5/5 ★ – RawMetal's review of God of War III.

System: PlayStation 3 Started: May 31, 2010 Ended: June 23, 2010 Flashback Review God of War III is an epic blockbuster conclusion to Kratos’ Greek Myth arc. After finishing with the second game, I eagerly jumped into this game at the same day due to that cliffhanger ending and this is the first in the God of War franchise to go next-gen on the PS3, which means they crank up the Graphics and the performance and like always, this game delivers and this is considered to be my personal favorite of the franchise so far. Regardless of the critical praise of the second game. Continuing immediately after the end of God of War II, Kratos now heads to Mount Olympus and fights Legendary and Powerful Gods as well as the Titans later on, creating a Battle Royale at the Olympian Stronghold. This is when the game starts out very strong as your first tutorial is literally fighting Poseidon. Let’s face it: the Game and Level Designers from Santa Monica Studios really know how to hook players at the very start of the game and you want to keep playing after finishing the tutorial boss. The first game had Hydra, the second had Colossus of Rhodes, now Poseidon. Other than that. Like any previous God of War games, Slay Gods and Beasts throughout the game and eventually fight Zeus in one of the most epic cinematic battles in Video Game History. This game really stood out from the first two since I mostly remembered a lot of events that transpired from this. Not only did Kratos kill an Olympian God, But he brought forth Natural Disasters after killing them, causing apocalyptic chaos and mayhem across Greece. Killing Poseidon creates a massive Flood or killing Helios forms clouds and blocks the sun, bringing darkness and storms across the land. I even remember going back to this game and noticed the Main Menu looked different as chaos and destruction is present in the background and it becomes worse every time as you progress through the story which is pretty cool. The Boss Fights for this game is highly memorable than the previous two. I still remember the fights between Poseidon, Hades, Hercules and even that gory kill with Helios. I was shocked to know that this is not a considered fan favorite but fans do point out its flaws that I slightly agree with, mostly being that the story is considered to be the weakest of the three. The whole plot was finding Pandora and Athena comes back as an astral form somehow and cooperates with Kratos even though we all know what happened in the second game. I thought it's pretty fair since most of these scenarios are based on Kratos’s past, especially the relation between Hephestus and Pandora, so I gave it a pass. The new weapons in this game are both a hit and miss. I really love the Nemean Cestus and the Claws of Hades, but really couldn’t care much for the Nemesis Whip unless I want to toy with enemies just for fun same for Hermes’ Boots that lets you dash forward. Reminds me of Zelda with the Pegasus Boots. But most of Kratos’ weapons play exactly like his Default Weapon. So it's a bit of reusing the same weapons, but with added speed and power. Lastly, the QTE Input HUD is different this time since it's now far apart based on the controller placement. Some people hated it, but I did not mind. I want to see the action unfold as I had to do a QTE. Overall for Gameplay, plays the same as God of War II and I think it's the way it should be. The very first God of War is a niche favorite from fans of the original trilogy, God of War II is a favorite by the fan majority. But personally, God of War III is my personal favorite out of the three. It ended with a bang, especially the ending indicating that Kratos will return and by that, we got Dad of War after 8 long years as a form of a new arc this time. Definitely play this game but would start with the first game. God of War 1-3 are bonafide games that were perfect by my book and the third game in the franchise is like the grand finale of a fireworks display and you will be glad that you played all three God of War games to begin with.