God of War: Ghost of Sparta Interview

Monday, November 29, 2010

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Interview

Q: So what are they missing out on?
RW: The thing is, what they're missing often times is they see the surface of what the game is, which is what you play. But you have to really understand that everything, from how good the timing of combat is, the timing of animation, the transitions between animations, how literally every single thing has to be so fine tuned to make it right. Sometimes you miss out on that because some people just see the end result and say "Oh! That move was so cool!". Well, that move built up from all that stuff that we built up. A lot of games have a tendency to just see the surface of everything and feel like they can emulate it really fast.
Q: What do you think makes this game suitable for handheld then?
RW: That's a good one. It's never been a worry of ours to make games that are suitable for handheld. I think that maybe that's the reason we make the games we do. For all three games we've made games that are good games. Our first and only thought is why it should be a good God of War game.
Q: So what happened with the plan to move away from PSP?
RW: The plan? The plan! The plan fell apart! We wanted to move away purely because we had other ideas at the time and more than anything we didn't feel like there was more we could do for the platform. I don't think we want to use the platform if we don't feel like we can challenge ourselves and challenge it. After Chains of Olympus we didn't feel like we could challenge ourselves on it. But after a few months we thought otherwise because the mad rush of finishing the game made us forget that we had overlooked some of the things we could have done.
Everything. We had to. Our biggest goal was to tackle gameplay mechanics and maybe some of the graphics stuff, but in the end it ended up with us starting with one system and week after week and month after month really re-vamping every single part of the game. And we didn't want to do that by the way, at the beginning, it wasn't the goal.
Q: Do you see PSP having more of a future as a platform?
RW: It can. It can if you make it more attainable, on the software side, on the ease of use, on the PSN side. Yes you can get there but I think PSP as a platform, as purely a hardware, technologically: it's an awesome platform. It does things that not many people know it can do.
Q: Like what?
RW: Just power-wise, it is something that can rival a lot of games if not the majority of games on PS2 and even some on PS3. It can do some pretty amazing stuff but at the same time, let's say, it's had a bad life. It's had a bad growth. And although it's sold very well in people's minds it doesn't have the feel that it should. They view it and they view it as a DS. And the PSP is not. The DS is for casual experiences and more for short burst gameplay. If the PSP had been sold as ‘you know what, this is your home console in your hand' it would have had a great future.
Q: Do you see yourself continuing on with PSP then?
RW: This is it. Although we've said it before, this is definitely it for us. We needed to prove and we needed to feel we could do something else for the platform. And at this time we don't feel that anymore. We don't feel there's more that the platform needs from us. Maybe somebody else can do that but at this point we feel like we've maximised the platform.
Q: What about the God of War franchise?
RW: The God of War franchise? There's always room in a franchise to do more stuff, I just don't know what direction to take with it.
Q: Yeah, the end of God of War 3 Kratos' fate is left pretty ambiguous. Do you think the franchise could survive without him?
RW: I think the franchise is definitely capable of surviving without Kratos. There's enough stuff that happened before and potentially after that Kratos doesn't necessarily have to survive. As much as Kratos makes the franchise today, I think that what's important about it is that it's not Kratos: The Game. It's God of War. It's a bigger IP than just the story of Kratos, although he's the most important character right now. So I don't know, maybe in the future it could be taken somewhere else. It needs him right now, for the short term at least, but maybe not in the future.
Q: Where would you see it going?
RW: We've all thrown out ideas. We could bring Kratos to the modern age, use different myths. Norse mythologies, Eastern mythologies, Persian. There's plenty of room to do stuff but it doesn't mean that's why you should do it. You should only do something if it makes sense in the grand scheme of things and right now I think there is room. But I wouldn't want to see spin offs going off all over the place where it's like "Hey, here's a game about Athena!".
Q: Do you think that tends to happen?
RW: In IPs? Sometimes. You always feel like "Why did they do that? Give it a rest for a few years and then bring it back". I would rather developers and publishers do that, let it be for a few years, give it a rest and you can bring it back bigger and better.
Q: What are you imagining for your own IP? I'm guessing that's what you're interested in now?
RW: Yeah, for sure. I think that's where we're heading as a team. The question is always we have to keep in mind what's important to us and what the team is passionate about. And if the next game is our own IP then you know what, we should go back to Defender of the Kraut. Commodore 64! You know what I mean? You pick something that you love and if you love it then you'll do it well.
Q: Stylistically what would you say you guys would lean toward, if you were imagining your next IP?
RW: I'm still not sure because I know we've even tested internally different styles. We've gone from fantasy to cartoony stuff, we've tried more realistic things. Stylistically we're open to all kinds of things, but gameplay-wise we're definitely leaning toward action-adventure. Story-driven action-adventure.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta is released exclusively on the PSP on November 5.

God of War 2 (zero stars)

Bottom line: God of War 2 is
“like going through an entire box of q-tips in a single day.”

