God of War 3 - THIS, IS, KRATOOOOOOOOOOOS
 

So I didn't see anything regarding a thread like this so I figured I'd start it off.

God of War 3 Teaser 2

Now, I really loved God of War 1 and 2 and Chains of Olympus was fantastic. This one is looking to not disappoint.

After the events of God of War 2 Kratos swears that vengeance will be his as he will reign down chaos against the Gods.

We know it'll be full of ass kicking and baddy slaughtering, just like the previous titles were. Oh and boobies will be present too.

Article on IGN about a "wishlist" of what they want in GoW3:

IGN: What We Want in God of War III

December 16, 2008 - Sony Computer Entertainment and its Santa Monica studio recently released the first gameplay trailer for the much-anticipated God of War III, the third installment in one of Sony's biggest exclusive franchises. The last game ended on a pretty big cliffhanger with Kratos heading off to take on the gods at the top of Mount Olympus, so there should be plenty of intense battles in store for us.

With the franchise being so popular and important to the PlayStation 3's library, nevermind the fact that a bunch of us here are huge fans of the series, we thought we'd share our take on what we want to see in the game.

Branching Quicktime Events
The Quicktime events are staples of the God of War franchise. Matching on-screen button cues with your own button presses while Kratos rips apart a baddie in the background has always resulted in an awesome sight, but we'd like to see this taken to the next level. Instead of simply matching the button icons, we'd like to have the sequence work as a branching act where you're essentially choosing where and what Kratos does next. So, if he's just climbed up to something's chest, Square might take you down its left arm, Circle might take you down the right, while Triangle would send you right at its head. Some options would be better than others, while others would end poorly. It would be tricky implementing this so that the player can always expect what will happen next, but seeing this done right could be awesome.

Click the image above to watch the trailer.
A Proper Ending
We're tired of game after game these days ending without an actual, you know, ending. We're not clamoring for the end to Kratos' adventures, but we really want to see God of War III properly finish off this trilogy with a fantastic and solid finale. Don't string us along and leave us hanging. We want an actual outcome (preferably one where Kratos stabs the Earth in half to kill everyone).

Focus on the Blades
The trailer shows off a hefty set of gauntlets, which look cool enough, but the extra weapons aren't what makes Kratos the badass that he is. It's the Blades of Chaos (or Athena) coupled with his anger that make him practically unstoppable, and we want the focus to remain on that combo. Extra weapons are cool to mess with and can present interesting puzzle solutions, but we absolutely don't want Kratos' blades to be overshadowed by some crazy amount of extraneous armaments. Please, Santa Monica, keep Kratos as pure and raw as he's always been and everything will be all right.

Massive Environments
Traversing massive environments has been half the fun in the franchise thus far, and we only want to see them get bigger. The first gameplay trailer barely shows any of this, with camera angles situated low and in such a way that you really only see the characters. Please do not let this be an indication that Kratos' journeys have lead him to boring plains and rocky plateaus. We have the utmost faith that Sony Santa Monica will deliver here, but it simply can't go unsaid.

Character Development for the Gods
With Kratos heading off to take on everyone with other-worldly powers, the game could easily fall into the trappings of many sequels where too many characters are introduced and none of them are given enough screen time to develop their character traits. Sure, we all know who many of these gods will be, but the ones we've seen so far have always had an interesting God of War slant to them. Hopefully we'll get to know these guys a bit before Kratos cuts them in half.

Plenty of Behind-the-Scenes Content (in HD)
The first two titles featured a ton of this kind of footage, and we want to see more of it. It's commonplace for publishers to toss this kind of content into Collector's Edition sets these days, but we'd love to see making of footage included with every copy of the game. We're not saying we don't want a Collector's Edition. We just want the standard package to be chock-full of goodies.

Multiplayer Challenges
Turning God of War into an online co-op game wouldn't ever really work (we don't think anyway). But that doesn't mean that hopping online in multiplayer-specific challenges wouldn't be a blast. The trailer shows Kratos taking on a screen-full of skeletons or some such, which looks perfect to us for an online survival setting. Left 4 Dead meets God of War, anyone?

