God Of War III?

Is anyone looking forward to this? It's being hyped a lot by the media, despite a relative lack of promotion from Sony (especially compared to the likes of Dante's Inferno). Initial estimates are that the game is of a far grander scale than the previous games, and some corners are even boasting that the game features graphics to rival the current graphics king of the console hill - Uncharted 2.

In addition to the game itself, there's a rumoured 3+ hours of bonus footage, not to mention a possible demo of Gran Turismo 5, just to increase the interest even further.

I have to say, I've never really been all that into the series. I rented the first two and played them for a while but they never really grabbed me. I may give this one a chance too, but I'm not expecting to be blown away.

I played God of War on PSP, that's the extent of my familiarity with the series. The game was really good compared to most other titles on the system, but it's not something I was ever a fan of.

In quasi-related news, here is quite possibly the most extreme PC case modding ever, seen at a LAN party in Brazil:

YouTube

YouTube

Yes, I'm excited. I missed GoW:II and CoO (PSP) but I very much enjoyed the first. If you're not sure about it, play the demo. I know you can at least get the demo from the retail Blu-ray of District 9 if it's not already on the PSN

I am. God yes. The first two were awesome and the second one left off with... well... a bloody cliff-hanger (sort of thing).

I like the mythology and the story behind the games - Greek mythology has been screaming out for a decent game for years, but I just found that the gameplay never really grabbed a hold of me.

I guess I need to play the first 2 now that they are on the PS3. I heard they are pretty good.

The official website has been updated to reflect the new game: http://www.godofwar.com/ - there's quite a bit of info on there, it's well worth a look if you're looking forward to the game.

Ohhhh you have to check out this video in HD of GoWIII. It's making me interested in picking this game up or atleast renting it via Gamefly whenever its available.

GoWIII HD @ Gametrailers

The reviews are rolling in for GoWIII and the praise is unanimous. I have yet to see anyone give an overall negative review. #1 on my Gamefly right now.

I have to say, I played the demo last night and was tremendously underwhelmed. The graphics were gorgeous, the sound was stunning and the gameplay was... derivative. It's basically a prettier version of Devil May Cry with a dose of Greek Mythology. Perhaps the full game is better, but I have a feeling that I'm going to be disagreeing with a LOT of reviews on this one.

Did you play the first two?

I played the... second one, I think. I rented it and found my opinion to be similar - looks nice, but not that interesting to play. I don't know why I expected this one to be different - perhaps it's the unholy amount of hype the game seems to be getting.

I don't know what you're expecting from a hack 'n' slash... :/

They're damn fun games when you take them as "brutally slaughter the living hell out of countless numbers of minions, mythical crap and gods and do it in the most painful and messy way you can imagine for the lols".

Never got these games. It kind of makes me sad that this is getting such raving reviews, while tons of "better" or at least more sophisticated games get left behind.

Mindless button mashing on high resolution backdrops is not my idea of A+ game design.

Apparently tons of people find it appealing though so oh well, I say.

Mindlessly button mash and you will die; this I guarantee. There's a lot more finesse required than that if you want to beat the game on the harder difficulties.

The developers of GoWIII have made a point of increasing the depth of combo's and tried to decrease the "button mashing" of the past. I have not got my hands on the game yet but why would they lie sales to me about this? I'll go check out some reviews while I wait.

Somewhere in this video is what you want to hear...

Originally Posted by rob

GoWIII HD @ Gametrailers

I found that in the demo I played, I think it was L1+Square did some cool 360° spinning attack, and that should I have desired it, this would be all I'd have needed to defeat the majority of the enemies in the demo.

I'm with Grandmaster K here, in that I don't necessarily hate the game, but it irks me to see a game like this getting 90+ scores across the board for a game Capcom made years ago. (Devil May Cry in case you were wondering), whereas games like Heavy Rain that actually try to do something original (and do it pretty damn well!) are derided (only in some corners, mind) for being unnecessarily 'pretentious'. Is this what the games industry is turning into? Where we'd rather have our games 'pretty and dumb' sequels of previous years' games than something that tries to do something new?

Because if that's where we're headed, then I fear for the future of the industry.

Wow. Overreacting much? (rhetorical; it's clear that you are)

If God of War being a button-masher that a lot of people find to be fun is going to destroy the gaming industry, then the year-by-year remaking of sports games and the countless carbon-copy fight/racing/etc games are going to destroy the world (and, as I recall, you quite like games like Fight Night -- despite Street Fighter having already done that whole fighting business).

Yeah, it was an over-reaction, but it's still worth considering that it's a sad day for gaming when games are applauded solely for the amount of hype they generate rather than the gameplay they contain - let's be honest, putting personal views to one side, from what little I've played of the game and its predecessors (so I acknowledged I may not be as qualified as you to make this statement), God of War III is not by many means particularly innovative, either in its own self-contained series or in the wider 'Hack 'n' Slash' genre.
So bearing in mind a lack of originality and innovation, why does it receive such high marks from reviewers if not for hype alone?

I've perhaps diverted from the topic at hand here, and am unfairly picking on God of War alone, because as you point out, there are many more games/series that are far more guilty of this than God Of War - let's take a look at all the First Person Shooter games - it's been a while since we saw any original ideas coming out of that particular genre - Call of Duty, I'm looking at you... Perhaps my issue is more with the reviews industry rather than the developers of God of War.

One thing though - your sports analogy is a completely false one. By definition, those games are simulations - designed to reflect the real thing - unless the rules markedly change, there are only so many changes a game can make in a yearly update, and generally those features - whilst 'token' in nature - improve on the gameplay from the year before. Yes, while I don't particularly like the idea of a whole new game every year and would rather see a roster/squad update for a smaller fee after the first year, then a new game for every second year, it's not going to happen, because the fans are still lapping it up.