Oh for the love of Christ. Yes, God of War 2 has meticulously rendered backdrops, skillful, inspired art direction, sweeping, breathtaking vistas, a dramatic, cinematic score, cleverly designed stage layouts, and setpiece after memorable setpiece. No, none of this matters. At the end of the day, God of War 2, though thoroughly well-designed, well-intentioned, and near impeccably well-put together, is an abject failure of videogame. The fact that it has been a success — both critically and commercially — is simple evidence of the sorry state of the medium.
I’ll admit, I enjoyed the first God of War. A lot. It was entertaining at the time, and hey, God Hand hadn’t come out yet, so I guess I just didn’t know any better. It starts off with a compelling premise (the protagonist’s suicide, with the rest of the game playing as flashback) and from there the plot only gets juicier and more interesting. The gameplay mechanics (which are nearly identical in this game) suffered from problems which I’ll get into in a moment, but at least the game was trying. The game cared. It had vision.
By comparison, God of War 2 wants nothing more than to be a sequel. It comes off like a band who, after releasing a hit record, follows it up with another that mimics its predecessor track for track. So every memorable scene from the first game is recreated here in one way or another — you will sacrifice an Innocent Bystander for the Whims of the Gods, you will encounter many Big Names From Greek Mythology, you will traverse Large Objects of Staggering Scale — but what’s missing is writing. Frankly, the plot is shit. It’s Greek mythology fanfiction. It starts off dumb and continues to only get dumber throughout the game’s 10-odd hours. While the game has as many compelling scenes (if not more) as the original, it lacks anything resembling cohesion. The story is just a flimsy excuse for more action, and so it gets thrown out the window as a motivating factor.
But the real reason God of War 2 (and by extension, I suppose, its predecessor) is a horrible mistake from the ground up is simple. It starts with the duck roll in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The duck roll, if you don’t recall, is the default function of the context-sensitive action button which causes link to perform a brief forward somersault that provides a quick, oh-so-slight boost of velocity to Link’s jog. The duck roll is useless. It gives you no advantage in combat, nor are there any puzzles or setpieces that require you to use it — it barely even decreases the amount of time it takes to walk. It is entirely extraneous, yet at the same time it is essential to keeping that game from becoming monotonous. Why was the duck roll — which, bizarrely, is called “attack” on the HUD, despite not actually ever doing any damage — included in the game, then?
Well, the duck roll exists so that the player has something to do while walking through Hyrule field. It provides the same basic “fun” response as pressing A to make Mario jump does in Super Mario Bros. Take this away, and the game does not fall apart — however, suddenly the time it takes to reach the next destination seems to dramatically increase. Those dragging moments caught between objectives, trying to find the next point to move the story forward, become all the more excruciating. The game’s design, which is already pedantic, patronizing, and perverse, becomes much more transparently so. Without the opiate of the duck roll, the lie that the game is built on becomes clear.
Hypothetically, of course. Though I’d love to play a hack of Ocarina of Time with the duck roll removed, just to see.

What does this have to do with God of War? It’s only a minor exaggeration to say that every button press in this game triggers a duck roll. It’s an exaggeration only because every little action does have a specific in-game use — but those uses are, 95% of the time, either spoon-fed to you in ham-fisted environmental puzzle, or just entirely meaningless. For the first 25% of the game, nearly every fight can be won by mashing the square button. As more “difficult” enemies appear, nearly every fight can be won by mashing the square button and occasionally flicking the right analog stick to dodge. By the end of the game, you may have to block every now and then. Boss battles are about as involving, only interspersed with occasional Quick Timer Events and with a greater time limit between health recharges. When you die, you restart and flick the dodge stick a few more times per square button push, and bam, you’ve won. The game is constantly throwing heart stopping scenery and violent, over-the-top setpieces at you to distract you from this fact, so you never notice all this. But it’s happening.
The game is clicky, crunchy, and meaty. Every little action feels good, and every little action gives you that little “fun” response that Miyamoto understood so well in designing Ocarina of Time.
On top of this, the game gives you the illusion of choice. By the end of the game you will have acquired a wide array of subweapons, abilities, alternative melee attacks, and new combos, all of which can be leveled up. During combat you have free and ready access to any of these, all of which will jerk around and beat down the hordes of mindless generic greco zombies that surround you. There is a large element of choice here, but regardless of your input, the output is always the same. There’s nothing resembling strategy here. This is Final Fantasy VII turned into an action game: at the end of the day, it’s only about overkilling your foes in new and interesting ways. That powerful new summon you find isn’t appealing because it’s powerful, but merely because it’s new — so you can see that totally sweet cutscene that plays when you use it.
To put it another way, imagine a version of Dance Dance Revolution where hardcore pornography plays in place of the usual music video, and the directional presses are largely optional and not scored on timing. If you miss enough thanks to being distracted by all that hot, wet fucking and sucking, then you die. At least this hypothetical game is a bit more honest about what it is, though really, the God of War series is essentially the same thing, but with shitloads of money thrown on top of it.
It is not entirely right of me to fault Sony Computer Entertainment Santa Monica for making this game. Surely they knew that all of the above was true, and that all of the above would make a successful game. Shame on them for indulging us, but shame on us for wanting it. Shame on us for coming to expect this sort of skullfucking as “fun”. This isn’t fun. It’s a nervous tick. It’s a bad habit. It’s obsessive compulsive behavior. It’s going through an entire box of q-tips in a day, because rubbing the inside of your ear feels so good the first time that you just can’t stop, and you eventually start to tell yourself that those little clumps of blood on the cotton are just really dark, moist bits of earwax that you’re better off without.
No. This is not what videogames are. I give God of War 2 zero stars because I do not play videogames to numb the pleasure centers of my brain. And I certainly do not pay fifty dollars for the privilege.
–andrew toups

God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP) Review

This is possibly the best God of War on any platform.  Just getting that shit out of the way right at the start.
Ready at Dawn, creators of the first God of War for PSP, return once again to take on arguably the biggest action franchise of this and the past generation.  The trademark of the God of War series is large, fantastic environments, mythology and shed-loads of gut ripping, head tearing violence.
Ready at Dawn manage to deliver on all these fronts with spectacular ease.  But there are flies in this otherwise ludicrously smooth honey.
First and foremost this title takes place between God of War and God of War 2.  It serves to fill in a lot of the back story of Kratos and why exactly he is such a sour-puss. Plagued by the distressing images and memories of his mortal life, Kratos the god is given the chance to discover more about these troubling images and seek out his long lost brother.
Ready at Dawn had made it clear they were done with the PSP after GoW : Chains of Olympus shipped.  They stated that they had wrung ever ounce of power out of the shiny black rectangle and sent their dev kits back.  Luckily for all PSP owners they decided to give it one last stab and have managed something quite spectacular on the little device.

