God of War III Preview
So there’s this demo on the PlayStation Store right now. You might want to have a look-see. At last year’s E3, the SCEA Santa Monica team responsible for God of War III capped off Sony’s press conference with a 10-minute sample of this unbelievably polished and brutally visceral action extravaganza, which caused absolutely every journalist in the vicinity to either drool or unhinge their jaw…or both. All we wanted to do was go hands-on with that very same piece of gameplay. But now, everyone with a PlayStation 3 can do that; you can either have the God of War Collection sitting on your shelf or you can download that very same demo on the PSN right now. It’s a downright massive download, clocking in at nearly 2.8GB, but it’s well worth your time if you’re not a Collection owner. I may not be the biggest fan of every last feature on the PSN but playable demos may be my favorite addition to this generation, and quite possibly the most useful one for consumers. But come on; who needs a demo to convince themselves that GoWIII is gonna rock?
Well, you may not need convincing but you likely want an early glimpse of a guaranteed Game of the Year nominee. They also debuted even more gameplay footage on GTTV last night, and you should’ve seen David Jaffe’s reaction to it. If you missed that, head on over to his Criminal Crackdown blog and check out his latest video update; he starts talking about it at the 4:22 mark. His response to that is similar to the responses we heard to that E3 demo, which is what I just got finished playing a few minutes ago. It’s so pretty and so fluid and such a feast for the eyes, and the instant I began testing out the battle mechanic and experimenting with the most deadly and versatile Kratos yet, I knew I was in for a very special treat. The balance of the combat in every GoW has always been amazingly impressive: you never feel overmatched, but you do feel the challenge and above all else, you feel up to that challenge. I despise action games that are designed to make your supposedly super powerful main character feel like he’s just struggling to survive. That's just dumb.
Anything that gets in this guy’s way is gonna get torched. And that’s bad-ass. His special abilities and maneuvers are just so damn abusive and humiliating to the offending hordes that continually assault him from all sides. Whether he’s using one enemy as a battering ram, tearing another enemy in half, or destroying a particularly large foe in one of the most grotesque and satisfying ways possible, Kratos is always inflicting his insane brand of justice on any nasty thing that crosses his path. I love the fact that the block button is also mapped to the combo trigger; you hold down L1 to block but you also hold down the same button and press circle, triangle or square to unleash a special skill, which works beautifully. You can block and then without changing a thing, simply press an attack button and launch into a massive whirlwind of death. Then there’s the variety in the gameplay that was on display, even in just a short demo. I flew with my wings through a tunnel packed with debris, rode Harpy Hags across gaps, used the head of some dude to illuminate darkness (and a secret), used one of my alternate weapons for brutal melee attacks, and did a bit of wall climbing. So, so engaging and so wonderfully done.
There are only two aspects of this demo I didn’t particularly like but they’re so minor, they might not even be worth mentioning. The first is that I noticed the camera sits a little too close to Kratos when running through a smaller, enclosed space. However, this being said, the fixed camera has almost never been a problem in any GoW entry and it wasn’t a problem in this demo, either. I just felt it got too close at times when running forward in a few of the narrow alleyways. The other thing is that the QTE button prompts can appear on any side of the screen (top, bottom, left or right), which is a little irritating; I’d much rather be looking in one spot for the next requirement. But again, it doesn’t really affect anything provided you’re aware that QTEs can show up anywhere. I personally like the way Heavy Rain handled the QTEs: you may not have noticed if you’ve played it, but the requisite commands appear near where the action is happening; i.e., if Madison has to throw a chair at her attacker, the command appears by her hands. It just seems natural because your eyes are always drawn to certain places. Might be tough to do in GoWIII, though.
But really, this demo is awesome, and I’m sure the final version will be a gargantuan achievement and a ridiculously fun ride from start to finish. Kratos really is the biggest bad-ass in gaming today.
2/27/2010 Ben Dutka
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Date |
Game |
Reviewer |
 06/09/09 |
God of War III | Arnold Katayev |
Comments (72 posts)
to_far_apart
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:41:56 PM
2 up, 1 down
Victor321
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:26:22 PM
1 up, 0 down
tumbletunnel
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:45:52 PM
Reply
No doubt this will be game of the year contender.
I already ordered it months ago.
4 up, 0 down
Superman915
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:56:41 PM
Reply
Last edited by Superman915 on 2/27/2010 5:57:51 PM
9 up, 1 down
H8WL3R
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:57:08 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
camaro300zx
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:01:34 PM
0 up, 0 down
Buckeyestar
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:57:43 PM
Reply
2 up, 4 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:07:24 PM
No, most people have not played the God of War III demo yet.
