God of War III

[schild]

New Thread.

Pandora's Box Special Edition is a plastic piece of shit. First SCEA collector's edition in forever and a day and it sucks. Upsetting.

[schild]

Like lower quality than a designer vinyl toy.

[Lakov_Sanite]

This does not surprise me in the least.

[schild]

It upsets me for the price I paid. That said, game is amazing.

[Azazel]

I feel better now. I bought the Import GoW 1+2, and the local special version of GoW 3 has the 1+2 as well as the box. Wanted the box but didn't want to pay for the 1+2 game again, nor local prices, nor shipping to import the US version over.

Lots of recent SEs have been shittily disappointing though. Arkham Asylum's Batarang, The AVP facehugger....

[stray]

This will probably get bought much later than I expected. Sort of had my genre fill with Bayonetta, and will probably just get Yakuza. All hail Sega  

Not to compare it to Bayonetta or anything. I'm sure this has more/better puzzles, levels, and story. The visuals look like they blow away anything out right now.

[schild]

Visuals are right below Heavy Rain and FFXIII. It is gorgeous though. It's better than Bayonetta.

[Aez]

First game I ever finished on youtube.  Someone posted a 5 hours playtrough (divided into 40+ video).  I skipped the generic fights and watched boss battles and story sequences.  I feel like I really played the game and didn't miss anything.  The gameplay is 100% like the first one.

The production value and level design is epic.
The story start out very good but end up being ass. The last half is filled with plot holes.

[ffc]

First game I ever finished on youtube.  Someone posted a 5 hours playtrough (divided into 40+ video).  I skipped the generic fights and watched boss battles and story sequences.  I feel like I really played the game and didn't miss anything.  The gameplay is 100% like the first one.

I just did this exact thing today, skipping around to catch boss fights and story stuff.  My exposure to GoW was in reverse.  I first played the GoW 3 demo and thought it was amazing so I picked up the GoW 1 and 2 combo.  The similarities between the demo and GoW 1 were shocking and I quit before finishing it to check out GoW 2.  Seeing more of the same I quit that pretty early and then canceled my GoW 3 preorder.  The videos let me catch the eye candy while avoiding the ugly parts.

Here's the first video, it ends at number 46.  When the player would die in "platforming" sections I smiled because if it had been me playing I would have bashed my own head with my controller.  And it looks like the rage inducing climbing sections are still well represented.  Thank the gods for Bayonetta.   

[Ghambit]

Same thing happened to me.  I drank the GoW3 koolaid, went and played GoW1, started to play GoW2 and quit.... then cancelled my GoW3 order.
Definitely feels like one of those genres you need to put down for a while in order to come back to and enjoy.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Don't own a ps3 but watched the whole game online. Beautiful, beautiful game but the story was shite.  Now, I'm not saying anyone goes into these games for story, gods no but it's not that the story was bad so much as it was disappointing and not in tune with the series I believe.  

To compare, darksiders was a bland predictible story and you pretty much knew what was going to happen from the get-go but it was consistent. The GoW3 storyline felt more frantic, as if they were trying too hard to fit the pieces of a kitten jigsaw puzzle into a rembrant when they should have just let us enjoy kratos saying "Hang in there baby"

[nurtsi]

I watched this as well, but I started to wonder. Will they at some point ban these kind of videos?

I mean, after watching this I feel like I've kinda played the game and no longer have any desire to buy it. While games are becoming more and more movie-like, it almost feels as someone purchased the game, made a DVD-rip and posted it on Youtube. I just feel that this kind of video will not increase the sales of the game when everyone can just view it and see all the good parts. And you can rewind past the boring parts if you feel like it.

[Velorath]

I watched this as well, but I started to wonder. Will they at some point ban these kind of videos?

I would have doubted beforehand that they would need to ban these kinds of videos since I assumed even the most retarded gamers could understand the difference between playing a game yourself and watching youtube video of someone else playing.  Sadly, this thread has shown me otherwise.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Most games you could not watch and enjoy. Sadly God of war3 is the perfect storm in that it's gorgeous, completely on rails and very cenematic..it's also ridiculously short im comparison to most games.  Not to mention it's ps3 only and I'm not going to be assed to buy a ps3 for this.

[Pennilenko]

I finally got permission to spend the cash on a PS3 in order to get this game and a few other ps3 only titles, only to find out that there is some sort of Bullshit/Fake shortage on the consoles. I am pissed.

[Margalis]

I would have doubted beforehand that they would need to ban these kinds of videos since I assumed even the most retarded gamers could understand the difference between playing a game yourself and watching youtube video of someone else playing.  Sadly, this thread has shown me otherwise.

