God Of War 3

by Alex Singleton on 12.05.10


To say that the God of War series is an epic one is to say that a dinosaur is bigger than a cat. It’s not an untrue statement, but it is somewhat of an understatement. With the close of the original God of War, our antagonised protagonist Kratos became (unsurprisingly) the actual God of War. An hour or two after the release of God of War Two internet forums were awash with conversations along the lines of; “I just stabbed a 500ft colossus in the eye!”, “wow! Is that the final boss?”, “…no mate, that’s the first one”. It is unsurprising then that the gaming world waits with baited breath to see how Stig Asmussen; the Director of God of War Three, up’s the stakes this time around.

As far as story is concerned, the last time we saw Kratos he was stood on the shoulders of the Titan Gaia as she climbed mount Olympus to wage war against Zeus and co. Kratos himself bent on taking revenge against the gods who have betrayed him in the past by doing… whatever. To be perfectly honest, story really isn’t the strong point for God of War, which is odd, because I love it and I almost always need a compelling narrative to enjoy a game. Kratos shows no other emotion than utter contempt for everything around him, and the gods that make up the rest of the main characters are suitably shallow and easily disliked. But then it struck me, that’s what God of War is all about. It’s not trying to be an Oscar winning, heart wrenching drama. It’s a massive pantomime. We may not be able to relate to Kratos on a personal level, but he has such a strong character that we can’t help but sit on the edge of our seats, waiting to see how he confronts the insurmountable odds that rally themselves against him.

Asmussen notes that it was keeping up with the ever growing sense of peril that was the greatest challenge in God of War Three. In fairness, he does have a point. We had already killed a god, we had already become a god for that matter, how could things get any bigger? Rather than looking purely at the challenges, Asmussen looked at the levels themselves. Kratos had become such a huge character that the only real option was to remind the audience that he was just one man in the middle of all this chaos. Without removing all of his powers again (a controversial tactic used in God of War Two), Asmussen and his team decided to force the idea upon the gamer that Kratos was very small, and very out of his depth, therefore rekindling the sense of accomplishment when you managed to tear the head off something big.

It’s difficult with just words and pictures to get across how completely and utterly this has been accomplished. But I will try.

So Kratos is riding a giant Titan up mount Olympus right? That (exactly there), is where we start. Entire levels are going to be fought on the backs, fronts, arms, legs, shoulders and heads of these huge Titans. This isn’t a gimmick, this isn’t a clever background animation, this is a massive, fully animated character that is taking up more space on the Playstation 3’s blueray disk in textures alone than any complete Xbox 360 game. Demos of the game have shown the camera zooming right out, showing us a section of a clambering arm or a stony face as if in an attempt to prove this, leaving Kratos no more than an angry spec heaving out the eye of some unlucky Gorgon in the palm of a Titans hand.

I still don’t think I’m getting this whole scale point across properly. Asmussen mentioned that the Titans (note plural) are a little larger on average than the Sears Tower in Chicago. Now that means nothing to me really. I’ve never been to Chicago, I don’t know how big that is. But Wikipedia does, and I’ve done my research. To throw it into real perspective, each living moving Titan will be about the same height as three of Manchester’s own Beetham Towers stacked end to end. This is before we even reach Olympus where coveted screenshots have shown glimpses of Kratos fighting off massive waves of enemies (the onscreen count being raised from fifteen to fifty now) as Titans and gods wage a real-time war in the skies above. Asmussen himself probably describes it best; “…take D Day, the battle at Normandy, and combine it with the movie Cloverfield, and put Kratos smack dab in the middle of it.”

As far as gameplay goes, there really isn’t that much to mention. The first two games have condensed the hack and slash action to such a perfect blend that God of War Three finds itself in a rare position where change and experimentation may be a bad thing. Asmussen has promised that the secondary weapons that were underplayed in the original sequel will return with an added impact on gameplay. The Crestus (a new weapon to the series), a pair of giant lion headed gauntlets, each the size of Kratos’s torso can break through barriers and shields alike. A useful tactic given that the improved AI has enemies grouping together to form Roman style shield walls or simply piling on top of Kratos in vain attempts to subdue him.

So God of War Three is going to be good then? Yeah, definitely. I feel a little odd saying that. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m incredibly pretentious when it comes to games. I’m always looking for hidden virtues, deeper meanings and immersive experiences. God of War Three almost certainly has none of these and still, I can’t help but love it. It isn’t going to be the game that convinces your mum that games are art, and it isn’t going to be the game that changes your perspective on what this medium can achieve. What it will be is bloody pantomime that will make you grit your teeth, scream at your TV and punch the air like your nine years old. But fuck me, it’s going to be epic, and that’s an understatement.

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