Let’s face it, the PSP is now end of life right?  And just like God of War 2 did on the PS2 this game shows just how powerful the system now is.  The game is drop dead gorgeous and not just for a handheld.  This gives the best looking PS2 and Wii titles a real run for their money.  So much is crammed on to the little screen with huge environments, silky smooth animation, rapid framerate, bloom, particles, lava flows, water – the list is endless.  It really is a masterpiece of engineering that Ready at Dawn should be very proud of.
Sound design is almost as spectacular as the lush visuals.  In fact the rolling audio landscapes add immeasurably to the aesthetics of the game.  Even the voice acting has been stepped up a notch from the last handheld outing with most putting in a fine performance.
Gameplay wise very little has changed in this franchise from its inception.  A few extra moves or weapons here and there is about as much as you get.  God of War : Ghost of Sparta is no real exception to this rule with it adding just one new weapon and a couple of magical attacks to the mix.  The only other real change to the gameplay is a move away from some of those irritating cog/column/gear based puzzles that drive you balmy.  In its place they have put slide based sequences that help you rapidly transfer from environments.  Simply hitting a slope you will slide down them until an onscreen prompt appears.  A simple button press performs some tasty acrobatics.  Anyone familiar with Tomb Raider Underworld or the newer Prince of Persia titles will know this technique well.

Combat is slick, fast and brutally satisfying.  The game looks gorgeous, sounds gorgeous and sticks true to a very tried and tested formula.  But this is not the best aspect of Ghost of Sparta.  The best aspect is that Ready at Dawn have done what San Diego studios should of done with GoW 3 – fill out Kratos’ character and give us a believable story arc.  This game finally makes Kratos more than a two-dimensional character.  Yes he’s angry, yes he like to rage bloody revenge against the gods.  This time he also shows understanding, depth and at times compassion.  These are things that should have been taken to the table during God of War 3.
There are a few problems inherent with the formula.  The fixed camera is still a complete bitch at times and leads to many of the deaths you encounter.  There are also a few times when the controls seem determined to work against you.  The biggest problem that God of War : Ghost of Sparta has is that it’s more of the same.  If you’re looking to further the adventures of Kratos then this is the title for you.  If you’ve yet to get your fill of this franchise or gameplay style then you’re in for a real treat.

Final Thoughts
God of War : Ghost of Sparta is a technical marvel.  You are more likely to find rocking horse poop than you are a better looking PSP title.  The gameplay is tried, tested and super fun, if a little formulaic.  This is going to go down as PSPs greatest technical achievement and will form the basis of its swansong.  A great game, and at the price it’s essential for all PSP owners of requisite age.