Different Filter Tech (think Uncharted)
With all of the whiz-bang rendering tech we're bound to see in the game, it would be cool to be able to tweak some of the settings as a bonus for those who unlock the option. The feature was a really cool little unlockable in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and it would certainly be welcome here.

Multiple Paths
The franchise thus far has been an extremely linear experience (that's not a complaint, mind you), but it would be cool to see options given for Kratos on where to go next. The upgrade system could tie into this as you could go around and hunt for hidden treasures, so those who took the time to fully explore the world would be rewarded for it. It would also allow for spots that might not be intrinsic to the story experience, which would be cool.

Puzzles on a Bigger Scale
We've seen some pretty big puzzles, especially in God of War II, but like everything else in the franchise, bigger is usually better. We're talking full-level puzzles where the entire layout changes as you alter the environment to open that one locked door. Things like this help sell the size and scope of the game, as well as helping to enforce the fact that the world isn't a static place but one that Kratos can (and must) alter to progress.

Maintain the Balance Between Combat and Puzzles
While they haven't ever been overly complicated, God of War's puzzles have always been a great break from all the action, and we want to see the mix continue with the same brawn vs. brains ratio that's been there in the last two games. Throwing in cool puzzles helps give the franchise a tiny bit of that Indiana Jones feel where Kratos needs to make his way through millennia-old environments, which is always great.

Huge Boss Battles
God of War has always had great boss battles, but if you were to rank the fights from best on down, you'd almost certainly find the biggest guys at the top. God of War II and Chains of Olympus featured a handful of fights against "normal" sized bosses, which weren't as engaging as something like the kraken or the Colossus.

Context-Sensitive Kills
We love blood as much as the next guy, and Kratos sure knows how to spill it. But after seeing him rip a harpy in half or shove his blades down the throat of a beast for the hundredth time, you begin to want a little variety. More animations here would be great, as would context-sensitive kills that utilized bits and pieces of the environment.

Take God of War II and Turn it up to 11
Really, this is all we want. The first two games (especially the second) were so finely crafted and were so densely packed with awesome environments and fights that more of the same, but taken to the next level, would suit us just fine. If there's one thing that we hope Sony Santa Monica takes from this wishlist, it's that we don't need drastic changes to the formula, just more of what we've had all along. As the saying goes, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just add a new coat of paint and some more blood.

Oh and the trailer above is gameplay too, apparently.

I honestly can't wait for part 3 since the last one left it into a huge cliffhanger when i thought "oh shit things are about to get badass" and then "THE END" WTF!
although the trailer didn't leave me all that impressed. Didn't care all that much the the graphics weren't as good as heavenly sword (might be an early build), but alot of the action there was nothing too eye dropping that I couldn't get from a run in gow2.
I'll just wait and see until they release a trailer more in it's completion.

Sounds like God of War 2 pulled a Halo 2 with its ending, which is surprising because who didn't find the Halo 2 ending fucking annoying?

Anyways, the trailer for this looks pretty impressive, but I've not played a God of War game yet. I always hear good things about them and they do sound like something I'd probably enjoy. I may well end up checking this out, but not sure the moment.

I'm the opposite of Shenlon. God of War 2 was a complete blast, but then the sudden cliffhanger ending left the game feeling short and incomplete. At first it made me anxious for the sequel, but then it just kinda pissed me off once I thought about it. After that I'm going to wait a bit before buying GoW3 to see if they do the same thing and make the series one god per game to stretch things out across multiple sequels.

Of course, I don't own a PS3 and have no plans of getting one any time soon so waiting won't be an issue. That's part of what irritated me in the first place. I'd rather not pay for a game just to be told that I have to buy a whole other console to see the (possible) conclusion.

