PS3 demo impressions – God of War 3 E3 2009 demo
Dave already did a comparison between this and the infinitely superior Bayonetta, but there are still some things I want to talk about in it.
Now I’ll try to not compare it too much to much better games like Devil May Cry, so I’ll just talk about what I liked (don’t worry, that part will be very short) and what I didn’t like about the demo, and in the end what I think could be improved and if I’ll end up giving the final game a chance or not.
Read on!
What I liked in the demo
I actually kinda liked the visuals, they looked not too bad. Very far from being the best on the system, of course, but it definitely doesn’t LOOK bad. So kudos to the devs for making a game that looks kinda good. And the animations were overall quite nice, almost none of the movements felt out of place and it does give a feeling of “oh shit I’m badass”, which is probably one of the things that makes this series so popular. The other element I kinda liked was the final part in the demo, where you fly through a vent avoiding obstacles. Though the controls weren’t as tight as they should be and it was WAY too easy, it was still fun to play and overall pretty well done, and the only part of the demo that didn’t put me to sleep. The controls are pretty smooth(other than the dodging) and could offer a fun experience, but just about everything else completely brings the game down.
What I didn’t like in the demo
Everything? Yeah, there’s really not much in the demo TO like. But I’ll be fair and go through why I didn’t like anything in it. Let’s go then.
QTEs
The biggest problem in the first game (haven’t played the second one since I hated the first one so much, but from what I’ve seen it was as bad) is back in full force… AND THEY MADE IT WORSE. Instead of putting the button presses in the middle of the screen, or at least where you’ll likely be looking during the QTE sequences, they put them at the edges of the screen where you most likely won’t be looking because you want to see all the intense violence Kratos is inflicting on his victims. And then there’s QTEs requiring to quickly mash a button, and the animation takes a HUGE step downwards when that happens, making the game feel really… lame and unpolished.
QTEs are already a really bad game mechanics from the start, but it’s even worse when they’re done this badly. One thing I’ll mention though is that they removed the “door opening” QTEs where you had to mash buttons to open doors, so at least that’s a small step forward. Too bad they ran a whole marathon backwards.
Fighting
Fighting against normal enemies in this game is the most laughable thing ever. All the normal enemies are fodder. A total joke to fight, offering no challenge whatsoever. You think I’m kidding? Using the blades of chaos(I think that’s what they’re called, I can’t be arsed enough to actually check), get to a big bunch of enemies, hold L1, and mash square while sometimes changing the direction you’re facing while you’re doing the attacks. There, easy 100-hit combo(probably more), you’ll never get hit and all the enemies will die without you putting in any kind of effort. During my second run of the demo, I managed to do a 210 hit combo just by doing that, and normal enemies could never get close to me, let alone close enough to damage me. It shouldn’t be that damn easy. The dodging is also lame. Removing any camera control and replacing what SHOULD be the camera control button for the dodging move just sucks, and you can do nothing while dodging which removes what could be some kind of way to “freestyle” combos. Actually, screw combos, you’ll basically be button-mashing your way through this game anyways.
When you get to bigger enemies, you expect them to be a bit more of a challenge. They’re… not really much harder. The basic strategy for any of them is doing a basic hit-and-run. Equip the knuckle weapon, give a few hits, dodge back(optional, getting hit is fine because there’s tons of health items lying around and they barely do any damage anyways), make sure you have an opening to attack again, rinse and repeat. But WAIT. There comes another crappy element. You can’t just kill them by hitting them a lot. Nope, the developers STILL think it’s a good idea to force you to get close to them when they’re stunned, press circle, and go in QTE mode for no reason whatsoever to either kill the beasts or kick them around a bit to get to their next “form”. Why should I need to do that? It’s not fun, and QTEs suck so there is no reason this should be a gameplay element at all. IT was a bad idea in the first game, it still is.
I have one big problem here. Kratos has a good arsenal of moves at his disposal, yet not even half of them are useful in any way. Heck, you’ll be able to go through most of the game with just L1+square against normal enemies, and random button mashing against slightly stronger ones. It’s a waste really.