9 up, 5 down
Sir Shak
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:08:01 PM
Reply
Last edited by Sir Shak on 2/27/2010 6:08:50 PM
11 up, 1 down
YesterdysRising
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:39:14 PM
6 up, 0 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:23:02 PM
2 up, 0 down
Sir Shak
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:27:46 PM
3 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:34:57 PM
0 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:41:54 PM
7 up, 0 down
Snaaaake
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:29:08 PM
Reply
4 up, 1 down
Condemnedsoul23
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:37:46 PM
Reply
Oh and God of War 3 looks like the greatest game ever yadda yadda yadda lol.
2 up, 1 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:37:38 PM
1 up, 0 down
Kr3sn1k
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:38:09 PM
Reply
Last edited by Kr3sn1k on 2/27/2010 6:39:29 PM
3 up, 14 down
Sir Shak
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:47:48 PM
3 up, 11 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:25:37 PM
14 up, 1 down
The Doom
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 8:28:06 PM
At Mr. ZOMG-I-GOT-ADD!!!!!111 or The Corrector?
0 up, 1 down
mike rlz
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:40:45 PM
Reply
1 up, 4 down
Condemnedsoul23
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:44:41 PM
3 up, 0 down
Taha1
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:44:55 PM
i have recently sped up my connection.
this is my first comment btw:D im new:D
if you would like to know how just ask
@condemned as a revious owner of an xbox i can say xbox downloads are faster out the box where as ps3 downloads take ages and you need to optimize your router for the ps3 which will cause disconnection problems and such. im happy to say though that thats the only area where xbox is better.
Last edited by Taha1 on 2/27/2010 6:50:13 PM
2 up, 1 down
Jawknee
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:56:46 PM
4 up, 0 down
NoSmokingBandit
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:42:57 PM
4 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:09:54 PM
At one time i was getting disconnected a lot though when wireless. The reason being is because you need to set up your ports to match the PS3. You can do this by first contacting sony and asking which ports to open. Then if you know how to adjust the ports for your router then thats all you need to do. or you can call your router company and get assistance. The next thing and i dont know why but when the media server (under settings on your ps3 xmb) is on it takes far longer to download things, and disconnections happen much more often, (maybe because its acting as a server to much more things) that when its off. For the most part turning the media server off solved all those problems for me.
2 up, 0 down
DarthSayver21
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 6:46:06 PM
Reply
1 up, 2 down
HeXeN
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:15:09 PM
0 up, 1 down
Snaaaake
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:38:59 PM
1 up, 0 down
HeXeN
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:46:16 PM
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:12:19 PM
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/27/2010 9:12:28 PM
2 up, 0 down
bigrailer19
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 7:31:20 PM
1 up, 0 down
Taha1
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:00:41 PM
Reply
you probably have a router that works well with ps3's upnp however most don't.
and i dont get disconnected either but when you try to speed up your ps3's downloads by using dmz on the ps3 or stuff it will cause problems
1 up, 2 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:02:06 PM
Reply
1 up, 1 down
Sir Shak
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:24:25 PM
0 up, 0 down
Shams
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:22:49 PM
Reply
And although, everything was beautifully drawn, and beautifully animated, I could not help but feel the move set was identical to GOW2 with just a couple more moves.
Being a NG fan, I was also a little disappointed to being stuck to a fixed camera, instead of a free-roaming one.
So although it did have it's wow moments, despite the limitations, I still didn't think it approached U2 or KZ2 in the visual department.
Well, from the French PSM3 review you notified us, my interest was thankfully restored. The review very simply says in the visual/technical department, that "forget U2, and forget the demo, which it will make you almost pity, forget every game you wanted up until now. Even the great Nathan Drake will falter/stumble/shake..."
0 up, 2 down
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:24:57 PM
As for the graphics, I know the final product will look and run better. After all, this demo is quite old now.
5 up, 0 down
Sir Shak
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:25:51 PM
2 up, 0 down
NoSmokingBandit
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:40:47 PM
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:43:44 PM
3 up, 0 down
inkme101
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:12:14 PM
are you a square, square, triangle type of guy?
you must be! because if you actually used the combos the way the fighting mechanic was made to be used then youd notice that the only likenesses are square and triangle. try something more complicated than button mashing and youll see its one helluva fighting system!
