The Know-Down: God of War III

Today was a big day for God of War fans.  Unfortunately, our newbie status in the gaming industry meant we here at OLC weren’t badass enough to score an invite to Sony’s God of War III press reveal event.  However, that won’t stop us from covering it!  As pretty much everyone who watched Sony’s E3 2008 press conference or the Spike Video Game Awards knows, Kratos is back and even angrier than ever on the Playstation 3.  Touting GOW3 as the final installment in the series, SCEA and Sony Santa Monica have supposedly been working on this title since finishing up God of War II.  Unfortunately, not much else has been known about it since then…well, until now, that is.  And that means it’s time for another installment of The Know-Down!

What We Know

Bigger, Better, and More Badass:  Just from the new trailer Sony released today (now available on pretty much every gaming site out there and the Playstation Store), this is perhaps the most obvious of all.  The God of War team is pulling out all the stops on this final installment, following Cliff Bleszinski’s example of going bigger, better, and more badass with their new sequel.

New Weapons: The Spike VGA trailer showed us a quick glimpse of Kratos wearing two large lion-shaped gauntlets.  Today’s trailer, on the other hand, showed him using them.  Known as the Cestus, these two gauntlets function as a close-range alternative to Kratos’ whiplike Blades of Chaos.  Possessing an unique piston-like quality similar to the arms of Japanese super robot hero Big O, every strike with the Cestus is amplified by sets of reinforced “rings” around his wrists that knock enemies back.  The gloves also possess minimal long-range capabilities that have yet to be given a full public demonstration.  Sony representatives have not only confirmed that the Cestus is not the only new weapon in the game, but that every weapon will have a full moveset, as opposed to being “gimmicks” only useful for one boss fight.  This will do wonders for the battle system, as I’m sure many gamers are starting to get a little tired of just using the Blades of Chaos all the time.

New Gameplay Mechanics: Not content with simply making their game “God of War in HD”, SCE Santa Monica are premiering several gameplay elements new to the GOW franchise, even if they may not be particularly new to games in general.  First off is the wall run mechanic first glimpsed in the VGA trailer.  Originally thought to be one of the series’ now-famous QTEs, it would appear the wall run is actually part of gameplay, similar to Prince of Persia or Ninja Gaiden.  Next on the chopping block (literally) is Kratos’ new ability to “hijack” certain enemies.  Glimpsed in the new trailer when Kratos hopped onto a Cyclops’ back and forced it to smash a group of attacking skeletons to bits, this system can apparently also be used for platforming and puzzles.

Titan…ic Level Scale: Okay, that pun hurt, but it’s painfully fitting (ow) for God of War III.  According to game director Stig Asmussen, entire levels will be set in and around the world-ending clash between the Titans, freed by Kratos in the ending of GOWII, and their Olympian children.  Several stages will even be set on the backs of the Titans themselves.  Considering the fact that a sense of undeniable scale has always been one of the God of War franchise’s strongest suits, if the team can pull this off…there might finally be something that can match GOWII‘s sprawling opening stage in terms of pure epic scope.

The End Begins: While nothing is ever “final” in the games industry (see R-Type Final and Final Fantasy for the best examples), God of War III is set to draw Kratos’ legacy to a close in a manner that can only really be likened to the Greek version of Ragnarok.  While Sony representatives are mum on closing the book on the franchise as a whole, this could very well be the end of another Playstation hero’s story.

What We Want to Know

Online?  Multiplayer?: Ever since a God of War-branded job posting for an online-related position popped up on Sony’s website, rumors have been flying about GOWIII containing some sort of online mode, be it versus, co-op, or something else entirely.  The team has been notoriously quiet in regards to this, making sure to point out that the game is a single-player experience first and foremost, although “online options are being explored”.  What could this mean for God of War III?

Seven Minutes To Midnight: The potential release date of God of War III is a tricky proposition.  GOWIII is exactly the kind of game that Sony needs for the holiday season; a big, bloody, violent action-fest with excessive marketing potential and brand recognition stretching all the way back to the PS2 days.  However, the GOW games have customarily launched in March, and there’s no denying the positive effect an extra few months in development can have on a game’s quality.  While the game is looking good as it is, and I would love to see it out by the holidays, it looks like we’re gonna be waiting a while just to find out the release date, let alone get our hands on the game itself.

QTE III: While it certainly didn’t invent them (that honor is generally awarded to Sega’s Dreamcast epic Shenmue), God of War was one of the first games to make major use of the now-infamous Quick Time Event.  Games in just about every genre have taken to using them, some far better than others.  While there’s no way in Hades that SCEA will be dropping QTEs from GOWIII, many gamers are beginning to grow tired of the mechanic.  Hopefully Sony realizes this, and will offer other ways to take down certain enemies, rather than every clash ending in a QTE animation we’ve seen 50 times before.

Demo Destruction: Every God of War game so far has been subject to a pre-release demo, often distributed through Sony’s defunct Playstation Underground service.  The original demo for the first game helped build buzz that eventually catapulted it into surefire hit status, and the demos of GOWII and Chains of Olympus helped reassure gamers that despite changes in key design staff, Sony knew how to treat Kratos right.  Hopefully SCEA will launch a playable demo of the game some time this year over the Playstation Network…and Sony, if you’re reading this, no more preorder-only demos, okay?

Arsenal of the Apocalypse: Every God of War game seems to improve on the last game’s weapon selections by leaps and bounds, although by and large the subweapon selection has been considerably low-key compared to the overpowering Blades of Chaos.  God of War let you sub out the Blades for the relatively useless Sword of Artemis, God of War II saw Kratos skewering monsters with the legendary Lance of Longinus, a ghost-infused hammer from Hades and the god-slaying Blade of Olympus, and finally Chains of Olympus gave us the first legitimate contender to the Blades; the Gauntlet of Zeus.  This begs the question…where can we go from here?  Will he be stealing Thor’s legendary Mjolnir hammer, Cu Chulainn’s Gae Bolg spear, or will he just pick up the Trojan Horse itself and start swinging it at enemies?  Only time will tell.

Obviously, there are several other questions to ask regarding God of War III, most of them pertaining to the storyline and the series’ future after this installment, but these are the burning questions that seem to stick out the most.  We’ll be keeping an eye on this one, and if Sony’s recent exclusive offerings are any indication, when God of War 3 does finally launch, PS3 gamers will be lining up in droves to destroy Mount Olympus.  You can count me in.