This might be the game that sells me a PS3 actually. I absolutely love the first two games (Although thinking about it, I never actually finished the second one. I got stuck on a savage fight against a bunch of massive troll things and archers, put it down for a couple of days then got distracted by something else and keep forgetting I never finished it) and thanks to Qwarky I've got Chains of Olympus to play now too (He sent me GoW2 as well thinking about it, what a guy!). The thing I always loved about the games was that it's just perfect, fairly uncomplicated fighting, pretty much non-stop. Sure there's a couple of puzzles now and then but the solutions are generally pretty obvious and you're unlikely to ever get stuck on one. The fighting is so fluid and intuitive you never find yourself battling the controls, when you get killed it's because you picked a stupid combo or rolled at the wrong time, not because Kratos didn't do what you wanted him to.

I'm sure the third game will be on an even more epic scale and hopefully will feature the same mix of huge fights against swarms of bad guys, boss fights against massive enemies and the odd puzzle or two. I'll be keeping an eye on this certainly.

Wasn't quite as blown away by the graphics as I thought I would be, mainly due to Jaffe's comments. But apparently what's been shown is nothing compared to what parts of the game really looks like. So far no I'm holding back my excitement in that regard until I see some more videos. But hey, it's God of War 3. The last two games were pretty damn fun and good action/hack and slash games are pretty rare these days. Hell, the last one I played was Ninja Gaiden 2 in early summer and before that I can't even remember.

I know this has been said before with many different game franchises (I'm looking at you, Metal Gear), but supposedly God of War 3 is going to be the last entry in the franchise.

God of War Series Ending with God of War 3

I hope this isn't true, as the games are fun as fuck. They don't have an incredibly deep or intricate story line, and sometimes seem to twist the whole Greek mythology thing to make it convenient for the game, but I still find their whole take on it very interesting and fun.

The Greek Mythology universe is pretty big, and seems like they could make quite a few games about the different Gods/Titans/monsters/etc. Oh well, maybe they just don't want to butcher the game into the ground.

Probably just the last in the trilogy (quadrilogy?) Like Halo (maybe.) GoW is almost too profitable to just let the brand go.

I'll be glad if they let it go, as I would rather have the series end on a high rather than becoming watered-down shit-fests as most sequels end up becoming. Then hopefully Dante's Inferno will take its place as a good new IP (Since Jason and the Argonauts apparently didn't...)

Given that the story will inevitably end with the death of all the Greek gods, I'd imagine this'll be the end of the trilogy and the story but I'd be amazed if there weren't a bunch of spin-offs. Kratos is one of Sony's most iconic characters these days so they won't let him die with this game (Well he'll probably die at the end but you know what I mean, there'll be prequels or some sort of God of War: Underworld or something).

If your are right and Kratos kills all the Greek gods, I'd actually like to see future games where Kratos, in his quest for revenge and his family, turns to different pantheons. A God of War set in Egyptian times or something like that? Yeah, chronologically it doesn't fit, but you'd get to fight dudes with animal heads, like, how cool is that?

(It's an old pet idea. Kratos dismembering gods from all old religions. Norse, Egyptian you name it. And a bonus level in the end where Kratos gets his ass handed to him by Cthulhu, because no one fucks with Cthulhu...)

Cthulu? Be more internet gay, why don't you?

The obvious bit of genius is either Kratos fucking up Jesus Christ: Vampire Hunter or just punching Buddha.

Coming Spring 2010

I'd be willing to bet real money that this GoW will feature a water level where you end up killing Poseidon, an underworld level where you kill Hades and a final mount Olympus level where you have to kill Hercules and a final battle against Zeus. The end will probably see Kratos finally reunited with his family in the Elysian Fields or something gay like that. I doubt they'd make another ancient Greek one as they're running out of well known Greek myths and it's the familiarity that people like.

Considering the GoW 2 bonus disc showed a partially completed Atlantis area that would've been basically a second half of the game, there's a very strong chance that they used it as a starting point for part of GoW 3. I'd be genuinely surprised if they didn't.

Wasn't Hercules already used as a boss in GoW 2? Maybe I'm just thinking of Perseus, but I could swear Hercules was in there too at some point.

