In sharp upsurge in form lately, beat 'em is with God Of War III spearhead its comeback in the good graces of the players. Exclusive to the PS3, this third installment of the adventures of Kratos could even give Sony's console an advantage in the final battle she engaged with the competitor of Microsoft. Purpose of greed, God Of War III finally arrives and imposes his muscular style and ignoring the progress of competition in recent years. Santa Monica Studio gives us a copy so that we put a head full from beginning to end, failing to really surprise us.
Sympathy for Mr Vengeance
This is an introduction blending traditional animation and comics pretending that opens this God Of War III. Through this video, and a few others that will occur here and there in the game, the newcomer to the series may be an idea - rather brief - who has spent so far. Not that this scenario God Of War is a significant depth, far away, but get an idea of past events will enable the neophyte to appropriate the mythological characters of the fresco, Kratos is obviously leading the way This gallery of speakers who enriched course new characters.
God Of War III
The pitch of God Of War is: Kratos is a mortal in the service of Gods of Olympus. Killing everything in its path, the Spartan leader comes to sell his soul to Ares for not knowing defeat. The God of War is yet to play his new protege in the massacre by his wife and daughter during a mild attack of the village. Overwhelmed by this terrible act and close to madness, Kratos will then only one idea in mind: revenge of Ares. Once it defeated (God Of War), Kratos was succeeded in turn to the rank of God of War. Betrayed by Zeus, the second installment of the series will be an opportunity for Spartan to satisfy once again his destructive madness. Revenue for the second time of the underworld, Kratos will not cease to perform his new hobby: putting an end to the reign of the Gods of Olympus. Interrupted by Athena in extremis at the end of God Of War II, the former God of War (he lost his throne, deposed by Zeus himself) is keen to finish the work God Of War III. Aided by the Titans, he went to conquer Mount Olympus.
The story begins naturally at once and end of the second component. In an introductory scene of Dante as the series has the secret, Kratos will dispose of the massive Poseidon and mark the entry of players minds as they could do it before the hydra or the first branch of the Colossus second. An entry in grandiloquent, which will be followed by many other bosses all the more enormous than the other. Hades, Hercules, Hermes and other surprises will stand in turn on the road of our favorite bald, in clashes that will no doubt in everyone's head. Too bad the French pay by doubling times in the Grand Guignol, this story of divine vengeance while remaining very simple to follow very pleasant after all, until its ending, which obviously will not leave anyone indifferent.
"If it bleeds, we can kill it"
Once lost all his powers (and hop third pass into hell for the guy), it will be again for Kratos to get enough strength to kick off the Olympian Zeus. We therefore started looking for red orbs - to improve the four different weapons that can be found in As the adventure - orbs gleaned by slaughtering hundreds of enemies that come before us or opening marking out the many chests environments traversed the corridors. The method does not vary an inch since the beginning of the series: fast blow low blow slower more powerful, mug, magic and special moves are still the sinews of war. The duck will prove handy, as the parade, you can with a sense of timing to release a murderer cons.
The recipe is known, the result always funnier. It takes a foot monster with chained his enemies still more imposing or varying his attacks. The possibilities are pretty huge and they are incredibly classes or very effective, the chains come out almost alone who has tasted of God of War. The three new weapons and their associated magic can obviously repeat the experience: the most gifted among you will be able to change weapons in full combo. The epitome of class, in fact. Despite some collision problems remaining from the previous part, the battles are perfectly fluid, which is still more facilitated by the intricacies of staging own series (slow, stately QTE for the enemies). The action never stops really, and that's good.
Santa Monica studio has also released on the movements and effects: Kratos destroyed, dismembered, gutting, tear and castrated at any cost, in a tumult of blood and organs that would not have denied an episode of Saw or Evil Dead, to stay in tune. The sprays of blood bloom in every fight, of course, being the pinnacle of the pulling head of the friend Helios, Sun God now decapitated. The opportunity for us to recall the three objects, which will vary a little about your games as the moments of exploration - and respite. Besides the head of Helios so that you can enlighten you as to blind the enemy, Kratos will have an arc, the only survivor of the previous episode and boots to run up walls (at specific times , unfortunately) or to blame your enemies. God of War III never forgets the road and offers a combat system in perfect harmony with the beasts and the situations encountered, if not completely original. This bloody violence that Kratos unleashes no ounce of remorse, will not fail you aback at passages clearly turning to the slaughter. The game is not 18 + for nothing is a certainty ...
Ten hours to reach Mount Olympus!
But if Santa Monica Studio takes advantage of HD to squirt a maximum hemoglobin, it also allows him to magnify the already superb legacy of the series at the scenery. Developers take a blast to play with the camera, again fixed for us an eyeful. The zoom in and out can appreciate the work done by the studio in California on what happens around Kratos. The environments are huge and magnificent, again aided by a highly coherent art direction and technical mastery that flatters the retina. If it was now more accustomed to directing the camera in real time, God Of War III took advantage of keeping its old-school side - some would say outdated - and thus retains for himself control of the view always millimeter. The narration is doing almost exclusively through cutscenes using the game engine, you will be surprised many times by the opportunity to lead even when his character, while the camera is not allowed to think clearly not.
God Of War III often plays with our perceptions and habits of players, the labyrinth of Daedalus is perhaps the environment most symptomatic of this fact. This exacerbated gigantism - THE great strength of the game - however, raises the obvious question of more freedom of action offered in these settings infinitely large. True to its model, GOW III will once again proposes a series of passageways (invisible walls) punctuated rooms actually more massive but we do not benefit too little gameplay. Cautious or simply wishing to know her baby 100%, Santa Monica Studio does not venture to roll out its game plan to something more open. As Kratos that flies straight towards avenging his destiny, the player follows the path marked with it without ever turning his head one iota. Not really a regret, the Russian mountain trip is also of high quality, even if we would like to see this talented studio take a little more risk in the future. As usual, some sequences schedules (flight, QTE, baston 2D style) will vary a bit this mixture, in any case very palatable to the base. Another hallmark of the series.
The bestiary has deepened, as the combat system. On the other hand, Santa Monica Studio does not betray his reputation gained on Playstation 2 at the technical level. Despite some modeling risky (Hera. ..) and rare moments when the PS3 suffers to view so many beautiful things, God Of War III is a model of finishing technique. If we must fight to bring down the camera, it is also difficult to find fault on the packaging of this episode. The textures are certainly not the most beautiful that we have ever seen on consoles, but the whole is so beautifully drawn and animated that we spend time browsing the screen look like that, just for pleasure. The numerous mechanisms, which constitute the exploration of the game are quite revealing in this respect: the systems that are being used wank a lot of graphic effects and staging highlighting the complexity of the structures traversed. Do not worry, these moments of reflection are childishly simple, and should not be too big crop on the ten hours of gameplay offered by God Of War III. At worst, the seven challenges of Olympus and the battle arena (where you can customize your fighting) will enable you to prolong the pleasure, before resuming the affair with the picked up some bonus on your first pass.
Conclusion
By building on its strengths without trying to reinvent itself, God Of War III is the least risky bet possible. We will not complain, Santa Monica Studio we engaged as an equal without nervousness (NDVirgile: Bayonetta it ... I says, I says nothing ...) with a realization of the highest order . High definition has also allowed the studio to say his taste for gigantism and his passion for blood, God Of War III winner of the game as easily the most violent of the Playstation 3. This episode made the series so brilliantly, perfectly calibrated pace punctuated by scenes like the gameplay very strong run largely forgotten by the few minor obstacles affecting the implementation or handling. God Of War III is the blockbuster that was expected, and is already an indispensable on Playstation 3. Approved!
