God of War III
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God of War III is an action-adventure game developed by Santa Monica Studios and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the fifth game in the God Of War series, the seventh chronologically, as well as the first God of War game on the PS3 (not counting the re-mastered versions).
Not counting the two prequel games that were made afterwards, God of War III was the final chronological installment along with being the final installment of the Greek Mythology trilogy in the story for eight years until its sequel, God of War (2018) was released in 2018.
Why It Rocks
- This game takes the idea of mindlessly murdering things and turns it on its head (at least for the gods). While at first you're rooting for Kratos to kill all those who did nothing but wrong him for years, this action comes into question when it's revealed that the death of the gods result in catastrophes across Greece. Poseidon's death leads to a flood, Hermes' leads to a plague, Helios' leads to a constant storm, etc.
- This is made worse when it's revealed that Kratos opening Pandora's Box in the first game released the evils inside that infected the gods, turning them into a bunch of hateful and paranoid tyrants. Poseidon himself takes note of this in a letter written to his princess, mentioning how Zeus is "not the brother I knew".
- Many considered Kratos in this entry to be outright psychotic and unlikable to a point, however, when you consider what he's been through up to this point, it makes sense. By the events of the game, Kratos has lost everyone (his brother, Deimos, his mother, and family), has constantly been lied to and manipulated by the gods, betrayed by Zeus, his home (Sparta) is destroyed by Zeus, and endured nothing but torment due to being haunted by the visions of him killing his family to which he was going to take his own life because of. This entry shows Kratos has finally lost it, all but completely lost what humanity he had. This can be observed through the fact that he never one time stops to think if killing all the gods is worth it given their death causing so much destruction and the fact that he killed Hephaestus when he was only trying to protect Pandora which Kratos himself acknowledges after some reflection.
- This humanity isn't completely loss as after finding Pandora, he begins sees his own daughter in her and even tries to stop her from killing herself that way Kratos can kill Zeus, going so far as to even reach out to her.
- He even decides to give the Hope that he had been given to by Pandora's Box to Greece, so their may be hope for humanity to rise above the catastrophes. You even see the sun peek out from the clouds.
- This humanity isn't completely loss as after finding Pandora, he begins sees his own daughter in her and even tries to stop her from killing herself that way Kratos can kill Zeus, going so far as to even reach out to her.
- Even though it did get a sequel nearly a decade later, this was an awesome conclusion to the Greek era of the God Of War series.
- Beautiful graphics for PlayStation 3 game (Including in the remastered version of PlayStation 4), and addition, one of the best graphics and visuals on the PS3 that's still good today.
- Much like the Urn of Powers, there are Godly Possessions. These are hidden throughout the game, often in areas related to the god they belong to. They unlock various special abilities for Kratos, but can only be activated by starting a Bonus Game (completing the game and starting a new one in the same difficulty). As a result, they are mainly used as a little bonus, opening all kinds of interesting new possibilities and play styles.
- Zeus' Eagle: A small golden sculpture of an eagle, similar to the ones flanking the Chain of Balance near Mount Olympus. Grants infinite Rage of Sparta.
- Hades' Helm: The sinister horned helmet of the Lord of the Dead himself. Maxes out Health, Magic & Item meters.
- Helios' Shield: The Sun Shield, wielded by Kratos during a previous quest. Triples the Hit counter during a combo.
- Hermes' Coin: Hermes' signature coin, which he is often seen flipping throughout the game. Multiplies the value of any Red Orbs earned by 10.
- Hercules' Shoulder Guard: A piece of Hercules' (rather sparse) armor, shaped like a massive lion's paw. Decreases damage taken by 1/3.
- Poseidon's Conch Shell: An ornate shell decorating Poseidon's chamber. Grants infinite Magic power.
- Aphrodite's Garter: One of Aphrodite's garments, sometimes said to make her even more irresistible. Allows Kratos to use Athena's Blades throughout the game, losing the Combat Grapple but replacing the Army of Sparta magic with Divine Reckoning.
