemies are more varied, level design is also more aesthetically pleasing, and agree with those who say that they shouldn't have removed jumping. Was a time I'd agree, but those old games are so so much better, that they really should've looked into bringing into the reboot/sequels.
If a game is good then a game is good. Doesn't matter what came before or what comes after.
Of course it matters. If not for what what came before there wouldn't be an after. And if something is great before then you strive to make it just as good if not better, after. I personally don't think there's a fair way to judge the new with the old because the newer games are still essentially a reboot, and went a way different direction. But I still believe the old games did it better. I'm probably bias though since I've been going back to old games and have been finding that they lack all the annoying aspects that devs have shoehorned into new games to fluff out game time.
@Inverno
Im not talking about the passage of time here. Im talking about individual pieces of software. If a game is good then it is good. Thats not a controversial statement. You can compare good with good...sure. But you still end up with good. Now if there is a bad game in the mix and you compare you do end up with some differentials between them...makes sense to compare and see where it went wrong.
But theyre different genres and styles which were individually executed very well.
And no. The new games are not a reboot. Theyre a new direction but simply a continuation.
Tomb raider was a reboot.
The new games are definitely a reboot, and a continuation, it can be both which it is. And a good game might be good, but my point is that if there are things done better before it then there's plenty of room for critiquing and trying to make whatever comes after better rather than just good.
God of War 3 Remaster has sold 4 million copies since its inception, making the franchise PlayStation's most profitable gamer merch brand.
Haha I still remember my brother playing the opening scene on ps3!!!
Yeh he had to put the controller down his heart was beating too fast trying to get past first 10 minutes. He said "it's too much". Best thing I've ever seen in gaming. Haha
A great game from an era before things went politically correct and gaming turned serious/'mature'.
It certainly wasn't concerned about upsetting or offending anyone and was more fun because of it.
The boss battles and set pieces still top most games released today.
Yes. The graphics were just ridiculous compared to most other games on the market at the time.
Ascension SP had some things better than GOW3, and also some things worst than GOW3. But in general it was a really good game, for me it also deserves a REMASTER. The problem per se with the game is that most people were satisfied on how GOWIII ended, so Kratos got his revenge, so in order to rise the interest in the game how have to make it MORE EPIC is that the game did not had the epicness of fighting huge bosses (I guess due to technical difficulties,the game had actually a lot more colors (because the world is not dying like in GOWIII) so it is graphically more demanding that is my guess), but it compensated with having in general a more complex combat system, and an amazing soundtrack. but in general the game needed to be more epic than GOWIII somehow, and that did not happened, after GOWIII people had expectations through the roof. They should have waited and release it for PS4 so the vision of the game is not compromised.
My list of good and bad compared to GOWIII
GOOD: THE COMBAT
The combat was more elaborated, which allows you to be more immersed in the fights. Also every enemy was more resistant, even those that you could usually kill in 2-3 attacks in previous games. THE LAST BOSS is so damn epic!!!, but there is only one moment like this in the whole game.
GOOD: LESS QTEs
I love the fact that "cicle" in the new enemies (killing animations) are not QTEs, in Ascension they are mini-games on their own, depending on the enemy, making it more engaging. You had to dodge and hit when the window was open in order to eventually do the killing blow.
GOOD: The Soundtrack
it has the orginal trilogy musics, but with a new perspective since the game had a new composer. The ST was amazing also the new music written specifically for this game were badass
GOOD: The puzzles actually require you to think.
BAD: There are bad camera angles during the game, like zooming way too out of vista, and then swarming you with "light units" that like I said before had better AI and did not die of 2 attacks. those parts a few, but are a mess.
BAD: EMPTY ARENAS
Other thing that really annoyed me is that when you fight a sub-boss/heavy unit in a big arena; that ARENA WAS EMPTY, it was just you and against the medusa, or against the manticore. They should have zoom in into the action to avoid noticing the void scenario. I guess emptiness was because of the game having a lot more colors (because the world is not dying like in GOWIII) so it is graphically more demanding. My guess is that it was not possible technically, since in most of those cases you had huge vistas or intricate scenarios that needed to be rendered. The fact that the cerberus is smaller in this game disappointed me.
BAD: Only one BADASS EPIC moment, the others moments of the game were great but, they needed to set the bar even higher than GOWIII and they failed miserably.
BAD: The graphics did not improved much. I was GOWIII with more colors, and that's it.
So 4 good things against 4 bad ones. The problem is those 2 last BAD aspects are actually why the game was received so poorly. Everyone expects the next game to have a really BIG improvement in all aspects in contrast to the previous one, and that was not the case in ascension. And also GOW is the definition of EPIC, and that was not there neither. The jump on every aspect from GOWI to GOWII was huge being on the same console, and the jump from GOWII to GOWIII was humongous (obviously because a more powerful console). While the jump from GOWIII to Ascension is too little, and people expected more.
On it's own is a good game; but is not sufficient when GOWIII was released before it.
I know this is unpopular opinion, but I prefer these over the new ones. I’m not saying the new ones are bad or anything, but they sort of get boring to me, whereas the older games were like non-stop roller coaster rides.
I love the new ones but I understand what you mean. The older ones had more action and was more arcady like.
Ragnarok was not BIG at all… GoW1 had larger set pieces, and it was on ps2.
GoW 2018 had big moments in its own way…. Ragnarok abandoned these aspects though
hear ye hear ye kratos is teh epicZZZZZZZZZZ
Most complete hack n slash game this gen, and the best, by far.
Vgas eat you heart out
Made me chuckle.
I just played this game yesterday for the first time. It was my first time playing a game in the God of War franchise.
I played straight through - I couldn't put it down. It was fantastic.
I had many reservations about the game going in, such as the length of the game. I played on easy mode and it took me 8-9 solid hours of awesome.
All my doubts were washed away (in blood, of course).