A superior redux that sees Kratos clashing with titans in clinical, claret-soaked style
Bigger is better, balder, and way, way, way bloodier. There’s nothing remotely small about face-painted, hair-deprived Kratos’ trilogy-closing PS3 adventure. Now back on our screens courtesy of this impeccably spruced up1080p/60fps PS4 re-release, the Ghost Of Sparta’s gloriously gory journey to slay arch-enemy Zeus takes in a truly gargantuan, mythical mountain, and titans who make the Colossi look like tiny, sad-eyed garden ornaments. If you thought the furious demi-god’s third outing was murderously brilliant on last-gen, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Missed out on God Of War III when it first hit in 2010? Here’s the skinny. You play a surly Spartan soldier turned fallen deity in Sony Santa Monica’s X-rated take on ancient Greek mythology. As Kratos, you’re desperately seeking revenge on your father, and to spice matters up, dad just happens to be Zeus himself. In order to take him out, you must first scale Mt Olympus, murdering every significant Greek beastie and god you’ve ever heard of. Ray Harryhausen would be proud… then do a little sick.
It’s not just that infamous ‘zipper tech’ that makes GOW III so starkly in-yer-face (though wait until you see Kratos slice open a centaur’s stomach with the Blades Of Exile). Much of this action-adventure’s brutal appeal lies in its brilliant combat. Even with Bloodborne and Dark Souls rewriting the rules of third-person scuffles in the half-decade since this miffed slaphead waged PS3 war, the core appeal of Kratos’ awesomely punchy fight sequences has endured.
Assault course
Combos crunch with incredibly satisfying solidity. Kratos is a big bully in combat, and the way he roughs up enemies reflects his hateful, hollowed out soul. You scoop up skeleton soldiers like they’re nothing, then slam into posses of their pals to down them like skittles. You bounce minotaurs around like snorting beach balls with the Hyperion Ram, before flooring the agitated bulls and snapping their necks. You yank on a gorgon’s slithering scalp of snakes, then tear its head off to freeze every other enemy in the room with a stony glaze. Kratos is a jackass, but it makes him a hugely empowering character to control.
The 60fps upgrade makes a difference, too. There’s a persuasive smoothness to combat thatwasn’t as evident in the PS3 original. The semi-fixed camera angles frame every fight like a demonic diorama, with Kratos tossing around his foes like battered toys. Even in crowded skirmishes, when gangs of bony warriors try to form a dog pile on your back, the frame-rate rarely falters.
Further hammering home the technical nous of this redux is the jump up to 1080p. The original game actually ran at a sub-HD resolution, so it’s great to finally see the developer’s glorious assets shown off in a way that simply wasn’t possible on PS3. While the odd texture may be a little bland, character models are massively detailed.
Zoom in to inspect Kratos’ grumpy mug with the new camera mode – simply by prodding the left-hand side of the touchpad – and a world of grimy pores, tiny cuts and skin blemishes awaits. It’s a real credit to the game’s original assets, which largely look to have gone untouched aside from the bump in resolution, that the game holds up so well visually all these years on.
Want to really put that camera mode through its paces? We suggest zooming in and playing with the various colour filters and frames during any of GOW III’s spectacular boss battles. Throughout the game they’re uniformly brilliant, showcasing a sense of theatre most current-gen games struggle to match. Whether it’s the ridiculously epic scrap against Poseidon and his many watery Hippocampi (it’s a word, honest) that acts as an amazing ‘tutorial’, or chipping away at a house-sized fingernail during the battle with the titan Cronos, God Of War III’s boss fights are never less than thrilling.
Greek spot
Combat and the game’s sense of spectacle are absolutely terrific, then. Yet there’s one factor that hovers over those oh-so-enjoyable eviscerations like a shaven-domed Sword Of Damocles: Kratos is a massive jerk. No, really – he’s exhaustingly abhorrent. His one-note fury may have been easier to get behind five years ago, but over that time game narratives and characters have progressed significantly. In an age of nuanced, three-dimensional protagonists such as The Last Of Us’ Ellie or Life Is Strange’s Max, the constantly brassed-off god-puncher comes off as a last-gen relic.
While the violence for the most part is harmless enough – think of it as a super-adult take on Looney Tunes – some scenes do stick out in the worst way. It’s one thing to yank out a cyclops’ eye and be rewarded with a gushing geyser of claret. It’s quite another to brutally kill a harmless priestess as part of a glorified switch puzzle. Said setpiece sees Kratos push around a topless lover of Poseidon, before eventually shoving her into the mechanical gears of a door. A bloody, screeching demise follows, her begging wails soon drowned out by crunching bones. It’s just as distasteful and horribly objectionable as it sounds.
Pace in point
Thankfully, it’s a relatively isolated incident of outright awfulness in what’s otherwise a rather cartoonish, thoroughly rip-roaring adventure. The key to much of God Of War III’s success, outside of those excellent core mechanics, is pacing. Without fail, Kratos’ quest for vengeance rattles along in thrilling style. Enjoyably gentle puzzling and the odd spot of platforming break up fights to ensure the murder never becomes monotonous. This is also a game of brilliant purpose and forward momentum. There’s nothing like climbing a ludicrously tall mythological mountain to help maintain a constant sense of progression.
Should you check out Remastered if you never played God Of War III first time around? Absolutely. Despite an uninspired story and seriously unpleasant protagonist, the core spectacle of God Of War has aged brilliantly. This may be a prettied-up last-gen title, but the production values and sense of scale can still match PS4’s heaviest, biggest budget triple-A hitters.
And even if you’ve already dabbled in Kratos’ unique brand of over-the-top gore on PS3, the tech upgrades still make this an experience worth revisiting. Just prepare for the fact you’ll probably tut a whole lot more when he’s murdering the hell out of literally every major character in the game. If God Of War 4 happens, let’s hope Kratos takes a little chill pill. Deep breaths, big guy…