Many of the hyped games this generation try to deliver "cinematic gameplay" in which the actual gameplay is not terribly exciting and amount to little more than press the requisite buttons to see the next cool set piece. GOW3 is pretty much exactly like GOW1 and 2, and like many people I found GOW2 wore out it's welcome halfway through. The gameplay in GOW has never been deep or skillful and the series as a whole has been ultra-conservative in regards to gameplay features with only peripheral changes made in each sequel.

When the "experience" matters more than the gameplay it makes perfect sense for people to feel satisfied watching rather than playing. Hell Uncharted 2 commercials play up the fact that watching it is as entertaining as playing.

When your game aspires to be a movie people will be fine watching it on Youtube. This should not be at all surprising, and it says are lot more about game makers and what they are trying to deliver than it does the audience. Increased focus on plot and visuals, decreased focus on gameplay and a de-emphasis of skill and mastery are not recipes for a must-play game.

[stu]

As stated, this is a mature rated title that requires little skill to play. Although the visuals are great, I prefer mature rated titles to have more complex mechanics.

This article sums things up concisely as well.

I appreciate GoW3 for what it is, but as soon as I beat the game, I'm exchanging it for FFXIII. Best Buy game insurance FTW.

[rrazcueta]

Did you guys spend $60 hoping that God of War 3 wasn't going to be... God of War 3?

[schild]

I spent $120 hoping it WOULD be god of war 3, and I'm pretty happy about it even if the box is a piece of poop.

[Jobu]

Which has better voice acting/dialogue... FF13 or this? Watching trailers for both, they seem evenly terrible and make me cringe. I'd like to get both of them eventually, honestly just to look at the pretty pictures.

[Velorath]

I would have doubted beforehand that they would need to ban these kinds of videos since I assumed even the most retarded gamers could understand the difference between playing a game yourself and watching youtube video of someone else playing.  Sadly, this thread has shown me otherwise.

Many of the hyped games this generation try to deliver "cinematic gameplay" in which the actual gameplay is not terribly exciting and amount to little more than press the requisite buttons to see the next cool set piece. GOW3 is pretty much exactly like GOW1 and 2, and like many people I found GOW2 wore out it's welcome halfway through. The gameplay in GOW has never been deep or skillful and the series as a whole has been ultra-conservative in regards to gameplay features with only peripheral changes made in each sequel.

When the "experience" matters more than the gameplay it makes perfect sense for people to feel satisfied watching rather than playing. Hell Uncharted 2 commercials play up the fact that watching it is as entertaining as playing.

When your game aspires to be a movie people will be fine watching it on Youtube. This should not be at all surprising, and it says are lot more about game makers and what they are trying to deliver than it does the audience. Increased focus on plot and visuals, decreased focus on gameplay and a de-emphasis of skill and mastery are not recipes for a must-play game.

Respectfully, I couldn't really disagree more.  As far as God of War's gameplay in particular, anyone who thinks it doesn't require skill or mastery probably hasn't played it on anything other than the default difficulty.  Although, IIRC it was GoW2 that had some issues with the highest difficulty, 1 and 3 I believe had the higher difficulties extensively play-tested and balanced rather than just uping enemy hp and damage.  I'd honestly recommend it for anyone who is tired of GoW's gameplay.

In general though, I think that watching a game on youtube, no matter how cinematic it may be, from Half-Life 2, to FFXIII, to GoW3, is just a waste of time and doesn't give you anywhere near the experience actually playing the game any more than reading a plot synopsis on wikipedia is the same experience as watching a movie or reading a book.

[Margalis]

Respectfully, I couldn't really disagree more.  As far as God of War's gameplay in particular, anyone who thinks it doesn't require skill or mastery probably hasn't played it on anything other than the default difficulty.  Although, IIRC it was GoW2 that had some issues with the highest difficulty, 1 and 3 I believe had the higher difficulties extensively play-tested and balanced rather than just uping enemy hp and damage.  I'd honestly recommend it for anyone who is tired of GoW's gameplay.

I beat GOW1 on the hardest difficulty (which really wasn't very hard) and it was exactly the same game with enemy hp and damage modified by formula IIRC. Apparently this has changed in GOW3 and the difference between the difficulties are not just scalar multipliers but that was certainly the case in 1 at the very least. Compared to something like DMC or Bayonetta which changes the attack patterns of enemies, basic characteristics like attack speed and which enemies appear GOW1 hard mode was extremely basic. Also because of the way the combat works and the increased enemy damage on higher difficulties the best strategy becomes to poke and roll a lot, which is not very satisfying compared to going for big combos and air juggles. I'd actually recommend that people stay away from the higher difficulties, rather than making the gameplay more interesting IMO it makes it less interesting in that preserving your health becomes more important and the best way to accomplish that is to roll a lot and fight a war of attrition.