Other minor things
You have to hold a button to open a chest. Minor complaint, but it’s annoying. The parts where you “attach” to the saggy-boobed harpies (seriously, WHY?) are completely stupid, boring, pointless, and easy. And I think the game is a bit too violent for no reason other than shock value. Do kids these days really not like game if there’s not constantly blood on the screen? The one element that I thought was completely random was Helios’ Head which can illuminate dark areas and reveal secrets. It doesn’t seem like something that will be very fun to use. Or useful outside of shining it on every wall in hopes of finding something. The overall difficulty seems to be “if you can breath you will be able to finish this game without dying”. I can only hope that it will be a bit harder when it actually comes out.
Can it be better?
Of course it can be better. Since the first game, I’ve always said that the God of War series could get a fantastic game if the developers actually tried to make it good. And clearly they aren’t. Here’s a simple suggestion for them: Play Devil May Cry 1, 3 and 4, and Bayonetta. This should show them how a game of the genre SHOULD be done. Put in interesting boss battles, put in as few QTEs as possible, and make the ones that are there unintrusive. As for enemies, don’t make them completely harmless like they are in this game. Make the Blades of Chaos or whatever they’re called the last weapon you get, since they’re quite strong, really fast and have huge range. Having them from the start just makes the game incredibly easy. And tone down the violence just a little bit. Oh, and make Kratos a proper character, or just kill him off and replace him with a good, well developed character. Seriously, his personality is basically “RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR I KILL STUFF!!” and it just about stops there. He’s really one of the least interesting modern video game characters. And considering the crap we saw in the recent years, that’s saying a lot.
Should you give it a chance?
If you were somehow a fan of the other games in the series, this plays JUST like them. It’s basically the first God of War with better graphics. The controls are the same, the gameplay is really badly done, and the torrent of QTEs just destroys it. If that’s your thing, you’re in for a treat.
Otherwise, rent it. If you want good action games, there are much better choices. Namely the Devil May Cry series (let’s just forget the second one exists), the Ninja Gaiden series and Bayonetta. They do everything GoW does, but better.
As for me, I’ll rent it, in hope that the demo was actually a super early build that didn’t include anything fun. But I’m not holding my breath.
Well, that was a downer… and there I was trying to go easy on it…
*COMMENTS CLOSED BECAUSE OF TOO MANY IDIOTS COMMENTING*
wow your i cant believe you actually wrote something so entirely idiotic its not even funny. Devil May Cry and Bayonetta superior games? wow i really hope thats the drugs talking. You should probably look into what mental illnesses you have since you are talking so much shit about a game and series that is award winning and extremely popular. You must be one of those sad sad children who play CODMW2 all day and all night and think its the greatest thing ever made. Sad Sad tool. Good luck with your articles thou, it must be the only thing keeping you from putting a bullet in your head.
@john
You must think you’re pretty witty. Sadly, this is far from the case.
God of War is an awful series. Popular doesn’t mean good. You’ve even proven that point when you brought up CODMW2. Neither Jo or I plays CODMW2 all day and night. He played the single player and never touched it again after that.
The pathetic one is you, who’s offended by the opinion of someone that doesn’t fit yours. You don’t have to agree. Our articles are there for people to get an alternative opinion. Not just a copy/paste from IGN and Gamespot.
And unless you played Bayonetta, you don’t know jack about the game, so don’t start badmouthing it.
Whatever i can respect your opinion, but i simply can understand how you can dislike that game and series so much. My thing I play games and get value out of them according to how good their stories are. If it has a great story that I want to see play out again and again , than to me its a good game, and to me GOW has a story like that.
What matters most in any game is gameplay. The story is just extra stuff that will only be enjoyable if the game itself is any fun to play.
And I guess you didn’t see my impressions post on MW2, where I clearly say that I don’t really like it either >_>
no i didnt, but yea i guess i agree with you in that a game has to be fun to play , because if it isnt it doesnt matter how good the story is. With that being said i do enjoy playing the gow games so that isnt a problem for me.
@john
That’s good. I have nothing against people who enjoy GoW, but I just really don’t enjoy it myself. To each his own right
understandable, maybe you should do a piece on the games that you are interested in and think are worthwhile , so that your readers will be able to know where you are coming from.