Perseus certainly was, Hercules might have been but later in the game than I got to. :)

I love GOW, so glad I kept the Black Label ps2 prequels in mint condition. Im plan to remake the manual and covers to fit an empty blu ray case so when the 3rd one comes out it'll all look like a trilogy package. LoL

...but I dont know where to buy empty blu ray cases. tsk.

Ahhhh... new trailer!

IGN Video: God of War III PlayStation 3 Trailer - Fear Nothing Trailer

And man does it look sooo fucking good.

Youtube video:

God of War III Trailer

Not as good quality (of course) as the direct trailer from IGN, but it still gets the point across.

Article on IGN along with the trailer:

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/954/954097p1.html

Zeus was the last boss in gow2 right?? maybe he comes back..
or maybe you fight athena

didn't: (spoiler for the end of God of war 2)

We'll see how it is. GoW1 was wonderful, and I replayed it just before GoW2. Maybe that was a mistake, because #2 felt like an expansion pack of sorts :( Everything felt rather similar and I got bored fast. No clue why, honestly.

Gotta admit that I loved punting dogs in #2 :V I'll drag myself through 2 before trying 3 though.

He CAME back. The end cutscene says it all. Besides, it would suck if he wasn`t the last boss on this game.

That said, looks nice and whatnot. Loved 1, 2 was alright. Keeping this on watch.

It really kind of sucks that I probably won't get to play this game unless I swipe a PS3 from one of my friends and play through it in one weekend or something. Loved the first 2 games and I'll definitely want to play the third, especially if those are in-game graphics.

It looks awesome. I'm looking forward to it, but I still have to finish God of War 1 and 2, and God of War: Chains of Olympus. With every new God of War game, it gets better and better.

And with a little nudge for some gameplay footage~

E3 2009 God of War footage

Extended footage from E3 2009 (off screen).

This game is just looking more and more fantastic. March 2010 though. :(

Looks pretty awesome, especially the use of the training levels from TIE fighter. I'm not convinced the giant dude standing in front of the camera or the brief blast of the Jackson 5 add much to the experience though.

I should be picking up a PS3 soon-ish and I'll certainly be getting one in time for this.

Amazon just sent me a code for the God of War 3 demo, since I had the game pre-ordered.

Just a heads up for anyone else who had the game pre-ordered through Amazon.

God of War 3 Collector's Edition. $99.99 nets you:

The Ultimate Edition will feature the following:

Exclusive Collectibles

* High-End Sculpted Replica of Pandora’s Box
* Limited-Edition God of War Art Book featuring exclusive art, content and interviews

Exclusive Digital Content (Available via PlayStation Network voucher codes on day of launch)

* God of War Combat Arena containing an exclusive environment and seven challenges
* Premium Kratos Skin – Dominus
* God of War: Unearthing the Legend Franchise Documentary – a full-length movie documentary depicting the history of the God of War franchise
* God of War Trilogy Soundtrack – God of War, II, and III scores from the game (mp3 digital download).
* God of War: Blood and Metal EP – a heavy metal homage featuring original music inspired by God of War (mp3 digital download).


Bonus Details

Reserve God of War III and receive a GameStop exclusive Phantom of Chaos character skin. Based on early concept art done when the God of War I team was first creating the character that would eventually become Kratos. Available online and in-store while supplies last. Note: The exclusive unlockable skin becomes available in-game when the player has completed the entire GOW III game at least once.

Online Customers: A code and instructions on how to download the skin will be emailed when the game releases.

Store / In-Store Pickup Customers: A pre-order card containing a code and instructions on how to download the skin will be available at time of reservation.

Bonus Details

Reserve God of War III and receive access to the God of War III E3 2009 Demo. Available online and in-store while supplies last.

Online Customers: A code and instructions on how to download the demo will be emailed within 1-2 business days.

Store / In-Store Pickup Customers: A pre-order card containing a code and instructions on how to download the demo will be available at time of reservation.

http://www.gamestop.com/gs/images/bo..._contentLG.jpg

I might actually have to get this... that Pandora's Box is just too sexy to pass up.