God of War: Ghost of Sparta Interview

Q: So what are they missing out on?
RW: The thing is, what they're missing often times is they see the surface of what the game is, which is what you play. But you have to really understand that everything, from how good the timing of combat is, the timing of animation, the transitions between animations, how literally every single thing has to be so fine tuned to make it right. Sometimes you miss out on that because some people just see the end result and say "Oh! That move was so cool!". Well, that move built up from all that stuff that we built up. A lot of games have a tendency to just see the surface of everything and feel like they can emulate it really fast.
Q: What do you think makes this game suitable for handheld then?
RW: That's a good one. It's never been a worry of ours to make games that are suitable for handheld. I think that maybe that's the reason we make the games we do. For all three games we've made games that are good games. Our first and only thought is why it should be a good God of War game.
Q: So what happened with the plan to move away from PSP?
RW: The plan? The plan! The plan fell apart! We wanted to move away purely because we had other ideas at the time and more than anything we didn't feel like there was more we could do for the platform. I don't think we want to use the platform if we don't feel like we can challenge ourselves and challenge it. After Chains of Olympus we didn't feel like we could challenge ourselves on it. But after a few months we thought otherwise because the mad rush of finishing the game made us forget that we had overlooked some of the things we could have done.
Everything. We had to. Our biggest goal was to tackle gameplay mechanics and maybe some of the graphics stuff, but in the end it ended up with us starting with one system and week after week and month after month really re-vamping every single part of the game. And we didn't want to do that by the way, at the beginning, it wasn't the goal.
Q: Do you see PSP having more of a future as a platform?
RW: It can. It can if you make it more attainable, on the software side, on the ease of use, on the PSN side. Yes you can get there but I think PSP as a platform, as purely a hardware, technologically: it's an awesome platform. It does things that not many people know it can do.
Q: Like what?
RW: Just power-wise, it is something that can rival a lot of games if not the majority of games on PS2 and even some on PS3. It can do some pretty amazing stuff but at the same time, let's say, it's had a bad life. It's had a bad growth. And although it's sold very well in people's minds it doesn't have the feel that it should. They view it and they view it as a DS. And the PSP is not. The DS is for casual experiences and more for short burst gameplay. If the PSP had been sold as ‘you know what, this is your home console in your hand' it would have had a great future.
Q: Do you see yourself continuing on with PSP then?
RW: This is it. Although we've said it before, this is definitely it for us. We needed to prove and we needed to feel we could do something else for the platform. And at this time we don't feel that anymore. We don't feel there's more that the platform needs from us. Maybe somebody else can do that but at this point we feel like we've maximised the platform.
Q: What about the God of War franchise?
RW: The God of War franchise? There's always room in a franchise to do more stuff, I just don't know what direction to take with it.
Q: Yeah, the end of God of War 3 Kratos' fate is left pretty ambiguous. Do you think the franchise could survive without him?
RW: I think the franchise is definitely capable of surviving without Kratos. There's enough stuff that happened before and potentially after that Kratos doesn't necessarily have to survive. As much as Kratos makes the franchise today, I think that what's important about it is that it's not Kratos: The Game. It's God of War. It's a bigger IP than just the story of Kratos, although he's the most important character right now. So I don't know, maybe in the future it could be taken somewhere else. It needs him right now, for the short term at least, but maybe not in the future.
Q: Where would you see it going?
RW: We've all thrown out ideas. We could bring Kratos to the modern age, use different myths. Norse mythologies, Eastern mythologies, Persian. There's plenty of room to do stuff but it doesn't mean that's why you should do it. You should only do something if it makes sense in the grand scheme of things and right now I think there is room. But I wouldn't want to see spin offs going off all over the place where it's like "Hey, here's a game about Athena!".
Q: Do you think that tends to happen?
RW: In IPs? Sometimes. You always feel like "Why did they do that? Give it a rest for a few years and then bring it back". I would rather developers and publishers do that, let it be for a few years, give it a rest and you can bring it back bigger and better.
Q: What are you imagining for your own IP? I'm guessing that's what you're interested in now?
RW: Yeah, for sure. I think that's where we're heading as a team. The question is always we have to keep in mind what's important to us and what the team is passionate about. And if the next game is our own IP then you know what, we should go back to Defender of the Kraut. Commodore 64! You know what I mean? You pick something that you love and if you love it then you'll do it well.
Q: Stylistically what would you say you guys would lean toward, if you were imagining your next IP?
RW: I'm still not sure because I know we've even tested internally different styles. We've gone from fantasy to cartoony stuff, we've tried more realistic things. Stylistically we're open to all kinds of things, but gameplay-wise we're definitely leaning toward action-adventure. Story-driven action-adventure.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta is released exclusively on the PSP on November 5.

Ares (god of war)

(god of war)

Roman name: Mars
Parents Zeus and Hera
Siblings: Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia

Ares was the god of war. He was known for his thirst for battle and blood. Athena was a goddess of war, but preferred peace if possible. She would support war when it was over issues of justice. Ares, on the other hand, was not concerned with justice. He loved the thrill of battle. Ares lived among the people of Thrace, who were known for their constant wars and battles between tribes.
Ares was seen often accompanied by four other deities. The four deities were Diemos, the personification of fear; Enyo, goddess of battle; Eris, the personification of discord; and Phobos, the personification of terror. Ares, along with his companions, escalated the ferocity of battle.
Even though he was strong and

The depressing revelations that Sony Santa Monica's God of War 3 could have been even more epic and awesome keep coming. In a recent interview with website Destructoid, the game's director, Stig Asmussen, discussed elements of the hit PlayStation 3 game that had to be cut.
Asmussen describes, in particular, the Alpha stage of the game as "too big" resulting in a series of cuts so they could polish the rest of the game. Two things that were removed were the boss Argus, a beast with 100 eyes, and a massive cyclops, one almost twice as big as any other cyclops. Each boss had their in-game reveal and specific gameplay worked out but they were not finished.  Other elements that had to be removed from the game include "a big Titan scene at the end" where the player confronts Zeus on Gaia, who becomes involved in the battle as well.
Sadly these elements were just too big for the game, which remains quite a substantial experience even though it has been edited. Asmussen states that their inclusion would have meant other parts of the game, like the remaining Titan scenes, would have suffered as a result and sacrifices had to be made.
So where does that leave the edited content? While Asmussen remained tight-lipped on both downloadable content in the interview as well as the series' future, he does claim that the game is almost "zipped up too tight" and that adding in any new AI, like Argus or the cyclops, or an extended epilogue may break the whole game. Despite these comments, fans will still be hoping that some of these elements will be made available as downloadable content in the future since purely releasing new challenges and character skins will probably not be enough to appease the God of War fans out there.

Read more: http://blogcritics.org/gaming/article/destructoids-details-on-god-of-war/#ixzz16jqf2oqu

a great warrior, Ares lacked cunning, strategy, and moral decency. In several battles, Areas was forced off the battlefields by humans who wanted to make peace. He was not well liked either by humans or by the gods. Even his mother and father disliked him.

