God of War III is a combination of over-the-top action combat, exploration and puzzle-solving along with an engrossing mythologically inspired storyline and a selection of new weapons, it is a fitting conclusion to the much praised God of War trilogy.
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"The End Begins..." Three little words that haunt the God of War fans to this very day. Those words echoed the end of one of the most epic stories told on the PlayStation 2, that of Kratos in God of War II.
We last left Kratos on the back of the Titan Gaia climbing Mount Olympus with the intentions of destroying the Olympian Gods residing within, this game promises the conclusion to Kratos's story of revenge upon the Gods that have forsaken him.
Little is known about the story for the new game, it's all a closely guarded secret but as time grows close to the games release more and more information is beginning to leak out, the plot script for the game is said to run at approximately 120 pages long so you can take from that that it's going to be as epic as those that came before it. It's been announced as the finale to the series, no surprise given the battle that is obviously going to ensue between the Titans and the Olympians in this game and in 2007 director David Jaffe stated that the series will explain (or attempt to explain) why there are no more Greek Myths, a bold claim in itself.
So far three weapons have been confirmed, obviously no God of War game would be complete without his trademark weapon, his blades, The Blades of Athena to give them there proper title. Although they've got the same name, they do come with extras this time round, Kratos has now got the power to hook these blades into an enemy and drag him towards for an up close and personal kill, or, he can send them flying, knocking other enemies down like a bowling ball. We also know Kratos has access to a bow, and a new weapon, the Cestus which is a pair of gauntlets fashioned in the shape of lion's heads. This new weapon gives Kratos the ability to smash rocks and solid walls, it's also got a familiar feel to it in that the heads are attached to chains, these chains allow Kratos to use them in a similar way to his Blades of Athena weapon enabling him to start a combo move with one weapon and quickly switch to another to finish off his enemies. In gameplay trailers and preview pictures we're also able to spot that he has retained use of the Golden Fleece and the Icarus wings from his previous exploits, and from a demo that was first shown at E3 and then released to the privileged few we know that at some point he rips the head off the sun God Helios, similar to the way he collected the head of Medusa and Euryale in the previous games, only this time this head gives him the ability to see in dark corridors instead of turning his enemies into stone. The weapons are also said to be more user friendly than the ones from previous titles, how we don't know and we can't say we had a problem with them last time, we just preferred to use the Blades of Chaos / Athena. To give you a chance to use these weapons the number of on screen enemies has also leaped from a maximum of 15 as seen in the previous game to a whopping 50, carnage will no doubt ensue. That's not the only change that comes about with more on screen enemies, the combo system will change and adapt according to the amount of enemies on screen and their location giving you more options for your next move.
The Blades of Athena aren't the only old favorite to return with some new moves, Kratos himself now has the ability to run along walls ala Prince of Persia style, combine these with the grappling points from God of War 2 and we're sure to see some tricky sections to negotiate, the wall run move can also be used in combat as a form of attack, again this brings in more options for you to reign destruction down on your enemies. You're also able to grab hold of an enemy and use him as a meat shield, charging into the armies before you attach a small bomb to him which sends the crowds flying off in all directions, a trick which will certainly come in handy at giving you some breathing space.
The game itself is set to be an epic affair, the God of War series has always liked to show off the scale of its set pieces, it's easy to forget sometimes that the sheer size of the objects you were clambering about in the first two games would be absolutely huge in reality, to put it into context, much of the level design of the new games are set on the backs of the Titans themselves, huge levels set upon the back of brawling giants, surely an impressive sight to behold given what we we've seen in previous games thus far. The challenges are also back, traditionally these become open to the end user when the game has been completed to allow you to hone your skills, these are both being shipped with the game and we'll also probably see some downloadable content which will expand upon these.
Multiplayer support for the title was thought about and dropped, as was the use of any six-axis control elements, both in the name of the game. Game Director Stig Asmussen explains that the multiplayer aspect was dropped so the developers could properly tell the story they wanted to tell, the six-axis support was dropped because they couldn't find a way to implement it into the game as a natural device and would rather not have it than risk ruining the experience of the game. A reason we wish more developers would use and all credit to them for keeping the gamer in mind.
All in all GamesRelay towers is buzzing with the thought of more Kratos, more unadulterated vengeance and more from the epic story. The team here is literally on pins and needles (we like to feel at least some of Kratos's pain) for when the game is finally released in March and you can read the review once we've torn ourselves away from playing the game, if you're new to the series then you'll be able to read our indepth set of articles on the story so far nearer the games March release date, we're sure it'll wet your appetite.