The fact that practically every bonus is a fucking DLC code totally invalidates any reason to get this. Sure, the box is fuckin awesome, and it's not like I haven't bought shit just for some ballin boxes, but the pack-ins on this make me rage something fierce.

Agreed.

Seriously, if they gave me the box, the game, and the God of War I & II Collector's-port-thing, I'd be all of that, but sadly that's not the case.

That box is amazing. I would consider getting that edition just for the box. And after I get it, I can then use it to store candy and shit. Just to show how hardcore I am.

I went ahead and pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition (as I said, that Pandora's Box is too sweet) and the way I figured, I can easily pay it off with $10 here and there before release date next year.

Pre-ordering also had it come with a code to download the demo as well as another skin for Kratos. I also believe that the God of War Collection coming out next week will have its own code to download the demo too.

The demo was the one that was played at E3 this year and even though I haven't played all of it, the game is shaping up to be fucking badass. There's new grab animations (Kratos will either pound the fuck out of someone's head until he rips it off, press them against a wall and bash their head on the wall, or just outright rip them the fuck in half). It is just as bloody and visually pleasing as you could hope for with the game.

If the way the demo turned out is any indication of how the retail game is going to be, it'll be nothing short of epic.

Come on SCEA...

SCEE announces the God of War Ultimate Trilogy Edition.

Makes me feel a bit bad for Omagnus, as he just ordered the Collection from here and had it shipped out to him.

Ok that's some bullshit. Europe gets the actual CDs for the music and we get stuck with DLC and they get the GoW Collection too? :mad:

Ah well, maybe we'll at least get the cds too.

I wouldn't feel too bad if I were you. That thing is going to be crazy expensive over here I'll bet, and the GoW Collection shipped from the US proved to be dirt cheap so I imagine it works in my favour (plus I wasn't too fussed about the GoW III CE anyways).

I'd honestly rather just get the GoW Collection and GoW III separately, I don't see behind the scenes content and what constitutes mostly of extra character skins and a SWEET FRICKIN BOX as enough incentive to shell out so much extra money. As for the extra game mode, I'm sure it'll be its own DLC and if I want to give them a shot I'll just pay for it separately.

3/16 is the confirmed release date.

Also, EB games is having a 4 week long contest to win different prizes (and daily prizes on top of that) in celebration of the God of War 3 release.

God of War III

oh hello :]

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a.../Me/IMG860.jpg

Right about now I'm wishing I had a triple.

If only it was safe to turn on your PS3 and actually play it.

damn it quark, why must you tease always ;_;
And it's been safe to go on the ps3 for like the past 20 hours.

It was a clock error thinking there was a 29th in February this year, and while SCEE was looking what was going on, older console models couldn't connect to PSN, which meant everything using PSN crapped out. It's working fine now that it's the 1st.

There was no bricking, no faulty updates or anything like that. Just a bunch of people not getting to play MW2 and hyperventilating.

Oh really, I assumed from the way the journals were full of tales of emergency phone calls across the country and losing trophies and shit that PS3ageddon had come.

Yeah, because of the PSN problem, if you tried to launch a game using trophies, they'd crap out. Now that PSN works, you just relaunch the game, and resynch your trophies, as far as I know.

The "DO NOT TURN ON YOUR PS3, BRICKING BRICKING BRICKING UPDATES UPDATES UPDATES" that was going around was a mild hysterical exaggeration, to put it nicely.

Depends, actually.

In some cases the things would actually not boot. The date error autocorrected and it works now, but a friend of mine was unable to access any data via the XMB for the entire day, which is pretty alarming to say the least. Thankfully it wasn't permanent, but I'd be shitting myself too if suddenly every single save file read as corrupted.

Can't blame people for getting worried, y'know.

Pssh, there's as much chance of this being the last game in the franchise as there is of Nintendo making three games in a row without putting Mario in one of them. Even if they do leave the story as finished now, you can expect more Chains of Olympus style prequels.

They already pulled a THE END???? extra scene after the credits.

And plus the website they revealed after getting all trophies. God of War 3

I rather like PA's take on the matter, myself:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...41_3dnYd-L.jpg