Since my 360 has decided that I will not be completing one last run through the original Bioshock; by unceremoniously giving me the dreaded Red Ring of Death, (my second Red Ring in case you’re counting) I figured it was about time to try out the God of War III demo that arrived with my BluRay of District 9.
With GOW III finally being released next month, after years in development, it is nice to see that Sony has not lost their way. It’s a relatively short demo, half dozen fights in total. But does a fine job of showing off how Kratos finally entering the HD era. Visually displaying a surprising amount of polish for a build from June 09, Kratos himself looks great with tons of detail in his perpetually grimacing face, and great smooth animations. The environment vistas impress, specifically the gigantic lava titan stomping around in the background, shacking and rattling the world. Standard skeleton soldiers fall apart and spray blood all over the place, Kratos gets a very nice red coating as well, looking suitably baddass. The Combat is solid God of War style, just as fast paced and suitably over the top as expected. Feturing the same great quick easy combos as you expect. The new fist weapon was quite fun to use, the giant wolves heads attached with chains looking and hitting very solidly. There were a few of the series trademark special enemies, one being a centaur that requires a nice disemboweling. Another was an old favorite the Cyclops. A new ability to mount and ride the monster was as satisfying as it sounds. Think of the movie ratatouille, when Remy the rat controls his human ride by pulling his hair, expect with a lot more stabbing and eye gouging in this case.
One instance that really showcased the improved graphics and dynamic lighting, was one played out entirely in the dark. You could use your new found ability to “paint enemies” to keep them lit in the shadows. But I found it much more satisfying to come out swinging. The blades giveing off a nice red glow, the blurring red death swinging around looks very cool in the pitch darkness. The demo ended with a flying section, controls were a bit stiff as Kratos flew up a long corridor avoiding falling stone and fireballs, but an overall very exciting, very fast paced finish. God of War III looks great, seeing as this was a June build and the team has undoubtedly been polishing it to a shine since then, I can only imagine the improvements that have been made in the recent months. The expected march release could not come sooner, it has been far too long since Kratos had his last adventure, I’m very eager for a return to some good old fashioned ultra-violence.