Development and Marketing

In 2007, God of War director David Jaffe stated that it would be "hell on earth" as the gods and the titans battle each other for domination and that "God of War explains, or ultimately will explain, why there are no more Greek myths". Jaffe also envisaged a very different end for the series, with other mythological pantheons becoming involved once Kratos killed Zeus and the other Greek gods. The end result would have apparently been mankind no longer believing in the gods, which according to Jaffe is the only true way a deity can die.^[8] Although Jaffe and Barlog left Sony for other opportunities, they are still credited for the series.^[9]
On December 8, 2009, Stig Asmussen told IGN that Cory Barlog "was with the team as Game Director for the first eight months of development," and that "he has had a major impact on the game." Asmussen also mentioned that even though Cory left the team, they spoke several times and "bounced a few ideas off him," but there was no formal collaboration. He also mentioned that David Jaffe "has been around the studio a few times" and that they've spoken as well and "have gone over some high level stuff with him to get his observations and feedback" on a few occasions.^[10] The finished game script was approximately 120 pages.^[11]
God of War III was first discussed by Cory Barlog at a God of War II launch event.^[12] Barlog stated that the game would run at full 1080p HD resolution, and the game would support Sixaxis tilt and vibration functions.^[13] This was stated before the DualShock 3 controller was announced; therefore causing confusion as the Sixaxis controller did not support rumble. Barlog also expressed an interest in adding a cooperative mode "if we can do something unique with it".^[14]
In March 2009 during the Game Developers Conference, the developers stated that the Sixaxis capabilities have been removed, due to the fact that the developers "could not find a suitable situation to use Sixaxis in the game effectively", and have decided to scrap the idea altogether rather than put it in and have it working poorly.^[15]
In November 2009, Stig Asmussen, Game Director for God of War III, advised GamePro that multi-player wouldn't work in God of War III, stating that there's a story we want to tell and an experience we want to deliver, and multiplayer doesn't fit into that." Asmussen, however, did mention that there were conversations about a multi-player option. When the game went gold on February 20, 2010, it was confirmed that multiplayer was not included.^[1]
Asmussen also stated that one of the biggest challenges in developing God of War III on the PlayStation 3 was the "complexity of everything", and that individual tasks could take a year because the "level of detail that's expected is so high and intricate, it crosses multiple departments." Asmussen mentioned that the overall game length was between 10 to 20 hours, "depending on how good of a gamer you are."^[1] John Hight, studio director at Santa Monica, reassured that God of War III lasts longer than 10 hours. "We've done a lot of play testing on it...We know, for a really hardcore player, it'll take them longer than it took them to play either of the previous God of War games."^[16] In December 2009, Asmussen advised IGN that the game was in the final stages of development. "The entire game is together from start to finish and we're working our butts off putting on the finishing touches."^[10]

Kratos attacks Olympian god Hades with the Bow of Apollo.^[17]

On December 16, 2008, Sony claimed that God of War III will be the last in the franchise.^[18] In January 2010, however, John Hight told Joystiq that "while God of War III will conclude the trilogy, it won't spell the end of the franchise", claiming "We're going to be really careful about what we do next".^[19]
In a February 2009 interview, God of War III director Stig Asmussen mentioned the possibility of downloadable content. In November 2009, he told GamePro that the game might be shipped with a certain amount of challenges, and that they might put out a download pack with new challenges to keep the series going.^[1] In the development of lighting the game, Illuminate Labs product Turtle was used.^[20]
On March 23, 2009, it was revealed Sony sourcing opinions regarding a "Collector's Edition" from current PlayStation 3 owners.^[21] In October 2009, an "Ultimate Edition" was revealed for the North American release. An "Ultimate Trilogy Edition" was announced in December 2009 for a limited European, Australian, and New Zealand release. A "Trilogy Edition" was announced soon after for Japan, where CERO gave the game an adults-only Z rating,^[22] after the previous two were considered suitable for teenagers.
On February 16, 2010, it was revealed that there are no true CGI cinematics in God of War III. SCEA animator Bruno Velazquez stated "that while the first two God of War titles certainly boasted CGI cinematics, there will actually be no true CGI in the third and final installment", and "Everything you see is 100% in-game. All camera features, including motion blur, run real-time in the cinematics and in-game. For this game we decided to try and blend in the cinematic sequences with the in-game sequences, so all models and assets are used for cinematics and for in-game."^[23]
Velazquez later stated "When I mentioned that GOW3 has no CG, I was referring to the fact that we do not have pre-rendered scenes that were created outside of the game engine, like GOW 1 and 2. In GOW3 all the cutscenes are created using our in-game engine, however some scenes were just too epic to run real time and thus are recorded videos."^[24][25]
According to Sony Santa Monica's director of technology Tim Moss, God of War III uses 35 gigabytes.^[26]
In October 2009, SCE Studios Santa Monica announced the God of War III Ultimate Edition. With a pre-order, the package included a high-end sculpted replica of Pandora's Box, a limited edition God of War art book, and exclusive digital content available via the PlayStation Network.
The exclusive digital content included the "Challenge of Exile" mode, "Dominus" premium Kratos skin, God of War: Unearthing the Legend franchise documentary, the God of War trilogy soundtrack, and the God of War: Blood & Metal EP: a heavy metal homage featuring original music from bands from the Roadrunner Records label, such as Opeth, Killswitch Engage and Dream Theater.^[7][37] The EP was released for purchase on March 2, 2010.^[38] On March 24, 2010, the God of War: Unearthing the Legend franchise documentary was released on the PlayStation Store for purchase.
Pre-orders for the Ultimate Edition began on October 30, 2009. Select retailers also included a premium skin for Kratos, being the "Apollo" skin, the "Forgotten Warrior" skin, and the "Phantom of Chaos" skin, available from Amazon.com, Game Crazy or Play.com, and GameStop respectively. Beginning February 11, 2010, pre-orders from GameStop also included a 17x24 poster signed by Andy Park, Concept Artist for God of War III.^[32]
GameStop also held a "Be the Envy of the Gods" sweepstakes for all pre-order customers, with prizes including pizza for a year, a Sony Home Entertainment System, a VIP trip to a premier music festival, or an MMA experience in Las Vegas.^[39]
On December 15, 2009, the God of War team accepted video submissions from players to see who was the "Ultimate God of War fan." The development team selected the top 18 submissions which are included within the ending credits of God of War: Unearthing the Legend – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise and how the events in the games relate to actual Greek Mythology. All the selected winners received a copy of the God of War III Ultimate Edition signed by the development team.^[40] The winners were announced on March 5, 2010.^[41]
On December 17, 2009, SCE Studios Santa Monica announced the God of War III Ultimate Trilogy Edition which contained more content than the God of War III Ultimate Edition for a limited release in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. The package contained all of the content in the God of War III Ultimate Edition, in addition to including God of War Collection, all four of the premium Kratos skins, and God of War postcards.^[42] Pre-orders for the Ultimate Trilogy Edition began on January 14, 2010 at Game and Gamestation.

