God of War III

After a week off we're back.  Up for review this week is the epic final chapter of the God of War trilogy, God of War III.  How epic is it?  Pretty epic.

God of War III is rated M of Mature.  There is lots of blood, guts and some nudity.

 Story

The story picks up right where God of War II left off.  Kratos, wanting vengeance, is leading the titans to war with the gods.  Riding on the back of Gaia.  His personal quest is to defeat and destroy Zeus for ruining everything in his life. That is simply it.  Along the way he will encounter other gods and titans.

A simple story, but the telling of it in the game is well done in an epic scale.

Controls

God of War III's controls were easy to pick up and use.  They are pretty much the same as the rest of the series.  Reminders will pop up at certain points.

The one thing I hate is here though, fixed camera.  Even so there were very few cheap deaths because of it.  Everything is on the screen, nothing hidden off screen.  No bad angles either.   One initial death I blamed on the camera was actually more of problem of lighting.  I had not properly adjusted the brightness at the beginning of the game, and they provide a handy meter to adjust it too.

The only control problem I really can complain about is the double-jump glide move.  The controller didn't always recognize me holding the button at the end of the move, so I would end up falling to my death. 

Gameplay

The gameplay is the same as it's been for the series.  Third-person beat 'em up.  Beat up the monsters, defeat the bosses, and throw in some quick time events.  Not long ago I played through Dante's Inferno which had the same formula.  The difference here is you don't get waves of similar beasts, broken up by the occasional puzzle.  Here you get monsters that evolve and get tougher as you become more powerful.  God of War III has a bit more of a challenge, more puzzles, and frankly a bigger scale.  Epic scale.  It never feels like you are slogging through the same thing over and over.

Graphics and Sound

Santa Monica Studios pulled out all the stops on this game.  They really show with this game the PS3's potential.

The graphics are just phenomenal.  There are no CGI cinematics per se.  All cinematics were done with the game engine, with the games art assets and are either real-time or were pre-rendered.  Which makes everything seamless.  At no time did I notice any loading, there were no loading screens.  This game was made for HD, it needs HD, it's a reason to get HD.

Sound is right on par with the graphics.  Excellent voice acting from everyone.  They even brought in some big names, Rip Torn, Malcom McDowell, even Kevin Sorbo, who played Hercules on TV.  Naturally the have him voice Hercules.  The soundtrack sounds like is was taken right from a movie with full orchestra.

Overall

From the opening credits you know this game was going to big and epic.  They played almost like a James Bond opening.  And then dropped you right into the action.  Fighting creatures on the back of Gaia as she climbs Mount Olympus.  Eventually you end up fighting all around and inside of her.  Your first boss battle is during this also with Poseidon and his leviathans.

There is something going on almost all the time.  If you aren't fighting, you are solving puzzles, sometimes both at the same time.  With no load screens the only time you really got a break was when you paused the game.  Problem is the story and action is so good you don't want to stop.

I may have used the word "epic" way to much in this review, but that is what best describes this game.  It's epic.

Santa Monica Studios knocked this one out of the park.  The showed all those God of War wannabes how it's done and done EPICALLY well.  For the end of a trilogy, God of War II is very satisfying and a perfect ending.

God of War III gets a 5 out of 5.

God of War III is rated M for Mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content.

Deca Sports 2 and Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympics might be over, but you can still play the games.  This week I'll be trying out Deca Sports 2 and Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics, both for the Nintendo Wii.  Which one will take the gold?

Story

Neither game has a story.  So we're done here....well if you want you make up your own story you can since both games allow for using your own characters.  Mario and Sonic allows you to use your Mii, while Deca allows you to create your own team with their character builder.

Controls

While both games use different control schemes for each sport, Deca seemed to try to keep is controls closer to something you actually might be doing while doing the sport in real life.  For example, since both games have speed skating I'll use that.  In Mario & Sonic you use just the Wii-mote.  Shaking it at the start of the race and then moving it side to side in time with a light flashing from your character's hands. In Deca you use the Wii-mote and the nunchuk.  Moving both in time with meters on either side of your skater, mimicking their arm movements.

Both were easy to pick up, but I like Deca's closer to realism approach.

Gameplay

Both are basically mini-game collections.  Mario & Sonic let you play each sport individually, all from opening to closing ceremonies, or within a party game setting.  Deca also lets you play each sport individually, a League competition that includes all 10 sports, a Tournament where you knock out teams, or Challenge which is basically the party game setting also.

Both have Nintendo WiFi Connection, but Mario and Sonic only have it for leaderboards, no online play. On the other hand Deca has leaderboards too, but only 3 of it's games (tennis, hockey, and dodgeball) are playable online. 

Both games had a reward system.  In Deca you earn skill points.  The skill points are a bit like a leveling system in that the more you have the harder your computer opponents will be. Mario & Sonic rewards you with Star Points which can be used to unlock music, outfits for your Miis, stickers for your equipment, and Winter Olympic history and trivia.

 

  

Graphics and Sound

Graphically overall both were fine, but Mario & Sonic looked better to me.  It looked a bit crisper and cleaner.  Deca looked a bit last gen art style-wise.  While it's still a bit odd to hear Mario and Sonic sound coming from the same game it was all good.  Deca's audio was good too.

Overall

Both games were very fun, and really you can't go wrong with either if you are looking for a good mini-game collection.  Mario and Sonic is all about the winter games and includes 27 different games.  Deca on the other hand has 10 games, but only 3 of them are winter games.  I'd give both a 4 out of 5.  Which you want really depends on what you're looking for.  Mario & Sonic give you more games, but Deca has some games not found in any other collection.  Both were simple to control and easy to pick up, but to me Deca was more realistic.  Mario and Sonic has characters you know in love, Deca lets you create your own team.

Maybe you just get both.

Both games are rated E for Everyone.  Mario & Sonic also noted Mild Cartoon Violence.