3 up, 0 down
Shams
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:14:26 PM
However, once I realized I had to actively control the camera in NG (by clicking on R1 to recenter it in midst of combat or using R3 to follow Ryu), it became second-nature, where I would even forget that I was actually doing it. R1 automatically puts the camera up and behind Ryu, making the action more cinematic, dynamic, and in your face, so you learn to just tap it (when needed) right before, or while approaching an enemy. It became such a habit, that I found myself instinctively trying to do it while playing GOW3. Using R3 allowed you to manually adjust the camera, say, traversing a play-field.
But the true advantage of the adjustable camera, as World says, is for platforming, and particularly for judging distances, finding obscured paths, and hidden items, making the whole experience more immersive, and therefore, totally worth the initial bump in the learning curve of having to get used to the camera (which I mysteriously never did when I played NG through for the first time on xbox, but I only did when I played Sigma).
In GOW3, the new moves I found were the dashing battering ram, a modifed version of the L1 heavy, heavy, heavy attack, a scorpion get-over-here grab, a L1 light cross hit, and whatever new moves offered by the cestus. I was hoping they would've used the light/heavy counter system from Chains of Olympus instead of just striking the ground like in GOW2, so hopefully they'll fix that. And I'm sure we'll be getting a plethora of other moves from the other weapons offered in the game as well. Though, I myself, didn't find the move set significantly different, I noticed that the hit-detection felt more solid, and the animations were retooled to feel more vicious. And how can we forget the new footage of the real-time battle against the Leviathan on Gaia's arm? Don't get me wrong, I'm totally psyched for this game.
1 up, 0 down
Shams
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:15:09 PM
1 up, 0 down
Shams
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:21:00 PM
1 up, 0 down
inkme101
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:53:34 PM
AGREED!!
but your complaint made you sound like one! sorry
Last edited by inkme101 on 2/27/2010 10:57:11 PM
2 up, 0 down
Shams
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 1:04:56 AM
0 up, 1 down
NoSmokingBandit
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 7:39:45 PM
Reply
2 up, 2 down
inkme101
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:12:54 PM
Last edited by inkme101 on 2/27/2010 10:13:35 PM
3 up, 0 down
sunspider13
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 8:00:39 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:13:18 PM
2 up, 0 down
inkme101
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:14:19 PM
1 up, 1 down
Condemnedsoul23
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 8:47:31 PM
Reply
$59.96
Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)
Walmart.com $59.96
Preorder Now
Preorder this item today and it should ship on 04/30/2010
Please check back on or after 04/30/2010.
We can email you when it is back:
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:59:37 PM
2 up, 0 down
Condemnedsoul23
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 8:50:31 PM
Reply
Last edited by Condemnedsoul23 on 2/27/2010 8:51:28 PM
2 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:14:51 PM
Thank God of War for trophy whores who buy a game, platinum it in a week, then sell it on ebay in perfect condition for twenty bucks cheaper.
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/27/2010 9:15:11 PM
3 up, 0 down
DeathOfChaos
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 9:11:04 PM
Reply
2 up, 0 down
inkme101
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:17:53 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
BengiePR23
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 10:52:31 PM
Reply
1 up, 0 down
newchef
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 11:32:41 PM
Reply
6 up, 0 down
Banky A
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 11:53:55 PM
Reply
<3
0 up, 1 down
WolfCrimson
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 6:25:51 AM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
FullmetalX10
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 7:28:55 AM
Reply
Btw, I know it probably does, but does the footage shown at gttv contain lotsa spoilers?
0 up, 0 down
Condemnedsoul23
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 8:54:35 AM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
WorldEndsWithMe
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 1:18:18 PM
Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 2/28/2010 1:18:43 PM
0 up, 0 down
inkme101
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 11:28:55 AM
Reply
dude you really bumped back school 4 games? ifso you need to go to like a vga (video gamers anonymous) meeting or something.
1 up, 1 down
Snaaaake
Sunday, February 28, 2010 @ 7:43:25 PM
Reply
0 up, 0 down
Robochic
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:20:07 AM
Reply
I cant' wait for this game I really can't, so much to do and thank goodness the week it comes out I have vacation, guess what I'll be doing when the kids are sleeping???
0 up, 0 down
Robochic
Monday, March 01, 2010 @ 12:20:13 AM
Reply
I cant' wait for this game I really can't, so much to do and thank goodness the week it comes out I have vacation, guess what I'll be doing when the kids are sleeping???
0 up, 0 down
FlyingKickPunch
Reply
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:31:23 PM
"zipper technology" FTW!
Last edited by FlyingKickPunch on 2/27/2010 5:31:53 PM