GOONL!NE

By James Love.

God of War III will be the final instalment in the five-part saga, this will be the last time we’ll see Kratos stylishly ploughing through hordes of enemies, their disembowelled bodies lying motionless at his feet. After the monumental success of the previous games, can God of War III live up to the hype?

Well we’d certainly like to think so. After our hands-on with God of War III, it could be summed up in one word, “stunning.” The game’s director Stig Asmussen stated that “Our goal is to create not only the defining game for this series, but the defining game for this generation.” No pressure then.

God of War I was an absolute treat. A brand new IP, there was much riding in it, and it duly delivered in spades. The game pushed the PlayStation 2 to what we thought were it’s limits but SCE Santa Monica shattered those illusions with God of War II, proving there was life in the old girl yet by making the PS2 churn out some of the best visuals ever seen on it.

When God of War came to the PSP in Chains of Olympus, it again set the bar, the presentation and look of the game are still unbeaten to this day, even Betrayal on mobile phones looked great despite the obvious lack of hardware power. Now SCE Santa Monica prepare to wrap up the God of War series with the third instalment, and no punches are being spared.

Ever since the 2008 E3 trailer it has been pretty obvious that GoW III would push the boat out for action. With around 50 enemies on-screen at any one time, you’ll have a ball slaughtering them, from ripping their heads clean off or a simple slash to the abdomen, it’s all highly satisfying, this ain’t no mindless button basher. The new God of War offers more gore and more blood than previous incarnations. Asmussen put it best when describing it, “The best way that I can describe it is take D-Day, the Battle at Normandy, combine it with the movie Cloverfield, and put Kratos smack dab in the middle of it.” It’s gonna be that action packed.

For example, in our hands-on with the game, when you’re finishing off a Cyclops, his eye comes out complete with tendons trailing behind it. More impressive was after defeating a Centaur, the body actually gets opened up and its guts spill out everywhere. Visualise the Tauntaun Han Solo cuts open in Empire Strikes Back and you sort of get the picture.

The controls for the new game are as polished and slick as ever making it joyous to play as you pick up from the events directly after God of War II. We join Kratos upon Gaia’s back eager to exact vengeance on the Gods, with the end of the game showcasing the downfall of the Gods and how they fell into mythology.

Asmussen spoke of how “there’s going to be a message at the end of the game.. and [it's going to be] relevant to everyone who plays it.” This could possibly be a moral message, or simply give their explanation for the downfall of the Greek Gods, who knows, but you can be assured however it ends it will be epic to say the least.

One last thing, if you haven’t played the GoW series now is the time, go get the God of War Collection. It is the perfect introduction into the saga, as both GoW I and II are bundled together at a bargain price.