We take Kratos for a whirr on PS3…
SCE Santa Monica first revealed their God of War III demo at last year’s E3. Since then it has been available through several different ways, however, it is still unavailable to the public via the PlayStation store. With the game’s release fast approaching, many have yet to experience it hands-on for themselves and have only what footage they can find on the internet. And this footage does not do the game justice. Like any game, you really have to experience it for yourself to truly judge its worth. Having recently gained access to the demo, we can tell you exactly how awesome God of War III is: very awesome.
Now, for some, that may be too vague, so let’s be more specific. First off, God of War III is one of the best looking games on PS3 and this isn’t even the final version. The detail in Kratos’ character model is astounding: the texture and detail of his skin, the way blood splatter’s on him during combat, his muscle definition. All in all, he looks amazing, the level of detail continues into every aspect of the game’s visuals.
Environments are predictably massive in scale and rich in atmosphere, at several points you will just want to stop and admire the epic views and structures. The animation in the combat is just as fast and furious as it ever was. Kratos’ moves and combos are silky smooth and at points quite stunning, given the much advanced visual from the previous God of War titles. Finishing moves are just as brutal and impressive but now they look unbelievably polished.
Speaking about combat, the visuals aren’t the only thing that has been improved. To those naysayers who may pass God of War III off as a shinier version of the PS2 games, they are sincerely wrong. Much thought has gone into the combat of God of War III. Even in the small section of the demo, the combat is familiar, but also deeper in its intricacies. For example, Kratos now has the ability to grab smaller enemies and use them as a battering ram to clean up large amounts of enemies. In tight areas he can be overwhelmed and pinned down by enemies if they amass enough numbers to surround you. Add to this the ability to ride larger creatures, such as the Cyclops to take out swarms of enemies, and you can really see how much better God of War III is than its successors last generation.
Finally, we have our story. Although obviously very little is revealed in the demo, there is one huge plot point that is evident throughout, which is the presence of Perses. For those of you unfamiliar with Greek mythology, Perses is the Titan of Destruction, represented as basically a giant walking volcano and makes for some stunning set pieces, including crushing a god in the palm of his hand like a fly. The sense of scale is truly breathtaking and is like nothing we’ve seen in a game before.
Whether or not the demo will be coming to the PlayStation store is unknown at this point, but keep your eyes open in the coming weeks as a flood of new media is likely to leak out from Sony headquarters as we get closer to this massive release.
God of War III is out in March 2010. Look for the full review on platform-online.net.
Stuart Kent
Tags: action, demo, god of war, sony