- Hephaestus' Ring: A bulky ring marked with the recurring Omega symbol. Automatically completes most context-sensitive attacks in the game.
- Daedalus' Schematics: Complex blueprints made by the masterful inventor Daedalus. Gives Kratos infinite Item energy.
- Hera's Chalice: The only mandatory Possession in the game, this is an elaborate silver wine glass bearing two handles and a green gemstone. Causes the Health meter to slowly drain over time, never completely emptying it.
- All new weapons, magic, and items, all of which are related to the Gods.
- Weapons
- Claws of Hades: Acquired after killing Hades. They serve to raise the souls of underworld to help Kratos.
- Nemean Cestus: Two large, strong gauntlets in the form of a lion's head, that have similar moves to the Gauntlet of Zeus.
- Nemesis Whip: A pair of blades consisting each of three swords, crafted from the Omphalos stone that Kratos retrieved from Tartarus for Hephaestus. They carry an electric charge and can power mechanical devices to some degree.
- Magic
- Divine Reckoning (Blades of Athena): Kratos drives the Blade of Olympus into the ground and causes a vortex of energy to hurt surrounding enemies.
- Army of Sparta (Blades of Exile): Kratos is able to summon his exiled Spartan brothers to form a protective phalanx around him.
- Soul Summon (Claws of Hades): Kratos summons the spirits of his enemies to attack his enemies.
- Nemean Roar (Nemean Cestus): Kratos slams the ground causing waves of magic to hurt his enemies.
- Nemesis Rage (Nemesis Whip): Kratos shocks surrounding enemies with a blast of electric energy.
- Items
- Bow of Apollo: A bow that once belonged to the god Apollo. A bow and arrow of fire with movements and attacks similar to Typhon's Bane, which Kratos used in God of War II.
- Head of Helios: The head of the God of the Sun. Kratos uses it to blind his enemies, light up dark areas, and to reveal hidden secrets.
- Boots of Hermes: The Boots of the Messenger of the Gods. Kratos uses it to attack his enemies at high speed and to reach areas he otherwise could not.
- Weapons
- Memorable soundtrack.
- Amazing voice acting with Terrence C. Carson giving it his all.
- While almost every God Of War game has its final boss being a fight with a god, this game has almost every boss fighting with a God. These boss fights also end with the most brutal and sadistic kills yet. Poseidon is killed through a first-person view from his perspective as Kratos beats him up, Hermes gets his legs cut off, Hercules gets his face caved in, and Helios gets his head ripped off. The last one being used as an item.
- Combat Arena; it's like Arena Of The Fates from God Of War II, but improved and more customizable.
- Beating the game unlocks awesome challenges to do.
- Unlock costumes (though most are DLC) that alter the gameplay, either easier or harder.
- Two small yet cheap DLC packs; one contains costumes (they can be bought separately), the other contains the strongest costume in the game and amount of new hard challenges (bought together only).
- Amazing story, where you witness Kratos fight against his father Zeus and the Greek Gods who betrayed him, and see hope helping him get rid of the evil inside of him.
- A remastered version was released on the PS4, improving graphics, increasing the FPS to 60 per second, adding all the DLC, a photo mode, and giving hints about a new God Of War game.
- Chaos difficulty which is harder than the Titan difficulty of the second game.
Bad Qualities
- With the exception of the intro that starts before the title screen, you can't skip any of the cutscenes.
- Unlike other games in the series, the hardest difficulty doesn't award you anything after you beat it.
Reception
God Of War III received universal acclaim from critics and gamers, it won many awards, many called it one of the best games of the seventh generation, with some calling it the best in the series, and a great conclusion to the series.
However while the re-mastered version was well received, it wasn't as well received as the PS3 version due to being set directly after God Of War II, which will confuse people new to the series, and due to not much improvement and costing $39.99 at launch (though it's half the price now on PSN).