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June 10, 2009 | 3:27 AM PST
What the Game's About
Few original properties have received the kind of critical acclaim and immediate fan support as the God of War franchise. It's not hard to understand why. The perfect waypoint between Eastern and Western design philosophies, God of War expertly balances style and substance, enthralling players with combat that is instantly accessible, deceptively nuanced, and always brutally cinematic. A delightfully operatic narrative that draws as much from comic books as it does real Greek myth serves as the perfect backdrop for the carnage, and it gives the developers the freedom to concoct increasingly epic encounters. God of War III doesn't try to revolutionize the successful formula, but the developers have managed to leverage incremental upgrades to Kratos' weaponry, move-set and rogues gallery into unique and thrilling moments. One of the most impressive, fun, and straight-up cool games on the show-floor, God of War III dominated the competition at E3 2009.
What's Hot
The demo kicked off with a siege on the city of Olympia, where Kratos and gigantic Titan composed of molten rock were tearing the city and its citizens apart. Since this is the conclusion of the Kratos trilogy and the ultimate battle between the Gods and the colossal Titans, the developers are focusing on bestowing the battles with a truly epic sense of scale. The city burned in the backdrop as I took control of Kratos and used the familiar Blades of Athena to cut down charging enemies and fleeing civilians alike. The environments are enormous and opulent, befitting of a preamble to Mount Olympus, and the number of enemies on-screen at any given time has noticeably increased, as has the size and ferocity of the mythological creatures that back them up. As I fought my way through undead soldiers, centaurs and chimeras, the Sun god Helios bombarded me and the molten Titan with fire-balls that sent shockwaves through the screen and ripped the environment apart around me. This was the kind of battle that myths are made of.
Even at this early stage, the game plays exceptionally well. Kratos and his weapons behave with a natural feeling of weight and momentum. Beneath the outer layer of frenetic bedlam, the combat adheres to an innate rhythm, an ebb and flow that holds the key to timing attacks and stringing together devastating combos. On top of that refined core, Sony's Santa Monica studio has added a variety of new gameplay mechanics that, while relatively insignificant on an individual basis, have a great cumulative effect on the flow of the gameplay and provide for some wickedly cool moments. Take for example, the improved bestiary of mythological monsters. These creatures are now much more multifaceted, requiring several quick-time finishing maneuvers to put down for good. The chimera, for example, requires you to take out its snake-head tail to remove one of its weapons, forcing it to alter its attack patterns. Deal enough damage after that, and you'll take out the lion on its under-belly, and after a few more attacks, finally end the battle by ripping off one of the chimera's ram horns and stabbing it through the head with it. Awesome.
My favorite new mechanic is Kratos' ability to mount certain enemies and force his will on them with some well placed sword strikes. The demo featured two examples of this mechanic: Harpies and a giant Cyclops. Harpies are ugly bird-creatures and they were all over the stage we played through, and attacking one of them usually causes the victim to call in support from the rest of the flock. You can actually use this to your advantage by jumping and hitting the grab button to hang onto the Harpie as it hovers in the air. Hitting the attack button at this point causes the Harpie to move a few feet in whatever direction you're facing as it vainly tries to escape your cruelty, before ultimately succumbing after a few attacks. Kratos can then jump and grab onto another Harpie in the flock and repeat the process to cross gaps. You can opt to rip the Harpies in half immediately upon 'boarding' them, but doing so will rob you of a vehicle. Hence, players have to start thinking about letting enemies live at least as long as they remain useful rather than killing them immediately.
Later on, I encountered a large group of undead soldiers bearing shields that made them significantly more difficult to manage. Mid-way through the battle a giant Cyclops lumbered into the scene and I thought I was screwed. Focusing my attacks on the giant, I found it possible to mount the creature and dig my blades into his neck. Stabbing him with light and heavy attacks caused him to lash out in pain with equivalent force, and allowed me to use the monster as a battering ram against the shielded enemies that were giving me some trouble. When I was done with the soldiers I initiated the final kill sequence and ripped the giant's veiny eye-ball out of its socket. It's mechanics like these that really set God of War apart from other action titles, as violence is leveraged as a vehicle for exploration and puzzle solving in addition to the traditional clearing of enemies.
