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God of War
Taken from Gamespy
To say that God of War is graphic is like saying that Super Mario 64 has jumping. God of War doesn't just let you kill enemies, it exults in showing you the gory details. But while the violence is over the top, it's not all that God of War has to offer. Behind the gratuitous bloodshed is one of the smoothest, most solid-feeling action games of E3. The developers describe it as "'Clash of the Titans' meets 'Heavy Metal' magazine," but I just prefer to call it promising as hell.
God of War casts you as the Spartan warrior Kratos, who just happens to be in the process of hurling himself off a cliff. But as he falls to his doom, he flashes back to the events of the prior three weeks, which have led him to this regrettable fate. Some bad stuff obviously went down, and you, as the player, get to experience these tragedies first-hand, and maybe make a difference. God of War has multiple endings, so perhaps Kratos' fate isn't sealed after all.
Kratos is armed with a semi-unique weapon, two chained blades that are attached to his wrists. I add the qualifier because they are not completely unlike the diskarmor in Tecmo's Rygar, but that's ok; they're actually a lot faster and feel much more responsive. The whip-like blades give Kratos a very flexible arsenal of attacks which can flow into each other smoothly and intuitively. They aren't canned "dial-a-combos," either, so you can mix up your offense as needed.
Ah, but that's just the basic stuff. Kratos can also knock enemies into the air to perform awesome aerial sequences, and there's a grabbing system as well. Some grabbed enemies can be unceremoniously snapped in half, which goes a long way toward lowering their level of threat. (In the case of Harpies, he simply rips off their wings. Ouch!) There's even a magic system, with a total of six different spells and abilities to acquire, from simple lightning bolts to a stone gaze.
Then there are the so-called "mini-game kills." I'm sure Sony will come up with a cooler name for these (I suggest "Parappattacks" or QTE -- "Quick Time Eviscerations") but they rock nonetheless. Basically, you have the chance to quickly kill certain enemies if you can properly input a sequence of button presses. Any enemy this is possible for will have a button icon above their head, and pressing that while close to them will start a kill attempt. Each button press will make Kratos perform part of that enemy's specific kill sequence, such as leaping on the foe's head, jumping into the air, and then coming down with his blade. In the case of a minotaur, Kratos knocks it over, leaps onto its chest, and then attempts to shove his blade into its mouth, which will only succeed if you can hammer the circle button fast enough. Like everything else I've seen so far, these custom kills are wonderfully, brutally animated, and add a very nice sense of physicality to the combat.
Your choice of killing method is important for another reason too: It affects which type of power-up orbs the enemy will drop. Various colors can be used to upgrade different aspects of Kratos, from his physical traits to his six magic spells. Thus, your playing style can affect your character's growth path. Use a lot of magic, and you'll tend to gain more level-ups for your spells. Stick to melee combos, and you'll get more blade bonuses. Overall, the combat and character growth systems seem very well thought out.
God of War is quite the technological stud, too. Like ICO and Prince of Persia, the entire game world is physically connected, and streamed on the fly. And while the backgrounds and models look great, the real star here is the animation. Attacks and other movements flow super smoothly, doing a great job of "selling" every vicious rip, smash and decapitation. Spraying blood mists add a nice final touch.
It should be noted that God of War is more than just combat; there're also strong platforming and puzzle-solving elements. One memorable sequence has Kratos scale a series of sheer rock walls, with climbing and flying enemies constantly harassing him. Luckily he can attack in any direction while climbing, so it's not as awkward as you might expect. Other activities, like hand-over-hand rope movement, have similar context-sensitive actions that can be performed at any time. Attention to detail is one thing this game has in spades.
In short, God of War is looking fabulous. Though people often tend to forget, Sony has built up a history of extremely good first-party efforts, and God of War looks like it could be one of its best yet. It's not due out until 2005, and considering how good it looks now, it's hard to imagine how great it might be by then.
Game sounds amazing. Any body else here about it?
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Last edited by deejzguy : 08-27-2004 at 03:12 PM.
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