Review: God of War III

Playing God of War III, I feel like I could walk outside and punch a building. I feel like I could please any woman, travel any distance, hurdle any obstacle. Stepping into the sandals of Kratos, the ex-God of War and revenge seeking psychopath of this trilogy, is placing oneself into the role of possibly the greatest action hero in entertainment history. I can think of no being in comics or movies or games that this man would not willingly go head to head with. Even if it seemed completely implausible with no chance of victory, he would find something lying on the ground to throw or find a weakpoint in some weird place or just plain headbutt his adversary to death. He’s a complete menace and 90% deserving of everything that has happened to him, but it’s impossible for me not to like the man/god. He makes this game what it is: a roaring adventure through the bowels of Greek mythology and one of the finest final acts of a trilogy we’ve yet seen.

For those unfamiliar with the God of War series, first of all shame on you, and second, basically all you need to know is that it’s about a guy who goes around killing Greek mythology. There’s a story buried there, and actually an interesting one full of death and revenge, but honestly it’s about killing gorgons and minotaurs and anything else you may have encountered in your first year of college during one elective or another. Oh, and gods. Kratos kills gods. In fact, this third entry in the series sees him seeking out the death of every last one of them (with an exception or two). He’s not happy with Zeus, and unfortunately for the pantheon, Zeus uses them all as body shields. The end of God of War 2 found Kratos scaling Mount Olympus on the back of the Titan mother Gaia, along with a dozen or so of the other titans, all hell bent on refreshing an age old war. Naturally in the third game, this alliance with the titans doesn’t last, and Kratos quickly finds himself where he has so often before: alone and in hell.

His vengeance unsatiated, Kratos begins his ascent, and one of the beautiful things about God of War III, and a trait that past games have shared but never to quite the extent of this one, is the level design. As Kratos is jumping and scaling and roaming all over Greek myth, he is doing so within a specific chronology and within certain boundaries. The levels are massive and encompassing, but they’re all connected to Mount Olympus and the raging conflict upon its flanks in some way. Kratos will find himself in Hades or Tartarus, and then we’ll see him emerge somewhere else on the mountain to kill another boss. Then he’ll descend, then he’ll wander a palace, and so on. Levels are revisited often, but never in the same manner or from the same angle. The titans themselves also serve as levels in a few cases, and the design around these occurrences is nothing short of genius. These beings are so large that a simple arm turn for them means a shift in gravity for Kratos, and the game reflects this as he’ll go from standing on a flat surface to hanging by his blades from that same surface. It takes a convention invented by Shadow of the Colossus and makes it bloody.

Much of the game will be familiar to fans of the series. The twin blades are back, though they get a new appearance and name. The same green and blue orb chests denote the same resource renewal. Gorgon Eyes and Phoenix Feathers still mean increases in health and mana. There’s a sex minigame. But there are some welcome new additions. The item bar for instance, is a depleting bar that is used not for magic or life, but for the use of things like his Bow or the Head of Helios. It adds another dynamic to skill usage that I personally felt was more than needed. The bar empties fast, but also constantly refills itself without the need for regenerative orbs. The Rage of the Gods ability also returns, though instead of Kratos just running around on fire, he pulls out the famed Blade of Olympus and wreaks havoc on foes. This seems odd to those of us who used the Blade as a standard weapon in the second game, and indeed it doesn’t feel quite as satisfying as this powers’ former incarnation, but at the very least it’s nice to see the Blade’s reappearance. The new weapons are also a massive improvement over previous games. For one, two of the three are simply different versions of Kratos’ standard blade-chains. They acquire different movesets as they’re leveled, have different magic associated with them, and handle slightly different in certain ways, but by and large are just re-skinned. This makes them sound cheap and simple but by no means is that true. Their use is actually surprisingly different and I found myself not only leveling them, but switching between each quite often. The same can be said for the new Cestus Gauntlets, which are so much better than any of Kratos’ prior “power” weapons that I want to take them and force them into the previous games. They saw a fore-running in Chains of Olympus, but even that sole gauntlet wasn’t a tenth as satisfying as these dual mitts.

Also returning are the kind of boss fights most players only dream of experiencing. This third installment easily sees the best of the entire series, both in scale and in difficulty. Kratos is fighting gods, titans, and anything else that stands in his way. The fights are multi-staged in many cases, and will often even range across levels. They feel epic in a way that few other games can even attempt to match, and they always end in ways that will leave a jaw dropped and a mind partially blown. And as a potential forewarning, those who can’t stomach a little bloodshed or gore should avoid this game. In fact, in many instances it requires either a sick frame of mind or just a high tolerance for the nasty to watch demise of some of the creatures that our protagonist ends. Kratos is one mean hombre.

Visually, God of War III is one of the best looking titles to date on any platform. Kratos in particular looks, for lack of a better word, real. His visuals are far and away the best in the game and it’s obvious how much care and attention was paid to making him look right. The designers had an advantage with him as he has no pesky hair to deal with, and his ashen skin and tattoo make him not quite normal looking to begin with. Regardless, every scene that focuses on his face or anywhere around him is very gritty and very realistic. The vistas and levels also look impressive. The titans in particular are eye-popping, both in their size and in the way that they manage to convey that size while still looking graphically precise. The only areas where the game loses some of its visual beauty is, ironically enough, when naked women are present. There are a few scenes involving nudity that make me wonder if the developers had ever seen an unclothed female. And aside from their anatomical oddities, they just don’t look as good graphically. Maybe that was intentional? Maybe having nudity that looks as detailed as some of the other areas in the game would feel weird to them. I don’t know. I do know that it does take one out of the experience somewhat seeing the meticulously detailed Kratos standing next to a woman who probably could have walked out of the PS2 era.

There are, of course, negative things to say about God of War III. There are glitches, for one. During one boss fight, I had the quick time event associated with it fail to trigger, leaving a twitching foe on the ground, able to be hit, but never finished off. This worked to my favor in the end as it allowed for an easy 1000 hit combo trophy, but it was still frustrating having to restart a seriously difficult fight (and one of the game’s few bad boss fights at that). Rumors of similar glitches elsewhere in the game, as well as even more game-breaking issues, are also troubling. There have been complaints about the game’s length as well, though personally I have nothing but praise for an 8-10 hour romp through Greece. The prior games weren’t really any longer, and the replayability of this series is quite high.

Anyone who has loved or even enjoyed the first two God of War games will flat out love this title. Anyone who enjoys good platforming action/adventure will like this game, assuming they can handle the gore. These are not definitive statements. It is this writer’s opinion that this is one of the best games, not only of this year, but probably in gaming history. It does almost everything right, and its few flaws are completely overshadowed by just how epic the entire experience is. In fact, the the majority of my “doin it rongs” aren’t even critiques of the game but rather warnings. Truthfully there’s very little not to love about God of War III. Not everyone may feel the need to kill a god, but watching one fall to the twin blades of Kratos nearly made me feel like one.

Title: God of War III Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer: SCE Studios Santa Monica Platform(s): PlayStation 3 Release Date: March 16, 2026

Doin It RIGHT: - Killing EVERYTHING. - One of the best looking games on any platform. - Never lets up on the action throttle. - Closes out one of gaming’s premiere series in a premiere way.	Doin It RONG: - Potentially serious glitches. - Bad nudity! - Not for the faint of heart. - The higher difficulties make for some very imbalanced fights.
FINAL SCORE: 9.5 / 10