Short Version: God of War 3 is an exciting game with jaw dropping visual sequences but, in the end, a number of gameplay elements suffer as a result of the title's lofty ambitions.

Game Rant reviews God of War 3

God of War 3 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2010. It’s been nearly three years since we last joined Kratos on the Spartan’s inexhaustible journey for revenge and the third and final title offers the largest, most complicated, hack and slash battles ever put into an action game.

The result is a title that is both awe-inspiring and frustrating as hell. In short, while the visuals and ambitions of God of War 3 are certainly epic, the scale can, at times, cause the game to over extend its reach.

In terms of gameplay, God of War 3 offers the fast-paced, button mashing frenzy of the first two titles but with a few refinements. There are four primary “weapons” in the game, and this time, each is coupled with a particular magic power that evolves as players upgrade the weapon. The weapons are all interesting, in theory, though two of them are primarily the Blades of Exile with different features and coloration — only the Nemean Cestus offers a new and diversified approach to combat — i.e. up close and personal fisticuff brawling.

One simple, but immensely helpful improvement is the ability to switch weapons mid-combo which is especially useful on the harder difficulty settings (when facing a room full of enemies with diverse attacks and weaknesses). Also, in order to encourage players to take advantage of the support-weaponry Kratos collects throughout the game, Santa Monica Studio has added a new “item” mechanic - separate from the more traditional “magic” powers. The “item” bar quickly regenerates, allowing Kratos virtually unlimited use of weaponry such as the Bow of Apollo, among others. Ultimately, the “item” mechanic provides Kratos with a greater range of combat choices - options that don’t have to be used quite as strategically as the much stronger “magic” powers but still add a welcome bit of diversity to the gameplay.

In addition many of the items function as Metroid-like keys to areas you were not able to explore initially — i.e. the Bow of Apollo can shoot charged arrows that burn away wooden bramble blocking a path or covering a secret area. Unlocking hidden secrets in the earlier areas is definitely satisfying; though, the amount of times that Kratos goes back to previous locales is surprisingly frequent and, given the sheer size of Mount Olympus, this seemed like a missed opportunity. On a related note, a number of the environments could be considered the most detailed scenery in gaming history; however, others appear generic and lackluster.

A lot of hype has been centered around the shifting environments, where Kratos is climbing or walking on the arms of a titan, these sections live up to the epic and cinematic scale the game was attempting to achieve but this is also where the gameplay, at times, makes for an over-stimulating mishmash of visuals that lack clear cues or goals. Ueda’s Shadow of the Colossus is certainly an inspiration here — with Kratos making his way along a creature that is in the midst of its own motions but God of War 3 lacks the careful and deliberate gameplay featured in Colossus.

Additionally, all of these movements are scripted - even though the gameplay feels dynamic, it’s not time sensitive; rather, the shifting Titans take their cues from goals the player achieves — i.e. a Titan, or other environment, only shifts position when Kratos is done killing a certain number of enemies or inflicts a predetermined amount of damage on a boss. There’s nothing wrong with it, but there’s no real surprise to the fights and players who were hoping for combat that altered gameplay physics in real-time may feel a bit letdown.

As I alluded to earlier, the grandiose scale of the combat scenarios often leaves players fumbling to figure out what to do. The fast-paced action, or at least the impression of fast-paced action, pushes the player to keep moving — but the game doesn’t always provide clear goals — and at times confuses players by prematurely throwing an option into the mix. This may seem like a small point but the game is filled with convoluted situations like this — frustrating moments that could have been easily avoided with clearer objectives.

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By far the worst example of this kind of thing occurs later in the game, when you face off against a large enemy with clearly vulnerable legs and back. However, after attacking the vulnerable legs, it’s actually the enemy’s mouth that is susceptible to damage - not his glowing back. Ultimately, you never have the option of attacking the enemy’s back — so why paint a target there when it could have been more useful around his mouth?

It’s not that these battles are frustrating because you die a lot, in fact most of the large scale battles aren’t actually all the difficult (the awkward platforming mechanics, like in the previous games, are still responsible for the majority of deaths) - it’s that not having clear objectives takes the player out of the experience. It’s the developer’s job to challenge gamers but also offer them the tools with which to succeed. At numerous points in God of War 3 the player is left flailing, trying to figure out what exactly they need to do — because in the end the visual aesthetic has taken precedence over playability.

In an attempt to become the most epic and grandiose game imaginable God of War 3, at times, loses what made the franchise so great — the feeling that you were one man capable of taking on the gods — reacting with lightning quick reflexes and killing thousands of undead soldiers in your quest for revenge. It’s hard to feel that way while you’re circling a giant enemy punching randomly at the thing until the hit counter appears - revealing you’ve finally discovered the sweet-spot.

The pursuit of aesthetic over attention to detail is also prevalent in the game’s story — which doesn’t have a solid focus this round. With successful franchises being built around the notion of deep and complicated characters it’s getting harder and harder to take Kratos as anything but an adult-baby in the midst of the world’s most epic temper tantrum. The rage that was once justified by Aries’ deceit and Kratos’ rejection by Zeus is now nothing but a single-minded desire to kill with no remorse, no compassion - as each execution is carried out in the most brutal way imaginable.

There are no options where the player might be allowed to choose to slit an enemy’s throat as opposed to gouging out eyes or ripping a head clean off. Additionally, players are often in control of each terrible act — told to repeatedly press the circle button in order to pound a character to death until their face caves in. The only story-related option given to players throughout the entire game asks players whether or not they would like to take a break from killing gods and have sex with one instead (by far the worst moment in the game) — and it’s obvious this “choice” is only in there to keep FOX News from running a story about God of War 3 forcing children to play through a sex QTE game.

It’s not that God of War 3 needs to take on “choice” related mechanics like other videogames — it’s okay for us to be horrified by what Kratos is doing. For most (as well as the developers), the appeal of the game is not in what is actually happening; instead, the appeal is centered on making the things that happen unfold in the most explosive or violent way imaginable. However, by the end it’s simply violence for the sake of violence, spectacle for the sake of spectacle. There’s no meaning behind any of the overly-excessive moments and, as result, by the time we see the credits roll, and have heard the developer’s final message, the message is laughable because everything that has led us to that point has been created, both in the development and the story, from the polar opposite mindset — embracing every nasty and grotesque desire.

In terms of replay value, we are once again treated to a challenge mode that provides players with a series of arena battles that feature a variety of objectives. Completing the challenge mode unlocks the ultimate prize - the build your own battle “Combat Arena” where players can choose to face off against any combination of enemy types as well as what powers, weapons, or tweaks they would like to put into effect.

There are no online features what-so-ever — but anyone familiar with the God of War series knows that the campaign as well as the challenges and battle arena offer plenty of replay value.

Recommendation:

God of War 3is as epic as it claims to be - it’s an exciting game with awe-inspiring visuals. However, it’s also a frustrating game that over-extends itself as a result of its attempt to be epic. If you’re a fan of the God of War series there’s no reason not to pick this game up (or at least rent it). However, despite how grandiose the game is, there are a number of gameplay mechanics that do not work as well as they could. As result, if you were bored or frustrated by the previous titles there’s probably not much new in this one to change the way you feel about the God of War franchise or convince you that the series has evolved much.

Ultimately, Santa Monica Studio fully embraced the approach of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” and focused their attention on making the game even bigger. Which, in the end, might have actually broken “it”  - if only a bit.

God of War 3 is available now exclusively on PlayStation 3.

Follow Ben Kendrick on Twitter @iambenkendrick