Fans of the franchise will recognize that eyeball-ripping finisher from God of War II, but the upgrade to the PS3 makes it seem all the more sadistic. The presentation has received a massive overhaul, most notably the lighting which is far more dramatic than in previous titles. Darkness rolls over Kratos' muscular form as he moves through murky caves and passes through shadows dynamic shadow, while the light from torches and the flames coming off his own weaponry send color flickering across his visage. Kratos is ultra-detailed, with normal-mapped skin textures that give the appearance of porous skin stretching over flexing muscle, while his roman skirt shifts and flows with his movements as his golden armor and chain-covered gauntlets dynamically reflect the light cast on them. None of the other texture-work quite matches up at this point, but there's still plenty of time left to polish things up. Of course, it's the little details that sell the experience, and keen eyes will watch as Kratos gets splashed with blood after every kill, with larger battles often leaving his arms and legs drenched in viscera. Speaking of viscera, the killing blow delivered to the centaur in this demo features the best intestine-spilling physics I've ever seen.
What's Not
After playing through the demo twice, I really don't have much to complain about. Nothing in the demo was particularly game-changing or revolutionary for the franchise, which may disappoint some fans, but the cumulative effect of all the small additions made for a fine evolution of the gameplay formula. If I was forced at gunpoint to make a complaint, it would be that the dodge button felt far less useful than in the previous games. While dodging worked wonders against the hordes of grunts, most of the large creatures had attacks that would hit regardless of whether or not I dodged. Contrastingly, holding the block button or attempting to counter was almost universally effective. It's possible that since the game is still early, Sony Santa Monica is still in the process of balancing the enemy attack patterns, but even if things stay status quo when the game hits retail shelves, it's an adjustment I'll be more than willing to make given how much fun the combat is otherwise. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm just horribly out of practice and my timing is completely off – it's hard to get a handle on that kind of thing in a 30 minute demo.
Outlook
If the E3 demo of God of War III were released as is, it would be a front-runner for action game of the year. The evolution of the combat mechanics and the upgrade in presentation values should enthrall fans of the series and set a new benchmark for the action genre on the PS3, if not the entire console generation. The game feels as though it will be an appropriately epic conclusion to one of the best new original properties in years.
Few original properties have received the kind of critical acclaim and immediate fan support as the God of War franchise. It's not hard to understand why. The perfect waypoint between Eastern and Western design philosophies, God of War expertly balances style and substance, enthralling players with combat that is instantly accessible, deceptively nuanced, and always brutally cinematic. A delightfully operatic narrative that draws as much from comic books as it does real Greek myth serves as the perfect backdrop for the carnage, and it gives the developers the freedom to concoct increasingly epic encounters. God of War III doesn't try to revolutionize the successful formula, but the developers have managed to leverage incremental upgrades to Kratos' weaponry, move-set and rogues gallery into unique and thrilling moments. One of the most impressive, fun, and straight-up cool games on the show-floor, God of War III dominated the competition at E3 2009.
What's Hot
The demo kicked off with a siege on the city of Olympia, where Kratos and gigantic Titan composed of molten rock were tearing the city and its citizens apart. Since this is the conclusion of the Kratos trilogy and the ultimate battle between the Gods and the colossal Titans, the developers are focusing on bestowing the battles with a truly epic sense of scale. The city burned in the backdrop as I took control of Kratos and used the familiar Blades of Athena to cut down charging enemies and fleeing civilians alike. The environments are enormous and opulent, befitting of a preamble to Mount Olympus, and the number of enemies on-screen at any given time has noticeably increased, as has the size and ferocity of the mythological creatures that back them up. As I fought my way through undead soldiers, centaurs and chimeras, the Sun god Helios bombarded me and the molten Titan with fire-balls that sent shockwaves through the screen and ripped the environment apart around me. This was the kind of battle that myths are made of.
Even at this early stage, the game plays exceptionally well. Kratos and his weapons behave with a natural feeling of weight and momentum. Beneath the outer layer of frenetic bedlam, the combat adheres to an innate rhythm, an ebb and flow that holds the key to timing attacks and stringing together devastating combos. On top of that refined core, Sony's Santa Monica studio has added a variety of new gameplay mechanics that, while relatively insignificant on an individual basis, have a great cumulative effect on the flow of the gameplay and provide for some wickedly cool moments. Take for example, the improved bestiary of mythological monsters. These creatures are now much more multifaceted, requiring several quick-time finishing maneuvers to put down for good. The chimera, for example, requires you to take out its snake-head tail to remove one of its weapons, forcing it to alter its attack patterns. Deal enough damage after that, and you'll take out the lion on its under-belly, and after a few more attacks, finally end the battle by ripping off one of the chimera's ram horns and stabbing it through the head with it. Awesome.
