Reviews// God of War III (PS3)

It is during these initial scenes of God of War III that the player is first introduced to - nay, assaulted by - the absolutely amazing scale of the game and the immense size of the Titans. Kratos fights huge creatures on the smallest of areas on Gaia's arm. When she is attacked by the leviathan, Gaia is almost pulled from the face of the mountain and the camera pulls back from Kratos' battle to show the struggle she goes through. This is seamless and smooth and not a cinematic, as the camera returns to show Kratos you realise that you were still controlling him during the interlude.

It is this scale of action and setting that makes GoWIII special. The other games in the series have similar sequences, but they were pre-recorded cinematic movies. Here the game engine enables the very terrain you are fighting over to move as part of an enormous creature that is climbing an immense mountain.The movements of the Titan will affect the landscape, flat plains become towering cliffs or precipitous overhangs at the whim of the living creature you're fighting upon.

A later stage of the game introduces an even more impressive creature, larger still than Gaia where you fight over and inside its body and attack its fingernails (it's fingernails by the Gods!) which themselves tower over Kratos.

No other game I can think of is able to give this impression of size and scale within the game engine. Even Shadow of the Colossus pales beside GoWIII, the largest Colossi in that game would maybe come up to Gaia's knee, maybe.

However, none of this scale would be of any use if it weren't for the solid and enjoyable game that underpins the impressive visuals. If you've played any of the previous GoW games, even the PSP's Chains of Olympus, you will be familiar with the way this version plays.

Kratos' signature weapons: chain blades, return and most of the abilities and special attacks that you will be used to from GoWII are available to you at the start of the game. However, as in the second game, you are quickly stripped of your enhanced abilities and must level up your blades by collecting red orbs from smashed furniture and defeated foes.

The chests that contain green and blue orbs also return to replenish health and magical power as do those containing Gorgon's eyes and Phoenix feathers to increase their maximum levels. There is also a new Rage ability, similar to Rage of the Gods and Rage of the Titans from the first two games.

You will go though similar puzzles, fights, navigation platforming and boss battles to those in the previous games and this is not a cop out. There is a similarity of style to the GoW games that tie them together into an epic tale, if too much were to change then the connection would be broken. Of course, it helps immensely that the gameplay is so very good to start with.