We begin this review with a quote, a quote from Plato and from the opening of God Of War III. In the game, of course, it refers to Kratos and the effect that power has had on him but in the case of God Of War III as a videogame, and the expectations on it, this is a pertinent question. After two legendary games, doing legendary things on legendary hardware, what does one, or in this case Sony Santa Monica, do with the power of PlayStation 3?

Kratos' capacity to bring the pain to entities one thousand times his size never ceases to amaze.

Many people are expecting a game – in terms of gameplay development – that is improved in line with the additional power that the PS3 has over the PS2. Better graphics – yes – that is a given, but gameplay, storytelling… well, we’re not exactly sure what those improvements might be but some people are expecting wholesale changes. Well, let’s get this point out of the way early on: God Of War III is not that game. It is however, very much the game of its forebears.

Our story begins where God Of War II ended, literally, on a cliffhanger. If you can remember: Kratos had cheated death, cheated fate and was perched on the shoulder of Titan Gaia as she clambered up the side of Mount Olympus – an alliance bent on revenging themselves on Zeus, Kratos’ father and tormentor and Gaia’s conqueror.

It’s this astonishing scene that spells out what’s to come: an IMAX of a game; a theme-ride of such epic cinematic proportions that no movie screen – let alone a measly HDTV – could ever do justice to the action and the scale of the story. But it’s also a rollercoaster and, as that description implies, there are as many lows are there are highs.

Poseidon must die.

After the stratospheric heights of the game’s opening – it’s easily up there with God Of War II’s Colossus impalement – Kratos falls to the depths of Hades and to the game’s low point. It’s here, once again, that he’s stripped of (most) of the godly powers you spent so long building up in God Of War and in God Of War II and, well, that sense of deja vu and of formula sets in: kill enemies, solve puzzle, kill enemies, fight boss, solve puzzle, platforming, cut scene where Kratos says, “Zeus will pay!” Repeat until game’s end.

If it were any other game character, or if Kratos’ methods in dealing with the hordes of undead had been diluted in any way, this would be unforgivable. It remains one of gaming’s delights to see Kratos destroy his enemies with such verve, invention and downright invention. And all this with very little in the way of a combo system.

It remains one of God Of War III’s strengths that it still has the ability to make the player feel like he has the power of a god, but with no need for him to have the skills of a gaming god. Very little learning and practice is required to make Kratos perform the most outrageous and satisfyingly gruesome moves – simple bashing of Square and Triangle, with an occasional measure of Circle, is all that’s needed. It’s the antithesis of a game like Bayonetta, where only the best players will ever have a chance of pulling off some of the best moves. In this sense, God Of War III is incredibly inclusive: anyone can play and get great rewards with very little effort.

… continued