God of War

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Plot

In the opening sequence, Kratos stands on the back of the Titan Gaia, as she and the other Titans climb Mount Olympus to assault the Gods of Olympus.
The Olympian gods launch a counter-assault, although Poseidon is killed by the combined efforts of Kratos and Gaia- his death causing the oceans to flood. Kratos and Gaia attempt to attack Zeus, but are driven back and fall down Mount Olympus. Gaia clings to the side of the mountain and refuses to save Kratos, stating he was nothing more than a pawn.
Kratos falls into the underworld, losing the Blade of Olympus. Kratos lands in the River Styx, and the souls of the underworld weaken Kratos and ruin the Blades of Athena. After exiting the river, Kratos is confronted by the spirit of Athena, who provides him with the Blades of Exile in return for his trust. After several battles, Kratos locates the Three Judges of the Underworld and the Chain of Balance that maintains the equilibrium between the Underworld, Earth, and Olympus. After a conversation with the spirit of Pandora, Kratos recovers the Blade of Olympus.
Kratos encounters the Olympian blacksmith Hephaestus, and later, kills Hades. Hades' death releases the souls of the underworld and exacerbates the chaos caused by Kratos' assault on Olympus. After exiting the underworld, Kratos travels to Olympia, where he encounters a wounded Gaia. Kratos ignores Gaia's request for aid and severs her arm, causing her to fall from Mount Olympus to her apparent death.
As Kratos continues his ascent, he overcomes various foes, including the Titan Perses and the god Helios - the latter's death blotting out the sun and causing worldwide storms. Learning that Pandora's Box is once again the key to the success of his quest, Kratos then kills an overconfident Hermes, his death releasing a plague on the world. Kratos also encounters his half-brother Hercules, who is encouraged by a watching Hera to murder the "bastard". Kratos, however, kills Hercules and travels to various locations to find the key to opening Pandora's Box, finally discovering that Pandora, herself, is the key and that only she can quell the "Flame of Olympus", a lethal fire that surrounds the Box. After Kratos is forced to kill Cronos and then Hephaestus, the Spartan travels through Hera's Gardens, where he kills the taunting goddess (her death causing the end of all plant life). Kratos then returns to the Labyrinth to find Pandora.

The aerial Labyrinth: the prison of Pandora and Daedalus.

After fighting his way through the Labyrinth and rescuing Pandora, Kratos is instructed by Athena to break the Chain of Balance so that the Labyrinth can be raised and Pandora can reach Pandora's Box. After neutralizing the Three Judges and breaking the Chain, Kratos raises the Labyrinth and Pandora attempts to enter the Flame of Olympus. Zeus intervenes, but, after a brief battle, Pandora successfully sacrifices herself (despite Kratos' protests) and quenches the Flame. Kratos discovers Pandora's Box is empty, and battles Zeus once again.
Gaia suddenly returns and attempts to kill the pair, but both escape via a gaping wound in her neck. Kratos eventually kills Gaia by impaling Zeus against her heart with the Blade of Olympus, an act that apparently also kills Zeus. Kratos loses consciousness and eventually recovers to find most of his weapons and abilities are gone. The Spartan is then attacked by Zeus' spirit, who is saved by Pandora during a mental journey into his own psyche. Forgiving himself for his past sins, Kratos finally kills Zeus by beating him to death.
Athena reappears, demanding Kratos return what he apparently took from Pandora's Box. Kratos states the box was empty, which Athena refuses to believe. Athena explains that when Zeus sealed the evils of the world (greed, fear and hate) within the box, she foresaw that it would eventually be opened, and so she placed her own power — hope — within the box. Athena then realizes that when Kratos first opened the box to defeat Ares, the evils escaped and infected the Olympian Gods, while Kratos was endowed with hope. Athena demands Kratos return her power, stating she knows how to use it to rebuild the world. Kratos refuses and impales himself with the Blade of Olympus, releasing hope's power for all mankind. An angered Athena pulls the sword from Kratos and states that he has disappointed her. Kratos, nearing death, collapses near the Blade of Olympus as Athena departs.
In a post-credits scene, a trail of blood is shown, leading away from an abandoned Blade of Olympus, leaving Kratos' final fate unknown.

The action is also surprisingly versatile. Players can choose focus on attacks, spells, or a balanced attack. Depending on your play style, you can focus on the specific powers that fit your playing style best. The character progression system is very well thought out and allows players choose different ways to experience the action.

Even though action is the primary hook of God of War, there are a surprising amount of classic gameplay elements that accompany the excellent action. There are several puzzles for you to solve. Most of them are simple object manipulation puzzles, none of which will challenge your brain in the slightest. I found this fine, since the push/pull puzzles provided a break from the fighting and didn't stress me out at all.

There are even some rhythm-game aspects to God of War. Some enemies will require you to hit a certain button in a rhythmic fashion for a more effective attack. There's a DDR-esque orgy sequence where Kratos can ... reinvigorate himself by pleasuring women. Though the movements are similar to those in Britney's Dance Beat, the results found here are strictly M-Rated.