I just got the god of war collection last night for my B-Day. I am a big fan of god of war and KRATOS. Kratos is awesome I love his character, just when you think hes about to help someone he just grabs what he needs and leaves the person to die. I love the voice it makes you feel like a badass and the costume and red mark on his body is awesome. I played the God Of War III demo last night and my jaw dropped to the floor it was amazing. Dude its a demo and its probably one of the first levels, of course its a little easy and i had a hard time with the goat lion snake creature by the way. I agree on the camera it would be nice to use a camera to look at the awesome landscape, but the other god of wars were like that and it does not bother me so much cuz they do a good job with the camera anyways. I like how they change the dodge when you switch weapons too, lots of detail. I LOVE MINIGAME SEQUENCES!!! how could you not. I hate watching something bad ass in game and im not a part of it. To me its hey dont only watch this bad ass move, control it. So it really works for me in every game. And to the guy who wrote this article, are you blind man you really had a hard time with the mini game because the buttons show up on different sides of the screen? Hello the buttons on different sides of the screen is the same layout as your controller, so when you see a button pop out on the left guess what, you know its square thats why they did this so you dont have random buttons popping up right where the action is in the middle of the screen, BIG PLUS!!! Also you really are trying to compare this game to devil may cry and bayonetta? HAAAHAHAH lame dude, i played the first devil may cry and beat it and it was ok i played the second and the third, never beat them because from then on the series sucked bad. Dont even get me started on bayonetta. The graphics on GOW 3 were kick ass and so was the action. And the detail man, no two grunts look the same. When you make a bloody mess blood gets all over kratos and you see it slowly disappear. The part with helios head was awesome. All in all man i think you are alone in this arguement because i have never really heard people not liking god of war, the first two were epic and this one will not let down. Its not just a popular series its also got some of the funnest gameplay and the best greek mythological stories i have ever seen or heard. Plus you got Linda Hunt narrating the whole thing and you find out shes a titan named gaia. Linda Hunt has a cool old lady voice that gives the game soul. Plus you add Kratos sadistic voice and im sold.
GOD OF WAR III FTW!!!!!!!
@JQQQ
Wow.. you were doing great (except for the no paragraph thing), but then you go in a tangent and from there I can’t even take you seriously.
And seems like you have something to say about Bayonetta. I assume you played the whole game?
And if you thought DMC3 sucked, it’s probably because you didn’t play it well enough. The QTEs on the side is annoying when you have big TVs in high resolution because you’re not looking at the edges, but at where the “action” is. God of War doesn’t have good gameplay, it has gameplay that looks cool. Kratos plays itself instead of putting you in control. But that’s just our opinion.
I understand that you are entitled to your own opinion but this is retarded. You don’t even state facts. You just mindlessly bash this game. Looks KINDA OK?! The graphics in GoW3 are some of the best that anyone has ever seen….according to pretty much everyone. The only thigs better graphically, is Uncharted 2. I think Helen Keller would even say the same. Are you playing on a regular tv or something?! I thought God of War 3 was phoenominal looking.
David, you have no clue what your talking about. Popular does mean good in this case. Look at Modern Warfare 1. It wouldn’t have sold NEARLY as many copies as it did if it weren’t a good game. Thats F’ing retarded to say that. As far as Kratos’ “RAAAWWWR I KILL STUFF” attitude, yeah, he does have that attitude. He was tricked into killing his wife and daughter. Of course…..anyone would have that attitude. Your point is fucking stupid. Maybe if you actually sat down and played the games, you would get the story. Your right, he has no emotion. He doesnt need emotion anymore. Go fucking play Metal Gear if you want an emphasis on emotion. Oh that’s right, your an xbox fanboy. Fine, play Mass Effect then.
As far as the game being easy, they want everyone to enjoy it, and the hardcore fans will REALLY know how to master Kratos. Helios is a god, Kratos wants to kill the gods. To be able to advance through the hidden doors (which Mt Olympus would probably have) you would need to be a god. Hence why Kratos rips his head off.
QTE’s are part of the first game. They are now set up to map the controller so you can concentrate on the kill and not what you have to press. I think that is amazing. So do alot of people. Which is one of the many reasons this game is so popular……because its GOOD. Just like the last 2 games. you dont have to kill everything with QTE’s. The Centaur died because I kept hitting him instead of pressing circle. The cyclops is the only one that didnt die…..and thats because you should use him to take down the shields protecting Helios.