My favorite new mechanic is Kratos' ability to mount certain enemies and force his will on them with some well placed sword strikes. The demo featured two examples of this mechanic: Harpies and a giant Cyclops. Harpies are ugly bird-creatures and they were all over the stage we played through, and attacking one of them usually causes the victim to call in support from the rest of the flock. You can actually use this to your advantage by jumping and hitting the grab button to hang onto the Harpie as it hovers in the air. Hitting the attack button at this point causes the Harpie to move a few feet in whatever direction you're facing as it vainly tries to escape your cruelty, before ultimately succumbing after a few attacks. Kratos can then jump and grab onto another Harpie in the flock and repeat the process to cross gaps. You can opt to rip the Harpies in half immediately upon 'boarding' them, but doing so will rob you of a vehicle. Hence, players have to start thinking about letting enemies live at least as long as they remain useful rather than killing them immediately.
Later on, I encountered a large group of undead soldiers bearing shields that made them significantly more difficult to manage. Mid-way through the battle a giant Cyclops lumbered into the scene and I thought I was screwed. Focusing my attacks on the giant, I found it possible to mount the creature and dig my blades into his neck. Stabbing him with light and heavy attacks caused him to lash out in pain with equivalent force, and allowed me to use the monster as a battering ram against the shielded enemies that were giving me some trouble. When I was done with the soldiers I initiated the final kill sequence and ripped the giant's veiny eye-ball out of its socket. It's mechanics like these that really set God of War apart from other action titles, as violence is leveraged as a vehicle for exploration and puzzle solving in addition to the traditional clearing of enemies.
Fans of the franchise will recognize that eyeball-ripping finisher from God of War II, but the upgrade to the PS3 makes it seem all the more sadistic. The presentation has received a massive overhaul, most notably the lighting which is far more dramatic than in previous titles. Darkness rolls over Kratos' muscular form as he moves through murky caves and passes through shadows dynamic shadow, while the light from torches and the flames coming off his own weaponry send color flickering across his visage. Kratos is ultra-detailed, with normal-mapped skin textures that give the appearance of porous skin stretching over flexing muscle, while his roman skirt shifts and flows with his movements as his golden armor and chain-covered gauntlets dynamically reflect the light cast on them. None of the other texture-work quite matches up at this point, but there's still plenty of time left to polish things up. Of course, it's the little details that sell the experience, and keen eyes will watch as Kratos gets splashed with blood after every kill, with larger battles often leaving his arms and legs drenched in viscera. Speaking of viscera, the killing blow delivered to the centaur in this demo features the best intestine-spilling physics I've ever seen.
What's Not
After playing through the demo twice, I really don't have much to complain about. Nothing in the demo was particularly game-changing or revolutionary for the franchise, which may disappoint some fans, but the cumulative effect of all the small additions made for a fine evolution of the gameplay formula. If I was forced at gunpoint to make a complaint, it would be that the dodge button felt far less useful than in the previous games. While dodging worked wonders against the hordes of grunts, most of the large creatures had attacks that would hit regardless of whether or not I dodged. Contrastingly, holding the block button or attempting to counter was almost universally effective. It's possible that since the game is still early, Sony Santa Monica is still in the process of balancing the enemy attack patterns, but even if things stay status quo when the game hits retail shelves, it's an adjustment I'll be more than willing to make given how much fun the combat is otherwise. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm just horribly out of practice and my timing is completely off – it's hard to get a handle on that kind of thing in a 30 minute demo.
Outlook
If the E3 demo of God of War III were released as is, it would be a front-runner for action game of the year. The evolution of the combat mechanics and the upgrade in presentation values should enthrall fans of the series and set a new benchmark for the action genre on the PS3, if not the entire console generation. The game feels as though it will be an appropriately epic conclusion to one of the best new original properties in years.
November 20, 2009