Wait a minute ... didn't I see you in The Lord of the Rings?

Kratos' power progression reminded me of classic console games like The Legend of Zelda and Mega Man. As he gets new powers, he conveniently has to use them to get through a certain part of a level or beat a certain enemy. While it seems like a hackneyed device, the power progression in God of War is handled elegantly just like it was in those classics. Perhaps I was getting too into things, but there times where I felt that it was Kratos' destiny to receive a certain power at a certain time ... as opposed to feeling like power X was introduced to get me by enemy Y. While the latter is true on paper, the presentation makes it feel so epic.

The game's graphics are awesome. The levels are well done and appropriately moody. While not quite on par with the level designs in Ico and Prince of Persia, the levels in God of War do a great job at conveying a grand atmosphere. The character designs are pretty excellent too. Many of the monster designs are nice modern takes on classic mythological creatures. One of the more impressive facets of the game is how seamless it is; for the most part there are no loading times, thanks to efficient streaming, and even when there are, the action flows smoothly. The game's animations are godly. As versatile and visceral as Kratos' attacks are, the fluidity of his movements might be the most impressive facet of his considerable arsenal. Every attack flows perfectly into another action, which not only looks cool but also makes you feel a tighter connection to the action. In addition, gamers with HDTV are in for a treat: God of War looks amazing in 480p and I didn't notice any significant slowdown.

While not as consistently great as the visuals, the sounds in the game are very strong. The effects definitely make an impact, and many of the monster sounds will send a shiver down your spine. Most of the music is brilliant -- certainly among the best orchestral scores in gaming -- and the majority of the voice acting is topnotch. That said, there are some compositions and some lines that I felt were overstated, but nothing that would pull anyone out of the action.

God of War

By Raymond M. Padilla | Mar 22, 2005

Great Hera! The gods of Olympus have blessed the PlayStation 2 with a truly divine action game. Slap on Hermes' sandals and pick it up now!

Outstanding!

Pros:

Some of the coolest action ever seen on a console; outstanding production; epic boss fights; wicked powers and combos.

Cons:

Not enough boss fights; some might find the puzzles too simplistic; some overstated music and voice acting.

9.4 (77 press ratings)

How Our Ratings Work

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It doesn't happen often, but every now and then a game is released that's so outstanding that all kinds of gamers must play it regardless of their genre preferences. God of War, Sony's latest first-party action game, fits into this rare category. Gameplay, graphics, story, or production, this modern take on Greek mythology is a fantastic experience. In fact, God of War is the best thing to happen to Greek mythology since Harry Hamlin donned a tunic and fought claymation monsters as Perseus in Clash of the Titans. Gamers would be doing themselves a severe disservice by passing over this stellar game.

As GameSpy has reported in the past, God of War tells the story of a Spartan bloke named Kratos. The game's opening cinema shows Kratos hurling himself down a mountain because the gods of Olympus (not the camera company) have abandoned him. You get to play the game and learn what made Kratos switch from a brutally efficient mass murderer to a suicidal cliff diver. Without giving too much away, your mission, as given to you by the gods, is to find Pandora's Box to kill that pesky and titular god of war, Ares.

This ain't your daddy's hydra.

God of War is a third-person action game with some of the goriest, most exaggerated, and over-the-top violence I've ever seen -- and I mean that in the best possible way. Kratos' primary weapons are the "Blades of Chaos," two swords tightly chained to his arms, which can be used as normal swords or as swinging weapons. In some ways the Blades of Chaos reminded me of Rygar's "Diskarmor" and Spawn's "Chains." He'll use his blades to chop off hundreds of limbs, sever hundreds of heads, and spill gallons of blood by the time the game is over. Kratos also learns some nifty magic, courtesy of the gods, as his adventure progresses.

What's immensely cool about the game's action is its combo system. Different attacks, grapples, dashes, feints, blocks, spells, leaps, dashes, and modifiers can be used to create combos. The system is really generous, allowing players to easily perform really awesome moves. At the same time it's not overly powerful and can challenge players that throw themselves into the system (i.e. accept nothing less than 200-move combos). The combo system is fairly unique, easy to use, and challenging if you want it to be. Most importantly, the resulting attacks look amazing! The system is a phenomenal base for a phenomenal game.

Gameplay

Gameplay from God of War: weakening foes allows for use of controller buttons for greater damage.

A third-person camera game (first-person camera component in God of War III), the player controls the character Kratos in a combination of combat, platforming and puzzle game elements. The player typically has to navigate Kratos through a long series of tests, trials and mazes to reach goals.
Kratos' main weapons through the series are a pair of chain blades, with various other secondary weapons (e.g. the Blade of Artemis from God of War) acquired with each game. Magic is also used, with four different abilities usually acquired (e.g. Poseidon's Rage, Medusa's Gaze, Zeus' Fury and Army of Hades from God of War). With each new game, most weapons and magic are typically lost, with a new arsenal and abilities being found through the course of gameplay.
Relics can also be acquired and are an exception to this rule, as the player is able to use each in successive games (i.e. Poseidon's Trident, the Golden Fleece and Icarus' wings).
Kratos often also has a "special" ability, which provides temporary invulnerability and increased attack damage (i.e. "Rage of the Gods" or "Rage of the Titans"). It can be recharged by building "hits" (damage) on foes in combat.
Health and Magic upgrades- Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers respectively -are found throughout the game in uncolored chests (Minotaur Horns are added in God of War III). A certain number of each are needed to upgrade the Health and Magic bars respectively. Other chests found in the game, containing orbs, are marked with a corresponding color for the orbs (green, blue, and red). Green Orbs replenish health, blue orbs replenish magic and red orbs provide experience (and can also replenish the Rage meter).
Red orbs may also be collected by killing foes and destroying certain inanimate objects. Combat includes a quick-time feature, which is initiated when the player has weakened a stronger foe and a icon (the circle button on the controller) appears above them. The player then presses the corresponding button commands appearing on screen, with success ending the battle, and failure usually resulting in damage. A "grab" maneuver is also available for use on minor foes that yields a higher proportion of experience points in the form of red orbs.
A quick-time sex mini-game and Challenge mode are also often included, which yield bonus red orbs and secret costumes and behind-the-scenes videos, respectively.