Obviously any game played on higher difficulty requires greater mastery in some sense but GOW harder difficulty is not very satisfying. It's generally agreed upon that the combat mechanics are simpler than many competing titles and in fact the developers have stated that as one of their goals so I don't think that's knocking the game unfairly. I'd say if people have tired of the gameplay they should either appreciate the title for the epic experience it provides or else move on to other games with deeper combat systems. Playing on God / Titan / whatever doesn't make it feel any fresher to me..

In general though, I think that watching a game on youtube, no matter how cinematic it may be, from Half-Life 2, to FFXIII, to GoW3, is just a waste of time and doesn't give you anywhere near the experience actually playing the game any more than reading a plot synopsis on wikipedia is the same experience as watching a movie or reading a book.

Well I agree on this part. Personally if I'm not into a game I'm just not into it and have no desire to experience it in video form. That said I can see people being into the cinematic part of cinematic games without having much interest in the gameplay part. And I've definitely watched people play games and enjoyed that without having any real desire to play myself.

[Ghambit]

I'm sorry, but I just cant agree that watching a video is in any way, shape, or form the same as playing.  MAYBE for something like Uncharted or Heavy Rain.  But, GoW?  no.  There's a certain tingling sensation you get when holding the controller whilst having to fight off a ginormous "indestructible" Titan.  Epic doesnt even come close to the feeling the game exudes while playing.  Watching a video of it doesnt come close.  Also, regardless of difficulty, controlling a man-whoring demigod is a lot more appealing than just watching one.  (that didnt sound right)

[Lakov_Sanite]

No, watching isn't the same as playing.

Yes, watching it told me I didn't need to play it though.

[stu]

Did you guys spend $60 hoping that God of War 3 wasn't going to be... God of War 3?

I knew what it was going to be. That's why I bought the $5 insurance. I've been running through the GoW Collection, so mostly, I wanted to see how the graphics have evolved. It's a fun series, just not very challenging.

[rrazcueta]

I spent $120 hoping it WOULD be god of war 3, and I'm pretty happy about it even if the box is a piece of poop.

See, you are a good man.

Now where is my Godhand 2?

[ffc]

I knew what it was going to be. That's why I bought the $5 insurance. I've been running through the GoW Collection, so mostly, I wanted to see how the graphics have evolved. It's a fun series, just not very challenging.

What is this Best Buy $5 insurance plan?  It insures against you not liking a game? 

[stu]

Sort of. You pay an extra five bucks and they'll replace the game if it gets damaged in any way. Or you can exchange it for another game. I'm going to turn in my copy for FFXIII. The beauty if that there is no extra cost for the second game.

Not sure if they do this for every game.

[dusematic]

I can't believe I'm saying this since I've been looking forward to GoWIII for so long but...it's kind of boring.  Yes, it's very beautiful.  But after playing GoW, GoWII, and the PSP title, I'm finding this just more of the same and have had no urge to pick it up since I beat Poseidon. 

[Lakov_Sanite]

Even my friend who beat it said it was a let-down at the end. Let's face it zeus is just not the coolest boss in the game...and he should be.  Seriously who here wasn't expecting a giant in the sky, surrounded by clouds and raining down lightning? The 2-d fighter homage was kinda neat but zeus should have been a little more epic.

[schild]

Seriously who here wasn't expecting a giant in the sky, surrounded by clouds and raining down lightning?

Anyone who played the first two?

[Lakov_Sanite]

I played the first, skipped the second and while a very literal storm giant zeus may not have been the right style for the games it should certainly have been something along those lines.  The last boss phases in gow were not epic or grand and actually felt diminished from previous boss fights.  Hell just compare defeating chronos to gaia or poseiden to zeus. 

[taolurker]

Playing the other two would make it seem kind of pale by itself, and hard. I was not very good at 1 or 2 playing at a friend's, and got to watch (attempt!) this the other day. My friend rented it and will probably beat it tomorrow, and he was basically playing through it (not sure difficulty) making it into a movie of combos. I think he rarely got hit for damage, where I was lucky to survive and basically button mashing..

They make nice games, my thumbs hurt and cannot arthritis through controllers anymore.

Cutscenes were amazing.

Four and a half broken thumbs would be my review score.