God of War III Review (First Post!)

I love God of War. Parts 1 and 2 are without a doubt my favorite PS2 games of all time and the series as a whole ranks as my favorite franchise. Each game delivers some of the funnest and most epic action sequences ever created and part 3 is no exception. So, before I start kissing Santa Monica Studio's ass for giving me more God of War I'd like to address some of my issues with the game.

I've changed as a gamer over the years. I play games more than I used to and I've gotten better at them. Much better. I know about collision boxes and invincibility frames now, my reflexes have sharped and I can pull off more advanced moves. Knowing how much I've changed made me wonder how that would affect my experience playing the game. Some it was for the better such as the fact that I'm able to tackle higher difficulties and can earn higher combos than I used to. Unfortunately being a better gamer also made the rough parts stick out even more. One really minor gripe is the games length. I crushed this game. Twice already. I love the series and it's hard for me to put down but I ran through this thing quicker than I have any other game in the series. I know each game isn't that long and I didn't feel like I was cheated but a short game is still short game.

Another complaint would be the glitches in the game. I fell through the map once. The game instantly killed me after cut scene as well. GoW III is far from broken but the come on! It just seems odd a game this pretty would have so many random glitches.

One of my biggest problems with the game was the auto aim feature. Kratos likes to automatically aim for the strongest character onscreen. This is a killer on higher difficulties. I can't tell you how many times I tried grabbing a guy with a circle over his head just to slip by him and try to grab a Minotaur. Kratos sometimes turns around in the opposite direction to try to grab a strong character that is ungrabbable. WTF! This is the only problem I can think of that actually harms gameplay.

My last complaint deals with the story. I'm generally satisfied with the story but somethings nag me a bit. One is Athena. How is she able able to still exist after being killed? Kid she pull a Kratos and fight her way from the afterlife? Is there an after ife for Gods? Why can't anyone else do the same? She gives some B.S. excuse about her "sacrifice for a higher purpose" but it makes no sense to me. Another thing about the plot that bothers me is how it does the same thing [Prototype] did and try to redeem the "hero." Kratos and Alex Mercer are two of the biggest douchebags in gaming history. They are cruel, selfish and violent creatures. Kratos had no qualms about screwing over the entire world anymore than Mercer had about destroying New York but at the last second they both developed a conscience? Meh. Kratos' true power was hope? Double meh. His rage and desire for revenge has always driven him and it makes more sense that he was infected with the evil within Pandora's box considering how much shit he fucked up in part 2 and 3 for no reason.

It might seem like I'm shitting all over God of War III but I'm not. The reason why I highlight the problems with the game is that it's too easy to say all the great things about it. It's a worthy addition to the series I love the most. The slightly tweaked combat is still amazing, the scale is bigger than it's ever been and Kratos is more pissed off than ever. There were so many points when my jaw was on the floor. After years of playing these games and it's imitators (Dante's Inferno) they still found ways to blow my mind and get me excited all over again. I love this game in spite of all it's flaws. Writing about it right now just makes me want to play it all over again.

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