God of War III Quick Hit

by Greg Miller - IGN.com | 18 January 2010 12:00
 
Sony gives us a taste of Kratos, but we're thirsty for more.
 
If the two minutes I just played of God of War III are any indication, this game is going to be a visual spectacle. There are sweeping camera angles, constant action, the orientation of levels changes on a whim, and some truly jaw dropping graphics.
 
Wow.
 
With the arrival of Kratos just a few months away, Sony isn't really showing too much of its hand, but the curtain was lifted just a bit on a battle on a Titan's back. Now, if you remember the "Fear Nothing" trailer from way back when, you'll remember Kratos battling all kinds of baddies on a rocky surface only to have the camera zoom out and to find the fight was on just a small portion of the Titan named Gaia's mammoth back as she scaled Mount Olympus. That's where this demo picks up.
 
It all starts off simply enough; the demo opens with Kratos standing on a rocky clearing. The sky is dark and there's a whole bunch of ash (or at least particles) floating through the air. You take Kratos to the right of the screen and the camera swings to his back as you start tearing low level bad guys in half and stabbing their buddies. As you progress down this solitary pathway, you get a glimpse of a massive blue Titan scaling the mountain you're climbing to your left.
 

The devil's on her shoulder.

But wait! You're not climbing a mountain; over on the left side of the screen you catch a glimpse of a massive face and realize that you're climbing the Gaia's arm while she climbs a mountain. I had little time to take in this realization because out of nowhere a massive creature pops up and wants to fight. Made of water, this beast packs the head of a horse and the limbs of a crab.
 
Yeah, it's effed up.
 
The creature slams its pointy tendril into Gaia's arm (your ground) and you can see her face contort in pain as well as hear her screams. With that, Gaia flings her arm back, which now leaves Kratos hanging from one blade he's embedded in the Titan's arm and slashing with the other blade in an attempt to slay the monster blocking his path. After a few hits the Titan starts to reach back up, so the fight changes perspectives again. Now, Kratos is basically climbing up a wall -- he's got a blade in the arm and has his feet planted against the structure. From this position, you slash some more, follow the onscreen commands, and rip the water creature's jaw off.
 
End demo.
 

Water horses scare me.

As cool as the fierce action was -- again, everything you just read happened in like a two-minute span -- what knocked my socks off was the presentation. When Gaia initially flung her arm back, the camera zoomed way out so that you could take in the entire scene, and while this was happening, you could still be fighting as Kratos. When the action moved around, there was another pan out followed by a fast zoom that traveled up the creature's arm in this sweeping, twisting, turning way to the action. As the brawl continued, you could hear Gaia wailing in the background in pain.
 
This demo was way too short for my tastes, but that's only because God of War III looks so darn good. Luckily, we don't have to wait much longer, but seeing stuff like this in motion makes it all the tougher to sit here Kratos-less.
 
Supplied by IGN.com