[edit] Games (release order)

[edit] God of War

Main article: God of War (video game)

God of War was first released in North America on March 22, 2005. Kratos is introduced as the servant of the gods. Tasked by Athena with finding Pandora's Box, the key to defeating Ares, the God of War. Ultimately successful, Kratos ascends to Olympus to become the new God of War.

[edit] God of War II

Main article: God of War II

God of War II was first released in North America on March 13, 2007. Betrayed by Zeus, Kratos is saved by the Titan Gaia, who states Kratos must now find the Sisters of Fate. The Sisters can change his fate and prevent his death at the hands of Zeus. Kratos is ultimately successful, and learns from a dying Athena (who sacrificed herself to save Zeus and thereby preserve Olympus) that he is the son of Zeus. Kratos then joins forces with Gaia and the Titans in an attack on Olympus.

[edit] God of War: Betrayal

Main article: God of War: Betrayal

God of War: Betrayal was released on June 20, 2007. Taking place between the events of God of War: Ghost of Sparta and God of War II, Kratos is framed for murder and rampages across Greece, seeking the true assassin. Kratos succumbs to bloodlust and kills Ceryx, the son of the god Hermes - an act that alienates him from his fellow gods.

[edit] God of War: Chains of Olympus

Main article: God of War: Chains of Olympus

God of War: Chains of Olympus was first released in North America on March 4, 2008 followed by a limited edition PSP bundle pack released in June. Set in the time of Kratos' ten years of service to the gods, Kratos halts a Persian invasion of the Greek city of Attica, and learns that the world has been plunged into darkness by the god Morpheus. Learning that the sun god Helios has been abducted, Kratos investigates and prevents the machiavellian plan of the goddess Persephone to use the Titan Atlas to destroy the world and as a result Olympus.

[edit] God of War Collection

[show]God of War Collection
Developer(s)	SCE Studios Santa Monica Bluepoint Games (Port)
Publisher(s)	JP Capcom INT Sony Computer Entertainment
Series	God of War
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release date(s)	NA November 17, 2009[1] JP March 18, 2010[2] AUS March 18, 2010 EU April 30, 2010
Genre(s)	Hack and slash, action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	BBFC: 18[3] ESRB: Mature
Media	Blu-ray Disc, Digital download

God of War Collection is a remastered port of God of War and God of War II for the PlayStation 3 on a single Blu-ray Disc.
Intended to be released in North America on November 10, 2009^[4]; the game was delayed until November 17, 2009.^[1]
On December 17, 2009 on the European PlayStation Blog, it was announced that the God of War Collection will be included in the God of War III: Ultimate Trilogy Edition. This "Ultimate Trilogy Edition" was released in limited quantities in conjunction with God of War III (March 18, 2010 in Australia and New Zealand; March 19, 2010 in Europe). ^[5]
The Collection was released in Japan as a standalone on March 18, 2010 and was published by Capcom.^[2] A God of War III Trilogy Edition which included God of War III and God of War Collection was also released on March 25, 2010. The game was released in Australia on April 29, 2010.^[6] and in the UK on April 30, 2010.

Comparison of graphics of original God of War for the PS2 (above) and God of War Collection for the PS3 (below).

The original God of War and God of War II were ported by Bluepoint Games and use the features of the PlayStation 3, including high-definition resolutions (720p), anti-aliased graphics locked in at 60 frames per second and Trophies. The port was derived from feedback of fans of the series and was viewed as a means of introducing new players to the series prior to the release of God of War III.^[7]
In a PlayStation Blog post on September 23, 2009, it was revealed that the God of War III game demo from E3 2009 is included.^[8] The official gameplay trailer was unveiled on October 16, 2009.^[9] The trailer was shown in PlayStation Home's virtual theater and as an advertising poster on the side of the virtual mall.
There are a total of 71 trophies between the two games - 36 for God of War and 35 for God of War II - including a platinum trophy for each game.^[10]
From November 24, 2009, the God of War team began a sweepstakes in celebration of the release of God of War Collection. The grand prize was an autographed "Gold" disc (a first pressing of the game created when assets were finalized and reached "Gold" status), exclusive artwork created and signed by a God of War team member, a Limited Edition Kratos T-shirt, and a never before released Limited Edition 10" Figurine of Kratos. First place prize was a copy of God of War Collection signed by the Development Team. Winners were announced on the PlayStation Blog and on God of War.com on December 24, 2009.^[11][12]
On November 2, 2010, God of War: Collection was released as a digital download on the PlayStation Store (God of War and God of War II are the first PS2 games to be released by this means).^[13] PlayStation Plus subscribers are able to download a full-game trial of each game and receive a God of War III skin with the purchase of each game: "Phantom of Chaos" (God of War) and "Forgotten Warrior" (God of War II) respectively.^[14]