Kratos demands a ride on the Tilt-O-Whirl
In my hometown, a Fair comes to town each fall. As the weather cools and the leaves begin to change, the excitement grows amongst the community for its arrival. For the children, it is a miraculous event, as seemly overnight a town is transformed into a dazzling nighttime carnival. As a child, I wandered the brightly lit fairgrounds, weaving between the noisy rides and game stands, my mind in sheer wonderment. Time spent there always seemed brief; before I knew it, the evening was over, and I was on my way home, exhausted and thrilled. But as the years passed along with my childhood, the fair transformed itself. Each year it would be a little less a place of splendor, and more of a dingy retread. No matter what order I rode the rides, they were always the same and just a little less thrilling than the last, until one year, I decided not to go at all.
God of War III reminded me of this childhood experience. While I was excited to conclude the series, I knew what the game held in store– after all I had done it all in two titles prior. If you have played any of the three proper GoW titles, you are versed as well. You play as Kratos, ancient Greece’s most pissed off Spartan, traversing the land meeting interesting mythological creatures and dissecting them. There is platforming and combat recalling the halcyon days of “beat-em-ups”. And of course, the (now) obligatory quick time event spectacles. It is a glorious blend of action/combat/murder unlikely to be found elsewhere. It is quite like the carnival staple, cotton candy — brightly colored, and interesting to look at, but quickly dissolves at a touch.
The game begins as spectacularly as possible with Kratos scaling the Titan Gaia, as she herself scales Mount Olympus during what is to be the final battle between the Titans and the Greek Pantheon. The fidelity of the visuals and the scaling of detail is unparalleled. As this sequence progresses the camera often tracks back, leaving Kratos a controllable speck amongst a sea of flailing monsters; This all without the drop of a frame. The opening climaxes in a multi-staged fight against Posideon in a sequence that puts other God of War set pieces to shame. Once this is finished however, you are deposited back into the bowels of Hades, a locale far too familiar to fans of the series. Here you will solve puzzles, platform, beat on waves of monsters and negotiate the same kinds of terrain you have done in titles prior. And while these segments are not uninteresting, they exist only as connective tissue to the next spectacle/boss battle. The bulk of God of War III repeats in this frustrating pattern of set piece, dungeon, repeat until the very end of the game.
The GoW titles are not known for having elaborate narratives, and this finale follows suite. Much of the previous mythos can be summed up as “righteous revenge” and the protagonist angrily bellowing the names of various Gods. Little occurs to drive the plot for nearly two thirds of the game. It is only closing in on the finale that there are rushed efforts to be thoughtful and make us like the character we have been playing as for countless hours. This is wildly missing the point. There is no liking Kratos, late game plot reversals or not; He is a hateful engine of revenge and we take small pleasure in participating in his gruesome acts. To make dramatic story leaps so late in a narrative betrays not only the character you have created, but the very logic of the storytelling itself. The ending struck me as baffling as it is both uninspired, and uninteresting.
Ultimately, I remain frustrated with God of War III. In a presentational sense, the game is epic, gorgeous looking and a real treat to play. The combat mechanics are functioning at their very tightest and the selection of weapons/magic are all useful for maybe the first time in the history of the series. The score is impressive and appropriate. The voice acting exceeds all expectations (yes, that is Malcolm MacDowell and Rip Torn.) It seems odd even now as I check things off the list for an excellent game. Yet even still the whole experience remains at odds with itself, despite.
At twenty-seven, I cannot go back to how I felt when visiting the Fair at six any more than the first time I impaled the Hydra, mouth first, during the opening moments of God of War. A local fair is tethered by budgets and other constraints, keeping it static over the years. And as people outgrow it, there will always be a new influx of children to be wooed by it’s simple charms. However, for a high profile Playstation 3 exclusive threequel, there is little chance that it’s audience is new or fresh. The fact is, the era for God of War has come and gone. There was a time and place where the originals felt special and unassailable. But bereft of structural innovation, or an interesting story, God of War III feels like a slide to mediocrity. The park closes soon after this one, kids. Better get in just one more ride. Next year, you may be too grown to show up at all.
-G. Pearsall