God of War is an amazing series and instead of fixing things, they added to a system that wasn’t broken. Its easy to rip people in half because your on a warpath and nothing is going to stand in your way.
It sounds to me like you are getting Sandy Vagina about really minor things in a really good game. If you think that the demo was so bad then why are you even giving it a rental chance? Go play Halo you Xbox fanboy.
This guy is a TOTAL douche. He only created this article to get ‘hits’ on his website. This one is going on my ban list for shure. Nice try clown
@Anonymous
Yeah, you care telling me what more hits would give us?
It’s not like we’re making money off this. Last time I check it cost us money to run it.
Or maybe that 1 cent from Google Ad in November will make that difference?
@Dtoxz
I’m sorry but I never said the graphics were bad in that sense. Doesn’t matter how many polygons, there’s a subjective part about graphics too.
So being betrayed into killing your own family warrants killing random people?
Me, an Xbox fanboy? You come here saying I’m not stating facts, and then you throw speculations and opinions back. Good going. Oh and Jo’s Xbox is barely ever plugged in.
Why would I need to master Kratos when I can Hold L and mash Square.
Oh and Anonymous, did someone link here raging about our post? Blame him, not us for giving us those hits. You guys are not our intended audience. Accept that some people have taste in games that are more refined in gameplay, less in story. If I want a good story, I’ll read a book. It’s always a nice bonus, but graphics and story isn’t what gaming is about.
@Dtoxz
Lawl… I don’t like Halo either, nor do I really touch my Xbox 360 at all. Try harder >_>
@David A.
You sure as hell sound like one. You really dont have a clue what your talking about.
As far as GoW goes, there are many ways to dispatch enemies. Not just by pressing square. Just like Devil May Cry, you CAN dispatch them by doing that but the beauty is the developers left it up to the gamers as to how to take out the bad guys. Besides, those guys are grunts, they are space fillers. Just like your article….they mean nothing but something to do to pass the time. Yes, getting tricked into killing your family and extreme betrayal warrants killing. Why not? He’s pissed and wants to destroy everything. Again, thats up to the gamer to decide as well….for the most part.
I got an idea for you…..read a book like you said. Rate that, because your rating on games suck more ass than “Everybody Poops”
“If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” God of War isnt broken at all, and they are keeping it the way it is. IMO and MANY others, except this douche, God of War is quite an amazing experience and this game is just proving to be one more to add to that list.
Dont worry man i never even took this article seriously. I have a 42 inch HDTV and i dont really take my eye off the “action” but i can see a popup at the different sides of the screen and know what button it is with out even focusing on it. If I see a button popup on the right of the screen i know its circle. Sorry man but your points suck and I recommend you just not write articles anymore on games. One of the best damn series in video game history and this guy is bashing it. Its like another article I read about Uncharted 2. All the guy could do is give lame points about why he didnt like it. He even mentioned that Uncharted 2 looked too good he could not concentrate on the gameplay, what a tool.
This guys a tool!!!!!
GOD OF WAR 3 FTW!!!!!!!
This guys a tool FTW!!!!
lol.
@JQQQ
I hear ya! I’m not really taking him seriously either, but to me, this article is complete bullshit. He’s obviously an idiot and has NO CLUE what he’s talking about. Fucking Noob is bashing the sequel to MANY peoples favorite title. This guy is a tool and doesn’t deserve to hold a controller yet alone write a review about a game.
If it were a game that was deserving of a review like this, I would completely understand. But this isn’t even a review, this is a bunch of bullshit thrown together about a game that is amazing. He threw a bunch of bullshit together to get attention.
-You have to hold a button to open a chest.
-QTEs are already a really bad game mechanics from the start, but it’s even worse when they’re done this badly. -What the hell is so wrong? You press a button, get a cool kill animation……isn’t that what video games are about?!
-So kudos to the devs for making a game that looks kinda good -For Christ’s sake, you can see the pores in Kratos’ face. What the hell more do you want? I thought even the lo rez textures you find in games like CoD and MGS (shadows, detail on walls/chars. etc) were really hi rez.
JQQQ is completely right when he says this guy is a tool. David, maybe you should copy and paste from Gamespot and IGN because their reviews actually make sense.